The Emmaus travellers - hope rekindled

A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Bishop David Walker

Good Morning

This week, my inspirations for prayer will come from the biblical characters who were profoundly changed by the death and resurrection of Jesus.

It had been a dispiriting walk, a trudge more like, from Jerusalem towards Emmaus. All their hopes for Israel had come crashing to Earth with the arrest and execution of their leader. Nothing to do now but to go back home and pick up the pieces.

The stranger who had caught up with them along the road had seemed entirely ignorant of the turmoil that had engulfed the city these last few days. And yet when they described the events, he calmly set them in the context of the scriptures. Slowly, their hearts began to burn again, a tiny spark of hope rekindling within them. Perhaps there was more to this than they had hitherto understood. That was why they’d urged him to stay with them when they reached their destination, not simply because it was late in the day to be travelling further. As long as he was with them, it began to feel bearable, more than bearable.

And then he broke the bread. And then they recognised him. And then he vanished. And then they sprinted back along the road they’d come, oblivious of the falling darkness, ignoring the risks of nighttime travel. Back all the way to Jerusalem, bursting to share the news that Jesus was alive.

Almighty God, when my heart grows cold, rekindle in it the fire of your love. Grant that whenever I meet with my sisters and brothers, breaking bread in remembrance of him, such fresh joy and renewed hope, at his risen presence, as those first disciples knew in Emmaus long ago, may be in my heart. Amen.