Their eyes were prevented from recognizing Jesus for they were to recognize him in the breaking of bread. As we continue to rejoice in, and celebrate the redemptive work of our Savior which attained its culmination in his rising from the dead, we are invited on this Third Sunday of Easter to open our ears to the teachings of Jesus and allow them to form the basis of our own  resurrection (transformation) just as it was for the disciples. In today’s Gospel reading, we encounter Cleopas and an unnamed companion, two disciples of Jesus who, like the rest of the disciples, were yet to arrive at their own  resurrection (transformation). 
Like everybody else, the two didn’t know how to make sense of what had happened to their master. They were yet to make sense of how him upon whom their hopes for redemption rested could be killed in such a manner as it had happened. They were yet to make sense of how he through whom God had worked mighty deeds could himself suffer such an undignified end. Wasn’t his good works a guarantee that only good could come his way? (cf. Proverbs 19:17) Were not the mighty deeds he performed a pointer that light had finally overcome darkness? At any rate, had the people not put all their hopes in Jesus as the one whom the prophets had foretold? How could this very Jesus allow himself to be killed and by so doing crash the hopes of a whole community? Distraught and confused, the two disciples decided to get out of Jerusalem. 
Cleopas and his companion’s primary motive for getting out of Jerusalem must have been the desire to move away from anything that would remind them of their disappointments. They wanted to move away from where their hopes had been dashed and crushed. Their faces were cast down as they walked along because they were yet to understand the unfolding of the scriptures not only in what Jesus had done and said, but also in what was presently taking place in their day. Their response to Jesus indicated that they were yet to understand how ‘ the recent events’were consistent with the prophesies concerning the Messiah. If only they had allowed the words of Jesus to find a home in their hearts, then they would not have been so much surprised at the turn of events. It was not until the risen Jesus had explained to them how the Scriptures had been fulfilled in his life and ministry that their eyes and minds were opened to understand the recent events.  For the key to understanding the recent events (the resurrection) is the life and ministry of Jesus (summarized in the breaking of the bread).
“ Even as you drink of this cup and break the bread, remember me,” Jesus had told the twelve as they gathered in the upper room for a Passover meal. As it turned out (Jesus was aware of this), it was their final act together before Jesus offered himself on the wood of the cross for the salvation of his brothers and sisters. As their final act together, it also served as a summary of what they had done as a group since their coming together. It was for this very reason that what transpired in the upper room had to be committed to memory. Without it, it was going to be impossible to understand what had happened on the cross. 
Committing to memory everything that Jesus had done was the key to unlocking both the Scriptures and everything else that was taking place in Jerusalem. Associating the life of Jesus with the simple act of breaking the bread was the key to understanding what had happened on the cross. It was the key to understanding the Messiahship of Jesus. For while it might have seemed that all had come to naught on the cross, Jesus had already made himself eternally alive in the memories of his followers. On that evening while in the upper room, Jesus had foretold what would become of him: that he would be “broken” for them. Jesus’ Messiahship consists in being broken for his brothers and sisters, an act that was symbolized in the breaking of the bread. This is where Jesus was to be found, not in the tomb as some of them had thought. The unfolding of what the Scripture says about Jesus must lead to the breaking of the bread. For it is not until we break the bread that we come to a full understanding of Jesus and what he requires of us: our being broken for others. The breaking of the bread must lead to our being broken for others. For until we break ourselves for others, we will always want to move away from Jerusalem, the place where one is broken for the salvation of others. Until we break the bread, we will not have a capacity to understand that it is only by being broken that life is generated.