THE EMMAUS EXPERIENCE

HOMILY FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER, YEAR A

Rev. Fr. Ezekoka Peter Onyekachi

It was not really easy when I chose this topic as the topic of our reflection today. I searched through the Strong’s Concordance of the Bible to discover what the Bible tells us about the city Emmaus, only to be disappointed that it only appeared once in the whole of the Bible, and that is in the Gospel of today (Luke 24:13-35). So, I asked myself: what do I do now? It immediately crossed my mind that Strong did not exhaust the whole of the Bible; the Deutero-canonical books are not part of his consideration. So, I opened my New Jerusalem Bible to scan through the Deutero-canonical Books; lo and behold, I found a twin to the Gospel of Luke 24 in 1 Macabbees 4; Emmaus was mentioned. As I read through it, many questions came to me. Indeed, these questions form the bedrock of my reflection on the Emmaus Experience. 

WHY EMMAUS?

Why were the disciples going to Emmaus? It is most probable that Emmaus was their native city or at least their city of residence. We must not forget that the Passover had just ended; the great national feast that attracted many Jews to Jerusalem. Since, the week of Passover had just been concluded it was highly probable that everyone was returning to his city of residence to continue work after the Sabbath day. This is where we come to understand fully that this incident happened on the first day of the week, which is the Sunday after the Sabbath Saturday. Thus, people returned home to their working places to continue with their daily routine. Cleopas and his friend were also among these people that were returning home, though they were different. They were disciples of Christ, and the passion of Christ must have touched them so much. As they returned, they discussed their experiences, the early apparitions of the morning, and the stories told by the women and the apostles. However, they did this like people who had lost hope and whose zeal has been shattered about the liberation that the Messiah would bring. They had thought him to be a great prophet and a great redeemer. But, what type of redemption were they thinking about? Why was Jesus interested in these people heading to Emmaus? These questions can only be cleared if we go back to an aspect of the historicity of the city, Emmaus.

The only explicit mention apart from the gospel of Luke and apart from the exegetical connotations to the Hebrew name Hamat concerning the city of Emmaus was in the 1^st book of Maccabees (as clarified above). It is mentioned here in the context of the Jewish revolt against the Hellenistic Syrian King Antiochus IV. The king of Syria struggled to unify his empire (ca. 167-151BC), profited from factions within Judaism to try to stamp out the Jewish way of life. This attempt is known as hellenization; that is, to impose a Greek-style religion and culture on other cultures. The attempt made by this king met serious opposition, led by Mattathias and his sons (a priestly family from a small village) who soon became known as the Maccabees or hammers. They were known to have had such reckless courage and faith in the unfailing help of God. The fourth chapter of the first book of Maccabees (which is one of the deuterocanonical books of the Bible) spoke about a battle that was fought in Emmaus. In Emmaus was an army to guide against the Judaist faith from being practiced. A man named Judas was leading the Jewish army as a man named Gorgias was leading the Gentile army. The army of Gorgias outwitted the army of Judas by number and armoury, but Judas pitched his faith in the Lord and advised his army not to panic, but to recount how Yahweh delivered them from the hands of Pharaoh during the crossing of the red sea. They called on the Lord, and moved in for battle and defeated Gorgias and his gentile army. Gorgias fled with his remaining troop far away. Judas and his army then returned chanting songs of praise to heaven (cf. 1 Mac. 4:1-27). 

We can now imagine the type of redemption the people of Emmaus dreamt for. It was barely 150 years after the Maccabean revolt, and thus the war and its effects were still fresh in their memories. Having stamped out their love for their religious freedom many years ago, they expected a Messiah who would fight for and gain their political freedom. These people from Emmaus can be understood as deeply religious. The fact that the battle ground against any religious invasion was in that city gives credit to this allusion. Surely, the inhabitants of the city joined the fight and helped to destroy Gorgian and his troops because of their love for Yahweh. And when the Messiah came who they expected to be the one that will give them the political freedom and solidify their religious freedom, it could be imagined that many from that city would easily give in as His disciples. Therefore, apart from the fact that they were the disciples of Jesus, we must also state that there was an enabling ground for the meeting of Jesus with these disciples. They would understand him more because of the history connected to Emmaus and because of their knowledge of the Scriptures, which only needed to be expanded. Jesus interpreted the Scriptures to them and they kept on understanding. 

