A Roadside Encounter that Opens Our Eyes
Good Morning Friends,
We have before us this morning one of the most vivid and insightful accounts of our Lord’s appearances after His resurrection. It is a story that reveals to us not only something about who we are, but how Jesus helps us to see Him for who He is and about how we can come to know Him. The journey to Emmaus is both a literal and a spiritual journey. On one hand it recounts the story of two disciples who, after the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord, walk seven miles from Jerusalem to their village of Emmaus. On the other hand, it outlines for us the faith journey that we take from not recognizing Jesus, to understanding what the Scripture says about Him, to recognizing Him for who He is, and finally to our giving witness of what we have experienced. At first we might be too preoccupied to see and hear, but if we pay attention we can discover that Jesus has been with us all along. We can be walking with the answer but not have the right vantage point. Then in the depths of our disillusioned emotions, Jesus comes to hold our hand and guides us to receive A
Roadside Encounter that Opens Our Eyes.
Scripture: Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?” He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”
Luke 24:13-32 (NRSV)
Message: We serve a risen Savior and yet when we are in pain it can be difficult to recognize Jesus. Mary thinks Jesus is a gardener until He says her name, the ten think Jesus is a ghost until they touch him. And Thomas will not believe until he sees the wounds. On that first Resurrection Sunday the hope of the living Christ had not yet been experienced by those on the road to Emmaus. Like the eleven they were trapped in their misery. They had erected a wall of hopelessness. We can sympathize with their bewilderment for we too, two thousand years later have been in the same position…too preoccupied to notice that Jesus is walking with us opening up scripture for us to understand….present with us when we break bread. We do not know all the scripture that Jesus shared, that is left to our imagination, but we do receive an eye opening experience. Friends, being lost in the darkness of a heart-breaking experience is not the end of the story. The reality is that in our hearts He walks with us and talks with us and we not need feel odd about receiving this light of the world experience even though some would want us to deny that God can be so personal and near to us. Friends, we are to have a heart-searching experience that helps us to become aware of our predicament. And here we can revisit our anticipation of Jesus’ triumph over death and believe in the surprise of joy. In hindsight we see. And then once our pain is only a memory it is easier to recognize Jesus’ presence. Here our hearts, in faith, are aflame with the witness to Jesus’ presence even when our reasoning mind does not see.
Pray we look for Christ. Pray we seek Jesus. Pray we not be too overwhelmed to see. Pray we look past our problems. Pray that our heads do not get in the way of our hearts. Pray we are nourished when we remember that Jesus has been with us all along. Pray we seek and find Jesus in the promise of his presence in the lives of those poor we serve in Christ’s name. Pray that Jesus be for us Emmanuel…God with us. Pray we want others to meet Jesus. Pray that through acts of faith repeated as an acts of love that we awaken in our hearts the memory of Christ. Pray that we not be satisfied with living in the tension of the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Pray we meet others in the pain of the crucifixion and share in the mystery that when we increase our heart knowledge of Jesus we grow in the love of His presence as the risen Christ.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 