Third Sunday of Easter - Emmaus!
An exotic place name from the world that Jesus knew. In the traditions of God’s people, it is a place steeped and hallowed in history. Today, it is a place all but forgotten … except for this one tantalizing mention, one reference only in the whole of Scripture. It is the particular destination of two disciples as they set out from Jerusalem, on a particular day. It is a day unlike any other because something entirely unprecedented has happened; something as world-changing as it is impossible. They can scarcely believe the news they have heard. They leave the city, feeling a mixture of dejection in the way events have unfolded, but exhilaration as a stranger joins them on the way. They are headed back, back to Emmaus, back to the beginning. And we’re invited to make the journey with them as we gather today.