Can We See Jesus?

Luke 24:11-29

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When we are stricken with grief or trauma, sometimes we miss the main things we should be seeing. Though grief and response to trauma are natural and necessary, we can practice being able to see Jesus, even amid our troubles. Even as we grieve things that seem preventable or are not what we believe to be true or should have happened. Of course, we might need divine guidance as we practice.

Two were on the road to Emmaus. Cleopas and a companion (womanist pause: the companion may have been his wife as they are not named) are downtrodden and somewhat depressed because Jesus didn’t deliver the victory to Israel that they thought he would. He wasn’t the messiah they expected. They were so focused on what they believed that they didn’t even recognize Jesus himself as he approached them.

The men were so focused on the political news, Jesus being by the Roman empire. They had lost hope because of all that had happened. They didn’t see the women who had already prophesied to them about the risen Christ. This was a bit of hope that they did not hold on to.

Today, we have many opposing opinions and beliefs. Even when we are convinced that we are right, Jesus should be a clear part of whatever we are involved in. We can remember that the risen Jesus is with us through all our life. The rough and dismal political news we face can make us miss Jesus.

Perhaps the two were “kept from seeing Jesus because their opinions were fully formed. Their assumptions shaped what they talked about, and what they talked about shaped what they saw. Then, when Jesus was next to them asking what they were talking about, they didn’t recognize him.

I understand. Sometimes listening to people with whom I strongly disagree makes me anxious or angry.

What we talk about matters. What we pay attention to grows. Our own biases and limited knowledge can make us miss Jesus altogether. Not just Jesus, but everything the risen Christ brings to us. Hope. New Life. The promise that suffering and death are not the end of the story. Jesus' question—“What are you discussing?”—pushes us to pause and pay attention to the stories we are telling and to the fact that what we discuss shapes what we can and cannot see. It is essential that we pay close attention to Jesus and not miss the truth.