Introduction:
What kept the two disciples of Jesus from recognising him on the road that day and what inhibits belief in Christ today?
My family will tell you that I am somewhat addicted to the on line video game “Plants
versus Zombies.” I like it because it has the base thrills of any “shooting game” except no one dies. The Zombies assaulting the player’s house are already dead and the weaponised plants defending the player’s house are just plants.
There is a particularly fun feature of the game in which you can enter into a tournament against another player. Quite how it works I am not sure. There is certainly no “live” interaction
through chat rooms like “Discord” with the other contestant and therefore no means to pass on “Top Secret” leaked documents from the Pentagon, but you do feel in direct opposition to another player.
Even though the game is nothing like a medieval jousting contest the progress of the battle is tracked visually by opposing red and blue Medieval lances tipped with boxing gloves end to end. As each player prevails over the
other in the game, their respective coloured lance and glove pushes against their opponent’s lance. You can clearly see at anyone time who is winning and at the end who has won the contest.
Perhaps due to my obsession over this game, I don’t know, but this Easter I have reflected on those red and blue gloved medieval jousting lances a lot as symbolising those times when we struggle between the realities of the joy of being Easter people
and the opposing and perhaps somewhat more tangible horrors of Good Friday which we see played out time and time again in our news.
It is clear from our Gospel reading today that the two disciples on the road to Emmaus were locked into the horrors of Good Friday and could make the transition to Easter. The red gloved lance of the awful events of two day’s ago was pushing hard against the blue gloved lance
of that day’s joy. Red seemed to be prevailing.
The two men were walking away despondently from Jerusalem, their hopes and dreams crushed. The faces of these men were downcast. Even news brought to them earlier in the day by Mary and the other women that Jesus’s tomb was empty brought no comfort. All they could think of was the betrayal of Judas, the lies and deception of false witnesses, his appalling torture and eventual
crucifixion. On top of that was the knowledge that all his friends had abandoned him to his fate. All they could see was that cruel cross, the blood and the nails. Jesus was dead and so was everything they believed in and hoped for.
That was until they met this stranger who knew more about them and the situation than they knew themselves. As this stranger walked alongside them the blue
gloved tipped lance in their hearts began to push back.
Jesus, (for that was who they met on the road that day), took them back to basics and leading them through the bible, the Hebrew Scriptures mind and not the New Testament, demonstrated how all that had happened during the past three day in Jerusalem was part of God’s plan.
Slowly the truth dawned, but it was not until this stranger
broke bread that their eyes were opened and they believed.
We are told that until that point they were kept from recognising him? I wonder why? Was his resurrection body in someway different? Possibly, but more likely is that they could see the truth through their veil of tears.
So what mad the difference? Was it the authoritative way he taught them? Was it the unmistakeable warmth of his
voice or the unmistakeable way Jesus prayed the blessing? Some even suggest that at the moment he raised his arms to bless the bread at the evening supper the nail wounds were exposed on his wrists. Was it something deeper and more mystical in the Eucharistic act of communion? Whatever happened, their hearts were full of joy and the red glove tipped lance of Good Friday was pushed well and truly right back by the
overwhelming power of the blue.
One cannot blame those two disciples for their lack of faith at the outset. The Roman authorities were well practiced and efficient in administering the death penalty by crucifixion and people did not recover. The assertion that Jesus had risen from death seemed so improbable in the face of the stark realities of Good Friday, but then God is a God of the impossible and because of
the loving patience of that stranger on the road, the blue lance of joy pushed back.
Do you sometimes find it hard to see Jesus through the veil of your tears? If you do you are not along. There are times when we all feel over- powered by our own darker moments in life or feel dismayed by the horrors in today’s news stories.
There are times when the red lance representing all that occurred on Good Friday
seems to be over-powering the blue lance of your Easter joy.
Many of the ills we are see in the world today are a repetition of the horrors of Good Friday. The unjust and disproportionate suffering of the innocent as a result of lies, false witnesses, betrayal and paranoia. Such things push against the blue lance of truth and justice . Corruption, greed and oppression push against the moral courage of the upright. Political
expedience by self-interested politicians pushes hard against the innocent and defenceless.
When you see the awful horrors of Good Friday pushing and pushing against your Easter joy pray like crazy. Throw everything you have got into those prayers and push back. Do do this, proclaim afresh “Christ is risen”. If in doubt recall the truth that Jesus’s followers were prepared to die for holding that belief. Proclaim,
“Death where is your sting?”
Plant prayer after prayer like the game “Plants versus Zombies” and the Blue lance of Easter joy will push back against that red lance of Good Friday. Pray against betrayal, falsity, paranoia and corruption in the world. Pray against abuse of power, cruelty and oppression. Push back against these things and keep pushing. It is not easy, but the game is ultimately already won by the blue side.
When you feel down be like the two disciples on the road to Emma’s. Dig deeply into scripture and see how the plans of God have unfolded and found their culmination in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Open your spiritual eyes and look for Jesus in the breaking of bread. Then by God’s grace the red lance of Good Friday will be pushed back and vanquished by the blue lance of Easter and with your hearts burning with Easter joy you can proclaim
“We are an Easter people and alleluia is our song.
Amen