Tag Archives: Luke 24:13-35

In the Breaking Bread

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emmaus

 

We were on our way to Emmaus. There seemed little point hanging around in Jerusalem.  Jesus was dead.  All those hopes dashed, dreams failed to be realised, thinking this was it – when clearly it wasn’t. God’s not back, the promised Messiah isn’t here after all, and, frankly, we look fools.

The women had come back with tales of the tomb being empty and some angels telling them that Jesus was risen, but how can that be true?  Wishful thinking and the all too easy visions of the bereaved and heartbroken I’m sure.

So we were off. Nothing else for it really.

As we walked along we tried to make sense of it all.  What had really happened?  What had all this been about?  Who was Jesus and what was he really trying to do?

As we went along someone else joined us. I had no idea where he had been as he had no idea about what had happened in the last few days. He must have been buried somewhere to not know about all the commotion that had gone on.  How could he not have heard about Jesus and all the amazing things he had said and done?  How had he not heard about the whole trial, death and crucifixion debacle? Didn’t everyone know about the tomb now being empty?  How could we begin to explain all this to him?

Then he said something really strange. He challenged us on our understanding.  Clearly he knew more than he’d let on!  He said we were slow. Rude! That we had failed to grasp that the Messiah had to suffer these things – it was precisely that that proved he was the Messiah.  And he went right back to the beginning of the scriptures and carefully explained it all.  It was our own personal theology and Christology lesson.  What an amazing encounter on such a day from someone who we thought hadn’t got it.

We came to the village.  He seemed to be going further, but after such a conversation we couldn’t let him go.  It was late and offering hospitality was the right thing to do, so we invited him to stay with us.  The meal was on the table. He reached over and took the bread, and he broke it…

Wow!  Echoes chimed, realisation dawned.  This was Jesus – alive and with us. Without us realising he had made everything clear to us.  He had journeyed here with us and now he was in our house and breaking bread for us.

He is alive. He is risen!  He is here.
Francisco de Zurbarán La Cena de Emaús (excerpt) 1639.JPG

May we know God’s blessing,
his presence
his reassurance
and his feeding

when we recognise him
and when we don’t.

May we know that he walks with us
whether we realise it
or not.

May we be very sure
when we need to be

and know that he is with us
always

Amen

Luke 24:13-35 (GNT)

The Walk to Emmaus

13 On that same day two of Jesus’ followers were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed, Jesus himself drew near and walked along with them; 16 they saw him, but somehow did not recognize him. 17 Jesus said to them, “What are you talking about to each other, as you walk along?”

They stood still, with sad faces. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that have been happening there these last few days?”

19 “What things?” he asked.

“The things that happened to Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “This man was a prophet and was considered by God and by all the people to be powerful in everything he said and did. 20 Our chief priests and rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and he was crucified. 21 And we had hoped that he would be the one who was going to set Israel free! Besides all that, this is now the third day since it happened. 22 Some of the women of our group surprised us; they went at dawn to the tomb, 23 but could not find his body. They came back saying they had seen a vision of angels who told them that he is alive. 24 Some of our group went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said, but they did not see him.”

25 Then Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are, how slow you are to believe everything the prophets said! 26 Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and then to enter his glory?” 27 And Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the writings of all the prophets.

28 As they came near the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther; 29 but they held him back, saying, “Stay with us; the day is almost over and it is getting dark.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 He sat down to eat with them, took the bread, and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Wasn’t it like a fire burning in us when he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”

33 They got up at once and went back to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven disciples gathered together with the others 34 and saying, “The Lord is risen indeed! He has appeared to Simon!”

35 The two then explained to them what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized the Lord when he broke the bread.

Good News Translation (GNT)Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society

 

 

 

Where Have You Been?

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Luke 24:13-35 (CEV)

Jesus Appears to Two Disciples

13 That same day two of Jesus’ disciples were going to the village of Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 As they were talking and thinking about what had happened, 15 Jesus came near and started walking along beside them. 16 But they did not know who he was.

17 Jesus asked them, “What were you talking about as you walked along?”

The two of them stood there looking sad and gloomy. 18 Then the one named Cleopas asked Jesus, “Are you the only person from Jerusalem who didn’t know what was happening there these last few days?”

19 “What do you mean?” Jesus asked.

They answered:

Those things that happened to Jesus from Nazareth. By what he did and said he showed that he was a powerful prophet, who pleased God and all the people. 20 Then the chief priests and our leaders had him arrested and sentenced to die on a cross. 21 We had hoped that he would be the one to set Israel free! But it has already been three days since all this happened.

22 Some women in our group surprised us. They had gone to the tomb early in the morning, 23 but did not find the body of Jesus. They came back, saying that they had seen a vision of angels who told them that he is alive. 24 Some men from our group went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said. But they didn’t see Jesus either.

