Luke 24:28-35 (NRSV)
Read Luke 24:28-35 on biblegateway.com
Verse 28As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. Verse 29But they urged him strongly, saying, "Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over." So he went in to stay with them. Verse 30When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Verse 31Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. Verse 32They said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?" Verse 33That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. Verse 34They were saying, "The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!" Verse 35Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Devotion
The person who joined the twosome appeared to be going beyond the village of Emmaus, when they urged him strongly saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” While at table that evening, Jesus “took bread, blessed and broke it.” It was at that moment that the text records that “their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.”
It all seems to have happened so quickly and Jesus vanished from their sight. As they reflected on his words of interpretation on the road to Emmaus, they realized that their hearts were burning within them while he was opening the scriptures up to them. Jesus the Lord remains the teacher of his followers. Returning to Jerusalem, they come with the message that lives to this day: “The Lord has risen indeed.” He is present as the Lord who continues to make himself known “in the breaking of the bread.”
Prayer
I love to tell the story of unseen things above, of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love. I love to tell the story because I know it’s true; it satisfies my longings as nothing else would do. (v.1, LBW #390, "I Love to Tell the Story") Amen.