Luke 24 28 - 35

 Luke 24:28 - 35

Having spent two hours talking with and listening to Jesus, all the while unaware of who He was, these disciples reached their destination. Jesus acted as if He would go further. Was Jesus being dishonest? No, but He is giving the disciples the options to invite Him to stay.  Because of His overwhelming love for us Jesus will never impose Himself on us. If they had not invited Him to stay He would have gone on His way  once they had parted company. But note the condescension (in the very best sense of the word) the resurrected Lord would only join them if they wanted it. He is Lord and King but He is also meek and mild.

We also need to consider two ways in which they encountered Christ. First is in the scriptures. As they discussed the scriptures, as they related to the Christ their hearts were burning within them. That word “burning” was used to describe an uncontrollable longing for someone or something. Do we find the time set apart for scripture frustrating because there is not enough time or because it consumes too much of our time from a busy schedule? There was a complaint from a Chinese Christian who lamented that she could only read her Bible for about two hours a day. May our hearts burn for more as we meet Jesus in Scripture.

Jesus also became obvious to them in the breaking of bread. Was this a common meal or a specific expression of the Lord's Supper? For the early church this would have been a non-question because their communion was with a common meal. The point is that in some way we encounter Christ in the communion that we do not experience in any other way. The disciples were caught by surprise in this encounter with Christ.  Had they not shared this meal with Jesus they would have never enjoyed that surprise.  Our failure to participate in the Lord's Supper means that we miss something.  We miss a depth of relationship with our Lord that is available to us, and only available in communion. 

Never forget that any failure to experience the depth of Christ is entirely our failure be that in our missing Him in Scripture or in the Lord's Table.

“Lord, open my eyes to see Jesus. AMEN”