"We Had Hoped . . ."
Third Sunday of Easter (Year A)
Luke 24.13-35
St. Gregory’s, Long Beach
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
The Lord is Risen indeed! Alleluia!
While each of the four Gospels contain accounts of the resurrected Christ appearing to his disciples, they all vary slightly in the details—in terms of who is actually present and in the specific circumstances. The one consistent detail across all four Gospels is that on the morning of the resurrection, Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb. In John’s Gospel, she is alone. In all the others, she is with other woman—exactly which women varies slightly. In three of the four Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and John—the Risen Christ appears to Mary Magdalene and whoever else is with her. And only after this initial appearance to the Magdalene does the Risen Christ appear to the eleven remaining apostles. Here we must be very intentional in terminology. Jesus had more than just twelve disciples. He had lots and lots of unnamed disciples. Mary Magdalene and various other women were among this broader category of “disciples.” But according to the Gospels, he only had twelve apostles (meaning messengers), the inner circle who were with him throughout his three-year public ministry, who are specifically named in the Gospels. Personally, I would argue that Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus should also be included in the list of named apostles, but that is another matter for another time.
With that as background, today’s post-resurrection account from Luke’s Gospel is unlike any other in the Gospels. What we hear today is Luke’s account of the first post-resurrection appearance. Unlike the other Gospels, the Risen Christ does not appear to Mary Magdalene at the tomb. She does go to the tomb, but only encounters an angel, not the Risen Christ. In today’s Gospel, Luke reports a first post-resurrection encounter that varies so significantly from the other Gospels to seem like a completely different story altogether.
In this account, typically referred to as the “Road to Emmaus,” the Risen Christ does not appear at the tomb in Jerusalem nor anywhere else in Jerusalem, as in other accounts on the Day of Resurrection. This account, unique among all the documented post-resurrection encounters, occurs in the middle of nowhere, on a dusty road somewhere between Jerusalem and an obscure village called Emmaus. A place that Biblical scholars do not even know where it was located, other than within a seven-mile radius of Jerusalem. A place that archaeologists have yet to find, if they ever will. A place that was barely known in Jesus’ time, and which is lost to us in our own. And more intriguing than the place of this post-resurrection experience, is who the Risen Christ choses to first reveal himself to. He does not appear to Mary Magdalene. He does not appear to Peter or any of the other apostles. Rather, he appears to two unknown disciples. Men who obviously were followers of Jesus, although not among the named apostles. In fact, while one is actually named in the account—Cleopas—the other is unnamed. An omission or intentional?
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