Returning from Emmaus, “the two disciples recounted what had taken
place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking
of bread.” When these two disciples return from their journey, they
can't help but tell the other followers of Jesus what had happened to
them. Luke tells us that “they set out at once and returned to
Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with
them who were saying, 'The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared
to Simon!'”

 The two disciples and those who remained in the Upper Room both had
stories they were compelled to share. Both had stories of seeing
Jesus on that first Easter. That morning, these same disciples had
difficulty believing that anyone had seen Jesus after His death and
burial.

 The first thing they began to believe was that Jesus' tomb was empty.
But the empty tomb itself did not lead directly to belief in Jesus'
resurrection. Other explanations were possible, and these
explanations were the first things that came to their minds. It is
only later, as the eye witness testimony mounted, that they began to
believe those who had seen the Risen Jesus. By that evening, the
disciples who stayed in Jerusalem were able to joyfully pronounce that
“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!'” For the
disciples in Jerusalem, the Resurrection was now an established fact.

 So when the two disciples return from Emmaus, does their report
strengthen the belief of the other disciples in the reality of Jesus'
resurrection? By now, Jesus had been seen by Peter, Mary Magdalene,
and several others, so the report of the two men from Emmaus should
have confirmed what they knew to be a fact.

 But the report of the disciples returning from Emmaus does not
strengthen their faith in the Resurrection, but instead causes some
doubt. The experience of the two travelers becomes a point of
discussion among the disciples. Why? Why wouldn't more testimony
lead to a deeper faith in the reality of Jesus rising from the dead?
Why discussion and not jubilation?

 It is likely that the facts as told by those returning from Emmaus
were in conflict with what the disciples in Jerusalem already knew.
Clearly, Jesus had spent two or three hours on the road to Emmaus with
the two disciples. So if Jesus was on the road to Emmaus, how could
He have been seen by others in Jerusalem at the same time? And how
does one explain Jesus' disappearance in Emmaus after “Jesus was made
known to them in the breaking of bread.”

 The joy that Jesus had risen from the dead was beginning to dissipate
in light of the testimony from the disciples who returned from Emmaus.
 If what they said was true, then the only logical, human way of
explaining how Jesus could just disappear into thin air and to be in
two places at once was that Jesus rose from the dead as a ghost.

 Jesus suddenly appearing in their midst as they were discussing this
seemed to confirm their fears. He did not come in through the door,
but just appears out of the blue. Thus “they were startled and
terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost.”

 Jesus picked that moment to appear to them because they were beginning
to doubt the reality of the Resurrection. The disciples were
rationalizing the Resurrection away, they were applying worldly ways
of thinking to divine realities.

 Thus, the return of the two from Emmaus brought doubt, and the
appearance of Jesus in their midst brought fear. Jesus asks “Why are
you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts?” Then Jesus
immediately rekindles their belief in His physical resurrection.
Jesus shows them His wounds, He has them touch His body, and He even
sits down for a meal.

 Jesus has to prove that He truly has risen from the dead. Living as
some sort of ghost would be a form of life after death, but it could
hardly be called a resurrection. Many people today embrace the idea
that eternal life for us will be as body-less spirits. For many the
body will be unnecessary in heaven or that it is a merely earthly,
mortal container for our immortal souls.

 This is not at all true. We were created by God with bodies, and we
will live in heaven with bodies after the Resurrection of the dead at
the end of time. Our bodies are not mere cans to be thrown away when
they are emptied of our souls. No, our bodies are temples of the Holy
Spirit and we receive all of the sacraments through our bodies.

 So let us embrace the reality of Jesus' resurrection at Easter and our
own resurrections at the end of time. When our souls are rejoined to
our resurrection bodies, we will begin to truly live human lives
without the limitations we know here on earth.

 And, like Jesus, we will not truly overcome sin and death until our
souls are joined to our resurrected bodies. “For if the dead are not
raised, neither has Christ been raised, and if Christ has not been
raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins... If for this
life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of
all.”