Preaching the Mystery of Faith

all that had happened to Jesus, “a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people” (Lk 24:19). They are, accordingly, evocative of all the followers of Jesus throughout the centuries to the present day: seeking the Lord, fascinated by him, but at times bewildered and even disillusioned and apt to walk the wrong path. We can draw several important lessons for homiletic preaching from this rich Gospel account. 1. The Paschal Mystery Informs Human Experience Jesus comes to join the two disciples, though at first they are prevented from recognizing him. To provoke a response, Jesus asks them what they were dis cussing. One of them, Cleopas, answers, “The things that have taken place [in regard to Jesus of Nazareth].” When pressed, “What sort of things?” (Lk 24:19), Cleopas offers a succinct summary of the major events of Jesus’ life and ministry: he was a prophet mighty in word and deed; he was handed over by the chief priests and leaders; he was crucified and put to death; there was even a report that he had risen from the dead. In short, these disciples have the basic facts but they do not yet understand their profound meaning. And this is why Jesus says to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Lk 24:25). What would enable them to see Jesus in full, the indispensible key to interpreting him, was nothing other than the self-emptying love of the Messiah revealed in his Death and Resurrection. Everything that Christ taught and all of his actions were conditioned by this outpouring of life on behalf of others, the heart of the Paschal Mystery. It is in this vein that Jesus then turns his disciples’ attention to the Scrip tures, and “beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures” (Lk 24:23). The sacred writings of the Old Testament, which these disciples knew well, now took on a new resonance as they were placed in relation to Jesus and his life-giving Death and Resurrection. A fundamental conviction of the New Testament is that

14