How Slow of Heart to Believe

Gospel: Luke 24: 13-35

Let us revisit our friends from Emmaus, these men slow to learn and recognize the presence of Jesus in their very midst.  Here it is in the daylight and Jesus walks among them explaining the scriptures to them - and all the while they cannot see who it is who walks among them.  It is, ironically, in the evening when it is dark that they come to know Jesus' presence among them when he breaks the bread and is in communion with them through table fellowship.  

How different this was from Mary Magdalene's recognition of Jesus in the garden that first morning.  At the mere sound of her name she know the Lord; nothing else was needed.  But lest we get too judgmental on our friends at Emmaus we might well see ourselves in them.  How slow have we been to recognize the Lord in our midst, in our neighbor, in the stranger, in the life of every person we meet?

It is also worth considering that our faith is about authentic deeds of fellowship and mercy and love.  It is more about the breaking of bread than in words we utter, for we come to discover authentic Christian faith lived in deeds more than in preached words.  Consider which is more powerful: a sermon on loving our enemy, or a man walking into the jail cell of his would-be killer to forgive him?  If we are to preach an Easter message let it be in raising up another with our kind deeds and works of love and mercy.