This story comes from the Lovers
Lane United Methodist Church website. It was put there June 29,
2003 by a man named Stan Copeland.
A monk found a very precious gemstone. He put it in his
knapsack and carried it with him. One day he met a traveler in
need who asked the monk to share some of his provisions with
him. The monk opened his knapsack to share his food when his
fingers came upon the gemstone he had long ago put there. So
he lifted out the stone and gave it to the traveler. Overjoyed
by his good fortune in receiving the valuable stone the traveler
went on his way.
A few days later, however, the traveler caught up with the
monk. He begged from him again. "Please give me something
more precious than this stone," he
said. "Please give me that which prompted you to give
this stone to me."
I believe this is what Jesus did with the two people He met
on the Road to Emmaus. They had been His followers. Disappointed
and still grieving His death they were on their way home to Emmaus,
a small village about seven miles from Jerusalem. In spite of
hearing stories about Jesus being alive they had opted to listen
to those who later had gone to the tomb but had not seen Jesus.
Assuming only the worst, these two had left for home leaving
behind their dreams for Jesus leading their people to freedom.
Think what might have happened if Jesus had just appeared to
them on the road so that they would have immediately recognized
Him. No doubt they would have had some moments of disbelief.
Maybe they would have been afraid. But soon they would have rejoiced
and would have attempted to keep Jesus with them. Had He left,
which He would have done, they would have raced back to Jerusalem
to tell the others that they had seen Jesus alive.
Jesus had an even better gift for them than just revealing Himself.
We read in Luke 24:27, "Then beginning with Moses and all
the prophets, He interpreted to them the things about Himself
in all of Scriptures." Would it not be wonderful to have
Jesus do that for us? The two listening to Him later revealed
their hearts were burning while He was talking to them. This
was not indigestion. It was the kind of feeling that overtakes
you when you are in love and are very excited by it.
Jesus did not simply give them the gift of Himself which he
eventually did when he blessed and broke the bread at dinner.
That act caused their eyes to be opened which means they understood
at that moment who was with them. Jesus gave them more than Himself.
He pointed them to the stories in Scripture which they could
now understand because they had received the Holy Spirit when
Jesus shared the bread of life with them.
Decades later, Peter would write to Christians who were scattered
in many countries. In I Peter 1:23 he shares, "You have
been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through
the living and enduring word of God."
In Genesis 1, God speaks and the created
order comes into existence. In the prologue of John, the
author says the Word has always existed. The Word was with God.
The Word was God. All things that have come to be have come through
the Word which is Life itself. The Word becomes flesh and lives
in the midst of humans fully revealing itself to us. Jesus points
the Emmaus people to the Word, to the Truth.
How does this apply to us today who cannot see Jesus in the
flesh? I believe we are being given extremely important clues
in our Gospel lesson. Jesus comes to us through prayer, through
breaking and sharing of bread, through baptism in the Holy Spirit
and through the written word of God, the Bible. We need to use
all of these gifts if we desire to have a living relationship
with Jesus. The fellowship of the church is to support us in
all of these things but each of us must also utilize all of them
on our own as well.
No doubt the two who were on the road to Emmaus were going home.
As they approached their destination night was falling. It was
proper of them to invite the stranger to be their guest. They
would offer both food and shelter. It was also the custom to
decline the invitation so the host would be freed of his responsibility
in case he really didn't want to make the offer. But this
host really wanted Jesus to stay so Jesus accepted.
However, the story takes a strange twist. Jesus takes over the
role of the host at supper. He blesses and breaks the bread which
He shares. This is John's way of showing the Kingdom of
God has come into the world in the person of Jesus who is now
the host of the world since the world now belongs to Him. Jesus
is not offering ordinary bread for the body but the bread of
life that feeds the Spirit. He is offering Himself to these early
believers just like He offers Himself to us today through baptism,
the Lord's Supper, prayer, fellowship and through the spoken
and written word of God.
We know nothing else about these two people only that they were
ordinary folks who loved Jesus. I believe the author of John wants his readers to know Jesus is for ordinary people like you
and me. We do not have to be part of the initial inner circle
of disciples in order to experience the power and love of Jesus
first-hand. We simply need to utilize the gifts Jesus provides.
Peter correctly states in I Peter 1:17 that we live in exile.
Living in this world is different from living in the Kingdom
of God. God has redeemed us from this world. Although we continue
to live in it we are no longer of it once we accept our invitation
to be part of God's Kingdom. Although we, for a time, continue
to live in this world we have a much higher calling in Christ
which is to live loving one another. These are not mere words
but an invitation to a style of life which means belonging to
a community that has Christ as its center.
As part of that community we are to reach out into the world
of darkness to bring others to the Kingdom illuminated by God's
light, by Jesus, the light of the world. The people who lived
in Emmaus were looking for the anointed One of God. They found
Him in Jesus but did not realize what the new Kingdom life was
like until Jesus opened their eyes and showed them the way.
Think of how much effort is made by millions of people because
they are living and working afraid of death. Think how much energy
could be used to do God's work once we realize that God
has destroyed death. I believe this is what Jesus showed the
two from Emmaus. Now Jesus wants us to see that as well. Ask
yourself — is my faith journey causing my heart to burn
within me? If the answer is, "No!" then you need
to be looking differently. Maybe we just need to admit to ourselves
as a matter of first priority that we need to be looking for
God in our midst. |
