Jesus Reveals Himself
JESUS REVEALS HIMSELF
LUKE 24:25-35
What was the secret of the disciples’ joy?
The story moves naturally and convincingly to its climax. It has been widely rendered in art, especially that of the stained-glass window. And in such representation it is not the arid Judean landscape which finds a place, but the trees of Europe and America, “the oak, and the ash, and the weeping-willow tree.” It is altogether appropriate. Christ still walks the road with those who are eager for his company. They are still dull and slow of heart to apprehend all his plans and purposes. He thrusts his presence on none, but is glad to be the guest of any home which opens doors of welcome to him. “Thoughtless men,” he said. “Fools” is too strong a word. It must have been a lesson indeed to hear the risen Christ unravel the thread of his own foretelling from the Old Testament. Before turning from this vivid Gospel, an hour should be found with concordance and reference Bible to retrace some of the path of that late afternoon’s instruction.
Realization burst upon them as he broke the bread. Perhaps it was only then that they saw the torn and ravaged hands. Perhaps a familiar gesture revealed him. Weariness forgotten, they hurried the seven miles back to Jerusalem to find the eleven. They, too, were agog with strange and thrilling news. The appearance to Peter, mentioned here and in 1 Corinthians 15:5, is nowhere detailed in the New Testament. Perhaps Mark would have told it, had he had time to finish his hastily concluded Gospel. Perhaps the words of that interview were too painful or private, perhaps too personal, for common knowledge and publicity.
But note the artlessness of the whole narrative. It is told naturally and gracefully. Word and incident bear the marks of truth and the manner of the eyewitness. This is not fiction. Prose fiction, indeed, was hardly born and its rare examples in Mediterranean literature have none of the simple and delightful realism which mark this narrative. Nor could the walkers of the Emmaus road, and the group which they sought in Jerusalem, be easily deceived in such collective fashion.
Notes 24:26: they had failed to link the idea of the Suffering Servant with that of the Victorious Messiah. 24:27: see refs. in RSV margin. 24:34: see Mark 16:7.