The Emmaus Method

Luke 24:13-35

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, 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. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

If this story was meant to simply be a historical account, they wouldn’t have left the other disciple unnamed. We would have been told about how Cleopas and Chuck were walking down the road. But this story ISN’T meant to simply be a historical account. This story, with an unnamed disciple placeholder which is meant for you and me, is here to pull us into this story so that we might learn something alongside our friend Cleopas about the “Jesus Way” of living in and caring for one another in the world.

We are meant to imagine that it is each of US... and old Cleopas there... who have experienced a horrible trauma. It is you and I who are grieving the loss of what we had hoped the world would be.  In the original story, the trauma was the crucifixion, but with this story, Jesus is modeling how we can walk with ANYONE who has experienced ANY sort of trauma. You could just pick a trauma at random… say a worldwide pandemic, for instance... and this story is meant to model for us how to care for our neighbors in the midst of that crisis... the loss of friends and family... the loss of how we knew the world worked... the loss of what we had planned and what we had hoped for that has now been ruined.  

The first thing Jesus does is to just walk with them. He is with them right where they are.  He doesn’t stop them in the street. He doesn’t try to turn them around or try to fix what he thinks might be wrong. He just slides up beside them, lets them set the pace, and is present with them. Eventually, Jesus asks a question. “What are you talking about?”

For humans like you, me, and old Cleopas there, our brains are hard wired to wonder about any question we get asked. It may only be for a split second, but we WILL wonder.  We can’t help it.  The tricksy part is that the place in our brains where we MUST wonder about a question, is NOT in the part of our brains in charge or fight or flight. So in the split second that Jesus asked you and old Cleopas there that little question, the part of our brains that are capable of thinking beyond just one thought... running away from Jerusalem in a panic... has been opened up for our potential use.  

Next Jesus asks them another question.  “What things happened in Jerusalem?” And they tell Jesus their story. Even though Jesus knew the story they were telling better than they did, he still let them tell it. Jesus is showing us another part of how to care for one another in a crisis. We need to take the time to listen to each other’s story. Just listen. Listen to understand… not to reply. Ask questions and listen. Listen even if you’ve heard it before.  Listen even if you’ve heard it a hundred times before.

At this point Jesus calls them foolish and slow of heart which is frankly a quadruple black belt, ninja type counseling move right there! But what Jesus did was to throw them off balance as a way to continue to help them get unstuck from the fight or flight part of their brains. For those of us without a counseling quadruple blackbelt, we might want to be less direct, but the model still works.  The model teaches us to keep asking questions.  Get them talking through their experiences of the past.  Ask them to tell you the stories they know best. “What happened when this sort of thing happened to you before?  How did Moses and the prophets deal with their traumas? How did those stories turn out?” “Do you remember when something looked impossible in Jesus’ life? Do you remember storms on a sea, a man with a legion of demons, a guy born blind, lepers, 5000 hungry people, Lazarus who stanketh? How did each of those impossible stories turn out?” In times of trauma, locked in fight or flight mode, the wiring in our heads which connect us to those powerful lessons, experiences, and stories of the past are cut off. What Jesus did was to use questions to move them over and over and over again, out of the fight or flight parts of their brains and into the places in their minds where it would be POSSIBLE for them to see more options for their lives than just running away.

As they get to Emmaus, Jesus models something else about this Way of helping. Jesus doesn’t ASSUME they are ready to try something different than just running away. He asks those questions, helps them move into a place where more can happen, but then... just “walks ahead as if he were going on.” Jesus is modeling for us the reality that the people we care for in a trauma will be ready to do more than run, ONLY when they are ready. There’s no guarantee that will happen in a month, or in a year, or by the time we walk to Emmaus. Jesus is modeling for us the need to allow the other to set the pace.

Finally Jesus shows us how very powerful it is to be present with those who are in pain. How incredibly powerful it is to bless one another with deep compassion. How wonderfully powerful it is to be generous with each other, being fully present with them, and sharing what we have. 

In the end, Jesus didn’t tell those two disciples anything they didn’t already know before Jesus joined them on the road to Emmaus. Jesus simply walked with them for a while, asked them questions, listened deeply as they told the story they needed to tell, and helped them regain access to the powerful truths, stories, and promises that had been cut off from their memories by their trauma in Jerusalem.

May all of us, as we walk with and care for others in our time of pandemic trauma, follow the “Jesus Way” of caring for each another. May we be creative in being present with each other. May we share with each other the power of deep compassion. May we be generous with our neighbors with our presence, our questions, and our listening... so that we might help one another regain access to the stories, promises and truths which give us all hope.... stories, promises and truths that are even now, burning within us all. Amen.