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Day 29 – More people see Jesus again

Bible reading: Luke 24:13–32

Jesus shows himself to two disciples

13 Later on that same day, two of Jesus' disciples were going to a village. The village was called Emmaus. It was about 11 kilometres from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. 15 While they were talking like this, Jesus himself came near to them. He started to walk along with them. 16 They saw him, but for some reason they did not recognize him. 17 Jesus asked them, ‘What are you talking about while you walk along the road?’

They stood still and they seemed sad. 18 One of them, called Cleopas, answered him, ‘Many things have happened in Jerusalem in the last few days. Are you the only visitor here that does not know about it?’ 19 Jesus asked them, ‘What things have happened?’

They replied, ‘The things that happened to Jesus who was from Nazareth. He was a prophet from God. He did many great things and he spoke powerful messages. God showed that his message was true. All the people believed him. 20 Then the leaders of the priests and our rulers took hold of him. They gave him to the Roman ruler. They said that he had done bad things and that he ought to die. So they killed him by fixing him to a cross. 21 But before that we had hoped that he would save the people of Israel. We hoped that he would make us free again.

There are other things too. Today is the third day since Jesus died. 22 After all this happened, some women in our group surprised us. Early this morning, they went to the place where Joseph had put him. 23 But they did not find his body there. So they returned to us and said, “Some angels appeared to us. They have told us that Jesus is alive.” 24 So some people from our group went to the place where his body had been. They found everything just the same as the women had said. But they did not see Jesus.’

25 Jesus then said to them, ‘How silly you are! You are very slow to believe everything that God's prophets said long ago. 26 You should have known that the Messiah had to die. Only then would he return to heaven and show how great and powerful he is.’ 27 Jesus then began to explain to them what Moses and all God's prophets had taught. He showed them what they wrote in the Bible about himself.

28 Then they came near to the village that the disciples were going to. It seemed that Jesus would continue his journey. 29 But they wanted him to stop there. They said to him, ‘Please stay in our home with us. It is getting late, and it will soon be night.’

So Jesus went into their house to stay with them. 30 He sat down to eat with them. He took the bread and he thanked God for it. He broke it into pieces and he gave some to them. 31 Their eyes became clear and they recognized him. But then he disappeared, and they could no longer see him. 32 They said to each other, ‘When he talked to us, it was like a fire that was burning inside us. We felt it while we were walking along the road. We also felt it when he was explaining God's message in the Bible.’

Luke 24:13-32 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)

Reflection

Jesus made sure that he appeared in his risen life to many people, once to a group of 500 (1 Corinthians 15:6). He wanted to assure them that his rising from death, although unique, was absolutely real. It was the final proof of his claim to share God’s nature. And in this happy story, we see sadness and unbelief changing into enormous joy. Cleopas and his friend discover that the Jesus they thought they had lost forever was alive. And he had come to walk along the road with them.

The holy books and the meal

As well as encouraging them, Jesus seems to have had two main aims. One, he wanted to base their understanding in the Bible. He showed that the Old Testament holy books importantly pointed to him. Second, he wanted to meet with them during a special meal as they shared bread together. That was surely a reminder of the Last Supper when he had given his followers the special meal. We call it the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion.

After that, Jesus disappeared from their sight. The Bible and the meal are the two main ways believers today meet the risen Jesus. Even though we cannot see him. The same as Cleopas and his friend could not see him when he vanished at the end of that amazing long walk that evening.

The Lord’s Supper and the Bible are all we need to bring people the joyful message: ‘It is true – the Lord has risen’.