The men’s mysterious companion takes bread, blesses and
breaks it, and gives it to them. Their eyes are opened; they
recognize him—and he vanishes from their sight.

From now on, Jesus is the one made known “in the breaking
of the bread.” The Gospel of Luke has already made Jesus
known in this way. He is the one made known when the hungry
are filled, as they were when he blessed and broke bread in
feeding the five thousand. (Read Luke 9:10-17.) He is the one
made known in the table fellowship of the church, when we
remember his giving thanks and breaking bread at the Lord’s
Supper. (See Luke 22:19.) He is the one made known in the
breaking of his body, offered for us—in the very death that had
brought about the disciples’ disappointment.

When the disciples describe Jesus as the one made known
in the breaking of the bread, the disciples aren’t merely reporting
their experience on the road to Emmaus; they’re summarizing
their experience of Jesus as a whole. Jesus constantly ate
and taught us how we ought to eat—especially in the Gospel of
Luke. The key lesson is this: Eat with the poor and the outcast.
Use one of the fundamental realities of life—our need for physical
sustenance—and watch it be transformed into a site of the
in-breaking kingdom of God. Every time we break bread; every
time we share fellowship across dividing lines of race, class, and
culture; every time we welcome the poor to the table, every time
we extend forgiveness, Jesus is made known.

This is especially good news for those of us who need to
learn to recognize Jesus without the benefit of seeing him. Jesus
is made known to us in the impossible communities made possible
at his table. May our eyes be opened to see and our tables
be open to receive.