And this is where we find two disciples on the road to Emmaus today. They are disappointed and afraid. They have witnessed the public humiliation and execution of their friend and leader, Jesus of Nazareth. Their hopes have been crushed and they are returning home to safety and to pick up the pieces of their lives. They have heard stories that Jesus is alive, but they don’t believe them. They should have expected that the Christ would suffer and so enter into His glory. However, their doubts are not resolved until the stranger blesses and breaks the bread as He shares a meal with them. Then their eyes are opened and they recognize the Lord, only to find that He has disappeared from their sight. Now they have faith, they no longer need to see Him. They know that He continues to be present with them as they returns to Jerusalem to share the good news.
So many people in the world today think of the Bible as merely a book of stories for children. They say stories of our origins cannot be true as they do not correspond with modern scientific knowledge. Creation of the world in seven days? Nonsense. Human generation from a single couple Adam and Eve? Rubbish. Miracles? Impossible. The people of our generation have very largely lost the wisdom and ability of our ancestors to discern the truth of our purpose as human beings as this is revealed through the texts of sacred scripture. However, we are people of faith in the midst of such an unbelieving society. We constantly hear things that deny and even ridicule what we hold most dear: our values, our moral standards, the fundamental building blocks from which, we believe, a human society can be built. Sunday, after Sunday, as the scriptures are proclaimed and explained in the community of faith, our hearts begin to burn again. Our hope are raised. We try to do what Jesus commanded us to do: to love one another as He has loved us; to keep His word so that He and the Father will come to us and make their home with us. Jesus, our risen Lord, shows himself to us. We don’t see Him, but we believe. He opens our eyes to see His wounds in the wounds of our brothers and sisters all around the world, and He sends us. We are empowered to be a believing people in an unbelieving world. This is no mere story for children. It is the promise of eternal life. But it is only those who have a childlike attitude who will be capable of understanding and be able to enter the kingdom of God.