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Christ is Risen! (Luke 24:13–35). In the Gospel now read, brothers, you heard one of the touching stories in all of Holy Scripture; and I thought a lot about whether to present it to you again in this interview: for any presentation of it will always remain below the touching simplicity of the Gospel. Meanwhile, some aspects of the Emmaus event clearly require explanation; Moreover, not every one of us can conveniently apply it to ourselves and our condition. Therefore, I decided to briefly repeat the Gospel story with you, trying, as much as possible, not to move away from its spirit and power. Oh, if only we could feel in our hearts at least some part of that heavenly fire with which the hearts of the disciples burning on their way to Emmaus burned! But this, brethren, does not depend on the words and efforts of men, but on the almighty goodness of the Spirit of God: therefore, if you want to be not cold listeners of what is being told, then open your ears and hearts to the broadcasts of this Spirit, which, without a doubt, does not remain silent at the time when we, ministers of the word, proclaim to you the ways of eternal life. First of all, brethren, we must note that the appearance of the Lord to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus did not happen now, but on the first day of the resurrection, in the evening; on this day, the Gospel about this is read in church, probably because this event is especially important to focus our attention on: for on the first day of the resurrection many events took place, and there between them the real event would not have been so noticeable. Shouldn't we, brethren, even more so pay attention to what happened at Emmaus? Therefore, in order to more accurately and better understand the Emmaus event, let’s begin our story with what immediately preceded it. In our past interviews, we saw how the Lord, on the very day of His Resurrection, in the morning, appeared twice to the myrrh-bearing women. As a result of the command from Him and from the Angels, the wives immediately notified all the apostles and His other closest followers about His Resurrection. But prejudice, fear and sadness were so great among everyone that the most joyful news seemed to many to be a figment of the imagination. “They appeared,” says the evangelist, “... as if their words were lies” (Luke 24:11). Meanwhile, in the mind and heart of each of the admirers of Jesus, of necessity, many different thoughts and feelings were aroused. No one firmly believed the news of the women, but everyone wanted to believe; many would have given their very lives for the truth of the Resurrection of the Teacher, as they did afterwards. In such a confused and sorrowful state of spirit, at the end of the day two of the disciples walked to a place not far from Jerusalem called Emmaus. The Evangelist Luke calls one of them Cleopas; the name of the other is silent; therefore, even in ancient times, it was believed that it was he himself. The removal of these disciples on such a day from Jerusalem - the place of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, where one could more likely hope for true news about him, could cast doubt on their commitment to the Crucified One: if the command given through the women by the Risen One himself, that the disciples go to Galilee (Emmaus lies on the way to it), did not serve to justify the present journey. And not firmly believing in the story of the holy women about the resurrection, the disciples could hasten to where, according to them, they were to expect the appearance of the Risen One. But the travelers’ own faces and words are the best witnesses of their love for the crucified Teacher. On the way, despite the brightness of the holiday days, they seemed completely gloomy with sadness, and talked among themselves about nothing other than what filled their soul and heart - about the fate of Jesus the Nazarene. This subject, now delightful to us, represented at that time a darkness of bewilderment; therefore, the conversation did not take place without mutual questioning and arguing, which, due to the lack of a clear resolution, all ended in an increase in heartache. In this position of the students, one traveler quietly approached them and began to walk with them. It was the Risen Jesus Himself; but those who walked, beyond their hopes, did not recognize Him at all. – Those who were drooping with sadness and deep in themselves had no time for detailed spying on other people’s faces. Moreover, the Lord Himself deigned to appear now, according to the remark of the Evangelist Mark, “in a different way” (Mark 16:12), that is, different from the way in which He was seen before. This was a new kind of transformation of humility, similar to the one that followed, as we saw, in the helicopter city for Magdalene, who thought that she saw a helicopter master in front of her. Just as there the weakness of the wife, who was unable to bear the joy of a sudden appearance, was spared, so here condescension was made to the spiritual state of the disciples, and an opportunity was given to revive their faith gradually, through their own reflection on the agreement of the death and Resurrection of Christ with the teaching of the prophets. “The Lord,” according to the thoughtful remark of one Father of the Church (Gregory the Great, conversation 23), “appeared to the physical eyes of the disciples in the same form in which He was before their spiritual eyes: in their souls they both loved Him and doubted Him; and He was now before them and remained unknown; He was present with those who talked about Him, He did not reveal Himself to those who doubted Him: He talked, reproached, explained the Scripture; but since the