DAY 93 of #100daysofJesus - The Road to Emmaus

 

DAY 93 of #100daysofJesus

Two disciples journeyed to the village of Emmaus discussing the events of the past three days, how Jesus had been crucified but was no longer found in the tomb.

Could He be alive? Did angels really appear testifying of Jesus' resurrection? Or is this some elaborate hoax?

While they traveled, "Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him."

Jesus asked them what they were so glumly discussing.

They told Him and complained, "we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel."

Jesus, perhaps disappointed at their inability to connect all the dots, began to "expound unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself."

And while the disciples would later ask themselves, "did not our heart burn within us while he opened to us the scriptures?" they still did not recognize Jesus.

As they arrived at their destination, they pleaded with Jesus to dine with them, "Abide with us," and He decided to join them for supper.

During the meal, Jesus "took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight."

Forgetting whatever it was that had brought them to Emmaus, they immediately returned to Jerusalem as quickly as they could, declaring to the apostles and anyone who would listen, "The Lord is risen indeed!"

I love this story, and it contains so much for us. Only one of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is named (Cleopas), so put yourself into the story as the second disciple.

Sometimes, as we walk through life, Jesus is right there next to us, but we do not recognize Him. Perhaps the promise that "where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" is more literal than we realize.

I love how the disciples ask Jesus, "abide with us," and though Jesus knows He cannot by with them long, He provides a way to be within them through the bread of the sacrament. The ordinance of the sacrament allows us to have Him with us as we renew our commitment to and covenant with Him.

It was not until they partook of the bread, which Jesus broke and blessed, that "their eyes were opened."

How can this sacred ordinance help us to open our own eyes and see the Savior?

How can it help us see that Jesus was with us the entire time, and that when we have felt our own hearts burn within us, it was because Jesus lives?

Jesus is the Redeemer of Israel, and He lives!

(Luke 24:13-35, Matthew 18:20)