Soaking in the Resurrection #2

But then this stranger began to speak, challenging and admonishing us for being slow to believe all that the

prophets had said, pointing out that it was necessary that the Christ should suffer before entering into glory.

He seemed a wise man and he understood things in a way that I had not had insight into before. As we

neared Emmaus, the sun was setting, so Cleopas and I invited him to stay with us. We were only going to

have a simple meal, but it turned out to be the most extraordinary experience of my life. We sat down at the

table and placed the crusty round loaf of bread in the centre. This man, he came to table with us, and as he

picked up the bread, he blessed and broke it. As he gave it to us, my vision suddenly became clearer than

ever before. This stranger was actually Jesus, meaning it was true that he was alive. This experience

changed me in unspeakable ways, and I rushed back to Jerusalem with Cleopas to assure others that he had

truly risen.

So what does my experience have to do with you? I wonder if you have ever walked away from Jerusalem.

And before you tell me that you have never travelled there, understand Jerusalem to be a metaphor for

walking away from a situation that has brought great pain, confusion, disappointment in your life.

Understand Jerusalem to be a place, person or situation that you just feel you need to escape from.

Understand Jerusalem to be a place where hopes seem to have been shattered. Understand Jerusalem to be

a place filled with visual reminders that make it difficult to get through the day.

 Maybe your Jerusalem is in the area of your career, that it has not been what you thought, or opportunities

have seemed not to come your way, or it has just not been what you expected. Maybe your Jerusalem is a

relationship that has been difficult, or even failed. Maybe your Jerusalem is some expectations that have

been shattered, or a prayer that has seemed unanswered -and all you want to do is to escape the pain it

brings. Maybe your Jerusalem is a painful experience of being betrayed. Maybe your Jerusalem is feeling

like you are not enough. Maybe your Jerusalem is a sense of inadequacy or failure.

And what is more, understand that maybe, unlike me, you never made a conscious decision to leave

Jerusalem, perhaps it started by you wondering around and now some weeks, months or years later you find

yourself wandering a dusty road.

What ever your reason for putting distance between yourself and Jerusalem, or whatever it means for you to

have discovered that you are now far from Jerusalem, I want to remind you that maybe Jesus wants to meet

you on the road too. It is true that Cleopas and I did not recognize him until he broke bread, and that it was

only later that we could articulate that burning feeling we had felt in our hearts as he spoke to us, but let my

story be a reminder to you to that he wants to break bread with you as well, and that he is present while you

are still walking the road, perhaps longing for the taste of a meal of crunchy bread with him. He is present

and wants to break bread in the midst of your pain, disappointment, regret, failed expectations, sense of

inadequacy. I want my story to remind you to seek him, and to ask him to break bread with you, to ask him to

show himself to you, and to be strong and keep walking even when you are weary and your vision seems

cloudy. Trust that he will come and break bread with you, that he will reveal himself to you and show you

just how present he is in whatever urges you to leave Jerusalem.

So keep walking, even when your vision is cloudy, keep walking when your mind tells you he is present but

your heart is not so sure, keep walking, even if it feels like you have to wait forever for the experience of him

revealing himself in your situation through breaking bread.

I invite you now to take a moment to reflect on your experience of walking along the road to Emmaus – is

there something that stands out – a disappointment, failed expectations, an experience of feeling like Jesus is

not with you – anything where you long to feel and experience his resurrection power, anything where you

really want to have a bread-breaking encounter. Spend some time with Jesus talking about this.