He is Alive and With Us

He is Alive and With Us

Wednesday in the Octave of Easter

April 3, 2013

By Colleen O'Sullivan

And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.  (Jesus asked them what they were discussing and they replied:)  “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him.  But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place.  Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:  they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his Body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive.  Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.”  And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!…  Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”  Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures…  And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight.  (Luke 24:15-16,19b-25a, 26-27, 30-31)

Piety

Alleluia, alleluia.  Christ is risen!

Study

My sister, who moved out of the area recently, texted me a couple of hours after the movers had emptied her old house but several days before they would place the furniture in her new home.  “I’m feeling weird” she wrote.  “Kind of like I just jumped out of the airplane but before the parachute has opened.”

That pretty much sums up much of our human experience.  Our lives are a constant series of endings, transitions and new beginnings.  I don’t know too many people who are at ease in that space between what has been and what will be.  Cleopas and his companion could attest to that.  As they put Jerusalem behind them and head toward Emmaus, they’re in the depths of despair.   What will they do now?  It may have been the first Easter Sunday, but they were psychologically in full Holy Saturday mode, stuck between Jesus’ suffering and death and what had been promised – his Resurrection.  Since their friends didn’t find him when they investigated reports that he had risen, they were leaving.  It was over.  There would be no future with Jesus.  That part of their lives was done with and left behind in Jerusalem.  What on earth were they going to do now?

But the Good News this Easter Week is that Jesus is risen, is alive!  At the very moment these two disciples are at the lowest point in their lives, Jesus is as close to them as he can be.  He’s the stranger encouraging them to talk.  He’s the one who reveals the truth through the Scriptures.  He’s the friend who responds to the invitation to stay with them, to share a meal.  And in the breaking of the bread, Cleopas and his companion see that he is indeed the Risen Lord!  

Action

Easter gives us the assurance that Jesus is alive and always by our side, but especially so when something in our lives has ended – a loved one has passed away, our home has been foreclosed on, good health is no longer ours, whatever fits your life story – and we can’t see the way forward to anything new.  Something new, a resurrection experience, lies ahead, but often we feel lost and lonely in that in-between place.  Talk to Jesus as Cleopas and his friend did.  Share your disappointments and fears.  Then invite the Risen Lord to stay with you.  The Easter message is that you will not be disappointed, for he lives!