Monday, May 1, 2017

 Luke 24:28-31

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 

Even today

It is the human dimension that tugs at my heart. The ache of longing. The hands that bless.

The two travelers on the Emmaus road know what they need. They need Jesus to stay with them. They don’t know why. They don’t even know that it is him. But they know that whoever this stranger is they need to be near him for reasons they cannot … and may not ever … understand.

Stay with us. Don’t go. We need you.

The heart has reasons the mind knows not of. I forget who said it, but it is true. Their hearts recognize the presence of the Love Christ is well before their eyes and minds catch on.

They feel something … someone … breathing life back into their hearts as they walked and talked.

Jesus is dead, or so they think. And here he is … with them … raising them from the dead, and they don’t even know it is happening.

Not until they see him take bread, bless and break it, and give it to them. His hands, extended to bless and feed more than their bodies

Then they know. They see the Love God is. They see the Love who had walked with them on the road, the Love broken like bread and given to aching hearts, the Love who walks with us every step of life’s journey, even when we haven’t the eyes to see.

Even when eyes do see, even when we least expect, Love comes alongside to breathe life into us. Even today. And every time, we smile and breathe the joy of Love’s precious presence.

Pr. David L. Miller