“O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.”
-Collect for the Third Sunday of Easter
“How can you stand next to the truth and not see it?”1 This U2 lyric came to mind while watching an episode of “The Late Show with Jimmy Fallon.” In it, the famed pitcher Matt Harvey walked the streets of New York City to ask Mets’ fans what they thought about him. Only, he wasn’t wearing his baseball uniform. Dressed in everyday clothing, no one recognized him. It was as if he had been transformed.
It is a gleeful irony to watch die-hard Mets fans unknowingly belittle their own player to his face. Not one recognizes him until, as they begin to walk away, he reveals his identity. The red-faced result is a delight.
This sketch came to mind after reading this week’s collect. The prayer opens, “O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread...” The prayer is a clear reference to the “Road to Emmaus” story in the Gospel of Luke. In it, the resurrected Christ approaches two of his disciples, but they did not recognize him. Having overheard their conversation, he asked them what they were discussing. They told him about their dashed Messianic hopes. In his grief, one asked, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days? The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was condemned to death and crucified. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”2
Reading this, I couldn’t help but think of the fan who called Matt Harvey an “overrated bum.” There he is, so close — right in front of him — but he couldn’t see him. Similarly, the resurrected Jesus is in their very midst, the unseeing disciples unwittingly call him a disappointment. The one upon whom all their hopes were placed was with them, and they did not recognize him.
It seems unbelievable, improbable: how could they not see? And yet, how often have I been blind to the truth that was staring right at me? How many times have I been unable to read the signs that in hindsight were all around? I’m not talking about how I should have seen that airline stocks would bounce back from their pandemic lows, I’m thinking of how often I’ve been oblivious to Christ’s “redeeming work” in the world all around me.
Most days, I require the obvious to be stated — I need the joke completely ruined — and even that doesn’t always work. Sometimes I need “an ice-axe to break the frozen sea within me.”3
It was this axe that fell upon the disciples. Only not in the form of what we’re used to: eye rolls, criticism, or wrath, but in “the breaking of bread.” In these ordinary means of bread and wine; Bible study and community, the disciples were able to see the stranger right in front of them and know him as the risen Lord. In the same way, Jesus continues to “open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work.”
Lyrics from “I Know I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight.”
Luke 24:18-21, NRSV.
Franz Kafka, “Letter to Oskar Pollak,” Jan. 1904.
Thank you. Though there is a certain sad irony, due to his testimony in court earlier this year, on how Matt Harvey's life and career spun out of control after he did this bit for the show.
Happens all the time. Thanks for the reminder!