Someone
gave my daughter a cookie. She thanked the person for their kindness. But, she’s
on a diet, watching what she eats, exercising, and really didn’t need a cookie.
With pure
innocence the young cookie giver suggested this solution. “Then just walk while
you’re eating the cookie!”
Walk while
you’re eating a cookie and it goes away. It doesn’t.
Maybe that
was the purpose of the walk to Emmaus: walk and talk the Jesus experience away.
He didn’t go away. Christ Jesus was resurrected
and He will come again.
“We
had hoped,” they said on the road to Emmaus. They
had hoped but had lost hope. They did not understand what happened. So they walked
to Emmaus trying to reason it out.
Life is a
journey. It is not static but the continuously changing event of our existence,
a walk on the road of life from birth to death. The greatest thing, we are joined
by Christ Jesus on the journey. By the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, the
resurrected living God walks with us.
He walks
with us during good times, those times are easy for us to see. But even more, Jesus
walks with us during our loss of hope and in times of lack of understanding. He
is with us when we are weak in our faith; at times we doubt and find it hard to
believe. Jesus is walking with us when we don’t recognize He is right there beside
us.
Because of
their expectations of a Messiah, the two travelers on the road to Emmaus did
not realize Jesus’ true purpose. “We had hoped,” He would have met our
expectations.
Just like
them, something is happening in our journey that we are not able to realize. What
we expect of God is not what God has planned for this world and for us. So we
doubt and find it hard to believe. But, Jesus is with us.
“We
had hoped,” He would be who we wanted him to be. How foolish they are.
Even today,
many study the Scriptures. They study Christ and his works. They talk to prove Him,
to teach of Him, and to preach of Him, but they preach him the way they want
Him to be. They walk away from Jerusalem and the cross. They don’t live a life
of Jesus’ works or His words. They don’t know the true Christ that walks with
them.
Scripture tells
that God is known in the breaking of bread. “Their eyes
were opened, and they knew Him when He broke the bread.” There will be
surprises at the true table of Christ. The bread of life will change many.
Hope is in
the breaking of the bread. We realize He is always with us. “We had hoped … our hearts would burn within us.“ Transforming
our frustration; giving us a passion to share our hope, our belief, and our
love. In the breaking of the bread we realize a passion to share Christ with
the world.
Recognize
that God is with us on our journey. With God with us, the feelings of loss and
longing are hope. With God with us, the desire to believe is believing. In God’s
presence, longing to love is love.
The
breaking of the bread is the best cookie we can receive.
Y’all be
good, y’all be holy, and preach the gospel by the way you live and love. Amen.
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