Wednesday, 23 April 2025

Thought for the Day - The Road to Everywhere

Emmaus by Janet Brooks Gerloff, 1992

A Thought for the Day given at a lunchtime service of Holy Communion at St-Giles-in-the-Fields on Wednesday 23rd April 2025 based on the text of Luke 24.13-35.


Archaeologists haven’t yet been able to determine conclusively where Emmaus was from the number of possible sites put forward over the centuries. Tantalisingly, the earliest surviving manuscripts of the gospel text fix its location using different distances from Jerusalem, giving all some foundation for their claim.

Neither have biblical scholars been able to agree on the identity of the unnamed disciple walking with Cleopas - although many have taken a punt. Some suggest it was Simon Peter, since he is mentioned on the preceding paragraph. Others think it was the gospel writer, Luke, himself. A significant number say the unnamed figure was Cleopas’ wife - drawing a parallel with Adam and Eve - whose eyes were opened to their sin on the first day of creation - as the disciples on the Road to Emmaus had their eyes opened to salvation in the resurrected Christ on the first day of the new creation. 

The mystery surrounding place and people has led many to conceive of the road to Emmaus as the road to anywhere - or everywhere. A journey that we can all take. On the evening of the day of Christ’s resurrection, we are invited into the story – to become the unnamed disciple and join the journey of faith.

The Archbishop of York has said that more people have become Christians on the Road to Emmaus than the Road to Damascus - slowly becoming aware of Jesus walking alongside us - always present but often unnoticed. As the disciples shared their disappointment after the death of Jesus; the one they trusted would redeem Israel - questioning their faith and belief as they walked along the dusty road, they noticed now their hearts warmed as he drew alongside them. Just as we may become more conscious of the presence of Jesus in moments when we are most aware of our brokenness and despair. It was then that Jesus reveals how the story of salvation - of his life, death and resurrection - is the fulfilment of the scriptures, from the time of Moses onwards.

But the Christian faith is more than awareness of the divine - more than knowledge of the God’s saving work as revealed in the scriptures - it is about actively following in the footsteps of Jesus. Through sharing a meal and breaking bread together, Jesus reveals how the story of the lives of the disciples are bound together with his, in the present.

The disciples’ encounter with Jesus on the Emmaus Road is a place where doubts and hopes are shared and connections made as the stories of their lives are made known through and in the story of the risen Christ, revealed in scripture and in sacrament.

The journey to anywhere and everywhere with an anonymous companion has become intimate and specific - both communal and personal. The story of our living faith in Jesus Christ.

It has become this...our church.


Image : Emmaus by Janet Brooks Gerloff, 1992

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