He Drew Near

~~~ Acts of the Apostles 3:1-10 ~~~ Psalm 105 ~~~ Luke 24:13-35 ~~~

The walk to Emmaus is such a beautiful story.
Jesus meets Cleopas and his companion where they are on their journey.

Jesus himself drew near and walked with them...

They have been walking seven miles now.
They walk in silence because they have lost some of their hope.
They walk in silence as they return home wondering what they will do next.
How are they to carry forward with what they have seen
and learned from Jesus?

Eventually they begin to speak about what had happened to Jesus.
How could he have been arrested, convicted, and crucified?
How could this happen to one so good?
Why did things not turn out as they had expected?

Does any of this sound familiar to you?
I am guessing it does.
I can relate to disappointments in life.
Sometimes things do not turn out like we thought they would.

Jesus not only walked with these two, but he also listened
to their sad expression of the past events.

He spoke of what had to be in his unique compassionate way.

He remained with them until they reached their home.
He entered their home. He sat down at the table with them.

He used something familiar to reveal himself before their very eyes.

They recognized him in the breaking of the bread.
It was this action of breaking the bread,
not the burning in their hearts.
The burning of their hearts was only connected
 to the presence of Jesus after the fact.

How many times can we too look back on an event
only later to realize its real significance.

These two longed for Jesus to stay with them,
but he vanished leaving them with joy.

Now they could return to Jerusalem light-hearted...
with a spring in their step.
They were bringing the good news of the Lord's Resurrection.

They returned to share their story.
They came to discover the others stories.

We each have our story of the living Jesus.
Share yours and you will be Blessed.
He is with you always,
even when you do not recognize him.
Peace.