Passage Viewer

The disciples have traveled with Jesus, but while Jesus’ journey aims ultimately to fulfill the Father’s plan of salvation, the disciples’ journey ends in disappointment, sadness, and frustration: “We had hoped that he would be the one to redeem Israel” (21). This is the perfect moment for the Risen One to begin correcting the disciples’ path, and he does so based on two elements: the first is rooted in Scripture, so he begins there and explains it step by step until they understand. The second element involves the experiential aspect of Scripture that Jesus had already demonstrated throughout his life and that he wanted to symbolize through the act of sharing a meal; here, he shares it with two disciples, but during his life, he shared it with all kinds of men and women. The disciples express what the explanation of Scripture inspired in them: zeal and the power of grace. They also needed to see the sign of the table/bread to understand everything, and then go and tell others.

Gradually, the community of disciples becomes ‘infected’ with faith in the resurrection. What starts as an individual experience turns into a shared one for the whole community. Surely, it was necessary to go through doubts, fear, frustration, and feelings of defeat; that’s why those initial experiences of faith in the resurrection and full adherence to the Risen One can be confusing: they thought they were seeing a ghost (39); however, the Risen One does not ‘give up.’ He is understanding with his disciples, and once again, as in the Emmaus passage, he turns to Scripture and opens their minds to understanding. He also uses the food symbol again. In this way, the community of disciples completes a complete formative process, recalling the words and signs of the Master during his public life. They are now equipped to be witnesses throughout the world, starting with Jerusalem.