A curious facet of this story of the Road to Emmaus and other post-Resurrection narratives is that even those closest to Jesus during his years of public ministry had difficulty recognizing Him. Consider the case of Mary Magdalene on Easter morning at the empty tomb as she wept forlorn and completely unaware that Jesus Himself was standing right behind her. It was only when Jesus said her name that she turned around and recognized Him.
This situation is similar for these two disciples as well. They walk with Jesus for some distance conversing with Him while at the same time remaining completely unaware that they were in the presence of the Lord. It seems that their hearts burned while He spoke to them, but it wasn’t until later when Jesus took bread and said the blessing that they recognized what had occurred. It was only then that they also turned around and went back to Jerusalem to tell the Apostles what had happened.
In our own lives, we are often so oblivious to the ways that Christ is present, whether in the miraculous little moments of the ordinary or in the people we encounter regularly. It can be so difficult to recognize Him, but it’s important that we try to be increasingly intentional and aware of the many ways that Jesus continually manifests Himself to us. Like Mary and the disciples, it’s often not just a matter of recognizing Jesus but also of making a response, of moving or turning back towards Him. In what areas of our own lives do we perhaps experience difficulty in recognizing the presence of Christ? What might be some of the ways that he is inviting us to turn back towards Him in these instances?