The Dark Night of the Soul

Maybe Cleopas was still in shock. It’s unlikely he had fully grasped the events of that Friday–They were pretty shocking.

I understand his wanting to get away from Jerusalem. By any reasonable person’s estimation, there was only more trouble ahead for any disciple of Jesus who remained committed to the cause. Plus, there really wasn’t any cause left to commit yourself to. Now that Jesus was dead and buried, how could they possibly establish a kingdom in his name? The whole project must’ve seemed pointless by now, leaving everyone feeling more hopeless than before they had ever met that strange man from Galilee.

Cleopas and his companion, maybe his wife, were likely walking in the early morning before sunrise to avoid the heat of the day. I wonder if the somber occasion caused them to walk a little slower, or if they walked a little faster, as they anxiously glanced back at the holy city disappearing behind them. I wonder what dark thoughts crossed their minds as they walked in that dim light of dawn. Surely the 3-4 hours it would take to walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus would have given them enough time to replay the events in their head like they had been doing for two days.

“He couldn’t even save himself, what power did he have to save us”, they might have thought. At this point, everything he said, all Jesus’s promises and teaching about God and his kingdom, must have seemed like empty words.

It might have been early morning, but for Cleopas and his partner, they were in the deep, dark night of the soul. Doubtless, this walk and the last two days were days of confusion, and helplessness, and came with a growing sense that God had abandoned them.

It's all part of the plan.

But, we know that wasn’t the end of the story.

It wasn’t the end because the grave couldn’t hold Jesus. He rose from the dead, dear brothers and sisters. Alleluia. Christ is Risen! “He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia”

And His resurrection means a radical shift for Cleopas, and for us all.

But, I think, even for us Easter people, in this Easter season, the reality of the cross is shocking to us. If God was just going to resurrect Jesus from the dead, why was it necessary for him to suffer and die? Especially such a horrific death?

Jesus gives Cleopas a bit of a sharp answer to that question. He rebukes or maybe teases Cleopas, “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?”

It’s hard not to sense Jesus having a bit of fun here. I think he really likes the hidden identity stuff, remember he had just finished pretending to be a gardener with Mary Magdalene. Even for us he is often hidden, “Truly, you are a God who hides himself”, as Isaiah 45 says. But I think he’s leaning into the scolding a bit, so that the reveal is even more delicious and fun.

Though then it says, “Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.”

This had always been a part of the plan. The Old Testament speaks clearly about the Messiah. There are at least 300 Old Testament prophecies that Jesus fulfills, and many about his crucifixion. Go back and read Isaiah 53, which was written 700 years before Jesus was born, we are given so many details about his death and what it means.

But, after a little rebuke, Jesus is happy to explain it to us. Even after we’ve missed the boat, he’s eager to come back and get us. Even when we are walking headlong in the wrong direction, he’s able to turn us around. And that's why the horrific and bloody death, to turn us around and lead us back to him. See for Jesus, no cost is too high to do that.

His true food and drink.

If he had redeemed us with anything less than his blood, we would have room to doubt. But, no substance is more precious than the very blood of Christ–it’s priceless. As St. Peter says, You are ransomed not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ. He wanted to deliver us so fully from the power of sin, death, and the Devil. And to secure us, so completely that there would be no doubt that he was our savior and that we were his. And that kind of assurance would be costly. But, no cost is too high for you.

Cleopas invites the traveler Jesus to have dinner with and to stay with him. A little food during a hard time can make a big difference.

Four years ago, I had a little lump in my throat. I went to the doctor and they assured me it was likely nothing, a swollen lymph node or something, but they ran a few tests anyway. When I went back to see the doctor, I got the news that it was thyroid cancer. Dagny was out of town and so was my best friend, Sam, so I called another friend, my friend Dalton and we grabbed some sandwiches at a local Cuban place. That little meal turned what was a pretty awful afternoon of teary phone calls to Dagny, and my family, and made it just a little better. A little food with a friend can do that, it can change your day. (I’m fine now by the way.)

Cleopas thought he was inviting the traveler over for a meal, but little did he know, it was the traveler who would feed him. Also, notice that Christ is completely invisible to him until the bread is blessed and broken, then something clicks.

For the past few hours, Jesus has been explaining to them from scripture the events of the last few days, who the Messiah is, and what he must do. But, knowledge alone can’t do much. We need a little food, a little sustenance to help us to understand.

It’s not enough to know, we must eat. So, Jesus feeds us. But, what he feeds us isn’t any ordinary meal. It’s not like the meal I had with Dalton or any earthly meal, no matter how needed in a time of pain or struggle. It was so much better than those meals. It is better because Jesus feeds us with his own body and his blood.

The most precious substance in the world, the same blood that he bled to save us on the cross, with which he washes us in our baptisms, he offers freely to us each week.

"For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink," Jesus says. And until we eat and drink his body and blood, just like Cleopas, he’s invisible to us. But, a little food can make a big difference. Once we eat and drink, Christ becomes more clear.

When Cleopas ate, he knew he needed to go back. He was traveling in just the opposite direction. He needed to tell the other disciples of Jesus and what he had seen!

That same promise is for you.

This same promise is for you, too. For all who are far away, not just for those seven miles away in Emmaus, but even for us that are separated by six thousand miles and two thousand years.

He still breaks bread with us, he bears in his body our sins, he offers us his blood, and he is revealing himself to us and the world. For those of us who are united with Christ in Holy Communion, there is no need for despair.

But, even when we are despairing, walking in precisely the other direction, Christ shows up and feeds us. Because a little food makes all the difference in the world.