The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Ephphatha Parish of the Deaf
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY
Some time ago I went out to the garage to find a special screwdriver. On the wall above the workbench was a rack holding a dozen or so screwdrivers, and I looked at them, but none of them seemed to be the one I needed to find. So I went back into the house and told my husband that I couldn't find the screwdriver he wanted. He said, "Go look again, it's right in front of you if you just look at the workbench." So I went back out to the garage, and, yes, the right screwdriver was right in front of me on the workbench. I had assumed that all the screwdrivers were on the rack, but this one had been left on the workbench itself, and I had never thought to look any place other than where I expected to find it.
This is a common kind of happening. All of us at one time or another look directly at the thing we are trying to find and don't see it. When we look again, we are mad at ourselves for not seeing that thing the first time we looked.
Today's Gospel is a kind of double example of this temporary blindness that most people have at sometime or the other in their lives.
First, the two disciples who were walking to Emmaus met up with Jesus, and they didn't recognize him. That's the same thing that had happened to Mary Magdalene in the garden near Jesus' tomb that morning...she had met Jesus but thought he was the gardener. Mary had a good excuse. She had seen Jesus die on the cross, and she had probably been among the group that wrapped him in linen and put him in the tomb. She was not expecting to see him alive and walking around, and so her eyes or her mind played tricks on her, and she didn't recognize him simply because she was looking for a dead body, not a living man.
Probably the two disciples walking to Emmaus had a similar reason for not recognizing Jesus when he caught up with them. They were not expecting to see him alive and walking along the road; their conversation makes it clear that they think he is still dead. They had heard what the women who visited the tomb had said, but they didn't really believe the
women's' story, and so they had no reason to think that Jesus was truly alive. They saw him but did not recognize him.
Then, there's the conversation they had with Jesus as they walked along. It's clear
from what they say to Jesus that they had been among those people who had expected the Messiah to come as a conquering hero and defeat the Roman army of occupation, chase the Romans out of Israel, and restore the old kingdom of Israel, probably with some descendent of King David as the new King. They had seen Jesus die on the cross, and felt sick about it...all their dreams and hopes died with him. And now they were going home to take up their old life again, and forget the dreams of glory they had about Jesus becoming the new King. To them, that was the only kind of Messiah that made sense, although like all Jewish boys they had gone to synagogue school and learned their Bible.
So, Jesus led them step by step through the Scriptures (the ones that we now call the Old Testament). He pointed out God's promises about a Messiah. He pointed out the prophets' explanations that the Messiah would indeed save Israel, but that first the Messiah would have to suffer and die and would rise to life again on the third day after dying. He pointed out that part of the suffering the Messiah would endure would include torture and a shameful, painful death. They knew these things already, but they were so sure that the Messiah would kick out the Roman army of occupation, they had completely ignored or overlooked these other prophecies. All they could think about was that the Messiah would save Israel, and how else would he do it than by a political and military action? That was all that made sense to them.
And so they arrived at the town of Emmaus, and Jesus made ready to continue his journey. But the two disciples insisted that he stop and have dinner with them; it was late in the day and it had been a long walk, and they assumed Jesus was as hungry as they were. They sat down at table, and since Jesus was a guest, he was invited to say the blessing over the bread which every Jew says at every meal, even today: Ruler of the Universe, Lord, we give you thanks for wheat, which you have given us for bread. Jesus took the bread in his hands and said the blessing, and broke it so that each would have a piece. All of a sudden, they KNEW, without a doubt, that this was Jesus, and that he was very much alive. Something about the way he held the bread and broke it, or something about the way that he pronounced the blessing, hit them hard: this is the same way Jesus had said the blessing last Thursday night in the upper room! This is Jesus! Jesus is alive!
Just as the realization came to them, Jesus suddenly disappeared. The two looked at each other in shock for a moment, and then got up, reached for their cloaks, and hurried back to Jerusalem to tell the others. And when they got there, they found that Jesus had been with the others, in Jerusalem, that evening, too, and they also were filled with the excitement and joy of knowing Jesus to be alive.
You see how important it is for us to look at things without prejudice or pre-assumptions: to look at people, not at whom we expect to see, but who is really there; to look at things, not where we think they will be, but seeking to really see and locate them; to read our Bibles and listen to teachings with an open mind, not looking for what we want to find there or what we hope will happen, but paying attention to what is actually written or said and what it really means, not what we dream or hope it means. Nine tenths of the trouble of society comes about because we act upon what we THINK we know, what we THINK we heard, what we ASSUME will happen, or what we DREAM will happen. It's a wonderful thing to dream, and to work to make our dreams come true, but it is very important that we start with the reality that is there, not with the assumptions and guesses and half-remembered things that we think are probably true. The truth, in today's Gospel, is clear: Jesus is alive, and everything that had happened to him had been foretold by the Bible. But that was not what so many people at the time wanted to hear, and so they ignored the reality, and so much of the pain and sorrow they felt was unnecessary. Amen.
