Luke 24:13-14

Posted by DJL on Apr 8, 2013 in Daily Bread | 2 comments

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

This is a story no one else tells.

I suppose this shouldn’t surprise us. After all, while all four of the gospel accounts of that first Easter bear some resemblance to each other in terms of overall outline – the women go to the tomb, find it empty, and are greeted by messengers heralding the resurrection – they also differ in many ways.

This story about the experience of two disciples on the road to Emmaus is one of those differences. Except it’s even more than that. Because if you cut out the whole story and skipped from verse twelve to verse thirty-six, you would hardly miss a beat. What does that mean? I think it means that Luke knew of this other story and even though it was nothing like the stories from the other gospel accounts, it was worth telling.

And here’s the thing: Whenever one of the gospels diverges from the others – whether in a detail, description, or entire scene – we have two choices. We can feel threatened by it because we believe that only those things that are factually accurate are true, or we can pay close attention to the particular confession of faith this difference reveals. Because I believe there is more than one kind of truth and, moreover, that the truth we share in and through our stories is often more important than that conveyed by mere facts, I choose the latter.

So when Luke shares a story about the resurrection that no one else shares, and when it’s a story that he clearly didn’t have to share in terms of the integrity of the larger narrative, I want to pay attention because I’m curious what he’s going to tell us.

So let’s do just that: let’s pay attention to this story no one else tells.

Prayer: Dear Lord, give us the courage to listen carefully to what the Evangelists share that in hearing your word we may be strengthened in faith, hope, and compassion. In Jesus’ name, Amen.