by Fr. Tommy Lane
Last Sunday we heard how Thomas was absent when Jesus appeared to the apostles on Easter Sunday evening, and when Thomas returned he refused to believe Jesus had risen (John 20:19-31). The following Sunday, Jesus came to the apostles again and answered Thomas’ doubts, showing him the evidence of the wounds from the nails. Thomas had built his life around Jesus, had everything shattered when Jesus died, and then met Jesus in a new way after Easter. Thomas was restored in a way he had never anticipated or expected.
Today (Luke 24:13-35) we heard how two of Jesus’ disciples were leaving Jerusalem on Easter Sunday evening, one named Cleopas and the other unnamed. Their hearts were broken. They did not know that Jesus had risen. Like Thomas, they also had hopes and their hopes were dashed when Jesus was crucified. As Jesus accompanied them on the road, they did not recognize Jesus. A number of times we read in the Gospels that people did not recognize Jesus after his resurrection. He must have looked very different but as Thomas saw, the wounds from his nails were visible. On the road, Jesus explained the parts of the Scriptures to them that were about himself. Those Scriptures at that time were what we now call the Old Testament, since the New Testament, centered on Jesus, only began to be compiled in the decades after Jesus.
Then when Jesus and the two disciples were nearly at Emmaus, they entered a house and Luke doesn’t give us any more information; perhaps it was some kind of inn where they might get something like bed and breakfast to break a long journey. In any case, the two disciples were so impressed with Jesus’ explanation of the Scriptures that they begged him to join them, which made sense as the day was coming to an end. There Jesus did the same four things with the bread as he had done at the Last Supper: he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. Then they recognized Jesus. Luke is very specific: their eyes were opened to recognize Jesus at table in the house when he did the same four actions as he did during the Last Supper: he took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them.
They recognized Jesus but immediately he became invisible. Luke doesn’t say that Jesus went away when the two disciples recognized him at the breaking of the bread. In Luke’s Greek, he simply says that Jesus became invisible to them (Luke 24:31). Luke wants us to understand that Jesus was still with them but invisible to them. Jesus was teaching us that when we want to meet him after his resurrection, the place to meet him is Mass. Jesus explained the Scriptures and then shared the bread with them. This is exactly what happens at Mass. In the first part of Mass, we listen to Scriptures and an explanation of them, and in the second part of Mass, the bread is consecrated and is no longer bread but Jesus, and we consume Jesus in the Eucharist. Mass is the place to meet the risen Jesus just like those two disciples met Jesus on the road to Emmaus.
Mass is a celebration, a celebration of our salvation. In the second reading today, Peter wrote that we were ransomed by the precious blood of Jesus (1 Pet 1:18-19). Jesus paid the ransom for our salvation on the cross. Mass is a celebration of the passion and death of Jesus giving his life for us to save us, ransoming us. During the Last Supper, Jesus gave the apostles the bread and said it was his body, already anticipating the sacrifice of his body on the cross the following day. He gave them the chalice and said, “This is my Blood of the covenant poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” already anticipating shedding his blood in sacrifice for us the following day. Then Jesus said, “Do this in memory of me.” Remembering during a Jewish liturgy was not just remembering or reenacting. It is much more. It is being present again spiritually at the original event and benefitting spiritually from it. So, when Jesus said, “Do this in memory of me,” he meant that when we celebrate Mass, we are spiritually present at Calvary as he offered his body and blood in sacrifice for us just like the women and the apostle John were beside Jesus’ cross on Calvary.
The two disciples going to Emmaus, had been leaving Jerusalem downcast but after meeting Jesus they hurried back to Jerusalem even though it was night. They only realized afterwards that their hearts had burned within them while Jesus was with them and spoke with them. We too meet the Lord here, as we are spiritually present at Calvary, and even though we don’t know it, our hearts burn within us.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2023
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Third Sunday of Easter Year A
We meet Jesus at Mass like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus 2008
Attitudes Healed on the Road to Emmaus by meeting Jesus
Related Homilies: We are the Disciples on the Road to Emmaus 2013