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Lectionary for April 19, 2026
Third Sunday of Easter
Acts 2:14a, 36-41; Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19;
1 Peter 1:17-23; Luke 24:13-35
There’s just so much information available right now. Do you ever feel information overload? I do. Someone I respect recently told me that he consumes no news. Like, zero. He doesn’t know what’s happening in the world beyond his farm. When the cost of diesel or animal medicine fluctuates, he assumes outside factors are affecting the price. But he also assumes there’s not much he can do about it, so why worry? Then there’s me, hyperfixated on global events until I can taste cortisol in my brain. Unlike him, I think there is action that I can take. I write to and call my representative and senators. I protest. Yet, I’m not nearly as peaceful and calm as I should be for my children because I pay way too much attention to the world. The lectionary passages for this week point to a healthy level of involvement with the news of the world.
The two disciples walking to Emmaus (sometimes theorized to be Jesus’ aunt and uncle) have been deeply and personally involved in politics. Their Lord had gotten caught up in colonial politics and religious disputes—things that aren’t nice to talk about at the dinner table. For claiming his divine sonship with the wrong sorts of miracles (Sabbath healings, resurrections and forgiving sins) and allowing crowds to become too hopeful of Judean independence, Jesus was murdered by the Romans after being handed over by the Sanhedrin. Of course the disciples were talking about Jesus!
But when Jesus was among them, the two disciples didn’t just talk about politics. Instead, they brought every source of knowledge and emotion into their conversation. First, they talked about what they had witnessed. They knew Jesus, probably from a very young age, to be a prophet mighty in word and deed. If, indeed, Cleopas and the unnamed other disciple were Jesus’ aunt and uncle, they had known for some time that he was no ordinary man. Could they have known, like Mary, long before the wedding at Cana, that Jesus was to inaugurate the kingdom of heaven with words and deeds?
Second, because of what they had seen Jesus do and heard him say, they discussed their hopes for the Messiah. They had hoped for independence! They wanted Jesus to redeem—that is, release from the power of another—Israel. These disciples openly shared with the stranger that they had hoped that Jesus would toss out Rome. Instead, Rome killed him.
Let’s talk about how politics, our experiences, our hopes, the experiences of others, Scripture and sacramental presence all work together to help us understand our role in the kingdom of heaven.
Third, the disciples shared with the stranger that they were also considering witness accounts of events they had not seen themselves. Some of their women went to the burial cave and found that Jesus was absent. Instead, angels told them that Jesus was alive! Acting in accordance with the Russian maxim, doveryay no proveryay (trust but verify), other disciples went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had described. The disciples on the road considered the words and experiences of other eyewitnesses.
Fourth, the disciples also considered their walking companion’s Scripture lesson. They weren’t too prideful as disciples of Jesus to listen and consider a stranger’s Bible interpretations. Instead, they listened to a disguised Jesus as he talked about Moses and all the prophets. Later, they recalled that their hearts were burning within them as Jesus clarified how Scripture pointed to himself.
Fifth, the disciples ate a meal with the stranger. As they shared unleavened bread (it was still during the festival) and wine, they finally were allowed to see that it was Jesus who had accompanied them. They recognized him in the sacrament, how God’s grace had been made manifest. They hurried back several miles to tell the other disciples all that they had seen and heard.
These two disciples certainly didn’t shy away from considering the ways that international politics were affecting their lives. But that wasn’t all that they talked about. They put politics in conversation with their experiences and hopes, the experiences of others, what Scripture said, and what was revealed in sacramental gatherings. These are good examples for us all. Don’t put your head in the sand and ignore politics.
Also, as my favorite poet, Jack Gilbert, said, “To make injustice the only measure of our attention is to praise the Devil.” Instead, let’s talk about how politics, our experiences, our hopes, the experiences of others, Scripture and sacramental presence all work together to help us understand our role in the kingdom of heaven.
