The risen Jesus appeared to these two disciples, and he traveled with them on the road between Jerusalem and Emmaus. It was a journey of about seven miles, a journey that would take several hours.
But they did not recognize him.
Which leads me to wonder: Why?
Why didn’t they recognize him?
These two weren’t part of the inner group of twelve disciples, but they were disciples nevertheless, followers of Jesus, perhaps among the 70 Jesus sent out to proclaim good news and bring healing to people in various places.
They undoubtedly listened to many of his teachings, experiencing his presence, his guidance, his wisdom.
Why didn’t they recognize him?
The risen Jesus who appeared to them was, in fact, the Jesus they had known. He was present in bodily form, not just some spiritual presence. He even ate food in their presence, and his body, we know, still had the marks of the crucifixion.
So I also imagine that Jesus had all the other bodily and personality features that made him him. I imagine he still spoke with that Galilean accent, for example, pronouncing certain words a little differently than the folks who lived closer to Jerusalem did. He still had all the unique mannerisms and said things the way he always said them..
So why didn’t they recognize him?
It’s not like he was wearing a disguise. It’s not like he did his hair differently, or was wearing makeup…
Many, many years ago, when I was just starting out with ministry, I was asked to do a funeral for a family I didn’t know well. I met with family members, including the daughter of the person who died, who seemed to be the one leading things from the family’s end.
When we met a week or two before the funeral, she dressed casually, wearing jeans or sweats, little or no makeup, and her graying hair had been hastily brushed to be presentable. We met at least once, maybe twice, to plan the service.
The day of the funeral: I didn’t recognize her. She had had her hair done, she wore makeup, and she had her fancy clothes on. Since I didn’t know her all that well, to me she looked like a totally different person.
Do you know how bad it is for the pastor to not recognize the daughter of the person you’re doing the funeral for, after having several meetings with her in recent days?
Fortunately it only took me a moment to realize who she was, and while I may have seemed a little off when I greeted her that day, I don’t think she realized my mistake. At least, I hope not.
These disciples hadn’t just met Jesus once or twice. They were disciples. What was it that kept these two disciples from recognizing him?
The scripture says that they were “prevented” from recognizing him… Prevented by what? By the Spirit? By their own grief? It doesn’t say.
And yet, they showed great hospitality to this man who they thought was just some stranger. They invited him to be their traveling companion, something that gave him a measure of protection, since travelers making their way alone were much more susceptible to bandits and robbers.
They told him all about Jesus, not realizing, of course, that they were telling him about him. It’s both funny, and tragic.
It’s kind of like what happens to professional skateboarder Tony Hawk; people come up to him all the time and say things like, “You look just like Tony Hawk,” not realizing that he actually is Tony Hawk.
And Tony Hawk entertains his social media followers by sharing these experiences.
One time, Tony Hawk was going through airport security, and he handed the TSA agent his ID, and the agent looked at it and said, “Tony Hawk—like that skateboarder! I wonder what he’s up to these days.”
Another time, a TSA agent saw Tony Hawk approach, and said: “You look like someone famous. I’m going to figure it out before I check your ID.”
Tony Hawk said, “OK.”
Then the TSA agent said: “Oh, you look like that cyclist Armstrong!”
Another TSA agent said, “That ain’t Armstrong.”
Tony Hawk said, “he’s right.”
Then the first TSA agent said, “Oh, you look like that skateboarder.” The agent checked Tony’s ID, saw the name “Anthony Hawk,” then said: “Same last name, too! Crazy!”
And, one time, a kid at a skatepark came up to him and said: “Are you Tony Hawk?”
He said, “I am.”
The kid said, “No, you’re not!”
Tony said, “OK.”
The kid said, “But are you, for real?”
Tony said, “I am, for real.”
The kid said: “I thought you’d look younger.”
And Tony Hawk said, “Yeah, me, too.”
Is that it was like for Jesus, walking along the road to Emmaus, listening to these two disciples tell him all about him?
These two disciples said to Jesus, “Haven’t you heard what happened, how they crucified Jesus of Nazareth?”
And Jesus responded, “No. Tell me.”
Was Jesus just playing with them?
So they do; they tell Jesus all about what happened to Jesus, and then Jesus says something like, “Well, you’ve got all the facts right, but you’re missing one thing. There’s one thing you still haven’t figured out…I’m not going to tell you what it is, but it’s right in front of you…”
And I guess it’s true that a lot of us today have all the facts right about Christianity, or at least think we do…or, if we are humble enough to admit that maybe we don’t have all the facts right, we work as hard as we can to get all the facts right.
But so many Christians today are still missing one thing; one thing that’s right in front of them. They’ve memorized the Bible, they go to church, they tithe, they pray, but they haven’t taken the time to really know the people around them, to practice loving people the way Jesus says we should. They haven’t yet learned to see Jesus in those around them.
Jesus is present in the people around us. Jesus is particularly present in the least of these. But we haven’t yet learned to recognize him when he appears.
Jesus once described a door on which were written all the laws and commandments, but the two hinges on which they all hang, he said, were the command to love God, and the command to love one’s neighbor. You may know all the facts, you may have all those commands and laws memorized, but if you don’t have love, none of it matters, and you won’t see Jesus.
Is that what kept these two disciples from recognizing Jesus? They saw him and told him everything they knew…they just spewed out all this information…but hadn’t really shown him any love… not yet, anyway.
But when they got to their destination, and they saw that he was about to continue on, even though it was night, they invited him to stay with them.
In other words, they showed him love.
And when they ate, they invited Jesus to say the blessing, honoring him as their guest; and in that moment, when he offered the blessing and broke the bread, they SAW JESUS for the first time that day.
They saw Jesus when they stopped trying to explain everything, and simply offered love and hospitality.
A song we like to sing is “They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love,” and it’s true: people see Christ in us when we act with love.
But it’s also true that we see Jesus in others when we act with love. We see Jesus in the world when we act with love.
Do you want to see Jesus? Do you want to see the risen Christ, alive, in our world today?
Learn how to love.
It is possible to do all the right things for all the wrong reasons. One can go to church, read the Bible, give money, serve as a leader… but fail to show love. And if we fail to show love, then we fail to see Jesus.
I’m not criticizing these two disciples. On the contrary, I think it’s wonderful that they welcomed Jesus in, invited him to stay with them, and even honored him by inviting him to bless their meal.
Their whole time with him, they were learning to love him (and not just talk about him), and that is why they were finally able to see him and recognize him.
I’d like to think it was a moment of love that allowed me to recognize the daughter of the person I was doing a funeral for. It may have been a moment late, but in the midst of all my preoccupation with making sure everything was set for the service that was about to take place, I was able to set that aside for a moment and allow the love of Christ to work through me.
That is, honestly, something I’m still working on, which makes me wonder how long it would have taken me to recognize Jesus if I was one of those two disciples walking on that Emmaus road.
Would I have been so caught up in figuring things out, figuring out what had happened, and figuring out what comes next, that I would have failed to notice that it was Jesus right there beside me?
How often do I get so caught up in church work and worship planning and sermon writing and all the other church work I do, that I miss out on the opportunity to show love?
How often do I get so caught up on figuring out the lesson plans that are left for me when I substitute teach, that I miss out on the opportunity to show kindness to my students?
How often do we get caught up in our worries, our plans, our preparations, our rules, our traditions, that we miss out on the opportunity to show love?
Because all that really matters, is love.
The greatest commandment is to love.
They’ll know we are Christians by our love.
We’ll know Christ is in our midst, by our love.
When we think that showing love or acts of kindness are of lesser importance than figuring everything out or having all the facts right, then we will be prevented from seeing Jesus.
But when we love, and when we demonstrate love through acts of kindness, then our eyes will be opened, and we will recognize the risen Christ, in our very midst.
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