Third Sunday of Easter- Luke 24: 13-35

The Gospel for today (Luke 24:13-35) is the story of Jesus and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. This passage could lead to several discussions. There is the timidity, lack of understanding and lack of faith of the disciples. There is the reference to the Eucharist: the risen Lord Jesus is known to His disciples in the breaking of bread. There is the mysterious nature of Christ's resurrection body. On one hand, it is real and tangible. Through it Jesus walks, talks, breaks bread and eats. On the other hand, this transformed body is hard to recognize at times, and it can suddenly appear and disappear in unusual ways.

However, this time, I want to stress another theme: Christ-centered interpretation of Scripture. Luke 24: 25-27 says, "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" (KJV).
Christians often recognize that Christ the Word and Son of God is at the heart of the New Testament. Every passage points to Him as Lord and Savior, either directly or indirectly. However, Christians (especially in modern times) often forget that Christ permeates the Old Testament Scriptures as well. Of course, we take the Hebrew context seriously. We study the language, the culture, and the literary forms such as history, poetry, prophecy, parable, law, hymn, etc. We value the developing moral principles. Nevertheless, as Christians  we must not be content with linguistic, literary, historical or even ethical studies of the Old Testament.

There are higher and deeper meanings in the Old Testament centered in Jesus Christ, the eternal Word. From Genesis to Malachi, all is pointing to Christ, God's living and active Word, who has been with the Father and the Spirit from all eternity. All the genealogies, all the ancient laws, all the strange stories of human behavior, all the history of Israel reflect and point to God's redeeming work in Christ, directly or indirectly. Jesus spent the three years of His public ministry trying to get His followers to see these truths. Sadly, most of the time, they seem to have missed His deeper points. Fortunately, when Christ rose, He explained things all over again during forty days, and this time, they started to understand all Scripture, all human history, all of life in light of His cross and resurrection. May Easter bring us, His modern followers, the same awareness of divine truth.