hearts of the disciples were still far from living faith, He too was “being created further away” (Luke 24:28). “What is the essence of these words, about which she strives to herself and becomes decrepit?” (Luke 24:17) - this is how the wonderful Wanderer began the conversation, entering the state of disciples, and as if not knowing anything from modern events. “But such ignorance was a new burden for sad hearts. "How! Not knowing what their souls and so many thousands of people are suffering from? “Are you the only stranger to Jerusalem,” answered Cleopas, “and you did not take away those who were there in these days?” (Luke 24:18). That is, - the sad heart wanted to say, - we are doing something that should now occupy everyone, therefore, you too, if you have a heart, and about which there is therefore no need to either ask or answer. The Divine Wanderer, however, was not at all moved by the reproach and continued to show ignorance and curiosity. “And I said: Whose?” (Luke 24:19) - After this, it was already clear that the previous question was proposed by Him not in order to ask, but out of need, therefore the disciples, helping one another, told in detail how Jesus the Nazarene was a husband “a prophet, powerful in deed and word before God and all people; How the bishops and princes handed Him over to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. “But we,” the narrator added, “we hope that this is at least the deliverance of Israel: but above all these, this third day is today, apart from this one. But even a certain woman was terrible from us, who was early at the tomb: and having not found His body, she came, saying, as if she had seen an appearance of an angel, and they say He is alive. And he went from us to the tomb, and found the same thing as the wives, but he did not see himself” (Luke 24:19-24). Such language, while revealing a heartfelt disposition towards the Crucified One, did not show faith in the Risen One and at the same time testified against itself. For, if not one, but many wives spoke about the resurrection and the appearance to them of the Risen One and the Angels; then why not believe so many witnesses? If, moreover, “there were none from us who went to the grave, and found the same things as the wives” (Luke 24:24): then why indulge in such sadness? - Why, at least, rush out of Jerusalem, from the community of other disciples, and leave, so to speak, from the truth? Why, in the midst of the darkness of circumstances and thoughts, not turn to the lamp lit by God Himself - the writings of Moses and the prophets? “All this apparently resonated with lack of faith and cowardice, worthy of strict reproof—and it followed immediately.” “O foolish and inert-hearted one who believes in everything the prophets say!” (Luke 24:25) - exclaimed the Stranger, - as if he could not continue his previous indifference. “Isn’t it fitting,” He continued, showing himself to be a man versed in the Scriptures, “for Christ to suffer and be brought into His glory?” (Luke 24:26) But this: “befitting” was beyond the concept of the disciples, who were little familiar with the spirit of the prophetic writings. It was apparently much easier now for them to understand the person who was speaking to them; for the reproach for foolishness and the question about the prophets showed that the questioner knew much more about all the events that had taken place than the disciples themselves, that he was not at all as alien to the matter as he had previously seemed; the very tone of the denunciation could easily arouse the thought of the dignity of the denouncer. But, the eyes of the disciples, as the evangelist puts it, held fast, lest they “know Him” (Luke 24:16). They felt the justice of the reproach, saw something extraordinary in the Accuser, and wanted to justify their doubts before Him; but sadness confused the mind and tied the tongue - they felt, perplexed, ashamed and - remained silent. Meanwhile, the strict Traveler, in proof of His words, began a lengthy conversation about those places in the Old Testament in which the suffering of the Messiah was predicted. Every significant place in every prophet was indicated by him, explained and attached to the events that recently happened. One can imagine how clear both the prophecies and the events themselves seemed after this! Listening to the Divine Interpreter, the disciples were involuntarily convinced that this is exactly how “it was fitting for Christ to suffer” (Luke 24:46) as their Teacher suffered; the soul was full of tenderness; my heart burned with every word; they internally recognized that the one who spoke in this way was not a simple wanderer, that the Risen One Himself would have spoken no differently, and yet, they did not recognize Him! “For their eyes” still hold fast, but “they do not know Him” (Luke 24:16). In the midst of such sweet conversation, with fire in my heart, it was not long to walk to Emmaus. From the fullness of feeling and deepening into themselves, the disciples forgot to even ask who the sweet-tongued Wanderer is. They became occupied with Him not before approaching Emmaus, when instead of staying with them for the night, He “went further away” (Luke 24:28). Here all devotion to the One who knew how to calm the upset imagination and heart was revealed: they were ready to use even friendly writing, just to have the pleasure of spending a little more time with Him. “And His neediness, saying, Lay off us, for it is evening, and bowed down to eat the day” (Luke 24:29). If those who spoke thus were themselves, as probably were, the inhabitants of Emmaus; their invitation was even more powerful. But the Risen One did not appear in order to depart unrecognized. “And they were clothed with him” (Luke 24:29). In the house, according