The Ouse Valley Benefice

Walking the Road to Emmaus

Imagine walking down a road, drowning in grief, your hope destroyed. This was the reality for the two who were traveling to Emmaus. They were so downcast and dejected that they were completely blind to the living Christ walking right beside them. How often, in our own lives, do we find ourselves with heads downcast and a veil hiding the very presence of God?

The disciples had lost all hope, convinced that their expected victory had come crashing down at the cross. They saw the certainty of death, but missed the radical possibility of the resurrection. Jesus, the stranger on the road, eventually confronted their foolishness with a statement: ‘How foolish you are!’. 

Sometimes, what we need to hear might be uncomfortable, but it gets our attention. Jesus' mission was to shift their focus from talking to listening, explaining what the scriptures had been saying about him all along. He wanted to remove the veil and open their eyes through his Word.

Later, when they invited the stranger into their home—and note, it was their invitation, as Jesus waits to be asked—the relationship was transformed. Jesus moved from being a stranger to a companion, a guest, and finally, the host. It was in the breaking of the bread that their blindness left them, and they saw him for who he was.

This passage is often interpreted as highlighting the importance of the Eucharist. While they recognised Jesus at the table, the story actually emphasizes something more profound: Jesus wanted them to recognise him in the scriptures first. The Eucharist on its own is not enough.

The road to Emmaus is the path we walk down every day. We must carry our Bibles, for it is through his Word that Jesus reveals himself to us. And remember, he’s waiting for your invitation, so he can move from being the stranger to our companion and host. May we live as a people who truly know Jesus—both at the table and in his Word—so that others might also encounter him through us. Let that be our prayer today.

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