Title: Those with Brightened Eyes
their eyes brightened
Luke 24:13-35, Third Sunday of Easter, May 8, 2011
Luke 24:13-35 tells the story of two disciples who were on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus after the crucifixion of Jesus and met the risen Lord in the middle. These two disciples are different from the twelve disciples we know. The structure of the story is similar to Paul's story of Jesus' experience on the road to Damascus (Acts 9). Paul also met the resurrected Lord on the way to Damascus. Because of the shock, Paul lost his sight for a while, but he regained his sight in Damascus through a man named Ananias, and since then, he has been transformed into an evangelist. What is special about Paul's Damascus case is that no one other than Paul understood the true nature of this incident. Those who were walking with Paul heard only certain sounds, but did not see the light that Paul saw. Early Christianity regarded the experience of the resurrection as exclusive. It was an event that could not be shown to others. Why? The answer can also be found in the story of the two disciples of Emmaus.
Act 2 is a tavern. Jesus wanted to go further, but the two of them insisted on staying there for the night as it was getting late. These two must have felt some powerful spiritual power from the man in the middle, although it was not yet certain. You must have thought you couldn't just let him go. Moments that change your life to a new level must be seized. In this respect, these two are wise. Jesus had dinner with them at the tavern. He took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to them. Their eyes brightened. Only then could they recognize Jesus. When we met on the street earlier, we were blindfolded, so we couldn't recognize them. This is the gist of what the Bible writers are trying to say. To recognize the risen Lord, our eyes must be opened. If you are blindfolded, you will not be able to recognize the Lord even if you are with him. This is why the Lord of the Resurrection did not appear to Pilate and Caiaphas and to the common people in Jerusalem. They were blinded so that they could not recognize the risen Lord.
Don't be surprised by the expression blindfolded or lightened. It does not mean that you actually caused or restored your visual impairment. We usually think that we can see everything with eyes and hear everything with ears, but this is not the case. Color blindness does not recognize objects as colors. Even our ears cannot hear sounds with frequencies that are too low or too high. In the artistic world, this problem is even worse. Composers hear certain notes that others don't. Even those who paint see a world that others do not see. It means that there are sounds that only those who have ears to hear can hear, and there are worlds that only those who have eyes can see. Today's text said that by pointing at it, their eyes were opened and they recognized the Lord of the Resurrection.
Our eyes are opened, and the decisive medium is the bread that Jesus blessed and broke. Bread refers to the bread the Jews eat. No one would think that this bread had some magical power. This bread refers to the body of Jesus. The night before Jesus was arrested by the soldiers sent by the high priest and handed over to Pilate, he and his disciples ate the Passover supper together. Jesus broke the bread and gave it to his disciples. “This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19) Now, Clopas and the other two disciples also received this bread. To receive His body through the bread means to accept His destiny as it is. Then his eyes were opened and he recognized the risen Jesus. What do you mean? The resurrection experience is only possible in a special relationship with Jesus.
Think about what your special relationship with Jesus is. In our daily life, we experience certain events through special relationships with certain people. Establishing a special relationship with the Master can open your eyes to the world of truth. Pottery makers have a special relationship with earth and fire. The beginning of a special relationship with Jesus is a right understanding of who He is. The reason the disciples were able to experience the resurrection of Jesus was because they knew Jesus. It is important to know deeply about the story of the kingdom of God that Jesus taught, the healings and blessings He performed, and his life and destiny. Without that support, we cannot experience the resurrection.
Even the sacrament meeting discussed in today's text is the same. They participate in the service of the Lord's Supper for the rest of their lives, but they do not enter into its world. I'm not really interested in sacrament meeting. In particular, the Protestant churches in Korea consider the Lord's Supper to be trivial. It seems to come from antipathy towards the Roman Catholic Church, which magically accepts the Eucharist. For this reason, many people treat the sacrament meeting only as a formality. Some serious people treat the sacrament only in the sense that the Lord died for me. If we remain in this way, we cannot and cannot understand the mystery of the Christian faith: the unity of the body of Jesus Christ with the world, and that the resurrection is the ultimate transformation into life as bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. There is not. Resurrection, the core of the Christian faith, is also rendered meaningless. When it becomes meaningless, the ability to live will eventually become powerless. Years of faith pass, but faith does not mature. Faith and life play separately.