Have you ever walked into the movie theater halfway through the movie and you are trying to figure out what is going on? When this happens to me, I usually lean over and ask someone what I missed or what’s going on in the story.
If I walked into a movie halfway through and I asked my 11-year-old son Becket what’s going on with the story, he would probably tell me two different types of information. The first type of information he would give me is the basics of the story that have been clearly explained in the movie. The second type of information, well that’s a bit different. You see, he probably would have watched a film theory video on YouTube about the movie beforehand. So, he would also explain to me the parts of the movie that are not really clear and put forth a theory to give me a lens through which I can look to gain insight into the deeper meaning of what’s likely happening in the story.
If I showed up to Mass today, sat down, and heard the Gospel we just heard proclaimed, I would want to lean over and ask someone “what is going on here in this story? What did I miss?” That’s because we only heard today the second part of what is essentially a two-part story. For this homily, I’m going pretend that you just sat down, heard today’s Gospel reading, leaned over to me, and asked me, “What did I miss with this story?”
Well, the first part of the story, which we did not hear today, talks about two disciples traveling from Jerusalem on the road to Emmaus on Easter Day. So, let’s start off with the first type of information, that which we know for certain about this story. We are told that earlier on Easter Day, Jesus rose from the dead. Then, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and others went to the tomb, saw the stone rolled away, and Jesus was not there. Two men in dazzling white garments appear to them telling them Jesus rose from the dead. They went and told the apostles and other disciples, but they did not believe them. Two of these unbelieving disciples, one of whom is named Cleopas, leave Jerusalem that same day to walk the seven-mile road trip to Emmaus.
Before we go any further in the story, let’s talk about who these two disciples likely are and what their back story might be. These are areas that are less clear in the story and are therefore open for theological debate. Now, when something is unclear in the story, we at Corpus Christi have had a tradition of allowing two artists to use their informed imagination or creative license to develop and depict some theories in their pieces of artwork that are displayed in our church.
So similarly, I have researched what many theologians’ theories are on these unclear parts of the story. I ask you to please allow me to use my informed imagination and some artistic license here as I try to paint a picture with my words of who these two disciples likely are and what may have transpired to turn them from unbelief to belief on their journey. I dare to say that we gathered here at Corpus Christi today may be uniquely positioned to clearly understand this story better than any other believers in centuries. There are three reasons why.
The first reason: to try to figure out who these two disciples are, we can walk over here and look at our gold triptych behind the altar which on the right part depicts these two disciples. The artist both painted and labeled the first disciple as Cleopas, which again the story tells us clearly, and the artist then took some creative license with depicting and labeling the second disciple, because this person is not clearly stated in the story. The artist paints and labels this person as being Cleopas’ wife. Now, many theologians believe that Cleopas is actually St. Joseph’s brother and that his wife was the third Mary, Mary the wife of Clopas, who was at the foot of the cross on Good Friday along with Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene. If this is the case, then as Jesus comes up to walk and talk with these two disciples who are walking on the road to Emmaus, Jesus would have been walking and talking with his Uncle Cleopas and his Aunt Mary. For the purpose of telling this story, please allow me to call these two disciples Uncle Cleopas and Aunt Mary.
The strange thing is that we are told by the Gospel writer Luke that “their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.” Hmm. Here are these two unbelieving disciples. As presumably their resurrected nephew Jesus is walking with them and talking to them, they still look downcast, and their eyes are prevented from recognizing him. This sure is strange. Why would they be downcast as they were just told earlier in the day that Jesus rose from the dead and why would their eyes have been prevented from recognizing him? To try to answer these questions, let’s move on to a second piece of artwork here at Corpus Christi.
Let’s look at the tapestry of Jesus hanging on the cross three days earlier on Good Friday. This artist took some artistic license as well. Notice how dark the background is. Why would it be that dark at 3 in the afternoon when Jesus died on the cross? We are told in scripture that “the sun’s light failed.” We in Toledo surely know how dark it gets on a cloudy afternoon, but the shade of this darkness is way darker than just a cloudy afternoon.
This brings us to the third reason we gathered here in Toledo are uniquely positioned today to understand this story maybe clearer than others have understood it in recent centuries. We, like Aunt Mary, who many believe just days before was at the foot of the cross, have recently experienced what it is like to see a solar eclipse.
The difference between Aunt Mary about 2,000 years ago and us a few days ago is that I’m pretty sure Aunt Mary didn’t have solar eclipse glasses to watch the solar eclipse. So, what happens if you are staring at the sun without wearing eclipse glasses? Well, one thing is you experience light sensitivity, which would explain why Aunt Mary’s and Uncle Cleopas’ eyes would be downcast that Easter Day instead of looking up toward the sun on Easter Sunday as they were talking with Jesus. People who look at the sun without eclipse glasses also experience blurry vision, blind spots, dim vision, and distorted vision. This could explain why their eyes were prevented from recognizing Jesus.
Next in the story, Aunt Mary and Uncle Cleopas invite Jesus to enter under their roof and something amazing happens. Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, gave it to them, and then their eyes were opened. Could this be the first time the healing power of the Eucharist and the first healing miracle of the resurrected Christ are demonstrated? I think so, because as their eyes were opened, they recognized him, and they came to believe in his resurrection.
Then, Jesus vanished. Why did Jesus vanish? I think it’s because Jesus knows that if he had stayed there with them, his Aunt Mary and Uncle Cleopas would have just wanted to stay there as simply believers. Jesus didn’t want them to simply stay there as just believers. Jesus had helped them go from being unbelievers to being believers. Now, Jesus wants to take them from being believers to being witnesses.
Jesus wants them to go out and become witnesses sharing the good news with others. So, from there, the two disciples make the three-hour trip from Emmaus back to Jerusalem to witness to the apostles and other disciples there about the good news of seeing the resurrected Jesus in the breaking of the bread. Then, even though the doors were locked, Jesus miraculously appears in their midst, because Jesus tells us that wherever two or three are gathered in his name, he is in the midst of them.
Friends, this story is very relevant to our lives here today. As we too gather just days after the eclipse, perhaps unsure if we believe fully in the good news we have heard about Jesus and perhaps struggling to recognize how Jesus is walking and talking with us on our journeys through this life, we too have the opportunity to ask Jesus to enter under our roof. May our eyes also be opened to recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread here today. May we too come to believe in his resurrection. May we too be a people compelled to come together to share this good news with each other so that Jesus can miraculously appear in our midst. Then, may we too go out to become witnesses to others.