Luke 24:13-35
St. Thomas Memorial Church
Easter 3
May 4, 2014
Have any of you ever seen The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon? It’s
the show that replaced Jay Leno's. It's very similar to the Late Show with
David Letterman, just with a much younger host—a host not much older than me.
Anyway, sometimes on Jimmy Fallon he’ll have a segment where a famous athlete,
actor, or musician will walk around the streets of NYC with a microphone in
hand ready to interview unsuspecting passers-by. Sometimes the famous interviewer
assumes a false identity and asks questions about their true self. Not
too long ago, the show featured New York Mets’ pitcher Matt Harvey. He walked
the streets asking New Yorkers what they thought about him. Only, he wasn’t
wearing his baseball uniform. He was dressed much like any ordinary New Yorker.
Because he was not in uniform few, if any, recognized him right away. It was as
if he had transformed. Ordinary and anonymous Matt Harvey asked his
interviewees if they thought baseball star Matt Harvey was any good. Did
they think he was getting lucky, did they think he had what it took to become a
real star, and lastly, and most importantly… did they think that he was
attractive?
Watching the skit makes you and I, the in-the-know audience, laugh.
We see some die hard Mets’ fans either gushing or talking smack about a person
that is right in front of them; a person they have gone to see in person or
have watched on television countless times. Most of them did not recognize him
until, as they began to walk away, he revealed his true identity. For some of
them what they said about him during the interview was so awkward that he
didn’t even bother revealing his true identity. He let them walk away in
complete ignorance.
Thinking about this morning’s gospel reading is what made me think
of this skit. In the reading, Jesus comes up to two of his followers,
Cleopas and his friend, and they do not recognize him. Why? We are not told.
They are on a walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus. A long walk, about seven miles in
distance, so there was a lot of time to talk. What were they talking
about? Their dashed hopes about Jesus, of course. While they were walking,
Jesus overhears their conversation and asks, “What are you two talking about?”
Jesus, the one whom they loved and followed--upon whom their hopes were
placed--was right in front of them and they did not recognize him.
