O God be in my mouth as I speak for you and fill this place with your great grace that we may leave this place less of what we used to be and more of what we ought to be, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Then their eyes were
opened and he vanished from their sight.
Some of you this morning might recall the old 70’s television show, “Name that Tune”. Anyone remember it?
Contestants would bet against one another on who could name a song with the fewest number of notes given.
Folks had clues to the songs, for example this song was
used in a movie in the year 1971…..or this song was made popular by Sonny and
This morning, I wanted to do a slight variation on the show by giving you a theme song and then asking you what television show pops into your mind.
Okay Ingrid, take it away.
Yes….this morning the Lone Ranger rides again at
Some of you will remember the Lone Ranger from his early days on Television in the 1950’s….
But the Masked Man and Tonto did have something of a
renaissance in the 1970’s when Channel 2 in
This was when I became a big fan, and he was always one of my favorites.
By the way for all the trivia buffs in the congregation, anybody knows the Lone Ranger’s real name, Dan Reid.
I am sure that most of you remember the voice over introduction with those magical words, return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, the Lone Ranger rides again…
You might also recall that the Lone Ranger had one big problem when it came to fighting injustice.
Most folks didn’t understand why a good guy needed to wear a mask. That was always a re-occurring plot device in the old series. How do you trust a masked man?
Whenever this question came up though, the Lone Ranger would just show the town folks his silver bullets, and they instantly knew he was a good guy.
He also had a remarkable knack for shooting the guns out of the bad guys hands. The good old days of television violence.
Another reason I always liked the Lone Ranger is that he was completely selfless.
He never stuck around to be thanked. He would do what was needed, jump back on Silver and get out of town.
And each show ended with the grateful town folk standing around saying to one another, “who was that masked man?”
And some bright kid would always say, why that’s the Lone Ranger.
This gave a wonderful element of mystery to the old show.
He was there one moment, gone the next, and folks were never quite sure when he would show up again to save the day.
This same element of mystery is present in our Lord’s resurrection appearances that we hear in church during the Easter season.
On Easter Sunday, Jesus appears to Mary in the early morning hours and she mistakes him for a gardener.
Before he disappears, he says don’t try and hold onto me yet, but tell the others I will meet them later.
Last Sunday there was an element of mystery as the disciples all huddle behind locked doors, and suddenly Jesus appears among them, bestows the Holy Spirit on his disciples but then quick as a flash is gone again.
There are similar elements of mystery (and surprise) when we hear the wonderful gospel story of the two disciples walking along the road to Emmaus.
As they travel to the small town outside
He asks them to explain why they are so sad. The unknown stranger listens but then begins to tell the two disciples they are wrong about their understanding of the Messiah’s role.
By the end of our story this unknown stranger has lifted their hearts and when they are enjoying dinner he breaks bread and is miraculously revealed to them as the risen Jesus.
Now whenever, I have read this story, I always have three different questions.
First if these disciples knew the tomb was empty, why did they leave town.
The second question is, why does Jesus, choose to waste his time visiting people who are fleeing the scene?
And finally why does our Lord choose to do the secret identity thing with these disciples?
Now these three questions are a good starting point for helping us to grasp the inner meaning of this intriguing story.
First, I suspect that the main reason the disciples
decided to leave
They knew what the Romans had done to Jesus and as friends of a dead criminal, they wanted to put as much distance between the Roman army and themselves as possible.
And while they may have heard the women found an empty tomb, I am sure they regarded it as idle talk, brought on by the trauma of Jesus’ death.
Also more importantly we have to remember that the two disciples left town not only because they were scared but because they had lost hope.
They had seen their dreams along with Jesus die on a cross.
They could not let themselves believe that there was any possibility that Jesus was truly alive. They were too depressed for that.
And this leads to my second question about why Jesus wastes his time with apparently faithfulness disciples.
Hadn’t Jesus always told them he would return? Why hadn’t they believed him?
In telling this powerful story, I think Luke is reminding us that Jesus is always there for us when the chips are down.
None of us should ever think that Jesus is wasting his time with Cleopas and the other disciples. Jesus is exactly where he needs to be, offering comfort and hope to those that need him.
The God of Luke’s Gospel is a God of hope. A God who reaches out to those caught up in despair and renews their spirit and gives them courage to rise again.
And finally to my final question, why does our Lord choose to hide his identity. You will recall this is a major part of the dramatic tension present in the story.
Partly I think the explanation is found in the words of the disciples who discounted the women’s testimony and did not believe that he had actually risen.
These people were not expecting to see Jesus on the road.
Jesus perhaps kept their eyes from being open. (When I have seen this story on television, sometimes Jesus’ identity is hidden by a hood which he then lifts when he breaks bread.) But that doesn’t explain how he was able to speak with them and teach them.
But really, it was the disciples themselves who failed to see Jesus.
Failed to see that in that critical moment he was with them again.
And this gives us a another key to understanding this Luke’s story.
Jesus was known to them in the breaking of the bread. That was the moment he showed them his own version of silver bullets.
This makes our own presence today at worship not just a time when we go through the motions (of baptism) and church.
No this morning as the church, we (baptize) break bread, bless wine and once again call upon our Lord to be present with us.
We are not returning to those “thrilling days of yesteryear”. No for us as Christ’s body this moment contains all moments.
We are here to encounter Jesus, to recognize him in those around us and to capture again, a vision of hope, and renew our call to serve the world in Christ’s name.
This is what happens (when we baptize) when we break bread together as the church.
In the early church they had an expression Maranatha, it is Aramaic for “Our Lord come” . The phrase is scattered throughout the New Testament and in early church writing.
Everyone try saying.
This is the way we should always live.
Watchful, expectant and ready.
Maranatha