to custom, an evening meal was offered, which should still be reminiscent of the absence of leaven of the Old Testament Passover. The Wonderful Wanderer sat down to the meal, but only in order to finally bring joy to sorrowful hearts by showing Himself in His form. According to custom, the elder had to bless and distribute the bread. The stranger blessed - with that blessing for which there are no words in human language - and the meal took on a different form! Is this blessing similar to how Jesus usually blessed the bread? or the closest look at the meal at the one who blessed and especially at His pierced hands; or the supernatural illumination of the disciples’ gaze, physical and spiritual, or all this together: only, having barely broken the bread, “having given Him, the eyes were opened dumb, and they knew Him.” But, to complete the amazement, the learned “was invisible!” (Luke 24:30–31) After this there was no time for sensual eating of food. Leaving the meal, the Emmaus travelers, despite the completely fallen day, hurried immediately to Jerusalem to feed the news of the resurrection to the other disciples. And now they talked among themselves on the way, but no longer competing, but unanimously surprised at how they could have been inattentive to the Divine Wanderer, that they had not recognized Him before. “Isn’t it our heart,” they recalled, “that our grief was in us, when we spoke to us on the way, and when we told us the scriptures?” (Luke 24:32). Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, as a result of the appearance of the Lord, in the middle of the day, to Peter, the sadness of many also changed to joy; The Emmaus evangelists themselves were greeted by many with the message: “For the Lord has risen indeed, and appeared to Simon” (Luke 24:34). But this did not prevent them from telling, and others from hearing, how the Lord, not recognized on the way, was known to them in the breaking of bread. As if to prove their words, “And this unto them that said, Jesus himself was one hundred in the midst of them” (Luke 24:36): that is, at this time there followed a new appearance of the Lord to all the apostles, about which we talked on the last day of the week, in the midst of the evening service. Now, brethren, let us pay attention to the spirit of the Emmaus event, and see if something similar happens to us. A wonderfully instructive spectacle presents this event at first sight. “The Lord approaches the disciples, walks with them for quite a long time, and they don’t recognize Him!” “He asks them a question, even makes a stern reproach, and they don’t recognize Him!” – He expounds the Scripture, proves from all the prophets that “it is fitting for Christ to suffer and to be brought into His glory” (Luke 24:26), – and they will not recognize Him! – The words of Jesus make the heart burn, but they don’t recognize Him! When He finally “goes further,” He is forced to stay and by the illusions—and yet they do not recognize Him! My God, what kind of wonderful misrecognition is this? - It is obvious, brothers, that it was arranged or allowed with a wise intention: but what? – Is it for greater admonition of the disciples of Emmaus, and in general of the first disciples of the Gospel? – But the Emmaus pilgrims would not have failed to return with the message to Jerusalem even then, if the Risen One had directly appeared at their evening meal, as he later appeared to the apostles in the Jerusalem upper room. – Or, perhaps, their hearts had a special need for holy “burning” from the words of Jesus on the way? - But in this case, our cold hearts have even more need of the divine flame; and we must share it with the disciples of Emmaus. Truly, brethren, if in any case, then in the present we will not enter the part that does not belong to us, if we do not enter the path leading to Emmaus. – But is it necessary to enter when we have all been on this path for a long time, although many do not know it? For aren’t we all going to that unearthly Emmaus, from which there is no return to earthly Jerusalem, where either an endless supper or an eternal famine awaits everyone? – For some, perhaps, “the day has already bowed down” of life, and willy-nilly, but one thing remains for them - “enlightenment” (Luke 24:29) in the womb of the earth until the general morning and awakening. Is it possible that we should walk this great path alone, that our Savior would not be with us, when He Himself said that He would remain with those who believe in Him “until the end of the age”! (Matthew 28:20). No, no matter how little we think about Him, He is with us, always with us on the path of our lives, with each of us: and if we do not feel His presence, we do not know Him; then this is an undoubted sign that our eyes “keep on”, like those of the disciples of Emmaus, “that we may not know Him” (Luke 24:16). And who has them completely open? How many can say that they have come to know the Lord along the path of their lives? – With all our inattention, we sometimes notice that someone, as if invisibly, is with us and acts for our good, enters with a secret influence into our thoughts and feelings, shares just joys and righteous sorrows, and at times allows himself to be strongly felt; but the thought that this is our Savior least of all comes to mind: “our eyes remain, lest we know Him.” During the Fall, we often hear sudden, strong reproaches, either in the mind and conscience - from the inside, or from the outside - in events; some of them clearly respond from a voice from above and resemble the reproach of Emmaus; but the thought that our Savior is convicting us in this way does not occur to us: our “eyes” remain, but we do not know Him” (Luke 24:16). The holy objects of faith, especially the suffering and death