Summary: This Gospel lesson from St. Luke can feel like a failed trial run for Christian witness. The disciples encounter Undercover Jesus on the road to Emmaus. And when he asks them what they are discussing, they tell Jesus about himself. Only, it's not exactly the testimony our Risen Lord was hoping for. They tell him that Jesus was a mighty prophet who they expected to deliver Israel. But instead, he died. And now they are sad and disappointed. Essentially, these disciples are ignoring what they know about Jesus. It is pretty remarkable to me that this tendency is so intrinsic to our relationship with God, that even the disciples, with the words of Jesus fresh on their ears, are only willing to tell their version of the story. They are only willing to recall their disappointment that Jesus was not who they expected him to be. It comes as no surprise, then, that this false testifying is something that we all do. Our Christian witness can often look much like these two bumbling guys on the road to Emmaus. When people ask us about Jesus, we offer up whatever answer serves our needs, or makes us look good. All too often, the version of God's story we choose to tell is the one that most serves us. And we want God to be everything he is not. We want him to be our moral legislator. An ethical superhero. We want God to be a protester on our behalf. Or a table flipper in the temple of our own choosing. We all want a glory story over a Gospel witness.
