The story of the Road to Emmaus is an important one. It focuses not just on what God's resurrection power does in Jesus, but what God's power for new life does in us!
The setting is the afternoon of Easter day. And even though Jesus has risen from the tomb, and Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and the other women have testified to the tomb's emptiness and the good news of Jesus' rising, two of Jesus' followers are leaving town, acting as though the resurrection hasn't happened. For them, the disappointment of Jesus being different than what they have expected him to be seems too much. Also, they are traumatized by the awful events of Good Friday, and fear that death really has had the last word, and that their story with Jesus is over.
The risen Christ meets the men on the road and comes close to them, but they don't recognize him. Luke writes," but their eyes were kept from recognizing him." This is a way of saying that we don't always see Jesus' presence in our lives because he comes to us in ways we are not expecting. He ask them about their experiences and feelings; he listens as they tell him what Jesus has meant to them. He then takes familiar stories from the scriptures and reinterprets them in the light of his life and God;s love. He teaches them a new way to read the Bible, and new ways to recognize him in the Bible stories and in their own lives!
When they get to Emmaus and they ask him to stay with them, he does, sharing a meal: breaking the bread, blessing it, and giving it to them,as he had done at the Last Supper. "Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him . . ." They talk to each other excitedly, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us!" They are filled with God's inspiration as they receive the risen Jesus, and they are moved by the realization that his story is their story! Instead of continuing to move away, they change direction, go back to Jerusalem, and tell the other disciples the good news of meeting the risen Jesus!
Jesus meets us where we are. He draws close to us. He opens up the scriptures so that we can understand our own lives in the light of God's boundless love and mercy. He makes wherever we are into a place where we learn and grow; we don't just talk about Jesus, we talk to him! He gathers us at his table so that we might be nourished by his presence and amazed at everyone else's inclusion. He sends us out as people whose lives are only measured by God's grace. We change direction. And our hearts burn.
I really like both of the pictures. The bottom picture gives you a different feel about the last supper.
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