St. Luke 24: 13-35

Easter 3

4/26/20

WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?

It happens when the conversation takes a turn suddenly from one topic

to another one that is completely different. We are taken by surprise and

say, “What in the world are you talking about? We were talking about tennis and now you’re talking about tomatoes!” Even when you have been married for nearly fifty-two years it happens.

Joyce and I can be carrying on a normal conversation, which in our

marriage may or may not be described as ever completely normal, and

she abruptly changes the topic, having fancied some hidden segue, some

exotic or surprising word in the previous conversation. And I ask, “What in the world are you talking about?”

Or maybe it’s me who abruptly changes the subject.

Conversations recorded by the Bible have taken place in which the topic

abruptly changes, and I wildly conjecture on some.

Adam to his wife, Eve. “We were talking about pruning this part of the garden and you suddenly ask if I want a bite of an apple.”

Unidentified source, except God

Sampson to his lover, Delilah: “We were having a real good time and you pop out your pair of scissors?”

My grandmother took me to this movie when I was six!

Joseph to Mary: “We were just discussing how we’re going to line up tomorrow morning for the census registration, and now you tell me your water broke!”

Credit: The Bump

On Easter evening, as we learned last week, Jesus appeared suddenly in

the same room with his disciples. But, earlier that day, there occurred a

potent segue for conversation if ever there was one. He had joined up

with two other disciples (not of the “twelve”) who were walking to

Emmaus, a distance from Jerusalem of just over ten miles.

These two disciples, Clopas and his wife, Mary, were discussing between

themselves the conflicting reports that were coming in that seemed to

suggest that their master and friend, Jesus, had been raised from the

dead that morning and was somewhere the capitol, or in the vicinity.

St. Luke identifies Clopas but does not identify Mary (there are several

Mary’s, a common name in the Gospels, which we all know). However,

we can turn to St. John (19:25) for that: Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary, the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene. Ergo, this Mary is Jesus’ aunt! Two sisters named

Mary, although they would have likely been distinguished by their

second names or their towns of residence. How many Passovers and

other celebrations would Aunt Mary have attended in his presence when

he was growing, or certainly well into his adulthood?

So, this couple, Clopas and his wife, Mary, was likely returning from

Jerusalem to their home in Emmaus. Please note that even though they

are not in the “inner circle” of the twelve apostles, they are nonetheless

“disciples,” followers of Jesus.

Remains of a Byzantine church at Emmaus-Nicopolis. Photographed by Todd

Bolen, courtesy of BiblePlaces.com. Photo edited by E. W. Baade

As they were walking, they were very sad. While they had heard stirring

reports of the resurrection, nothing was certain. Dead people don’t come

back from the dead, do they? However, just a few days ago, there had

been an exception, Lazarus. That was still a mind-bending event for

many who had seen Lazarus both stone cold dead and very much alive

afterwards. So, there was thin thread of hope that “lightning” could

strike in nearly the same place just a few days apart. A very, very thin

thread.

Then Jesus joined them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. What?! Jesus’ aunt and uncle don’t recognize their nephew? Not

possible. On a casual basis, non-recognition of someone you know

happens not infrequently. But the conversation, physical separation, and

length of time of what was about to take place was certainly not casual.

Why do you think that was so, that their eyes were kept from recognizing him? Were kept indicates that it wasn’t their choice, but somebody else’s.

We discover the answer as our text unfolds.

As these three walked along, Jesus, after they had revealed to him their

hopes and dreams about their nephew, “Jesus,” (did they refer to him as

their nephew? We don’t know) told them that what they had heard about

the reported resurrection was as it had actually been predicted! Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. But as they walked together, they still did not recognize who was talking

to them. It was not until later, in their home, when he broke their bread

that their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. Then they said to

each other with wonder in their voices, Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?

“Gang nach Emmaus” / “The Road to Emmaus.” Robert Zund’s popular 1877

painting (public domain)

“Gang nach Emmaus” Fritz von Uhde, 1891 (public domain)

I find myself thinking, before the breaking of the bread in the home of

Mary and Clopas, and back down on the road when Jesus had joined

them, that he asked them—perhaps seriously—but possibly with an

inner smile, “What in the world are you talking about?

__________________________________________________________________

There are two closely related words in the English language that,

depending how they are used, are opposite in meaning: “incredulous” and

“incredible.”

“The root of the word incredulous is credulous, (further, ‘cred’) which is derived from the Latin word credo, literally "I believe." (V2 Vocabulary

Building Dictionary)

When we use the word, “incredulous,” we are referring to something that

we think can’t possibly be true, something that we cannot believe. “Most people were incredulous when the politician conveniently failed to recall any of her previous dealings with her largest contributor.”

Saying and proclaiming that there is a resurrection from the dead elicits,

for many people in our modern times and undoubtedly throughout

history, a response of incredulity. “No way!” “Not possible!” No matter

how many religions insist that there is some kind of consciousness—or

life—after death, the idea that we will come to life again still makes a lot

of people “incredulous.”

For Clopas and his wife, Mary, the possibility that their Jesus nephew

was really alive again was sadly incredulous.

And then there is, “incredible.”

You guessed it. This word has the same root as “incredulous.” (“cred”: “I

believe.”). “Cred” is not only the root for “incredulous,” but also

“credible,” (“capable of being believed.”)

