Recognise.
Near us is a nursing home called Emmaus. In fact, when I was in university I used to occasionally work there… well, when I say work I mean that I was paid to sleep there (so that if there was an emergency I could help out, although an emergency never occurred thankfully). It was great; I got paid to sleep! You can hardly believe it can you :o)
Anyway, every time I pass the nursing home I can't help but think about the story of what happened one day, several thousand of years ago, on the road to Emmaus; it is a story of recognition (which I have included in its entirety below).
You may smile [as indeed I do on occasion] at the thought of these disciples being unable to recognise Jesus - even though they would have each spent years with him! I may not be great with faces but I think I'd have been able to recognise Jesus if I had spent that much time with him! However, the reality of it is that we probably have a lot in common with these two guys.
How often do we go through hard times, times of deep grief and confusion (perhaps even experiencing a sense of abandonment by God), and it seems like we can no longer hear God? It is as though we don't know what his voice sounds like any more. We struggle to hear Him speak to us through a sermon and Scripture just seems like words on a page. And then one day we find ourselves at 'the table', a place we've been to time and time again, and all of a sudden we recognise Him with a fresh sense of revelation, knowing that He has been with us all this time [suffering where we suffered].
This story is ours too at times, and it always ends in hope and a passionate enthusiasm which causes us to abandon cautious reason to share the good news!
That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was.
He asked, "What's this you're discussing so intently as you walk along?"
They just stood there, long-faced, like they had lost their best friend. Then one of them, his name was Cleopas, said, "Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn't heard what's happened during the last few days?"
He said, "What has happened?"
They said, "The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene. He was a man of God, a prophet, dynamic in work and word, blessed by both God and all the people. Then our high priests and leaders betrayed him, got him sentenced to death, and crucified him. And we had our hopes up that he was the One, the One about to deliver Israel. And it is now the third day since it happened. But now some of our women have completely confused us. Early this morning they were at the tomb and couldn't find his body. They came back with the story that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Some of our friends went off to the tomb to check and found it empty just as the women said, but they didn't see Jesus."
Then he said to them, "So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can't you simply believe all that the prophets said? Don't you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?" Then he started at the beginning, with the Books of Moses, and went on through all the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that referred to him.
They came to the edge of the village where they were headed. He acted as if he were going on but they pressed him: "Stay and have supper with us. It's nearly evening; the day is done." So he went in with them. And here is what happened: He sat down at the table with them. Taking the bread, he blessed and broke and gave it to them. At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him. And then he disappeared.
Back and forth they talked. "Didn't we feel on fire as he conversed with us on the road, as he opened up the Scriptures for us?"
They didn't waste a minute. They were up and on their way back to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and their friends gathered together, talking away: "It's really happened! The Master has been raised up - Simon saw him!"
Then the two went over everything that happened on the road and how they recognized him when he broke the bread. Luke 24:13-35 (Msg)
Anyway, every time I pass the nursing home I can't help but think about the story of what happened one day, several thousand of years ago, on the road to Emmaus; it is a story of recognition (which I have included in its entirety below).
You may smile [as indeed I do on occasion] at the thought of these disciples being unable to recognise Jesus - even though they would have each spent years with him! I may not be great with faces but I think I'd have been able to recognise Jesus if I had spent that much time with him! However, the reality of it is that we probably have a lot in common with these two guys.
How often do we go through hard times, times of deep grief and confusion (perhaps even experiencing a sense of abandonment by God), and it seems like we can no longer hear God? It is as though we don't know what his voice sounds like any more. We struggle to hear Him speak to us through a sermon and Scripture just seems like words on a page. And then one day we find ourselves at 'the table', a place we've been to time and time again, and all of a sudden we recognise Him with a fresh sense of revelation, knowing that He has been with us all this time [suffering where we suffered].
This story is ours too at times, and it always ends in hope and a passionate enthusiasm which causes us to abandon cautious reason to share the good news!
That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was.
He asked, "What's this you're discussing so intently as you walk along?"
They just stood there, long-faced, like they had lost their best friend. Then one of them, his name was Cleopas, said, "Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn't heard what's happened during the last few days?"
He said, "What has happened?"
They said, "The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene. He was a man of God, a prophet, dynamic in work and word, blessed by both God and all the people. Then our high priests and leaders betrayed him, got him sentenced to death, and crucified him. And we had our hopes up that he was the One, the One about to deliver Israel. And it is now the third day since it happened. But now some of our women have completely confused us. Early this morning they were at the tomb and couldn't find his body. They came back with the story that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Some of our friends went off to the tomb to check and found it empty just as the women said, but they didn't see Jesus."
Then he said to them, "So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can't you simply believe all that the prophets said? Don't you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?" Then he started at the beginning, with the Books of Moses, and went on through all the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that referred to him.
They came to the edge of the village where they were headed. He acted as if he were going on but they pressed him: "Stay and have supper with us. It's nearly evening; the day is done." So he went in with them. And here is what happened: He sat down at the table with them. Taking the bread, he blessed and broke and gave it to them. At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him. And then he disappeared.
Back and forth they talked. "Didn't we feel on fire as he conversed with us on the road, as he opened up the Scriptures for us?"
They didn't waste a minute. They were up and on their way back to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and their friends gathered together, talking away: "It's really happened! The Master has been raised up - Simon saw him!"
Then the two went over everything that happened on the road and how they recognized him when he broke the bread. Luke 24:13-35 (Msg)
posted by Andrew at 9:06 am
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