Our First Reading today (Acts 2:14, 22-33) is a presentation of the “kerygma,” this being the preaching that St. Peter gave to the pilgrims who were in Jerusalem for the Jewish feast of Pentecost. Remember that Pentecost was a Jewish feast celebrated 50 days after Passover before it became a Christian feast celebrated 50 days after Easter and marking the coming of the Holy Spirit. Many of the important themes of the writings of Saint Luke are contained in this reading from the Acts of the Apostles. The first and most important is that God had a plan that was fulfilled in the ministry of Jesus. It had been foretold by the prophets of the Old Testament. The second theme is that those who crucified Jesus had rejected the plan of God. They are described as being “lawless men.” The third theme, found throughout the Scriptures, is that God would not let the evil deeds of the Jewish leaders destroy his plan. God destroyed their evil designs by raising Jesus from the dead. All of these deeds are described in terms that Peter’s listeners could understand. Peter reminds them that they were eyewitnesses to many of the events. They had a special responsibility to respond to the wondrous deeds that God had worked in their midst. Peter speaks of the promise that David would never see the corruption of death; yet he did die. Peter states that this had been said not for David but for Jesus. He was the one whose flesh did not see corruption. God raised him from the dead. Peter reminds them that they are all witnesses to this. They were also witnesses to the promise of the Holy Spirit whose descent upon the disciples had just taken place. It is interesting that most of the New Testament texts that speak of the Resurrection of Jesus speak of the Father having raised him and not of him rising under his own power. The Father exalted him by raising him and by calling him to sit at his right in glory.
The Gospel of Luke is one of the most artistic gospels in presenting the life and mission of Jesus. It often has symbolic scenes that are both incredibly beautiful and powerfully meaningful. This is especially true of today's account of the postResurrection appearance of Jesus to the two disciples who were on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
Though they two did not recognize the resurrected Jesus, he came to them through Word and Sacrament. First, as they were walking along, Jesus interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures. Second, when they arrived at their destination and invited Jesus to stay the night with them, their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus through the action of the “breaking of the bread,” a liturgical term used in the early Church to describe what happens when we celebrate the Holy Eucharist. Thus, when early Christian readers would read this phrase in this story, they would immediately associate it with the celebration of the Eucharist. We should notice in this account that Jesus seems to appear in two different places at the same time for while he was speaking with the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he also was appearing to Simon Peter in Jerusalem. Our glorified body will not be subject to the limitations of the earthly body. We should also notice that the disciples do not recognize Jesus until late in the story. In some Resurrection narratives, the disciples immediately recognize Jesus. In others, he is not recognized. Jesus's body is a continuity of his earthly body but is also changed and glorified. The disciples speak of how their hearts burned within them while Jesus explained the scriptures along the way. Even before Jesus broke bread with them, he was present to them in the Word of God.