Easter Day 5pm

Sunday
5.00pm

At the table

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognised him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” (Luke 24.28-32)

Emmaus was a famous place. It was where the Ark of the Covenant had rested at the house of Abinadab, the place where the prophet Jeremiah had been born. It had been there a long time, it was a lovely place, it was home. They arrived at their house but the stranger continued walking. ‘Stay with us’ said Mary and Cleopas, ‘it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over. We have bread and the wine is very good.

So the stranger came in and the table was quickly set and they took their seats. Where the Ark of God, the very presence of God had rested, the stranger took his seat. And then the strangest thing happened. The stranger became the host – not in a rude way, not in an inappropriate way, it seemed so natural, so right. He took the bread and, instead of Cleopas doing this, he said the blessing, broke and shared the bread – and they knew who he was. He was gone.

The Gospel is about the Eucharist. Whenever we celebrate the sacrament we begin by reading the Word, by reading the scriptures. They are broken open for us. Then we move to the table and bread is taken and broken for us. We share the word, broken open for us; we share the bread, broken for us, and in his word and in his bread we recognise Jesus in the midst.