And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs.
“And they talked together of all these things which had happened.
“And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.
“But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
“And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?” (Luke 24:13-17).
This is a journey story. It is a literally true story, but it can also be taken as a type of our journey through life. Two sad men were walking along, reasoning and trying to make sense out of what had happened in their lives. Jesus joined them, but they did not recognize who was walking with them.
Does this sound like us at times?
“And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?
“And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people:
“And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.
But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, today is the third day since these things were done.
“Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre;
“And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.
“And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not” (Luke 24:18-24).
These disciples were not only sad because of Jesus’ death, but they were disappointed in Jesus. They had had faith that He was the Messiah who was going to bring salvation to Israel, but instead He was taken by the Jewish leaders, delivered over to foreign civil powers, and put to death. All their hopes were thereby dashed. Note how they referred to Jesus as a prophet, but they refrained from calling Him the Messiah/the Christ. Perhaps they no longer believed in that—for He had not fulfilled the commonly held Messianic expectations for the age. He had not liberated His people from the Romans. He had not ruled as their Davidic king.
We can also note the sharp contrast between the women who had believed and had seen Jesus at the tomb, even though they were afraid, and these male disciples who could not see who He was and who could only speak of their lack of faith and their disappointment. They mentioned the testimony of the women but said that it had only proved to be partly true. The tomb was open, the body gone, but some of the men, on investigating the situation, did not see Jesus nor any angels—as the women had claimed.
“Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
“Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:25-27).
Their travelling companion called them fools for the false perspective to which they were clinging. He rehearsed the words of the prophets that spoke of the Messiah suffering such things in order to be glorified. Then He went through all the prophets who had spoken of the Messiah. He changed their perspective on their expectations of who and what the Messiah should be.
Jesus had previously asked the disciples to watch with Him in Gethsemane.
Do you think they might have learned something about why He had to suffer had they stayed awake then?
“And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further.
“But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them.
“And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.
“And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight” (Luke 24:28-31).
When they neared the village where they were staying, Jesus appeared to be going further, but they offered him their hospitality, inviting Him to stay overnight and eat with them. When they were eating supper, He took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. With this sacramental cue they remembered—their eyes were opened, and they saw Him as the Saviour.
To remember means literally to put together something that was once whole. An arm is a member of the body. If we were to reattach a severed arm, we would be re-membering the arm to recreate a bodily wholeness. When they knew that it was Jesus, He vanished. This is the end of the story.
How is this like our life journey?
Was it a coincidence that it was the sacrament that brought Him to their remembrance?
What do we expect the sacrament to do for us in the matter of remembering when we covenant each week to always remember Him?
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We might note that they perceived who Jesus was in a moment of quiet, in the context of welcoming and accepting hospitality, at the moment of thinking of the sacrament and of remembering Him. Those might be useful elements to think about inserting into our lives—if we would have Him be more apparent to us on our journey.
Re-creating wholeness in one person is re-membering. If we recreate wholeness between two people who were once one and have become separated, it is called reconciliation, which literally means to sit down again together. Reconciliation is the most common translation in the New Testament for the Greek word that means atonement—at-one-ment.
Atonement or reconciliation makes us one with God. Remembering makes us one with the scattered parts of ourselves. When we always remember Jesus, we create a oneness with Him through His Atonement, but we also achieve an inner wholeness in ourselves by that same process.
We must always remember that if we are not one—we are not His (Doctrine and Covenants 38:27).