Sermon 235

SERMO 235

ON THE SECOND DAY OF EASTER

Through the Evangelist the Holy Spirit spoke.

Yesterday, that is, the night before, the resurrection of the Savior was read from the Gospel, specifically from the Gospel according to Matthew. Today, as you heard the reader pronounce, the resurrection of the Lord was recited to us, as the evangelist Luke has written. This often needs to be reminded and firmly held in memory: you should not be disturbed that one Evangelist says something if another omits it, for even the one who omits what the other says, says something he omitted. Some things are said by individual Evangelists that the other three do not say; some are said by two, and others do not say; some are said by three, and one does not say. However, the authority of the holy Gospel is so great that, because the one Spirit spoke in them, it is true even what one of them said. Therefore, what you have now heard, that the Lord Jesus, after He rose from the dead, found two of His disciples on the way, conversing with each other about the happenings, and said to them: What are these words that you are exchanging with each other, and so on, was related only by the evangelist Luke. Mark briefly touched on this, saying that He appeared to two on the way, but he omitted what they had said to the Lord or what the Lord had said to them.

The disciples of Christ were troubled by the death.

What, then, has this reading brought us? Something great, if we understand it. Jesus appeared. He was seen with the eyes, but was not recognized. The Teacher walked with them on the road, and He Himself was the way. And they still did not walk in the way; for He found them to have deviated from the way. For when He had been with them before His passion, He had foretold everything, that He would suffer, die, and rise again on the third day. He had foretold everything, but His death became their forgetfulness. So disturbed were they when they saw Him hanging on the cross, that they forgot the Teacher, did not expect the Risen One, and did not hold on to His promise. "We," they said, "had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel." O disciples, you were hoping! So now you no longer hope? Behold, Christ lives. Is hope dead in you? Christ absolutely lives. The living Christ found the hearts of the disciples dead; He appeared to their eyes and did not appear. He was seen and hidden. For if He was not seen, how did they hear Him asking, and how did they respond to Him who was asking questions? He walked with them on the road as a companion, and He was their guide. Surely they saw, but did not recognize. For their eyes were held, as we heard, so that they would not recognize Him. They were not held from seeing, but were held from recognizing Him.

The Lord presents himself in the breaking of the bread.

Behold, brothers, where did the Lord wish to be recognized? In the breaking of the bread. We are confident: we break the bread, and we recognize the Lord. He did not wish to be recognized except there, for our sake, who were not going to see Him in the flesh, and yet would eat His flesh. Therefore, whoever of you is faithful, whoever is not called a Christian in vain, whoever does not enter the church without reason, whoever listens to the word of God with fear and hope, let the breaking of the bread comfort you. The absence of the Lord is not an absence. Have faith, and He is with you whom you do not see. They, when the Lord was speaking with them, neither had faith, because they did not believe that He had risen, nor did they hope that He could rise. They had lost faith, they had lost hope. The dead were walking with the living, the dead were walking with life itself. Life was walking with them, but life was not yet in their hearts. And you therefore, if you wish to have life, do what they did, so that you may recognize the Lord. They received Him in hospitality. For the Lord was like one going far away, but they restrained Him. After they had come to the place they were heading, they said: "Now stay with us here, the day has declined into evening." Hold on to the guest, if you wish to recognize the Savior. What disbelief took away, hospitality restored. Therefore the Lord presented Himself in the breaking of the bread. Learn where to seek the Lord, learn where to have Him, learn where to recognize Him. When you eat. For the faithful know something which they better understand in this reading than those who do not know.

When the Lord returns, the faithful will rejoice, the unfaithful will be confounded.

The Lord has been made known by these things; and after He was known, He appeared nowhere. He was absent from them in body, while held by faith. For this reason, our Lord withdrew Himself bodily from the entire Church, and ascended into heaven, so that faith might be built up. For if you only know what you see, where is faith? But if you believe even what you do not see, you will rejoice when you see. Faith is built up, because the appearance will be revealed. What we do not see will come, it will come, brothers, it will come. See how He will find you. For what men say will come: Where is it, when is it, how is it? when will it be? when is He to come? Be certain, He will come. He will not only come, but even if you do not wish it, He will come. Woe to those who did not believe, and great joy to those who believed. The faithful will rejoice, and the unfaithful will be confounded. The faithful will say: Thank you, Lord; what we heard is true, what we believed is true, what we hoped for is true, what we see is true. But the unfaithful will say: Where is it that we did not believe? Where is it that we thought those things which were read were lies? Thus it will happen, that punishment will be rendered to confusion, and reward to joy. For those will go into eternal burning, but the just into eternal life. Turned to the Lord, etc.