NOTES for Luk 24:1-35
The message of Jesus' Resurrection forms the heart of apostolic preaching, the center of Christianity. Today the evangelist shows how uncontainable and overwhelming it was for the first disciples. Luke describes their doubts and hesitations in order to reflect the experience of his community (the local church), but his story can fully apply to us as well. We too have heard more than once about the Resurrection, read about it more than once in the Gospel, heard it in church preaching, and told others ourselves. But, like the two travelers to Emmaus, it is very hard for us to believe in the Resurrection until the Lord Himself, unnoticed by us, widens our hearts and opens to us by His Spirit the Scripture that bears witness to His Resurrection.
The Resurrection is not an abstract theological concept. Faith in it is based on a personal meeting with the Risen One, as the myrrh-bearing women met Him, as the two disciples recognized Him in the breaking of the bread, as He appeared before all the apostles. But it is also based on our meeting: even if we have not yet recognized who was speaking with us on the road of our life, the burning of the heart and joy over the Risen Lord already testify that we are becoming participants in His glory.