Collect and Readings for The Third Sunday of Easter – Zephaniah 3.14-end, 15.20-21, Psalm 116.1-7, 10- end, 1 Peter 1.17-23, Acts 2.14a, 36-41, Luke 24.13-35
The Prayer for today Almighty Father, who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples with the sight of the risen Lord: give us such knowledge of his presence with us, that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life and serve you continually in righteousness and truth; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Once again our first reading takes us into the middle of a crowd of people who are listening, devastated, to Peter, as he speaks powerfully about who Jesus is, and the terrible truth begins to dawn on them that they have all been instrumental in annihilating the Messiah, the hope of the nations. Yet Peter is not proclaiming God’s imminent judgement but his fulsome mercy and offer of forgiveness. Somehow this God of limitless love is able to take anything and transform it; we can know this for certain because in Jesus he has taken death itself – and a cursed death – and turned it into the Resurrection, with new and lasting life.
The Psalm for today celebrates that wonderful sense of release as God frees us from our chains, whatever they are; and in his letter, Peter writes of the cost of our freeing, which points to such and extraordinary love that it draws out love in us both towards God and towards one another.
We are then taken back to that period of numb misery after the crucifixion, when all hope seemed dead for ever. We are on a road, with two grieving and confused disciples of Jesus, walking away from Jerusalem towards the town of Emmaus where they lived. Why was it that Jesus drew alongside these particular people, we may wonder. Perhaps his heart went out to them as a shepherd might look at his sheep who are in pain and lost and don’t understand. Certainly Cleophas, who presumably shared this detailed account with Luke, recognises the low point their faith has reached and doesn’t try to hide that.
Jesus walks along in the same direction they are going, leading them patiently and carefully to see the hints and clues in the scriptures which point to the necessity for the Messiah to suffer and die before being glorified. When they near their home, Jesus gives them the option of taking his words thus far and no further. He never forces his company on us. But the disciples can’t bear to part from him now, and as he breaks bread they suddenly realise who he is, at which moment he no longer needs to be visible to them. They rush straight back, seven or eight miles to Jerusalem, in their utter joy and excitement.
With us, too, Jesus draws alongside and helps us understand the words of scripture. He gives us the option of walking with him no further. And whenever we invite him to stay, he comes in and shares bread with us. Whenever we meet together and break bread in Jesus’ name, Jesus is there in person among us, and very often that presence is almost tangible as we sense his love and his peace.
Some things to reflect on:
• What guidelines about evangelism can we learn from the way Jesus helps the two disciples from Emmaus?
• How can we help newcomers, visitors and desensitised habitual churchgoers in our churches to recognise Jesus in the breaking of bread?
God bless
Rev’d Fiona Robinson
