“I DO NOT KNOW YOU”

What does the Gospel mean when it says, describing the Risen Lord’s appearance at Emmaus, that ‘He gave the impression that he was going on farther; but they urged Him to stay with them’ ? It means that Our Lord passes us by each day…. and who knows how many times … in every opportunity to do good. If we neglect the opportunity, He does not reveal Himself.

When the false Christ passes by he says, ‘I am the Christ’. But not so with the Divine Christ, the Son of God. He seems to walk by us trying to test our dim eyes and weak hands to see if we have faith enough to want Him to stay with us. He leaves us in darkness, if we do not ask for Light. HE always takes the initiative, His is the first step, BUT, never does He act independently of our desires for intimate union with Him.

He breaks down no doors; the latch is on our side. He stands outside and knocks. He has ‘no place to lay His head’ unless a friendly soul, like the friends at Bethany, give Him lodging. The innkeepers at Betlehem missed the golden opportunity of forever saying of his inn: “Jesus was born here.” “I was a stranger and you took Me in,” He will say on the Last Day. But he will be a stranger to those only who turned down His invitation. His only words, then, will be: “I do not know you.”

Can you imagine going to a person’s house; a person whom you, imagine to be his friend, you knock at his door, and when he opens he tells you: “Who are you, I do not know you.” You promptly answer: “But, I used to talk to people about you, every Sunday I used to visit you, you must know me, I often asked you for favours … “ There must be a reason for your friends reply; was he that type of ‘friend’ whom you find only in the ‘medicine chest’, whom you seek only when you are in need, only in an emergency?

God forbid that we shall be met with that unwelcome statement: “I do not know you.”