Grace builds on nature, and perfects it. For us to understand the workings of God, we must develop great love and zeal for Him. We expect God to always come into our situations without been disposed. We expect God to visit us when we have failed to give him our address. God desires that we show courage in our belief of him. He disregards cowardice. Indeed, the courage inherent in the history of this people of Emmaus was noticed, but in a more luminous and loquacious manner in the speech of Peter in the First Reading (Acts 2:14.22-33) wherein he exacerbated with great aura of decidedness the power of the resurrection of Christ. The courage of Peter was got from the power of the resurrection where as the courage of the inhabitants of Emmaus was got from their exclusive love for Judaism and for freedom. But the greatest expression of freedom was the freedom from the shackles of death which is resurrection. The power that ensued from this freedom ignited in Peter the message that he released to the inhabitants of Jerusalem the power that creates peace and not the power that seeks war.

FROM JERUSALEM TO EMMAUS AND BACK TO JERUSALEM

Cleopas and his companion must have felt disappointed. Their hopes and dreams were shattered. Remember, they said: we were hoping that he was the one who was going to rescue Israel. Jesus came suddenly and talked with them, and dispelled the darkness that beclouded their minds. Their minds were open but their eyes were not. They seem to have needed another encounter for their spiritual eyes to open as well for the Messianic knowledge. The Eucharist is the point of ultimate divine revelatory encounter which comes after the liturgy of the word. We must stress it here that any gathering without the Eucharist does not qualify as Holy Mass. Holy Mass must flow from the Word to the Eucharist for the deep encounter to be made. The Eucharist is the sacrament of unity. Immediately the bread was broken and their eyes were opened, they sought once more the company of the apostles.

That was why Jesus wanted these disciples not to remain in Emmaus because in Emmaus you seek freedom but in the wrong way, but going back to Jerusalem (the home of peace), you seek freedom in the most perfect way. Hence, it was at the breaking of the bread that they recognized it was Jesus, and hurried back to Jerusalem, the home of the apostles which is the home of unity. Divine revelation is meant for unity, and never for disunity. They had tried to leave the home which signified unity for Emmaus most probably to continue their normal life. But Jesus through the revelation of Himself to them sends them back to Jerusalem to testify to the power of the resurrection and to bear his witnesses to him. The Christian message is never fully ours until it is shared with some others. This message was necessary for the apostles that they may be glued more to one another in courage and confidence of the power of their master; that sort of confidence the first epistle of Peter (1:17-21) talks about in the Second Reading.

Many of us have left Jerusalem for places which do not promote Christian unity, and do not enhance the unity we needed to have shared with our family members (like Cleopas and his companion left for Emmaus). Many of us have even failed to give Jesus the opportunity to walk with us so as to enlighten us (unlike Cleopas and his companion). Many of us have blocked our eyes consciously to disregard Jesus even as he reveals himself to us in the breaking of the bread (unlike Cleopas and his companion). Many of us have decided never to proclaim Christ by words and deeds (unlike Cleopas and his companion who hurried proclaimed Him). Many have also decided never to rejoin the Church after having experienced revelation, and instead gone to spread the news of their experience in their own way and their chosen cities (unlike Cleopas and his companion who went straight back to Jerusalem to tell the story in the company of the apostles). The Emmaus experience must make us to work for our freedom from sin and death. It makes us to regain the courage which may have been taken away from us out of intimidation. It leads us to appreciate the Scriptures and to be disposed for the knowledge of the Scriptures. Finally, the Emmaus experience must make us to work for Christian unity, in the awareness that divine revelation is at the service of the unity of the people of God and not for selfish aggrandizement. May God give us the grace of this Emmaus experience this week and ever. Amen. Happy new week. God bless you.