From that we can formulate, “incredible.” This is, on the surface, a word

which is, like “incredulous,” an unbelieving word. Except we most

frequently use it to describe something wonderful that we actually know

is true.

“Wasn’t it incredible when the Seattle Seahawks beat Green Bay Packers several years ago in that Monday Night Football game?”

The split decision that went Seahawks way, September 24, 2012

Clopas and Mary, during that walk with Jesus, whom they did not

recognize, inhabited that “no man’s land” between the incredulous and

the incredible. In their sadness, and especially as their hearts burned

within them as Jesus talked to them about how the scriptures were being

fulfilled, they desperately wanted to believe him; they wanted to believe

the reports they were hearing.

Pieces of their hearts and minds said to them, “Is it possible? Are the reports we have heard this morning credible? Can we believe what the women reported back after they went to Jesus’ tomb?” They, in fact,

related to this stranger who was walking with them what they had heard,

… some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 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. When you consider the claims of Christianity, are you incredulous about

its claims, in spite of the fact that if you are a member of a confessional

Christian church you confessed them when you were confirmed, and ever

since have confessed them as true when you recite the creeds (“cred” – “I

believe”)?

If we were to join Mary and Clopas on that road to Emmaus, would we

also be incredulous about the report that Jesus was alive?

Are we still at times incredulous over the claims of our faith, even in the

twenty-first century?

Is there really a heaven?

Will I really be raised in my body from my death?

Is there an end to the world that God has planned, or will this orb just

continue for cosmic eons finally to be burned up by a very old and

degrading sun and not only will I be lost forever in nothingness, but the

world will be, too?

Is there a God, really? If so, how can I know for certain that He/She loves

me?

The fact that I believe and confess the claims of Christianity, that God

sent his only Son into the world, into the flesh that I have and that he

died on the cross for me and rose from the dead for me, does not immunize

me from being incredulous in the moments when, intellectually, I try to

look at them objectively. But even if I am not immunized from

incredulity, I nevertheless happen to believe that the “incredible” is true.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous quote somehow also applies here,

“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

Our text does not end with Jesus revealing himself in the breaking of the

bread in the Emmaus home of his aunt and uncle, and then vanishing

from their sight. (Here we go again, the risen Christ in his glorious,

resurrected body transcending the limits of this fallen world. Incredible!

But I believe.)

Our text ends with St. Luke reporting that Mary and Clopas returned—

walked all the way back to Jerusalem—to report that they, too, had seen

the risen Christ. That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven (remember, Judas is no longer with them) and their companions gathered together … Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. What kind of incredible news would make you get up from your supper

and walk over six miles to tell someone what you found out, especially

after you were tired from already walking at least six miles that day (or

twelve if they had earlier made a round trip)? Even if you had the

multiple capabilities of communication that we have now, there is

something about telling someone in person that something wonderful

and incredible has happened. The full joy of life cannot be conveyed

wholly by a text, an email, a phone, or even a person to person electronic

meeting. That’s why, when the virus “sheltering-in” mode that we are

doing is over and we can safely gather, we will do just that. It’s one thing

to talk to each other electronically, or even to read sermons and services

from files. It’s an entirely different thing to experience the full joy of life

together in worship in person.

Of course, Clopas and Mary, had they been living now, would have texted

and emailed and phoned to their friends and loved ones to tell them what

had just happened. But the fact is what they had to tell was so stunning

and joyous that they got up and walked six miles back to Jerusalem.

Kieran Driver / MavSocial

“Incredible!”

I think that when Clopas and Mary arrived back in Jerusalem the other

disciples were no longer asking, “What in the world are you talking about.” Reports were trickling in. A buzz was being generated. Facts

were accumulating: The women had reported from the empty tomb; one

of the Marys had actually encountered the risen Jesus that morning; The

Jews and the Romans were looking all over for the body of Jesus and the

body of the disciples. Something was happening all right and, as we

know, for the disciples it would be verified by the end of the day both in

the locked room of the eleven disciples and in the home of the Emmaus

disciples, Jesus’ aunt and uncle.

What in the world are WE talking about today—these days? What are

the conversations we’re having? “What in the world are you talking about?

We’re talking about the pandemic.

We’re talking about how we shelter-in.

We’re talking about those who are protesting the shut-downs in various

states, thus not only thumbing their noses at the rule of law but

endangering our first responders and medical people as well as our own

loved ones around the country.

We’re talking about why, in God’s name, POTUS would recommend

injecting into our bodies Lysol and light waves to kill the COVID-19, and

why medical people all over the country have to spend precious time

rebutting this suggestion.

We’re talking about playing baseball in empty stadiums and about what

pro football team improved itself in the NFL draft.

We’re talking about when we can go back to our favorite restaurants and

the theatre.

We’re talking about what is going to be different after this crisis is over.

We’re talking about a lot of things and then, suddenly, our wife or our

husband or our significant other abruptly changes the subject on us, like

maybe, “Honey, what’s the word that goes in this set of squares in the crossword puzzle, ‘incredulous’ or ‘incredible?’”

Oops, 11 letters vs 10.

Bytes: 2014

If you tell someone today that Jesus is risen and that they can live forever

and ever in heaven, will his response be one of disbelieving incredulity,

or will she say with abounding, believing joy, “Incredible!”

What in the world are you talking about today?

As for me, I am looking forward to my next conversation with my wife.

Amen.

Run and tell somebody the good news!