I’ve been wondering lately what it would have been like to walk with Him here.
Those two men who stumbled into the risen Jesus on their way to Emmaus have been perched in my thoughts, especially.
Their story is found in Luke 24:13-35. I urge you to click over and read the verses yourself, even if you are familiar with the passage. There is always something new to digest when we feast on the Scripts. And if you’ve never before scanned this bit of the Word, come to it with hopeful eyes. I trust something of it will bless you.
There are a few special spots in this story that I’ve been wanting to highlight.
Verse 27 says…Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Will you look at that? Jesus explaining Jesus.
Did they ask questions? Or did He share the truth with them in such wild validity that they didn’t need to? Did He have to hide a smile as He spoke about Himself? Or did He explain it with a tinge of aggravation, wanting so badly for people to simply believe?
This has all been fresh in my thoughts as I’m reading a brilliant book by the Jesuit priest James Martin. Jesus – A Pilgrimage takes the reader through Martin’s experiences as he traveled through the Holy Land. It’s got my heart and mind pitch in the middle of the life of Christ – His humanness and His divinity, his life and his dealings. It’s fascinating, and it’s drawing me to Him.
Now look at verses 30 and 31…As they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!
I almost grab my heart as I read it. As the Bread of Life breaks bread He is recognized. The One who’s body was broke open, was understood only when He broke the loaf.
What a poet our God is.
And the description of the their reaction…They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”
How else could you feel? And how else would you describe it?
He still talks to us on the road. His spirit alive and speaking within us who believe…
I have had experiences where my heart burned within me when He has very evidently made Himself known to some doubting ache within.
So while it’s true that the thought of walking shoulder to shoulder with Christ on real live earth is sweet and fanciful to consider, we must remember that Jesus INside us – is better than Jesus BEside us. He said so Himself in John 16:7.
Let your heart ponder these things. And may it encourage a robust, lively, reawakened faith in all of us today.
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Back tomorrow. Hugs all around.
Loved this post. I sent it to 3 friends. Especially like “Jesus explaining Jesus”. Also read the reviews of the James Martin book and just ordered it.
Hello Katie. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on meeting HIM face to face. What a blessing it will be !