Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen... And their eyes were holden that they should not know him... And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself... And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
The resurrection is Christianity's sine qua non. 'If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain,' Paul wrote. But Luke's account is strangely subtle—no flash of glory, just an empty tomb and a stranger on the road.
The Emmaus story is a masterpiece. Two disciples walk with the risen Jesus but don't recognize him. He explains how Scripture points to Messiah's suffering and glory. Their hearts burn. But only in the breaking of bread do their 'eyes open'—and then he vanishes.
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