Christ Makes Us Brave
Today’s Gospel reading is from Lk 24:13-35. It’s the story of Jesus after his resurrection and is walking towards Emmaus, which is 7 miles out of Jerusalem, together with two of his disciples who didn’t recognize him until the Breaking of Bread.
Note that the Breaking of Bread would put the time as supper as the disciples had invited Jesus to spend the night with them. Immediately after the Breaking of Bread, the disciples recognize Jesus and instantly decide to return to Jerusalem that night itself.
We have to bear in mind that 2000 years ago, there were no street lights. Therefore people would rarely move around at night over great distances. Walking 7 miles would qualify as great distance. The other reason people wouldn’t normally travel at night is because there would rabid dogs, wolves and highway robbers on the loose among others.
It’s astonishing that these 2 disciples decided to brave these perils at night and return to Jerusalem. This shows that an experience with Jesus makes us brave or rather the dangers involved in evangelizing become minimal compared to the importance and urgency of the Good News.
Most of us do not have a genuine or complete experience of Jesus, hence we are lukewarm in our faith and lack the passion to evangelize. We have to open ourselves up completely in order to experience the life changing effects of Jesus.
