In Aperuit Illis, Pope Francis helps us to see Scripture as an opportunity to encounter Jesus Christ. Jesus went out to encounter those disciples who became depressed and disillusioned at the sight of our Lord’s disastrous defeat on the Cross, thinking all their hopes were now lost. Our Lord did not abandon them—he doesn’t abandon us—but helped them, and helps us, recover our hope and courage through opening up the Bible’s prophetic meaning:
“Before encountering his disciples, gathered behind closed doors, and opening their minds to the understanding of the Scriptures (cf. Luke 24:44-45), the risen Lord appeared to two of them on the road to Emmaus from Jerusalem (cf. Luke 24:13-35). Saint Luke’s account notes that this happened on the very day of his resurrection, a Sunday. The two disciples were discussing the recent events concerning Jesus’ passion and death. Their journey was marked by sorrow and disappointment at his tragic death. They had hoped that he would be the Messiah who would set them free, but they found themselves instead confronted with the scandal of the cross. The risen Lord himself gently draws near and walks with them, yet they do not recognize him (cf. v. 16). Along the way, he questions them, and, seeing that they have not grasped the meaning of his passion and death, he exclaims: “O foolish men, and slow of heart” (v. 25). Then, “beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the Scriptures” (v. 27). Christ is the first exegete! Not only did the Old Testament foretell what he would accomplish, but he himself wished to be faithful to its words, in order to make manifest the one history of salvation whose fulfillment is found in Christ.
7. The Bible, as sacred Scripture, thus speaks of Christ and proclaims him as the one who had to endure suffering and then enter into his glory (cf. v. 26). Not simply a part, but the whole of Scripture speaks of Christ. Apart from the Scriptures, his death and resurrection cannot be rightly understood. That is why one of the most ancient confessions of faith stressed that “Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas” (1 Corinthians 15:3-5). Since the Scriptures everywhere speak of Christ, they enable us to believe that his death and resurrection are not myth but history, and are central to the faith of his disciples.
“A profound bond links sacred Scripture and the faith of believers. Since faith comes from hearing, and what is heard is based on the word of Christ (cf. Romans 10:17), believers are bound to listen attentively to the word of the Lord, both in the celebration of the liturgy and in their personal prayer and reflection” (Aperuit Illis, 6-7).
So, when we experience our daily cross, when our eyes are kept from recognizing him, we should turn to Scripture. By reading, reflecting, and linking it to events in our own lives we will encounter Jesus Christ. There, in the reading of Scripture, he will speak to us, comfort us, help us see the new meaning of these trying events in the light of the risen Christ and the power of God. Then our faith will be renewed and our hope restored to enable us to fulfill our supernatural mission and to reach the goal of our life.
