3rd Sunday of Easter - Year B - Come, Lord Jesus & “Two Were Bound for Emmaus”
Bette Midler in her song, “The Rose” sings, “It’s the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance. It’s the dream afraid of waking that never takes a chance. And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live.”
That could sum up the followers of Jesus. Once again, they are locked behind closed doors out of fear. What were they afraid of? They were afraid that those responsible for the death of Jesus might hunt them down to get rid of the whole movement once and for all. They were afraid of public ridicule. They were afraid to go home: after all, they had left all things to follow Jesus. Now it seemed they had been wrong, and they had better hide until it was all over.
Fear is a terrible thing, and most of us have fears. Many fear not fitting in, fear of failing, or about looking good. So some wither away, take no risks and hide behind closed doors of our own making, pretending to be cool, sophisticated, the life of the party, or aloof. But it is all a façade: we are afraid, and we are looking for someone to walk through the doors, doors we have closed, and call us out of our fears. We are looking for someone who understands.
In this weekend’s Gospel (Luke 24:35-48), the disciples today were hiding in fear, behind locked doors, disfigured with their own betrayals and cowardice. Then Jesus appears in their midst with His wounds. Maybe Jesus felt like if He can appear before them disfigured, they will let Him back into their disfigured lives.
When it hurts too much to hope, when life has wounded us, when faith is exhausted and we doubt, know that the risen Lord with His disfiguring wounds is waiting to get into our disfigured and fearful lives and call us out of our fears. Sometimes when life can be overwhelming and fear takes over, simply repeat the three last words from one of the last passages of the Bible (Rev 22:20): “Come, Lord Jesus!”
In honor of the Gospel, we would like to share our latest video, "Two Were Bound for Emmaus", a beautiful hymn based on Luke 24 that tells the story of two disciples who unknowingly meet Jesus while on their way to Emmaus. The hymn is also based on Jesus’ final miracle told in John 21, the second catch of fish in the sea of Tiberius.
Video can be watched by clicking here or on the picture below:
