Luke 24: 30-32
When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave
thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened
and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked
each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on
the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
The road less
traveled
Christ had been taken, beaten, crucified, dead and buried.
They had just sat at the Passover meal and he was there, he was talking to
them, and now he is gone. They were scattered, separated and floundering.
Christ united the men as his disciples but without him they seemed to not have
any direction. Walking the dusty road to
Emmaus Cleopas and another disciple meet another traveler, Jesus, but they are
blind to it. Their perception is veiled from the grief and confusion of the
events that have torn the fabric of their lives apart. They talk with the
traveler, he speaks of the Christ they knew but still no recognition by his own
disciples. Not until they sat down to break bread did the veil fall and they
recognize the man as Jesus Christ. And they he was gone in an instant.
When I read this gospel account I am struck by the fact that
they didn’t recognize him. How they were so preoccupied they could not see
Christ before them. It makes me wonder how often we miss it as well. If his own
disciples didn’t ‘get it’, then what chance do we have of seeing Christ before
us. In the busy lives we lead what are
the chances we will slow down long enough to see the face of Christ, hear his
words to us and feel his spirit with us?
Is it because we feel God is done speaking, or that he doesn’t have
anything to say to us? Maybe we, like the disciples, don’t see him because we
are expecting him to look a certain way, appear in a manner we perceive to be
relevant?
God is still speaking, take the road less traveled you never
know who you may encounter, and how God will speak in or thru them.
Prayer: Almighty Lord,
your selfless sacrifice for our salvation leaves us speechless. Let us not pass
by, look over or dismiss your words today and every day as you speak to us in
the context of our lives. Let us have eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to
be open to your presence. Lord, never stop speaking to us, never. In your
precious Son’s name, AMEN.
“If we must “feel” God’s presence before we
believe he is with us, we again reduce God to our ability to grasp him, making
him an idol instead of acknowledging him as God.”
Craig S. Keener, Gift & Giver: The Holy
Spirit for Today
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