I was reading the Hauerwas Reader this morning on the topic of “Interpretation of Scripture”. So much good stuff in there. One thing that impressed upon me the most was how Jesus transformed the Eucharist from a meal of absence to a meal of presence.
In Israel’s liturgy, the Passover meal served as a reminder of the Exodus, of what God had done. There were times in the liturgy of the meal where the anticipation of God was read. There was an empty chair set for Elijah or the Messiah. There was a time when someone would crack the door open in case a holy guest would come among them, etc. This liturgy represented absence; something missing, although anticipated, still missing.
When Jesus was on the road to Emmaus, he talked with 2 disciples or enthusiasts of Jesus. A couple of striking things about them:
- They knew about the claims of Jesus crucifixion and resurrection. But instead of going to Jerusalem to investigate further, they decided to go away from Jerusalem to Emmaus.
- When Jesus explained from Moses and the prophets about the who the Messiah of Israel would actually be, they seemed to be unaware, missing Jesus and his role as Messiah in well-known texts. Once again, there is a feel of ‘absence’ even in their minds and hearts.
Jesus and the 2 disciples stop for the evening in the disciples’ home, but Jesus (the guest) serves as the host. He breaks bread with them and, instead of absence, God is present with them. The Eucharist on this side of Emmaus is full of the presence of God, not his absence.
Hauerwas notes, “What are we to make of this strange occurance? Certainly it at least means that Jesus is present to our companions on the way to Emmaus and to us most powerfully in the fellowship meal of the new age in which he made it possible for us to share. Surely this must mean that the presence we have with Christ as Eucharist is evn more determinative than an appearance on the way to Emmaus. Once you have such a presence, you no longer need an appearance.” (p. 264)
