What is up with That?

Lectionary Reading: Luke 24:13-35

"'Do you want to honor Christ?'
'Then do not glorify him here in the church with silken garments
while neglecting him outside where he is cold and naked'
Archbishop of Constantinople - John Chrysostom (347-407 CE).

The story of Jesus and the walk with the men to Emmaus is a frequent passage for preachers to pull and discuss during Eastertide. We tend to focus on how they didn’t know it was him until he broke the bread (emulating communion, or just a meal), and how they seemed to have lost hope, only to rediscover it once they encountered Christ is his new form. But at some point its time to be truthful and ask the honest question we have been dying to ask since Easter Sunday. The question is:

What is up with that?

Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and she thinks he’s the gardener. She followed and loved him for years, yet she doesn’t recognize him until he says her name.

What’s up with that?

Jesus appears to the men on the road to Emmaus, but they do not recognize them because the Bible says, “they were kept from recognizing him” (v16).

What’s up with that?

Jesus appears the next morning while they are fishing. He calls to them, but they do not know it is him until a large haul of fish comes in the net.

What’s up with that?

Why is it, exactly, that the people who were closest to him, who loved him, and who followed him had no ability to recognize him when he returned to earth? He is capable of revealing himself – in time his voice, his habits (breaking bread), his scars all reveal his true self to his community. Why is he so mysterious to begin with?

To reveal the nature of the truth

There is a famous scene in the novel “Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain where Tom and Huck, fresh from their adventures, sneak back into town just in time to attend their own funeral. Crouching out of visual range, Tom is shocked to see the tears of weeping and wailing that occur on his behalf. Even Aunt Polly has kind words to say about him. Tom is stunned to learn what the people really think.

I think the time after the resurrection allows Jesus to do that same thing. With his beloved community believing he is dead, Jesus can hear what they really think. Jesus always had a little trouble getting people to tell him the truth. “Who do they say that I am?” he asked the disciples once, just to learn what was going on behind his back.

Thinking he is the gardener, Mary of Magdala cries “They have taken my Lord away,” and Jesus learns he is still the Lord of Mary and she still walks his way and wears his yoke. Walking with the men from Emmaus, Jesus gets to hear what they truly think of who he was. He hears how they thought he was a prophet, and would be the one who redeemed Israel, but he was killed and they are disappointed. I doubt they are the only ones.

Imagine how disappointed Jesus must be to hear these travelers and realize that after three years of teaching, they are still getting it all wrong! He’s not a prophet, he’s a savior! He’s not a military leader who cares about government, he’s the son of God who takes away the sin of the world! I sometimes wonder how he feels listening to us when we neglect, reject, and misuse his mission and words. Does he think – 2000 years of teaching, and they are still getting it all wrong!

To experience the joy of revelation

Any teacher will tell you that wading through tons of paperwork, administrative issues, unsupportive parents, uncaring students, and lunch duty are not what they love about teaching. What they love about teaching is the moment – that amazing moment – when the light goes on, and the lesson makes sense, and the student learns. The moment a human learns (hence changes) is so beautiful its worth all the work to get to it. That's when the angels rejoice.

I always sense a certain joy in Jesus when he reveals himself. He sees Mary’s tears change from sorrow to relief to joy. He sees the disciples turn from fear to purpose. He bursts on the scene usually saying “Peace Be With You” – just loving the reaction he gets. There is a little mischief in the post-resurrection Jesus. He disappears on a moment’s notice, and appears without warning through locked doors. In short, he’s loving it. And, after the pain of separation and death, what’s not to love about new life?

Someone asked me once how I knew people would be better and more understanding in heaven. My answer was, “Because the experience of physical death is a life change that won’t leave you the same. If surviving a car accident or fighting cancer can change you – imagine what death does.” Jesus is alive, and his joy in not diminished by the work he has left to do.

Jesus reveals himself to us daily – in the wisdom of a morning devotional reading, in the kind word of a mentor, or a note of encouragement from a friend. Jesus reveals his truth to us when we are lost in the lies of the world, and Jesus reveals the light of God when a dark day threatens to overcome us. Jesus heals us, talks to us, sings with us, laughs with us, breaks bread in our groups, brings us lots of love and calls us by our name. Like his followers in those strange days after Calvary – we get a chance to have the joy of seeing Jesus again and again. Don’t take those for granted. Enjoy them, and praise God for them.

To help us see Jesus in the world

Mary sees a gardener. But he’s really Jesus. The men walking to Emmaus see a traveler whom they ask to stay for dinner so he won’t have to walk at night. But he’s really Jesus. The disciples see some know-it-all man on the shore shouting out fishing tips. But he’s really Jesus.

It could have gone differently. Mary could have thought the gardener was beneath her – a common laborer and ignored him or brushed him off without thought. The men walking to Emmaus could have though the traveler wasn’t informed enough to talk to or a “stranger” who probably didn’t speak their language, best avoided and passed him without out word. The disciples could have dismissed the fishing advice of the ravings of a fool. After all, if he were really a fisherman wouldn’t he have a boat?

But Jesus is training them, and us to see him in the people of the world. Remember this:
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' (Matthew 25).

Jesus is out there in our homes, in our city, and in our world. Jesus wants us to seem him in the hungry lined up at food shelters, and the homeless sleeping in our gardens. Jesus wants us to see him in the “strangers” who speak a different language and need hope, help and compassion. Jesus wants us to see him in the elderly who need a listener, the disabled who need medicine, transportation, and companionship, the victims who need healing and protection, the survivors who need to speak and to help others, the lonely who need love, and the overwhelmed who need peace. Jesus is out there on our roads to Emmaus, work, play, Walmart and the drive we make to church.

So, that’s what’s up. Jesus is waiting to see how we really feel, to reveal himself to us again, and let us see him and serve him in this world.

"'Do you want to honor Christ?'
'Then do not glorify him here in the church with silken garments
while neglecting him outside where he is cold and naked’.”