On the road to Emmaus, on the third day after the Crucifixion, two of the disciples meet a stranger. What are you discussing together as you walk along? He asks.
They stand still, their faces downcast. Are you the only one living in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have happened there in these days? And they relate to Him the events, including the report of the women who went to the tomb and did not find the body.
How slow of heart you are to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ...and beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.
Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us? they later asked themselves after they had recognized Him in the breaking of the bread.
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Fresh from the grave, the only one He has met up to the moment has been Mary Magdalene. Later that evening, He is to appear to His brothers, the Apostles. But now, here are two "disciples," one of them by the name of Cleopas -- not mentioned in the Gospels up to now. Let's, for the sake of argument here, call them ordinary "sinners," -- not because they are like Mary Magdalene or even like Peter. Not because they have done anything wrong that we know of. But only because they are like the rest of us, not yet transformed by grace. The Holy Spirit has not yet been poured out on all flesh, as He will be on the day of Pentecost fifty days from now. As far as we know, they are good Jews; they had been hoping "that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel."
But "sinners" only because in their natural state, under the ministry of the "law," their minds were made "dull," according to 2 Cor. 3. Paul writes:
Now if the ministry that ...was engraved in letters on stone came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?....We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away...And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
The grave clothes are barely off the Christ; it is as if He cannot wait to begin the "ministry of the Spirit," which is to open the Scriptures to His disciples. He wants us to understand all that Scriptures have spoken of Him. He wants to open our minds so that our hearts are burning within us! He wants to make our joy complete. He wants to come close to us on the road, as we are discussing the events of the day! At first, we don't recognize Him as he walks with us, but in further conversation, we begin to feel that something is different. And slowly, like the dawn of creation, the Light begins to dawn in our hearts:
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God...For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Cor. 3).
It is only in the power of the Resurrection that Jesus was able to open minds and hearts. Up to that moment, he could only speak in parables and in ordinary language. He could teach and explain the parables to those who came to Him later, asking for an explanation. But now, in the power of the Resurrection, He can enter behind closed doors, whether physically or spiritually. And in the ordinary conversation on the road, He can begin to open the Scriptures to His disciples. He cannot wait for Pentecost; to those close to Him, He must begin the ministry of glory. He must begin to open their minds to understand all that He is, all that He has gone through.
What are you thinking about? He asks us. And if we are willing to unfold to Him our thoughts, He is ready to enter into conversation with us. And we must be aware of how we are feeling if we are to believe that He is indeed opening to us the meaning of all that has gone before.