of the Savior, are constantly explained to us by the shepherds of the Church; we ourselves can always read the prophets and apostles whenever we want; when hearing and reading, the heart often comes into a strong feeling, a heavenly fire ignites inside us, we become light and ready to soar in spirit to heaven; but the thought that this fire from the lips of our Savior, talking with our hearts, does not come to mind; “We keep our eyes, but we do not know Him.” Finally, carried away by the sweetness of being in the realm of Christian faith and love, we sometimes try with effort to prolong good thoughts and feelings in the soul, and are ready for this to make the most sacrifices, to fight the world and its temptations, in a word: “we eat” for a while “for eternal life” (1 Tim. 6:12); but the thought that all this is a consequence of the closeness of our Savior to us, His secret broadcasts, His Divine animation does not come to mind: “we keep our eyes, so that we do not know Him.” In general, the holy thought about the presence of our Lord, which should constantly occupy us, control our actions and inspire us - this beneficial thought is alien to us; The kindest Christians, apparently, do not consider it necessary to always have it in mind. Will they do any particularly good deed? “All honor to their minds and hearts.” Will some sudden, important event happen? – People or circumstances are to blame, or the same incident. When explaining the adventures of their life, they would rather turn to any other reason than to their Savior and His action; - will not be able to say anything in explanation at all, but tell them that this is the secret action of the Savior, seeking to be known - and, instead of gratitude, you will become an object of amazement, even reproach, or regret. We want to be alone on the path of life, to act alone, to suffer and rejoice alone; and it’s as if we are alone, we don’t see and don’t feel the One who is with us, always with us, for we can only break the word given to Him, but He can never; said: I will always be with you, and definitely with us always. What do we gain from our sad loneliness, from our unhappy independence? – We acquire the fact that there is nothing weaker than us, neither in happiness nor in misfortune. Will there be doubt? And faith immediately falls. Will there be an offense from your neighbor? And all the love disappeared. We constantly seek peace for our hearts, and find it nowhere; What should make us happy, the very thing that saddens us. Meanwhile, would it be so if we walked the path of life and acted in the presence of our Savior? -What sorrows would He not sweeten for us with His blessing? Especially with what boldness would we enter the gates of death, which we now do not even dare to look at without fear? “Let us hasten, brethren, to tear off the fatal bandage from our eyes and to know our Lord, while we are still on the way, and before the darkness of that endless night has overtaken us, in which even for those who behold nothing will be visible except the horrors of darkness. What, you ask, should we use in order to know the Lord who is inherent in us? - The same thing, brothers, that was used by the disciples of Emmaus: “they clothed His need” (Luke 24:29); We must also use this holy compulsion - not over the Lord: for He is always with us, but over our hearts; we must force ourselves to embrace the Lord, that is, to engage in the thought of Him as often as possible, to imagine Him as inherent in ourselves, to turn the eyes and ears of the heart to Him, to sigh for Him from the depths of the soul, to obey His suggestions, and to call Him to action in us with a zealous disposition to be under this action. Such a rapprochement with the Lord, first in thoughts and feelings, and then in deeds and life, cannot remain idle and ineffective: the Lord, seeing our closeness to Him, fidelity and zeal, will not hesitate to fill our minds with light when necessary, and our zeal with heavenly warmth, to send joy and sorrow directly to us from Himself; and after the awakening of spiritual hunger in us, after the purification of the taste, break the bread of life for us, and partake of that “hidden manna” (Rev. 2:17), which can only be received from His hands, and what is received always reveals the Giver. However, His love has long prepared for all of us a sensual, constant supper, at which our Savior, although He Himself does not visibly refract, is Himself visibly refracted. This is the Sacrament of the Eucharist, in which the Lord is not only known, but also tasted. Whoever here does not know Him, even if only in part, is completely blinded by the enemy of salvation. Finally, brethren, let us not leave without noting the circumstance in the event with the disciples of Emmaus, that the Lord, upon recognizing Him, immediately “became invisible” (Luke 24:31). The history of God's holy men shows that this circumstance is repeated among the true followers of Christ. The minutes of complete revelations of the Divine, as they admit, are short; The Lord allows Himself to be known and mysteriously seen from time to time by those who love Him, to encourage them, but not for long; and this is because we are here to walk “by faith... and not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7); because the darkness of faith is necessary for our weak eyes, until they are healed, and until we come to where there is always no evening. Keeping this in mind, brothers, let us seek the Lord; Let us seek “His face” (Ps. 104:4), but we will not demand that He is always subject to our feelings, we will not be bored if He is invisible and hidden from us - in the firm confidence that He is always with us by grace, as long as we are with him by love. Amen. You might be interested in: