The Walk Back Home - Third Sunday of Easter
Author: Pastor Scott Schul
April 19, 2026
Two weeks ago, we heard again the
story of the very first Easter and the drama that unfolded at Jesus’s
tomb. The myrrh bearing women, who were
there to tend and anoint Jesus’s lifeless body, were shocked and terrified to
be greeted by an angel, who announced that Jesus had risen from the dead. They then encountered the resurrected Jesus
in the flesh, who told them to share the news with the rest of the apostles,
who dismissed it as nothing more than an “idle tale.” Sadly, on that first Easter Sunday, only a
handful of Jesus’s followers had any inclination that Jesus had risen from the
dead, and of that small number who had heard this Good News, it appears
that Peter and the rest of the apostles struggled to believe it could be true.
What about the others who
had followed Jesus? Not the inner circle
of people like Mary Magdalene and Peter, James, and John, but the many others
who knew Jesus, like the thousands he had miraculously fed in Galilee, the
countless sick he had healed as he walked throughout Judea, and especially
those people who cheered and praised him and shouted “Hosanna!” as he entered
Jerusalem just days before, on the day we call Palm Sunday? How were they feeling, reacting, and coping
in response to the news that Jesus had been arrested, executed, and entombed?
They threw in the towel. They quit. They gave up. Just like we might’ve
done if we’d been in their shoes. They
checked out, just like we want to do when we get disappointing, disheartening
news. A hope you held gets dashed. Someone you trusted lets you down. A loved one tragically passes. A scandal erupts or an outrage happens that
breaks your heart or disintegrates your dreams. And all you want to do is get out of town, avoid the news, turn off your
phone, and pretend it’s just a bad dream. You want a clean break and a fresh start to at least numb the pain.
If you’ve experienced anything like
this in your life, then you understand what it was like for Cleopas and
his friend, who are at the heart of today’s Gospel. There was nothing extraordinary about the two
of them. Cleopas is never mentioned
again in the New Testament, and we don’t even know the name of his traveling
companion. But they represent countless
people on that first Easter Sunday who had opened their hearts to Jesus, but
then quickly hid them away in the pain and anguish of Jesus’s death and,
just as importantly, the seeming death of the movement he led and the
hope he inspired. They also
represent all of us, who from time-to-time likewise struggle to grasp the
significance of Jesus’s resurrection and victory over sin, death, and the
devil. And candidly, sometimes, just
like the apostles, we too might dismiss the whole thing as just another “idle
tale,” fake news, not something to build one’s life around.
As Luke’s story opens, we learn
that Cleopas and his friend are two disillusioned followers of Jesus who are
walking away from Jerusalem, toward the town of Emmaus. Why Emmaus? We don’t know. It was probably
enough that Emmaus wasn’t Jerusalem. Emmaus wouldn’t be filled with reminders of all the hopes and dreams
that were wrapped up in Jesus’s survival. Emmaus was a place where they could try to heal, try to forget, and try
to move on.
You already know how the story
ends; they’re joined by a stranger who seems oblivious to the news that Jesus,
the one they believed would redeem Israel, was dead. Cleopas and his friend poured out their
hearts as they set the stranger straight on all that had happened. Of course, it’s not so clear Cleopas really
knew or fully understood the story himself. He referred to Jesus as a mere “prophet,” not the Son of God. Moreover, as the stranger began to interpret
Holy Scripture in light of the eyewitness reports of the women who were at the
tomb, he corrected Cleopas’s understanding about who Jesus was, how the
prophets long ago foretold his suffering, and what it truly meant for Jesus to
be the Messiah.
Something in that explanation stirred
the hearts of Cleopas and his friend, so they invited the stranger to linger
and share a meal. But they still didn’t
know who the stranger was until he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave
it to them. Suddenly they realized the
stranger was no stranger at all. It was
Jesus, risen from the dead, just as God had promised.
Now let’s pause here and consider
all the ways Jesus brought Cleopas and his friend to a full understanding of
both Jesus’s nature and the reality of his resurrection. Jesus used four means: (1) he fostered a
conversation in which grief and pain could be honestly offered; (2) he shared the
eyewitness testimony of the women at the tomb; and (3) the testimony of Holy
Scripture; and (4) he joined them in what began as a meal and ended up as the
sacrament of Holy Communion.
What was true then remains true
now. This is why it’s so important for
us to structure our lives around worship, prayer, scripture study, and
community. In our disappointments
and grief, and when our hopes are crushed and we want to jettison everything
we’ve known and just run away, Jesus comes to us through the eyewitness
testimonies of people, past and present, who’ve encountered the risen
Christ. In worship, sermons, liturgy,
prayers, and hymns, we hear the timeless words of scripture, which remind us of
Jesus’s mission to be our savior, the road of suffering he was called to walk, and
the glorious victory we were promised he would win for us. In a community like this, pain and grief can
be honestly and vulnerably spoken, and a consoling, Christ-centered word can be
heard in response. And then, even when
we still harbor doubts, Jesus comes directly, personally, and intimately to us
as we join him in a meal, and he fills us with his body and blood in a banquet
of mercy, grace, and forgiveness.
Friends, it’s all true. This is no idle tale. Jesus rose from the dead. If he hadn’t, then neither Christianity in
general nor this congregation in particular would have any purpose or
validity. But we are not built upon a
lie. We are built on the solid rock of
the risen and resurrected Jesus, the Son of God and the Savior of humanity. So, what does that ask of us?
One last detail from our Gospel
supplies the answer. When Cleopas and
his friend realized Jesus had indeed risen, how did they respond? They went back to Jerusalem to be with
Jesus’s followers. You see, they knew the
risen Christ was calling them to grieve together, heal together, and
celebrate, proclaim, and experience Jesus’s Good News together, because
that’s how they would begin anew: together. Christianity was never intended to be a solo activity. To be a Christian is to be part of the Church,
which is the assembly of Jesus’s followers where his Word is faithfully
proclaimed and his sacraments of Holy Communion and Baptism rightly
administered.1 You can’t
have the Church without community.
And so Cleopas and his friend turned
around. They changed course. That is the literal definition of what it
means to repent. It’s not about
punishment or humiliation. Repentance is
about reorienting our hearts and our feet back toward Jesus and the new
beginning, new life, and new hope he graciously offers to us. And that always happens in community, in the
midst of Christ’s Church, however imperfect it sometimes seems.
Friends, the journey of Cleopas and
his friend is our journey. Jesus
will always find a way to meet us amid our fears, griefs, and disappointments. But to fully heal us, he will always call us
and lead us back to his community. Back
to his Church. Back home. Amen.
© 2026 Rev. Scott E. Schul, all rights reserved
Citations
1 See Augsburg Confession, Article VII.
Gospel
Text: Luke 24:13-35
13 Now on that same day
two [disciples] were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven
miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all
these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and
discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but
their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to
them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They
stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, whose name was
Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not
know the things that have taken place there in these days?” 19 He
asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and
how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and
crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to
redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these
things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group
astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and
when they did not find his body there they came back and told us that they had
indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some
of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had
said, but they did not see him.” 25 Then he said to them, “Oh,
how foolish you are and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have
declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should
suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then
beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things
about himself in all the scriptures.
28 As they came near the village to which
they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But
they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening
and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When
he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it
to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized
him, and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each
other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the
road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33 That same
hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their
companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord
has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they
told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in
the breaking of the bread.
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