The road to Emmaus & the start of a new ministry
Welcome service for Craig Manley to Calne, Corsham & Bromham in United Area Luke 24: 13-29 and 30-35 I’m sure this story – of the disciples on the road to Emmaus – is a familiar story to most of us. We tend to read it at Eastertime – the lectionary suggests we have it on the evening of Easter Day because that’s when it happened. But to be honest most of us are at the roast lamb and Easter eggs stage of things by then – so I’m glad it can have an airing this evening and maybe get the attention it deserves. But I didn’t just pick it for today to give the story more exposure. I chose it because I think it is a story about a crisis of understanding for the disciples of Jesus, and because it points to an exciting new chapter in the life of the church of Jesus Christ. And if we know anything in the church, twenty centuries later, we know about crises and we desperately need to learn about new chapters. The story of the two on the road to Emmaus contains what I think is one