Jesus appears on the road to Emmaus

It's the 3rd Sunday of Easter and the gospel reading today is one of my favorite scripture readings because after our Lord Jesus Christ resurrected on early dawn of Easter Sunday, this gospel recounts the story of what happened on the road to Emmaus as Easter Sunday was nearly over. You can read in Luke 24: 13-35.

"13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus and they were conversing about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.

17 He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?" They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?"

19 "What things?" he asked. "About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.

And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus."

25 He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. 28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther.

29 But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight.

32 They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" 33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread."

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Before his crucifixion, our Lord Jesus Christ celebrated Passover with his disciples, which we call the Last Supper. It was there that the Lord broke the bread and gave it to his disciples saying, "Do this in memory of me." He was in effect changing the Jewish Passover rite into the Holy Mass where we celebrate the Holy Eucharist. This was the dramatic shift from the Old Testament where many of its teachings are concealed and shift into the New Testament where our Lord Jesus Christ reveals everything.

This story about the Lord meeting Cleopas on the road to Emmaus shows how our Lord encapsulates in that walk what was written or prophesied about the Messiah from the time of Moses to the Prophets. In Isaiah 53, we read about the suffering servant, which was a very accurate prophesy of what our Lord Jesus Christ suffered under the Jews during his crucifixion. But more importantly is that, after their talk on the road to Emmaus, they recognized the Lord in the breaking of the bread! This was the Lord revealed in the Eucharist during the Holy Mass!

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For email responses to this article, write to vsbobita@moscom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.