Eyes Wide Shut
Luke 24:13-35
April 23rd, 2023
Rev. Rhonda Blevins, pastor
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.
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Do you remember Magic Eye? Magic Eye was popular back in the 90’s. They were prints—digital designs—that looked like just colors in some pattern. But there was a hidden image in them, for those who had eyes to see.
I never had eyes to see. “Focus through the image as if looking into the distance,” friends would instruct. No luck. “Stand up close and then slowly move away.” No luck. “Close one eye, stick out your tongue, tilt your head, and jump up and down on one foot.” :/
No matter what I did or how hard I tried, I was a Magic Eye failure. I felt stupid, figuring one of two things was happening—either I was too dumb to realize it was a great big joke that everyone was in on except me, or I just didn’t have eyes to see. I was blind to Magic Eye.
Then one day, years after I had given up ever being able to detect the hidden image in a Magic Eye, it happened. I was standing in a store, and just by chance I looked at a Magic Eye poster—and there it was! The hidden image! Hidden in plain view. And once I saw it, I couldn’t unsee it. Suddenly, out of the blue, I had an eye for Magic Eye.
Today we read together a story about a couple of individuals who find themselves unable to see what (or who) was right in front of them. Two travelers, walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus just after Jesus of Nazareth had been crucified. After he died. After they laid him in a stone-cold tomb.
It’s still Easter Sunday in this story from the Gospel of Luke. And in Luke’s telling, Mary Magdalene and several other women go to the tomb at dawn to tend Jesus’ body. They find the stone rolled away from the empty tomb, and two angels appear, telling them that Jesus has risen. And while it’s remarkable that these women encounter two angels and have a whole conversation, they do not encounter the risen Lord personally, in Luke’s telling of the story.
Later that same day, two disciples are walking seven miles to Emmaus when they meet up with a curious stranger along the way. One of the disciples’ is named “Cleopas,” and the other is unnamed—perhaps Luke leaves the other disciple unnamed as an invitation for us to imagine ourselves as the unnamed disciple?
Part of what makes this stranger so, well, strange, is that he doesn’t seem to know anything of the biggest news in Jerusalem, that Jesus of Nazareth had been turned over to the Romans and executed. “You” and Cleopas “had hoped”—in other words, your hope is gone, crushed—you are hopeless. This stranger appears to know nothing of these events.
Their journey continues, and the stranger opens up the scriptures to “you,” teaching “you” and Cleopas deep truths about the Messiah. And when the day is growing short and the two of you arrive at your destination, the curious companion appears to be travelling on. You urge him to join you, and he does.
Here’s the thing about blindness, whether it’s Magic Eye blindness or spiritual blindness . . . you can’t see what you can’t see until you can see.
Physically, our eyes may be wide open. Spiritually, we may have Eyes Wide Shut.
I think that’s where “you” and Cleopas are at the beginning of the story. You’re aware of parts of Jesus—you know about his crucifixion, his death, his burial. Maybe you and Cleopas know of his teachings, his healings, and how he challenged the status quo. Maybe you’ve even seen some of these things firsthand. But like someone blind to Magic Eye, it is entirely possible to look straight at Jesus without seeing the deeper reality.
You can’t see what you can’t see until you can see.
The good news is, you don’t have to close one eye, stick out your tongue, or hop up and down on one foot. No.
We claim the promise of Jeremiah 29:13: “When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart.”
So, for the few moments, I invite you to consider three powerful ways to seek Christ—three ways that will open the eyes of your heart (if you are genuine in your seeking) that you might learn to see Christ more clearly. There are many ways to grow in our ability to see. Today I’m naming only three—two externally-focused ways, and one internally-focused way.
1. We can learn to see Christ through the poor.
Pope Francis once said, “In the poor and outcast we see Christ’s face; by loving and helping the poor, we love and serve Christ.” This has a biblical foundation in the Gospel of Matthew 25:34-40 in which Jesus says:
“’Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did it to me.’”
Here’s the thing: our eyes are drawn to the beautiful, the powerful, the successful, the wealthy. Have you ever been at a party, having a conversation with someone, and their eyes are darting around the room looking for someone more important to talk with? I think many of us are that way, it’s just that we are better at hiding it than that jerk! To see Christ more clearly, we must learn to look at the poor, the oppressed, the suffering. The Easter story is all about victory and resurrection, but ONLY by way of the bloody cross.
We learn to see Christ through the poor.
2. We can learn to see Christ through the planet.
Yesterday was Earth Day! On Thursday my kid’s 3rd grade class presented their Earth Day themed spring concert. They performed a beautiful song called “This Pretty Planet”—it’s the unofficial Earth Day song written by John Forster & Tom Chapin. Here are the lyrics:
This pretty planet spinning through space,
You’re a garden, you’re a harbor, you’re a holy place.
Golden sun going down,
Gentle blue giant, spin us around,
All through the night, safe ‘til the morning light.
We take our planet for granted, but it is indeed a “holy place.” Don’t take my word for it. Here’s what the Apostle Paul says about it from Romans 1:20:
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
And from the Psalmist in Psalm 19:1-4:
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
Think about a time when a sunset took your breath away. Or the way grown men become childlike at the sight of a dolphin. This planet is a holy place, and a way that the nature of Christ is revealed to us.
We can learn to see Christ through the planet.
3. We can learn to see Christ through the pause.
“Be still and know that I am God,” we read in Psalm 46:10. This modern life has so many distractions, amazing places to go, wonderful books to read, and Netflix drops new content every month! This entertainment age has a downside though—we seldom pause. There’s always more shiny objects vying for our attention, drowning out the still, small voice of God.
Mother Teresa once said, “Silence gives us a new outlook on everything. We need silence to be able to touch souls. The essential thing is not what we say but what God says to us and through us.”
Throughout the Gospels, we read about Jesus slipping away from the crowds, even away from his disciples. It wasn’t to watch Netflix (not that there’s anything wrong with Netflix). He didn’t have Netflix as a distraction, but he had crowds of people always wanting a piece of him. That’s harder to ignore than New Amsterdam!
If Jesus needed to “pause,” how much more do you and I?
We can learn to see Christ through the pause.
How can we learn to see Christ more clearly? Let’s review the three ways I’ve named this morning:
· We can learn to see Christ through the poor.
· We can learn to see Christ through the planet.
· We can learn to see Christ through the pause.
Here’s the thing: seeing Christ is not just about opening our eyes, but opening our hearts to love and beauty and silence. And if . . . when . . . we do that with regularity, the scales will fall off our eyes, and we can begin to see some new truth and discover Christ anew over and over and over again.
So back to today’s scripture lesson . . .
The curious stranger joins “you” and Cleopas for dinner. He takes bread, blesses it, breaks it and offers it to you and bam! You recognize the curious stranger as Jesus, risen from the dead! He vanishes, and everything becomes crystal clear in retrospect. “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”
You can’t see what you can’t see until you can see. And once you can see, you can’t unsee.
As you grow in faith, you’ll continually discover new (to you) and deeper (to you) truths previously unrevealed. If you have the same understanding of Christ that you did 20 years ago, I’ll suggest your faith is stagnant. How exciting is a faith in which God continually reveals Godself to us.
From Hebrews 6:1: “Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity.”
That’s why I love this church. You allow me, your pastor, to continue my own faith pursuits while encouraging you to do the same. Not too many boxes here at the Chapel. No, we recognize God’s face in the poor, in the planet, and in the pause. And so . . . many . . . other . . . ways.
So keep it up, Chapel! Keep walking with Christ, and Christ will keep walking with you. Christ is ever-revealing if we are ever-seeking.
So “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)