We are continuing our mediations of Jesus revealing Himself to His disciples the day of His resurrection, specifically looking at the appearance to two disciples on the Emmaus road. As they approached the turnoff for the village where they were going, Jesus made as if to go on further, probably saying goodbye to them.
28As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. 30When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" 33They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." 35Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread (Luke 24:28-35).
It is beautiful that Christ took the time to eat a simple meal of unleavened bread with them (the Feast of Unleavened Bread lasted seven days). The Lord is a gentleman; He will not push Himself on those He has created. Christ only comes to those who ask Him. Our God delights in being wanted not for what He can do for us but for who He is. Jesus gently awaited their invitation to go to the house where they were staying.
Have you invited Him into the house of your heart? He has given you the gift of free will and longs to walk this road with you, casting your sins behind His back, if you will openly confess where you are. Give Him full control of who you are and everything you own. He wants to come and dine in sweet fellowship with each of us reading this message. At their strong invitation, He went with them.
As they ate with Him, their hearts burned within them as Jesus opened their understanding of the Word of God. He was connecting with their hearts as He talked. Their later confession was, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us” (Luke 24:31). Do not underestimate the power of simple reading, meditating, and pondering on the Word of God.
As Christ shared the Scriptures with them, they sensed a kinship to Him in some way. What a model the Lord Jesus is to each of us. After His resurrection, He didn't preach a long sermon to thousands of people, He took time to be with the ones and twos, teaching them the Scriptures and building them up in the faith.
Usually, the host will break the bread and bless the food, but in this instance, the two disciples asked Jesus to bless and give thanks to God for their meal. As Christ broke the unleavened bread, He pronounced the blessing, "Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the world, Who has caused bread to come forth out of the earth." At the blessing of the bread, they suddenly recognized that it was Jesus sitting with them. With their shocked appearance on each of their faces, He disappeared before their eyes! Let’s talk about why tomorrow.
Oh, Lord, would You come afresh to each of us today. Cause our hearts to burn at your sweet presence. Amen! Keith Thomas
Taken from the series on the Gospel of Luke, study 65. Jesus on the Emmaus Road