{"id":4540,"date":"2017-05-16T08:00:34","date_gmt":"2017-05-16T00:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=4540"},"modified":"2021-10-20T11:02:23","modified_gmt":"2021-10-20T03:02:23","slug":"176-from-jerusalem-to-emmaus-the-spiritual-logic-of-suffering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=4540","title":{"rendered":"176. From Jerusalem to Emmaus: The Spiritual Logic of Suffering"},"content":{"rendered":"

25\u00a0<\/sup>Then he said to them, \u201cOh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!\u00a026\u00a0<\/sup>Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?\u201d\u00a027\u00a0<\/sup>Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures<\/span>.<\/strong> [Luke 24:25-27<\/span>, NRSV<\/em>]<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\u201cThe Road to Emmaus,\u201d by Robert Zund, 1877. [Public Domain<\/em>]<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The four Gospels of the New Testament each offer slightly different takes on what happened on Easter morning and its immediate aftermath. Two examples stand out. First, only the Gospel of John touchingly recounts Jesus appearing to\u00a0Mary Magdalene outside the tomb<\/a>\u00a0and later appearing to the once-doubting Thomas. Second, only the Gospel of Luke leaves us with this memorable narrative of what is popularly known as \u201cthe Walk to Emmaus\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Luke includes the Emmaus account in his biography of Jesus because it fits well with themes the evangelist wants to emphasize.<\/span><\/p>\n

[1] Turning and Returning<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In Luke\u2019s Gospel, the location of Jerusalem demands special attention. Unlike Mark who begins in Galilee and ends with the resurrected Christ calling his disciples back to Galilee, Luke begins at the temple in Jerusalem and ends after the resurrection and ascension in the disciples returning to the temple continually praising God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, all the resurrection stories happen on the same day: the women and Peter going to the tomb, the two on the way to Emmaus, the appearance to the disciples in Jerusalem, and the ending of the Gospel with the disciples praying in the temple are a single flow of events. Each episode is integral to the whole revelation, but Jerusalem is the key.<\/span><\/p>\n

Towards Jerusalem, the true path of the Messiah where he would endure suffering and death, his face had resolutely turned (Luke 9:51). The whole Gospel, in fact, is a journey towards Jerusalem where the revelation of the cross takes place and where the Gospel ends. In Luke\u2019s Gospel, then, avoiding Jerusalem \u2013 as in walking away from it and heading towards Emmaus – is avoiding the true path of Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n