Our ‘Hot Cross Bun’ service for children this Good Friday was based on the Symbols of the Cross – Through symbols such as the dice thrown by the soldiers to see who would get our Lord’s clothing; the Crown of thorns; the silver coins paid to Judas; the spear etc, it was possible to convey to the children something of the story of the crucifixion. Even the giving of the hot cross bun at the end of the service was a symbol because it was decorated with the Cross – one of the greatest Christian symbols.

Symbols are signs which convey a meaning because they represent some truth in a pictorial form which is often easier to understand than a lot of words.  We are familiar with symbols in our daily lives. Many road signs, for example, are symbolic and convey a message. A red traffic light means ‘stop’ ; the number ‘30’ surrounded by a red circle tells us the speed limit; a camera tells us to watch our speed and so on.  In our lives we use symbols to convey a deeper meaning. The rings given in marriage, for example, are signs of the never ending love people profess to each other; a bunch of flowers can mean ‘Happy Birthday’ or ‘Sympathy’ of ‘Get well’ or ‘sorry’. A box of chocolates can mean, ‘I love you’. Each symbol carries its own special message and Christianity is a religion which uses symbols to convey information about God.

The Sacraments are signs of a deeper meaning indicating a special presence of God - of his grace acting in our lives.  At baptism, for example, we use the symbol of water which both sustains life and cleanses us. Baptism is a cleansing from sin and the beginning of a new life in God.  The candle given at the end of the service is a symbol that we have become lights for Christ charged with the joyful task of spreading the light of his love to all.

Churches are full of symbols – we are surrounded by them today. Obviously many of them at this time of year relate to Easter and each tells us something about its meaning.  So the winding cloth draped over the cross in the sanctuary tells us that the Crucifixion was not the end but the beginning of our Lord’s saving love for human kind – death could not contain Him and he shed the burial cloth as he became the Risen Christ. At the centre of our Cross is the flower which is a symbol of new life. The Empty tomb in the Easter Garden tells us of the morning of Resurrection and we can look on it and remember the story – Mary Magdalene in the garden; angels rolling the stone away; the golden light a sign of resurrection dawning.

The Paschal Candle burning tells us that Christ, the Light of Life burns in our world with resurrection life. The symbols on the Candle – conveyed on the transfer of Alpha and Omega – the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet, stand for Christ as the beginning and the end – the eternal one who watches over our human destiny from cradle to grave.

The beautiful banner on the lectern proclaims the Easter message – Jesus is Alive – he has conquered death and sin and brought new life – eternal life – as a gift for all who would follow him in Easter faith.

The flowers bursting from the font tell us that we enter this risen life through Baptism and re-commit ourselves to this life in the renewal of Baptismal promises at the Easter Vigil. The flowers speak of life bursting forth – with new and vibrant possibilities – which is exactly what Easter offers us.

These and the other Easter symbols join the more permanent ones which adorn our church and each season has its own particular symbols to help us meditate on the truths of God which the Church Year and the Lectionary offer us as visual and thoughtful aids for our Christian journey.  Those who compiled our Lectionary and the readings associated with the Church seasons knew exactly what they were doing. They were giving us the Christian story in digestible chunks so that as we go through the year in a 3 year progressive cycle of Scripture and Symbol, we are taught the faith and learn to pray it as our own. No other scheme of learning has been so carefully devised to teach us the truths of our faith.

Of all the Christian symbols, the one that is most constant and oft repeated is that which forms the centrepiece of today’s Gospel – the Breaking of Bread.  The story of the disciples who met the Risen Christ on a journey to Emmaus is one of the most masterly of the Gospel. Luke is an expert story-teller and his stories themselves are symbols – signs told pictorially of God’s actions in loving humankind into His Kingdom which is what salvation ultimately means.  In truth, because the stories are so vivid they convey the truths of God in such a way that they actually need little comment. Good stories always get across their point.

The Emmaus story is no exception and is one of the most loved of all the Resurrection stories.  The two supporters of Jesus are walking home after the events in Jerusalem which first took their Lord from them and then, as they hint, returned Him to them in a new and spectacular way.  Though Luke calls them disciples they were not part of our Lord’s inner circle but clearly they were close to Him and were to be counted amongst his followers.  Luke only gives us the name of one of them – Cleopas but there is a suggestion that his companion was probably his wife.  As they walked along they were naturally discussing what had happened in Jerusalem when they were joined by a stranger – in the sense that they did not recognize Jesus. We don’t know why they were prevented from knowing who he was and some speculate that this tells us something about the appearance of Jesus in his Risen form – something we see also in John’s Gospel where Mary Magdalene doesn’t recognize him at first in the Garden – though Thomas in last Sunday’s Gospel knew Jesus instantly.

It doesn’t do to get too bogged down about this – for Luke’s story it matters only that they don’t know who he is and that shapes what comes later – which is the most important part of the story.  When Jesus asks what they are discussing, there is a wonderful piece of irony in their comment that he – whom we know to be the centre of their discussion – must be the only person not to know what has been going on in Jerusalem.  After they have described these events, including the story of the Resurrection, Jesus begins to explain to them how the Jewish scriptures had prepared them for the Messiah and then painstakingly explained what the Scriptures taught about him – about Jesus himself.  Interestingly, though they would later say that their hearts burned within them – perhaps another way of saying that they buzzed with excitement – it wasn’t the teaching which convinced them that this stranger was the Risen Christ. 

It is often said that religion is caught before it is taught – that we have the experience of God and then search for its meaning. That was certainly true in my own case – the intellect has to catch up with the heart – as St. Anselm, who I am fond of quoting, describes when he talked about Faith seeking understanding.

What ultimately convinced them about Jesus was not His words but an action.  They persuaded him to stay with them and they made a meal at the beginning of which he took the bread, blessed and broke it – and immediately they recognized him.  It was this action that convinced them and which sent them hurrying back to Jerusalem to tell the others.  The Symbol or Sign of breaking bread and it being the point of recognition points to the Eucharist as the place of recognition – where we are brought into the presence of the Risen Christ.  Luke would later say in Acts 2:42 that the breaking of bread was one of the four actions of the early Christian community which built them up as the Church. It ranks alongside prayer, the teaching of the Apostles about Jesus based on their own experience and fellowship which draws the Church still into Koinonia or Holy Fellowship in the power of the Holy Spirit – the very thing that keeps us united together in a common purpose of worshipping, witnessing and serving the Living God in whose Holy Fellowship we share.

Like all good stories it has one important teaching point and it is this – that in the Eucharist – in the breaking of bread - we are drawn into the Risen Life of our Lord.  The very actions of taking, blessing and breaking are the same Eucharistic actions that Jesus used at the last Supper and which every priest uses in every single celebration of the Eucharist ever since.  Indeed, both the elements of the Emmaus encounter are present in every Eucharist. The Word of God in scripture is read – and hopefully meditated upon and then comes the breaking of bread – the sacrament itself. The combining of Word and sacrament are the two distinctive parts of what we are doing this morning.  And there is no getting away from it – the Eucharist is our Lord’s chosen way of always being available to us.

The Last Supper prefigures the central worship act of the Church – Holy Communion, Eucharist, Mass, Liturgy – whatever it is called by the different branches of Christendom – is but a continuation of our Lord’s command (and it was just that) to ‘Do This’.  Do this and I will be with you – in your midst – accessible to you forever. When you come to share Eucharist you receive me in the most powerful way possible – spiritually, I enter your life and your life will be changed by my life.  What is utterly remarkable about this story of Luke above all the other Resurrection stories is that it is meant for us, not just for Cleopas and his companion.

The appearances to Mary Magdalene, Peter, John, Thomas and all the others was for them. Through those appearances they were convinced of our Lord’s Resurrection.  But what of us? How are we to share in the joy and power of what Jesus brought into being that first Easter Day? How are we going to become part of it?  Luke provides the answer. Every time we break bread in the Eucharist we find Jesus, our Risen Lord amongst us and therefore we are touched by the experience of Resurrection. Through this act of worship we are drawn into fellowship with Christ and he feeds us of himself – nourishing us and sustaining us to live as Easter people – children of the Resurrection.

I didn’t invent this – the Church didn’t make it up.  It is in obedience to a direct command of Jesus himself to Do this.  Through this symbol, this sign of God we are brought to the greatest truth of all – that Jesus really is with us, in our midst, saving and loving us from within.  Emmaus is Luke’s way of telling us stupendous truth.