People of the Book. That is a phrase used in the Quran to describe both Jews and Christians, and the Book in question is of course the Bible. But a better description of Jews is People of the Torah, meaning the first five books of what Christians call the Old Testament to which are added as inspired texts the Prophets, the Psalms, the Wisdom Literature, and the history writings. And Christians are less People of the Book than People of the Word. The Word of God, that is.
The expression “the Word of God” has three distinct and equally important meanings for Christians. First is the Word of God Eternal, meaning the only-begotten Son of the Father who is likewise called God the Word or Logos, a term which can also be translated as reason. The Eternal Son and Word of God, by whom all things were made, is the perfect reflection of the Father’s eternal glory and the complete revelation of the Father’s logical or rational plan for the creation and redemption of the universe.
Next is the Word of God Incarnate, meaning the Son of Mary who came to exist in her womb when the Eternal Word took flesh by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Incarnate Word and remains God from God even as he is forevermore a man like us in all things but sin.
Finally is the Word of God Written, meaning the God-breathed texts of Holy Scripture which include all of the books of the Old and New Testaments and which faithfully reveal to us all that God the Father intends for us to know about his eternal plan of salvation for the entire human race in Jesus Christ.
To be Christians requires of us a lifelong immersion in the Written Word of God so that we can live as friends of the Incarnate Word of God and be united by faith, hope, and love to the Eternal Word of God. And that is why ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ, a salutary truth to which the Lord Jesus himself directs our attention in the Gospel today.
The scene is the evening of Easter Sunday, about which we read last week from John’s Gospel. Now we read of the same day but from a different point of view provided by Saint Luke. In the verses just before our text today, Luke recounts the story of two men who on Easter Sunday afternoon meet a stranger as they walk dejectedly from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus about seven miles away.
The two men are downcast because they were disciples of Jesus and are devastated by his torture and execution. But on the road they tell the stranger of odd stories which have begun to circulate. They explain that some of the women among the disciples claim that the tomb of Jesus is empty and that they saw angels who announced that he is alive. Then the two travelers add that other disciples went to the tomb and confirmed that it was empty but that they did not see Jesus.
On hearing their tale, the stranger says to them “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then Luke tells us that "beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”
That stranger, of course, is the Risen Lord, and when the two men ask him to stay with them for supper at journey’s end, he takes, blesses, and breaks bread for them. And in that instant, they recognize him as the Lord Jesus, and he vanishes from their sight. They exclaim “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures,” and then despite the late hour and the long distance they rush back to Jerusalem and find the Eleven and other disciples, who assure them that “the Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon.” And that is where our text begins today.
Luke writes “As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them ‘Peace be with you.’” Then after calming their fears, showing them his glorified wounds, and demonstrating that he is not a ghost by eating some of their food, Jesus said to them ‘everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”
Notice, both on the road to Emmaus and back in Jerusalem, the Risen Lord revealed himself to his disciples only in and with and through the Holy Scriptures, and they could not accept or understand his supernatural gift of divine revelation without accepting and understanding the Scriptures. Even seeing Jesus stand before them in his glorified body or in the breaking of the bread, which is the Holy Eucharist, the disciples could not recognize the Lord until their hearts and minds had been opened by him to understand the Scriptures.
Recall that last week we read that the Risen Christ gave us the forgiveness of sins in the Sacrament of Penance in the Upper Room on the evening of Easter Sunday, and today we see him teaching us to find him in Holy Scripture. So the next time a Catholic tells you that she no longer goes to Mass because she doesn’t get anything out of it, don’t ask her what style of music or liturgy or preaching she might find more appealing. Ask him, instead, how long it has been since he went to Confession and how often he reads, studies, and prays with the Holy Bible.
There simply is no substitute for one’s own personal and direct encounter with Holy Scripture, and there are many methods for coming to know and understand the Bible: Scripture study groups, Bible classes, online resources, personal prayer and study, regular lectio divina, attention to liturgical proclamation, and above all daily dedication to the Liturgy of the Hours. All of these and more are the ways in which we can prepare ourselves to hear the Word of God speak to us from the sacred page. But finally it is God’s grace alone that can open our understanding of all that was written about the Christ, before he came, while he was among us, and after his Resurrection.
And that is why an atheist studying the Bible as an archaeological artifact and a Christian studying the Bible to draw near to the Lord Jesus are engaged in fundamentally different activities which will yield radically different results. And this is why no disciple of Christ should be thrown into doubt by the scribblings of scoffers or by the cable channel documentaries that inevitably appear during Holy Week or Eastertide to explain condescendingly why everything taught by Christianity is fraudulent nonsense which only the naive, credulous, superstitious, and ignorant can take seriously.
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a psychotic delusion. It is not a nostalgic recollection of a beloved teacher, now dead but still remembered. The Resurrection is not the product of mass hysteria. It is not a lie told by the Apostles to make themselves rich and famous. The Resurrection is not the wish fulfillment of magical thinking. It is not the fabrication of priests looking for control over the lives of others. The Resurrection is not a mythological variation on the theme found in pagan religions of the dying god who brings new life. All of these fantasies and more like them are regularly offered by unbelievers to explain away the Church’s experience of the Resurrection, but such objections all fall short of the extraordinary truth of the Gospel.
Friends, the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a fantasy; the Resurrection is a real event in time and space which transcends the limits of the order of creation. The Resurrection is the beginning of the new creation, and of this we are witnesses. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the breaking into human history of the divine life of the Word of God Eternal, and by opening our hearts and minds to the truth of the Word of God Written, we can draw near by grace through faith, hope, and love to the Word of God Incarnate. And so the Church cries out: Lord Jesus, open the Scriptures to us, and make our hearts burn while you speak to us.
Christos Anesti! Alithos Anesti!
Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! Alleluia! Alleluia!
This is the text of my homily for the Third Sunday of Easter, 14 April 2024.
Fr Jay Scott Newman