THE SCRIPTURES LEAD TO JESUS CHRIST

III SUNDAY OF EASTER: Lk 24:13-35

The experience of the two disciples on a journey to Emmaus is the experience of every Christian. Those two disciples going back to the village were filled with disappointment and hopelessness. The time they had moved around with Jesus remained in their hearts as a sweet but empty dream. They had wasted their time and believed in vain. The dream ended up in a nightmare, and they were running away from it.

What is interesting is that in their distress, they allowed a stranger into their lives, sharing with him their disappointment and being challenged by him in return. He challenged them with the Scriptures. We may even be surprised at the rudeness of that stranger who dared to scold them, saying: “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!” (Lk 24:25). Like all the Jews, the disciples were not able to understand the Scriptures, even though they heard them being read every Saturday in their synagogues. Since their early childhood, they had dreamt with a mighty Messiah who would exercise his power in destroying all the enemies of the nation and in restoring the glory of Israel, making of her the guide of all the peoples of the world. This stranger considered such dreams a foolishness. The prophets had spoken of something else: the suffering the Messiah had to go through before entering into “his glory” (Lk 24:26).

And the stranger - the disciples had not been able to recognise him yet - went on explaining the Scriptures and showing how they speak about the Christ. The Scriptures lead to Christ, preparing our hearts and our minds to recognise him and to follow him. And Christ is the key for the interpretation of the Old Testament, so that everything must be read through Christ. Many difficult passages only make sense when understood in the light of Jesus Christ.

It is true that those two disciples were not able to recognise Jesus only with the Scriptures. To know that Jesus is alive and that he is among us, they needed the experience of the Eucharist, when they received the bread of life from the hands of Jesus himself. However, the Scriptures paved the way for that recognition. We must remember that Jesus is the Word, and that he speaks to us through the Scriptures. Listening to him, our hearts will be filled with joy and expectancy, ready to welcome the one who sets us free.