The story expresses the journey of the two disciples from unbelief to faith in the risen Lord. It gives us an insight into their minds and hearts; they had accepted Jesus as a prophet, put their hopes in him, loved him and admired him and they were disappointed and depressed because now he was dead; and they found it difficult to accept the women’s story that the tomb was empty and that Jesus was alive. The fact that they were now sadly walking away from Jerusalem was a sign that they had lost hope. It was only after he had explained the scriptures to them about the Messiah, and broken bread with them in their house and disappeared from their sight that the truth dawned on them and they came to faith in the risen Lord with whom they had just been walking and talking. It was in a very different frame of mind that they jumped up from the table and hurried back to Jerusalem seven miles away-to tell their story to the eleven Apostles and the women. But they could net get their story told because their companions in Jerusalem were excitedly discussing the appearance of Jesus to Simon, mentioned by Paul in 1 Cor.15:5 and then verse 36 Jesus showed himself to all of them. In this story there is something we can learn from Jesus about not bearing grudges. On the very day of his resurrection, he appeared to two of his ordinary followers who had lost confidence in him and to the leader of his apostles who had three times denied having any knowledge of him.
In his address to the people assembled in Jerusalem for the Jewish feast of Pentecost Peter tries to show from scripture in a simple way that Jesus is the Messiah who was promised by God. Jesus’ miracles show that he was a man who had God’s approval and his death and resurrection show that it was necessary for him to suffer and die and rise from the grave in order to fulfil the words of Psalm 15/16:”You will not abandon me to the place of the dead and you will not allow your Holy One to see corruption.” The words could not refer to David himself because David died, was buried and returned to dust. Jesus died, was buried and rose again to life. Jesus’ death was part of God’s plan from the beginning. Jesus shows us the “suffering love” that was always in God, but it was the wickedness of men that made Jesus suffer and die, just as the wickedness of men can make other people suffer and die. Because all this was going to happen it was contained in the prophecies. the resurrection of Jesus is the last and greatest proof that Jesus was God’s chosen One. After the death of Jesus his followers were broken people, because all their hopes were gone. But they had lost sight of the fact that he had always promised that he would rise again. Although they were slow to believe that he had actually risen as he said he would, when they were at last convinced, they became changed people. One reason why the Lord’s Day in the Christian church is Sunday is that Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday. On Easter Day the Christians of the Eastern church greet each other with the message of the resurrection. One says, “The Lord is risen!” and the other answers “The Lord is risen indeed!” And St. Augustine says somewhere, “We are Easter people.” The Christian must always live and walk in the company of the Risen Lord.
On these Sundays we read from a part of the first letter of St. Peter which many think is a sermon on baptism and the Christian life. The letter contains exhortations to Christians living in various parts of the pagan Roman Empire and it stresses the fact that they are “strangers” living in a foreign land. The English word used nowadays is “aliens”. Christians must be different from unbelievers as people from another country are culturally and socially different from the people of the “stranger” country in which they live and work, and their true home is the one which they hope to enter when Christ comes again in glory. They are still on their way there. They look on God rightly as their father. That must not be an excuse for a bad life. Rather the respect they have for God as their father must make them want to live good and holy lives, quite different from those who do not believe in God. In the Roman Empire it was possible for someone to set free a slave by buying his freedom; that is why Peter says that the Christian must remember that he has been set free from sin at a price and the price was the life and death of Christ, which shows that our value is high in the sight of God, God wants our freedom very much. This also shows that we are set free, not because of anything we have done, but only because God in his love wants us to be free. At the same time it remains true that we must prove prove ourselves worthy of what God has done for us by the goodness of our lives. Finally it is because we have faith and hope in God, who is our Father, that we will be able to leave the useless way of life of those who do not believe and follow a way of life by which we shall obtain what God has promised for us. Keeping in mind how important we are to God should make us willing and able to live in the way he wants. The verses chosen for today’s reading are the ones in which Peter stresses the reverence and respect we should have for God-speaking every word, doing every action, living every moment in the presence of God, knowing that we are travelling into eternity, that God is going to call us to account, that our salvation has cost the life and death of Christ, that we cannot throw away and waste our lives that are so important in the eyes of God.
Kefa W. MHM
What you’ll find here is my personal reflection on Scripture. I don’t claim to have all the answers, only a sincere desire to seek truth. Some of the references used are drawn from past study and experience, and I may no longer be able to recall all their exact sources. This reflection is not intended to establish official doctrine, theology, or official teaching. Feel free to leave your comments or personal reflections below as we continue to grow deeper together in the Word of God. I’ll see you next Sunday.
