Week 24:
Note: This week’s Devotional Thought is written by
guest writer Ryan Lassiter. Ryan is the
Director of Children and Young Families Ministry at Golf Course Road Church of
Christ in Midland, TX. Ryan authors his
own blog titled: My Missional Journey. Be sure to visit his site. One of Ryan’s passions is to teach others to
look at the Bible from a narrative point of view. I am honored that he agreed to author this
post.
Luke
24: 15-16 – “15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself
came near and went with them, 16
but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.”
Luke
24: 30-35 – “30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread,
blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him;
and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road,
while he was opening the scriptures to us?”
33 That same
hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their
companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord
has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35
Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to
them in the breaking of the bread.”
I
have learned lately that when we read Scripture, maybe our first question ought
to be, “What does this tell us about God?”
So often we read and immediately ask, “How does this apply to me?” The more I learn about Scripture, the more I
believe the underlying story is always God.
It is His story that testifies to His faithfulness. Luke 24 reveals something profound to me
about the way in which God works.
This
is an interesting story. We have two of
Jesus’ disciples on the road headed to Emmaus.
They are perplexed by what just happened. They have spent a considerable amount of time
following this man they thought was the Messiah, and now he has suffered and
died. Then we see Jesus come alongside
their journey and interject himself into their conversation. Verses 15 and 16 are very interesting because
while Jesus is present with them in body and conversation, the text says their
eyes could not recognize who he was. So
Jesus walks with these men and explains to them about the suffering ways of the
Messiah. The story then reaches a climax
in verses 30 and 31. Jesus gathers these
two men around a table, breaks bread with them, and it is in this moment that
their eyes are opened and they recognize Jesus.
It
is fascinating to me how God reveals himself.
It is the announcement of a king, but not an announcement from the
palaces of Rome or even from the temple in Jerusalem. God announces his kingdom coming to shepherds
in a field. It is an announcement of a
king that has been born in a backwater village in the tiny insignificant town
of Bethlehem. And on top of that, this
king of the world has been placed in a feeding trough. God has finally come and established his
dwelling among humans, and he has done it in the form of a human. It is simple.
It appears foolish in some regards.
However, it is the simplicity of the coming of God that is so complex
and profound. God reveals himself
through the form of a human, born of a teenage virgin outside of the realm of
significance in the ancient world, and placed in a cow’s drinking dish.
So,
at the end of Luke’s story, it is fitting that it is in the simple and yet so
complex setting of table fellowship that Jesus reveals himself to his
disciples. These two disciples struggle
to see Jesus for who he is. They
struggle to recognize a suffering Messiah who has been crucified like a
criminal outside of the city gates and placed in a borrowed tomb. And to reveal himself, Jesus does not invite
these two to see him on his throne.
Rather, he invites them to gather around his table. When he breaks bread with them, their eyes
are opened. It is in the simple act of
table fellowship and bread breaking that the disciples see the Lord.
This,
I believe is why we commune. This is why
gathering around the Lord’s Table every week is so important to me. Sometimes it seems rote and emotionless. Other times the moment swims with meaning and
feelings. Every time, Jesus meets us in
that moment. God is revealed to us. We look around while we eat the bread and
drink the cup and we see a diverse group of people gathered around one
table. Everyone has enough. No one goes in need. All are welcomed and all have their
fill. No one is greater or lesser than
another. We gather around the table and
get a glimpse of what it looks like when God’s future becomes a present
reality.
So,
we come to the Lord’s Table in a seemingly simple act of breaking bread and
Christ is revealed to us. We are shaped
a bit more into his image to better live into his mission. We are filled with his presence. We then leave that table with a picture of
what it looks like to welcome, to share, to be hospitable, and to love. We leave filled with Christ in order to go
and be Christ. As the men in this story,
we go and tell how God’s world has been made known to us in the breaking of the
bread.
Questions/challenges:
1.
Where has God revealed Himself in way you did not
expect?
2.
How do you normally approach the table of communion?
3.
In what ways have your eyes been opened around the
breaking of bread; like the two disciples with Jesus?
4.
Next time you gather around the table, pay attention to
how God shows up. Look at how Christ
reveals himself to you.
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