{"id":6583,"date":"2021-06-16T08:00:29","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T00:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=6583"},"modified":"2021-10-06T04:17:17","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T20:17:17","slug":"274-emmaus-and-the-lords-communal-pattern-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=6583","title":{"rendered":"274. Emmaus and the Lord\u2019s Communal Pattern of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

33\u00a0<\/sup>That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together.\u00a034\u00a0<\/sup>They were saying, \u201cThe Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!\u201d\u00a035\u00a0<\/sup>Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.<\/strong> <\/span>[Luke 24:28-35<\/span>, NRSV<\/em>]<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0<\/a>\"\"\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(L) Christ appears on the road to Emmaus, artist<\/a> unknown; (M) Cena in Emmaus<\/em>, Caravaggio, 1601; (R) Dashing back to Jerusalem.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hospitality invites Christophany \u2013 the appearance and presence of Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is by being hospitable to a stranger that we get to see Jesus present.<\/span><\/p>\n

Under Luke\u2019s pen, the readers derive a distinct sense that the two disciples are someone endowed with hearts that can feel, heads that can be conscious of people in need, and hands that are ready to serve. In the story, as \u201cthe day is now far spent\u201d (24:29), the disciples were conscious that the stranger was a traveler in need. The day nearly over, the stranger would need something to eat and a bed for the night. It matters not that the stranger is even someone who does not ask for your hospitality. Hospitality is something you will extend to him if your heart is in the right place and you are able, even without tremendous effort, to supply his needs. Luke\u2019s narrative impresses on his readers that the hospitality and generosity expressed by the two disciples is the prelude to Christophany \u2013 the appearance and real presence of Christ.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ending of a story, as we know, points to the beginning of a new story. So readers are well aware that the ending in the narratives of all the four Gospels are framed as a new beginning. They give ample hints that as their narrations of the life of Jesus of Nazareth draw to a close, all who would be disciples of Christ are poised for the start of a whole new phase of life and work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark\u2019s narrative could not end with the women \u201csaying nothing to any one, for they were afraid\u201d (Mark 16:8). \u201cSaying nothing\u201d could not possibly be the last word of the Good News of Jesus Christ who had already announced \u201cthe truth\u201d at his anointing by a woman at Bethany that \u201cwherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her\u201d (Mark 14:9). The Lord was pointing to a future where the gospel is preached.<\/span><\/p>\n

So too for Matthew, whose narrative ends in Jesus sending his disciples out on a mission, promising his presence and company \u201cto the end of time\u201d (Matthew 28:20), could only point to new chapters in a new mission phase of the Church the Lord left behind.<\/span><\/p>\n

In John\u2019s Gospel, readers are treated to a potent future-pointing picture captured in Jesus\u2019 words. Peter asks Jesus about his assignment for John, and Jesus answers thus: \u201cIf it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?\u201d (John 21:23).<\/span><\/p>\n

It is perhaps Luke\u2019s narrative-end that most captures our imagination and detains us in serious reflection. For more than just future-looking, Luke\u2019s Gospel on what has become classically known as the Emmaus Walk (Luke 24:13-35) portrays an unrepeatable moment which nevertheless would be the model<\/em> for subsequent Christian experience. As the Resurrection event launched God\u2019s renewed people in Israel two thousand years ago, so will it launch contemporary Christians of the twenty-first century, and of every subsequent century, on a path of authentic, kingdom-promoting life of discipleship.<\/span><\/p>\n

Concerning this model, three elements in particular among other elements stand out for reflection. It is evidently the intention of the Risen Lord that in combination, these three elements set the pattern for the way he desired to be known and remembered from then on.<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Breaking Open the Scriptures<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The Risen Christ, yet unrecognized, pulled up alongside the two dispirited disciples. The first thing he did was to break open the Word of the Scriptures to them. The method and style of his exposition, and the substance of his analysis, caused their hearts to burn inside them. In turn, later, upon recognizing the Lord, they would dash back to Jerusalem to spread the good news.<\/span><\/p>\n

Patently, there is no \u201cgood news\u201d to preach on or to speak about, if the Word is not first properly broken open to the listeners. If the people are not properly fed by the Word through competent reflection and explanation, they will not feel, let alone be challenged, by the presence of the Lord. Their faith will be stunted and their ability to pass on the Word seriously curtailed.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Breaking of Bread<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In two previous memorable events in the ministry of Jesus, Luke has already set out how by a distinct pattern, the Lord Jesus may be recognized and thus may even be felt and experienced as being present in the community. These two events are the feeding of the five thousand (Luke 9:10-17) and the Last Supper (Luke 22:14-38). The pattern is a distinctive fourfold meal pattern where four verbs are used related to which Jesus is the subject and bread (with or without something else) is the object. There, Jesus takes<\/em><\/strong>, blesses<\/em><\/strong>, breaks<\/em><\/strong>, and gives<\/em><\/strong>. While in the vertical dimension of taking bread and giving thanks, the providential God is acknowledged and praised, in the horizontal dimension of breaking and distributing the bread broken to be shared, communal generosity is assured.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here again at Emmaus, the Resurrected Christ sets the pattern in this narrative that he will be recognized at the breaking of the bread. In so indicating the pattern here, Luke points forward to Acts of the Apostles 2:42 where the renewed community of the Crucified and Risen Lord would represent the marks of the church as:<\/span><\/p>\n