Imagine Jesus joining you for a long walk and you don't even recognize him! Peter Walsh and John Kennedy explore the post-resurrection story of the road to Emmaus. What does it teach us that Jesus isn't recognized until he breaks bread with his friends, how did Luke's community make sense of this deeply Jewish story and Messiah, and how does this story mirror those of Adam & Eve or Abraham & Sarah?

Questions for Further Discussion

Themes and Application

1. This story moves from scripture to table, from Word to Sacrament. Why might both understanding and experience matter in faith?
2. Hospitality becomes the doorway to revelation when the disciples invite the stranger to stay. How can welcoming others open us to God?
3. Once they recognize Jesus, they immediately return to community. Why is faith so often completed in shared witness rather than private insight alone?

Personal Reflection

1. Have you ever realized later that something sacred was happening in a moment you almost missed?
2. What practices help your heart “burn within you” spiritually: prayer, study, service, worship, beauty, silence, community?
3. Is there someone you are being invited to welcome, listen to, or walk beside this week?

Broader Spiritual Considerations

1. What does it mean that Jesus is recognized not through power, but through shared bread?
2. How might churches become more like the Emmaus road: places where people can bring grief, ask questions, and discover new hope?
3. If Christ can be present unrecognized among strangers, what does that imply about how we treat the people we meet each day?

Learn more about St. Mark's at https://www.stmarksnewcanaan.org

Even for ancient people, this week's story isn't anything they would've had a category for! Peter Walsh, Elizabeth Garnsey, and John Kennedy once again explore the story of "Doubting Thomas". How does this reading explain the slowness of understanding the resurrection in daily life, what are we to make of Jesus' body still showing his wounds, and what is the peace that Jesus promised?

Questions for Further Discussion

Themes and Application

1. What does it mean that resurrection begins behind locked doors rather than out in the open?
2. Why do you think John emphasizes belief over “faith” language? What kind of belief is being invited here?
3. What does it look like to live as a “resurrection community” in a world described as addicted to violence or despair?

Personal Reflection

1. Do you resonate more with Thomas’ need to see and touch, or with those who came to believe without seeing? Why?
2. What does it mean for you personally to “know something in your knower” rather than just intellectually understand it?
3. How do you respond to the idea that Jesus returns still bearing wounds? What does that say to your own scars?

Broader Spiritual Considerations

1. What might it mean for the Church today to take seriously that “belief unfolds slowly” rather than instantly?
2. In a culture drawn to spectacle and “signs,” how do we cultivate a faith that rests in relationship rather than proof?
3. If Easter is not just celebration but activation, what would it look like for churches to emphasize “living resurrection” as much as proclaiming it?

Learn more about St. Mark's at https://www.stmarksnewcanaan.org

An empty tomb, confused disciples, and a grieving woman searching for her Lord. Diving into the Easter Gospel, Peter Walsh and John Kennedy explore how John’s Gospel frames the resurrection as the dawn of a new creation, how people then and now are looking for Jesus, and what is so important about recognizing Mary Magdalene as the first witness to the risen Christ. Plus, John shares his real-life story of a UFO sighting!

Questions for Further Discussion

Themes and Application

1. How does the idea of the resurrection as a “new creation” (a new Genesis week) reshape how we understand Easter beyond just a miracle story?
2. What do you make of the different ways the disciples “see” the empty tomb? Have you experienced moments where you saw something—but didn’t yet understand it?
3. How does Jesus being both “with the Father” and “with us” stretch or challenge your understanding of God’s presence?

Personal Reflection

1. When have you found yourself asking, “Where is Jesus?” What did that season feel like?
2. What does the moment where Jesus says “Do not hold on to me” stir in you? Is there something in your life you’re being invited to release?
3. Mary recognizes Jesus when he calls her by name. When have you felt personally “called” or known in your faith journey?

Broader Spiritual Considerations

1. What does this passage suggest about the relationship between history and mystery in the Christian faith?
2. How do we hold together the uniqueness of Jesus with openness to truth and wisdom in other traditions?
3. How does the elevation of Mary Magdalene as the first witness challenge cultural or religious assumptions—both then and now?

Learn more about St. Mark's at https://www.stmarksnewcanaan.org