25 Then Jesus asked the two disciples, “Why can’t you understand? How can you be so slow to believe all that the prophets said? 26 Didn’t you know that the Messiah would have to suffer before he was given his glory?” 27 Jesus then explained everything written about himself in the Scriptures, beginning with the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets.[a]

28 When the two of them came near the village where they were going, Jesus seemed to be going farther. 29 They begged him, “Stay with us! It’s already late, and the sun is going down.” So Jesus went into the house to stay with them.

30 After Jesus sat down to eat, he took some bread. He blessed it and broke it. Then he gave it to them. 31 At once they knew who he was, but he disappeared. 32 They said to each other, “When he talked with us along the road and explained the Scriptures to us, didn’t it warm our hearts?” 33 So they got right up and returned to Jerusalem.

The two disciples found the eleven apostles and the others gathered together. 34 And they learned from the group that the Lord was really alive and had appeared to Peter. 35 Then the disciples from Emmaus told what happened on the road and how they knew he was the Lord when he broke the bread.

We were walking along.  Still discussing.  Still wondering.  Still trying to work our what it was all about.  What a roller coaster few weeks, well years really I suppose, what a whole range of emotions.  We really needed to work out what this meant for the rest of our lives.

Then someone else appeared.  A fellow traveller, going the same way.  He asked us what we were discussing – seemed very interested (though I don’t know where he’d been because he didn’t seem to know anything about what had happened!).

So we told him.  All about Jesus.  What he had done and taught; what he had meant to us; how he’d been tried and sent to crucifixion; and then the tales of his resurrection.  We told him how our hopes had been dashed, how we’d hope he was the one to save Israel – from itself and it’s tyrants – but it wasn’t to be; then our surprise and our confusion.

This man seemed to know something.  He wondered why we were surprised, why we couldn’t understand what had happened, even realised it was part of the plan…  He certainly knew all about the Law and the Prophets, he gave us an impromptu bible study on everything written about The Messiah.  Well that wasn’t the end to the day that we were expecting.

We were drawing near to our destination.  Truth be told, we’d be glad to get there, sit down and have some sleep.  All this emotion is exhausting.  But it seemed rude not to invite him in.  Somehow we had formed a bond on the road.  He seemed to be going somewhere else, but we begged him to stay with us.  He came with us and we sat down to eat.

And then the penny dropped.  As he took the bread, it all became clear.  Only one person breaks the bread like that.

IT WAS HIM.

Jesus was still here with us.  On our journey.  In our home.  With us in our conversation and our wondering.

Jesus has not gone on.  He is here with us.

Be Known to us in Breaking Bread

What are you talking about?

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There we were, walking along, minding our own business, discussing all the amazing things that had happened over the last few weeks.  It was so hard to take it all in, to sort it all out in our minds.

As we were going along, a man appeared and started talking with us.  Don’t know who he was, but he seemed friendly enough, and joined us.

I don’t know where he can have been though, he didn’t seem to know anything about all that had happened.  Everyone had heard about what had happened with Jesus, he was the talk of the town.

Of course he wanted to know what these things were, seemed to want to catch up on the gossip he’d missed – well you would wouldn’t you.  You’d want to know all the little details, what people were saying, what it all meant.

So we told him what we knew.  That Jesus was a prophet, how he told us things of God, how powerful he was. Then we also had to tell him how the Chief Priests and rulers had got antsy and got him crucified – killed to stop him causing any more trouble.

We had to be honest with our fellow traveller too, and said that we had hoped that he was THE ONE.  The One who was going to save us and free us, and now we had no idea what was going on.  Of course it had all been confused even more, by the women coming back from the tomb this morning and saying they couldn’t find the body – but more than that, they’d seen some angels who assured them he was alive – what was that all about?

Then something really strange happened.  This man who was travelling with us suddenly turned round to us and said, “How foolish you are.  How slow to believe.  This is what was needed, for the Messiah to suffer and enter glory”

Well, I ask you!  One minute he knows nothing about what’s happened, and the next he’s lecturing us about what it all means!  He certainly knew his Scriptures.  He took us all the way through, explaining what was said about the Messiah through them.

By now we were nearly at Emmaus, the village we were going to.  He was going further, but we invited him to come and stay with us, as it was nearly dark. So he came with us, and we got a meal.

He said the blessing and he picked up the bread.

OH MY!!!!!

It was Jesus!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He was the person that had been walking with us all along.  We hadn’t recognised him.  What fools we felt.  We had been too caught up in ourselves we hadn’t recognised him – but he was there.  He had explained to us once again what it was all about.

Jesus is Risen – now we know for ourselves.

Thank you Lord

that you walk with us

in our questioning,

in our confusion,

in the times when we don’t recognise you.

Thank you.