We Had Hoped

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C2UP4oK0ak

Gospel

THE HOLY GOSPEL OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

ACCORDING TO LUKE

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" He asked them, "What things?" They replied, "The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him." Then he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

LUKE 24:13-35

Sermon: The Rev. Dr. Maryann Amor

What we miss when we read today’s Gospel is the deep, deep disappointment the disciples feel after the death of Jesus. As they walk along the road to Emmaus, going away from the city of Jerusalem, away from the mission they had committed their lives to, they meet a stranger who asks them what’s going on. And they say a phrase that we could easily miss if we aren’t listening carefully: we had hoped.

We had hoped that Jesus, the man we followed, would be the one to save Israel. That he would be the one to stop Rome, to overthrow them, and end the oppression. But instead, they watched Rome crucify him. And now, they are left with a disappointment that leads them to say, “we had hoped… but it never happened.”

Their disappointment is one that we all know in some capacity. Think of those moments where you had also hoped for something and it didn’t happen. You had hoped for a loved one to be healed, but you leave the ICU without them. You had hoped to be freed from an addiction, but it returns. You had hoped for a solid job with a steady income, but you lose it. You had hoped for a specific future, but it all fell apart. We know what it is like to put our hope in something and have it not work out—and that disappointment is what the disciples are carrying as they walk down the road to Emmaus.

Now we might think that with Jesus walking alongside them, they would quickly learn that being disappointed is unnecessary. We know it is him, and we might expect him to say, “Look, it’s me, Jesus, I’m back from the dead—you were wrong to lose hope.”

But this never happens.

There is no quick fix.

Instead of directly addressing their disappointment, Jesus walks beside them, asks them what they are talking about, and lets them speak. He lets them tell the story. He lets them share what has happened.

And after they have spoken, he responds: “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?”

This does sound like a harsh statement, but it isn’t a judgement, he isn’t saying you are stupid for not understanding. Instead, he is telling them that their vision of Jesus was too small...this is why he opens the Scriptures to them—to show that what they expected...that Jesus would bring a military victory over Rome...was too limited. In fact, God was doing something larger in the death of Jesus—something they could not yet see.

God brought about victory not through domination, but through suffering. Victory not by avoiding death, but by passing through it.

But even after all of this—even after walking with him, even after hearing the Scriptures opened—the disciples still do not recognize him.

It is only when they sit down at the table, when Jesus takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them, that their eyes are opened.

And suddenly, the same story, the same loss, is now seen in a different way. Only now do they recognize that burning feeling within them for what it was… hope being rekindled.

The disciples get up. They turn around. They return to Jerusalem. The ones who were walking away now run back. The ones who had lost hope now begin to speak of resurrection.

And maybe this is where we find ourselves in the story. Walking our own road, carrying the weight of things we had hoped for that did not happen. The Gospel shows us that this is not something we need to rush past or fix. Disappointment is real. It has weight, it lingers in our lives, and it changes how we see the world.

The resurrection does not take that away. It does not meet the disciples after they have figured everything out, but while they are still walking away—confused, holding onto that painful phrase: we had hoped.

But it does not leave them there. The promise of the resurrection is not that everything will suddenly be great, or that hope will come rushing back all at once. It does not erase the pain or the loss of disappointment. Instead, the resurrection comes close to us in the midst of it.

And this is the promise given to us. Christ meets us exactly where we are—even when we do not recognize him. He is there in the conversations that hold us together when everything feels like it is falling apart. He is there in the people who listen when we need to speak, or vent, or grieve. He is there in the moments when we are invited to stay, to sit, to eat, to be with one another.

We might not see him at first. We might only recognize him later—looking back and realizing he was there all along. But he is present.

So when you find yourself saying, “we had hoped,” when disappointment fills you and the road feels like it is leading you away from everything you trusted—this story reminds us that even there, Christ is already beside you.

And when, in time, you recognize him— maybe not right away, maybe only looking back— you may find that something in you has already begun to change.

The past may not change. But in some way, you will. Your eyes will open.

Your heart will burn. And hope will begin again— not because everything is fixed,

but because you are no longer walking alone.

Amen.