The longest walk in the history
has become the shortest seven miles ever walked, a walk that turned a
conversation of pain and confusion into a conversation that illumined and
excited the two disciples leaving their hearts burning within themselves. It
was a faith journey with the risen Lord as found in Luke 24: 13 - 35
Resurrection is a challenge to
the boundaries and limits of possibilities.
Every stage in our life is increased
assumption. These presuppositions turn out to be our worst enemy. The numbers
of conclusions in our life are based on the things we have never tried.
Therefore to participate in the resurrection of Christ or to lead a resurrected
life is to question our assumptions. The two disciples are perplexed and
confused. Disbelief has overpowered them. They are leaving Jerusalem because
they are quite disillusioned of the disturbing events. They have been talking
about it for hours, rehearsing the possibilities, arguing about the details,
sparring with one another about the theological nuances of an empty tomb.
Buried beneath their verbal skirmish, there seems to be a deep yearning and a
holy hunger. Intimately intertwined with their skepticism are their hope -- and
their need for God to be alive and present. But the baggage of their doubt/
presuppositions impedes the fervor of their faith. And so they fail to
recognize Jesus. The stranger on the road to Emmaus made them question their
assumptions. He took the skepticism and the curiosity of the disciples and wove
them into the fabric of scripture. He takes them back through Moses and the
prophets and the Psalms. The picture Jesus paints of the Jerusalem events is
radically different. It ends, not with failure, but with triumph over death,
with glory. The intersection
of the "tradition" with the immediacy of his own flesh lit a fire in
the hearts of those who traveled with him.
At the breaking of bread their eyes were opened.
The invited stranger reveals himself in the table fellowship. It is only when a
stranger finds a place in our fellowships is the full revelation of Christ
experienced. This revelation makes our deepest loneliness and longest life
journey full of purpose and hope. Here we see a risen Christ who is a silent
listener to every conversation and a silent guest at every meal. The only
difference is that if we hears his knock and opens our door then he is no
longer a guest but a host. This exactly is Holy Qurbana. This table
fellowship gave them a new mission to go back to Jerusalem the place from where
they started their journey - a pilgrimage to the site of the cross and
resurrection, and be the witness of his resurrection by making a resurrection
community. We are called not to remain as just saved community but a saving
community. That is the motto of our Mar Thoma Church ‘Lighted to Lighten.'
Do our hearts burn within us in our day-to-day
encounter with Christ?
How often do we recognize the stranger as the
living Christ in our midst?