“This is one of those “unanswerable questions,” at least by me…
I firmly admit I do not know everything. Sometimes, you just have to say, you do not know.
It is always best to be honest.
The gospel authors (especially Luke and John) go to great lengths to show that there is “something different” about the resurrected Jesus. There is something different about the resurrected body.
Something so different that even Mary Magdalene does not recognize him. If you will remember on Easter morning she mistook him for a gardener. The disciples on the Emmaus Road, they talk to this guy the better part of an afternoon and fail to realize “who he is.”
Very quietly, without a lot of fanfare and quite gently, the evangelists convey something to us that is very important.
Something happens in the Resurrection that makes Jesus different…or as the scriptures say, he is made “new.”
“What “that” means,” is anybody’s guess.
At the very same time, they are also clearly intent on showing us – that Jesus really-truly-literally rose from the dead.
But he is not a phantasm, he is not an illusion, he is not a spirit, he is not a vision, nor is he a hallucination. He is not a ghost. They are “very specific” about this.
You cannot reach out and touch a hallucination. Visions do not make breakfast over an open fire. Spirits do not eat broiled fish sans the tartar sauce, coleslaw, rye bread, lemon wedge and French fries.
Something has happened. Something is different. Jesus is corporeal. You can touch him. You can eat with him. But you can also see him in a locked room, where the door is still bolted, barred and locked. How did he get in?
This resurrected Jesus can seemingly vanish in a flash.
Everything is the same. Everything is different.
You can see his hands and his side.
It is the same guy.
Jesus has been made new. Creation has been made new. And there is now a promise that we too, shall be made new.
So what is the resurrected body like? I am afraid, I do not know. I cannot answer that question, accept to say, it is different.
And now, Luke gives us the story of two disillusioned and shocked disciples. They have loved. They have lost. They are suffering. They desire to pick up the pieces and to move on. They are numbed, broken and hurting.
They are fleeing. They have left. They are walking away. Discouragement is everywhere. Their hopes have been dashed and crushed. With each step, they are putting distance between them and “what – once was.”
They are beyond sad.
Cleopas and his companion had been in Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover. They witnessed far more than they ever wanted to see.
Luke tells us that they were followers of Jesus. They are filled with sorrow. They had just experienced a “conquered Lord,” dead on a cross – outside the city wall – on a hill called Calvary. We can only imagine “what” their “real conversation” was all about as they walked toward their home.
Just an interesting aside to this gospel narrative and a “new possibility for you to consider…”
Cleopas’ companion could have been his wife. Since women so often appear in the Scriptures and remain nameless. Why else would only the name of Cleopas be mentioned and not his friend or companion?
Understand that if this conclusion has any validity, it would mean that the risen lord appeared to a “married couple” and eventually “blesses their home” with his presence. His first meal would be “with them.” He would “break bread” in their home. “They” were followers of Jesus…husband and wife! How cool is that, if it holds validity?
What I truly appreciate is that the ancient Biblical narratives contain a mixture of ecstasy and despondency, an intermingling of delight and discouragement. Nothing is held back. Nothing! There are explosions of joy and erosions of hope.
Luke tells us – that on the very day of the Resurrection, as word of Jesus’ presence started to sweep through the Jerusalem community…
Two downcast disciples of Jesus… threw in the proverbial towel … and headed toward home … to forget the whole matter completely. You have to love and appreciate the honesty of the scriptures!