Luke 24:13-35 Jesus appears to two
disciples on the Emmaus Road. This story
is unique to Luke's account, except for a brief summary in Mark 16:12-13.
Cleopas (Greek 2810: of a renowned father) is named as one of the travelers,
the other is not named, and the Bible does not mention Cleopas anywhere else.
Jesus talks with them yet they do not recognize him. He explains to them how
all the scriptures (presumably the Old Testament in its entirety) pertained to
Him. Their eyes are opened only when He blesses the meal, and then He vanishes.
The two disciples immediately return to Jerusalem to tell the others.
Why
this cat and mouse game? Perhaps it is an example of how easy it is for us to
not recognize the presence of God in our lives. He may be working through
others, or through circumstances, or speaking to us through the Holy Spirit,
and yet we do not realize it. We have a
renowned Father in heaven, and yet when He sends us the work of His Son, we
attribute it to the natural workings of the world, to man's wisdom and
activity, cause and effect, or some other source. Anything but Him. And yet, in
the disciples' lives (as is shown in Acts), and in retrospect on our own lives,
God is continuously acting on a personal and interpersonal basis with us. And
it is on His initiative that our eyes are opened to this and we recognize Him.
What does the breaking of bread symbolize? Perhaps it is the Lord's Supper, the
first time after the resurrection that He participates in the breaking of bread
since the Passover just before His arrest. Can we recognize Jesus at work in
our lives in the simplest of daily activities, such as eating a meal?
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