April 30, 2017
Two disciples are on the way to Emmaus. Luke mentions only one by name: Cleopas. Who was the other? Many Bible experts suggest that Luke invites the reader to see himself in the second anonymous disciple. So, let us listen to the story imagining that it is me who is walking with Jesus and Cleopas on the road, on the road of my life. The unknown stranger invites the downcast disciples to tell him what happened. He asks me to tell him what happens in my life. Do I do this? I probably think: He knows everything about me anyway. So why tell him? But Jesus apparently wants to hear it from me. Don’t I tell my marriage partner or my intimate friends what makes up the fabric of my life? Sharing experiences is a sign of trust. Why not share my life with the invisible companion with whom I have made a “covenant”, a pact of friendship in baptism? He expects me to be open him and tell him what makes me sad or glad, what are my plans and hopes, and also what are my failures, disappointments and pains. Jesus listens to Cleopas and to all his disciples with genuine interest and great patience. But he does not stop there. He explains to them why things happen using the scriptures. He gives a new meaning to events. We often cannot make sense of tragic events, just as the disciples could not understand what happened on Good Friday. Whenever we are hit by some disaster, we say: How could God allow this to happen? Why did it happen to me? What did I do wrong to deserve such treatment? At best, we quarrel with God, in the worst case we dismiss him from our heart because he has not fulfilled our expectations. Jesus does not give the disciples a long theological explanation about the meaning of suffering. He simply says: “The Christ had to suffer and so enter into his glory”. His suffering and death was a necessity. Suffering is not something outside of God’s plans, it is part of it. Why? Because something has to die in us, if we are to share God’s life. Our body has to die to be transformed into a glorious body. Jesus explains to the disciples the meaning of God’s plan through the scriptures. He Himself found the meaning of his own fate in the poems of the suffering servant of Yahweh in the prophet Isaja. It is the Word of God that makes sense of our lives, even the tough bits of it. A prayerful reading of scripture helps us to find an answer for our questions and a key to place the puzzling pieces of life into the larger context of God’s plan. The story of the disciples ends with an overwhelming moment of joy when they recognise the risen Jesus by the way he breaks the bread for them. By God’s grace we, too, may have experienced moments of deep joy in God’s presence. But such moments do not last. For the rest of our journey we have to open our hearts to the one who is always with us, listen to his word through the scriptures and so find the strength to carry on the journey.
Fr. Wolfgang Schonecke, MAfr