The Third Sunday of Easter

The two disciples of Emaus returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them. They recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of bread.

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.

Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things’.

Having celebrated the resurrection of Jesus, the Church begins the Passover time. It is a period of fifty days during which we joyfully celebrate the mystery of Easter. This Holy Time begins on Easter Sunday and ends on Pentecost Sunday. Forty days after the resurrection of Jesus, the Church celebrates His Ascension into heaven, and on Pentecost we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit to the apostles gathered all together in one place, and the beginning of the mission of the Church founded by Christ.

During this holy time, the liturgy helps us believers to penetrate more deeply into the mystery of Jesus' resurrection. This includes two very important truths.

The first one is that Jesus truly died, and the second one is that Jesus was truly resurrected. If Jesus did not die, he was not resurrected. "If Christ has not been raised, [our] faith is futile and [we] are still in [our] sins." (cf. 1 Cor 15, 17).

Yes, Jesus died and he was buried. John the evangelist wrote that "But when [the soldiers] came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out. (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth)" (Jn 19, 33-35). Mark the evangelist wrote that "Joseph of Arimathea ... went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time. When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph" (Mk 15, 43-45).

Yes, of course, Jesus resurrected! But we have no eyewitnesses of the moment of his resurrection, of how it happened. Interestingly, only the evangelist Matthew wrote that when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. ... For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. Then the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay (cf. Mt 28, 1-7). For other evangelists, especially for John, there was only the empty tomb! Luke tells us that the two men dressed in dazzling clothes stood beside the women and told them: "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen." Yes, of course, Jesus is alive!

We know for sure that Jesus resurrected from the dead, because during forty days he met his disciples personally and in groups to show them that he was truly alive.

The first time that Jesus showed himself alive after his resurrection was to Mary Magdalene, who stood weeping outside the tomb. She thought that the man who asked her why she was weeping and who was she looking for, was the gardener. Only when he called her by name, did she realize that he was Jesus, her teacher and friend.

Then he met the two disciples who were returning to their home in Emmaus. They were very sad and did not recognize him. They thought he was a stranger who did not know what had happened in Jerusalem in those days. Only when they invited him to their home and offered him something to eat, did they realize that he was the resurrected Jesus; only when "he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them."

Many times after his resurrection, Jesus stood among the disciples to assure them that he was truly alive, and to teach them what resurrection really is.

Because of their meetings with Jesus during the fifty days between Easter and Pentecost, the disciples grew in the faith and were ready to bear testimony, with courage and even martyrdom, that Jesus was truly resurrected. Their testimony was confirmed by the sincerity with which the disciples admitted that it was not easy for them to believe that he was not a ghost or an illusion.

We meet the disciples of Emmaus in today's gospel as they were telling the other disciples how they recognized Jesus when he shared the bread.

At this moment Jesus himself stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Luke told us that the disciples were were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Jesus said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." But because of their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Ghosts do not eat freshly caught fish! (Cfr Jn 21, 10).

It is very interesting that the news of Jesus' resurrection spread out verbally as a personal encounter with him and that it was shared with the community of believers. Indeed, it is the community that guarantees that truth is sustained, and that no lie is spread.

The last words of today’s gospel tell us that all of us who are members of the Christian community must be witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus, which also guarantees the hope of our resurrection.

Let us thank God for his mercy. He made us co-workers with Jesus for the salvation of humankind. Let us ask God to give us the grace that strengthens our faith in him.