The Road to Emmaus

By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo

In the Gospel of St. Luke, we read the story of two disciples of Jesus who were in despair and have lost hope, because they thought Jesus was the Messiah to save Israel, but then he got crucified instead.  “Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.  They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.  As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, ‘What are you discussing together as you walk along?’ They stood still, their faces downcast.  One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, ‘Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?’ ‘What things?’ he asked. ‘About Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied. ‘He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.  The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.  In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.’

He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, ‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.’ So, he went in to stay with them.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.  They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, ‘It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’  Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.”  (Luke 24:13-33)

First spiritual lesson we can learn from this narrative, is the lack of spiritual depth of the disciples.  These two disciples were not really listening to the prophecy of Jesus when He said, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”  (Luke 18:32-33) In fact, Jesus repeated this prophecy three times, but they were just hearing it but not listening.  These two disciples could have been hopeful instead of feeling disappointed after the death of Jesus.  We too might be like these two disciples, and in our case, we were very hopeful in practicing the Christian religion but then got bored and disappointed because it’s just a bunch of rituals and find it impractical for day-to-day living.  We might have thought religion can’t really help our business grow or improve our career.

We find religion boring and useless because we have not gone deeper into it much like these disciples who did not pay attention to Christ’s preaching.  We too are hearing the Word of God but not listening.  We might just be attending Mass every Sunday but not really developing that intimate relationship with God, whom we should have been interacting with every single day in prayer.  Only then can our lives be transformed (even transformed in the way we work and run our business).

Second lesson: Scriptures can heal our hopelessness and misery.  The two disciples in the story had their hopes brought back to life, when Jesus started recalling to them Scripture passages concerning Him.  “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”, they exclaimed.  Daily reading of the Bible, and applying it to our lives, can resurrect the once lifeless spiritual life we had, and drive away misery and hopelessness in our lives and acquire that true peace and joy.

Third and last lesson is that Christ is truly present in the Holy Eucharist.  Note that the two disciples never recognized Jesus while He was walking with them, and not until Jesus “broke the bread” (a sign of the Eucharist) that they recognized Him.  If we want significant growth in our spiritual life and intimacy with Jesus, and really feel Jesus inside us leading our life, frequent reception of the Eucharist is indispensable.

To find God we have to seek Him.  “Seek and you will find” (Mt. 7:7-8) Christ promised in the Gospels.  We will only be close to God if we come near to Him.  Knowledge of God is not automatic.  We have to seek that knowledge through Scripture, reading spiritual books, attending seminars, retreats, etc.  God could easily infuse this knowledge of him by miracle in our minds.  But you will not appreciate something that you have not worked hard for.  A new cellphone that is a fruit of your labor will be taken care of much more than a cellphone that is given to you as a gift.  Simply told: many are not close to God because they are not seeking Him.