The high school I attended has a very organized and active alumni association which schedules alumni events throughout the year.  Alumni association events are always enjoyable, but I barely recognize my classmates because of the many years that have passed since we graduated.  Some of those who had shoulder-length hair are now bald, and some of the athletes no longer have athletic builds. 

My classmates’ appearances have changed radically, but their behavior has not changed.  The very studious ones still engage in intellectual pursuits, and the rowdy ones still behave inappropriately.  Many things about a person change with age, but temperament and behavior remain stable. 

Today’s Gospel reading says that two people who considered themselves to be Jesus’ disciples failed to recognize him when he joined them on their journey.  Two possibilities present themselves as explanations for the two disciples’ lack of recognition of their companion on the road. 

Perhaps, the Gospel author wanted readers to assume that Jesus’ appearance had changed because of his resurrection.  This explanation has some affinity with Catholic beliefs about resurrection.  For example, Aquinas said that the resurrected and glorified body is purified and perfected.  Perhaps, the two disciples on the road failed to recognize Jesus because of the state of his glorified body. 

Another possibility, however, seems more likely.  Perhaps, the two disciples failed to recognize Jesus for the same reason that they failed to remain in Jerusalem after the crucifixion.  It might have been the case that their faith was insufficient or misdirected.  They didn’t recognize him after his resurrection because they never really understood who he was or what he did during his life.  It was only the familiarity of his words and actions that allowed the two disciples to see his identity.  It is universally true about human cognition and experience that the familiar is recognizable, whether it is good or evil. 

The two disciples’ initial lack of faith and knowledge of Jesus is reminiscent of G. K. Chesterton’s comment about the declining nature of organized religion during his lifetime.  Chesterton wrote, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting.  It has been found difficult and left untried.” (What’s Wrong with the World) 

The Gospel story doesn’t identify the part of Jesus’ teaching that the two disciples found too challenging, but there are multiple likely possibilities.  Perhaps, they didn’t grasp the necessity of habitual forgiveness or of undivided trust in God.  Perhaps, they weren’t able to acknowledge that justification comes from God alone and never from oneself.  They might have struggled with the notion that God intends to save all people, not only a select few.  Perhaps, it was the notion of bodily resurrection itself that confounded them, as many people today find that idea to be incomprehensible. 

A habit of doing good, speaking about goodness, and thinking good thoughts makes God recognizable in one’s daily experience.  Similarly, a habit of avoiding good thoughts, words, and actions makes God unrecognizable.  As Chesterton observed, it isn’t that the Christian Faith has been judged inadequate by those who practice it; it is rather that the Christian Faith has been judged too challenging to put into practice. 

There is, however, sufficient cause for hope.  Jesus’ words and actions opened a new experience of faith to the two disciples on the road; his words and actions can do the same for anyone.  Today’s Gospel reading provides a way to find this experience of greater faith.   

Jesus tried to rouse the two disciples from their spiritual sluggishness by saying, “Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Lk 24:26)  This rhetorical question refers to the disparity between the way Jesus was perceived by his persecutors and the way he was perceived by God.  Those who opposed Jesus considered him worthy of an ignominious death; God, on the other hand, considered Jesus worthy of eternal glory.  It was precisely because he suffered unjustly without condemning his persecutors that Jesus was revealed as worthy of divine glory. 

Jesus’ thoughts, words, and actions remained focused solely on good, even when he was afflicted by evil.  Because of this, he remained fully in God’s presence; those who imitate Jesus’ commitment to being the presence of goodness for those around them live in the awareness of God’s presence. 

The most common argument against practicing the Christian Faith is that the violent, merciless, and malicious behavior of others is sufficient justification to embrace evil behavior oneself.  This perspective accomplishes nothing but to make evil more familiar to one and goodness less familiar.  Those who want to recognize Jesus as always and fully present in their lives have only to imitate Jesus’ commitment to being the presence of goodness, even when they are afflicted by evil.   

A person’s temperament and behavior reveal the truth about that person, regardless of external appearances or how the person is judged by others.  To be a truly good person requires that one is familiar with goodness, who is God, and that one expresses God’s goodness in one’s thoughts, speech, and actions as Jesus did.