Road to Emmaus

The story of two men on their way to Emmaus is always an interesting one. The men were followers of Jesus.  Now they had heard that their Jesus, who they believed was their long expected Messiah,   had been crucified but also was supposed to have risen from the grave. Several of the disciples had gone to the tomb to verify what the women said and found, yes, the tomb was empty.  They were discussing this whole scenario not knowing what  to believe.  That is when Jesus came up to them and walked along with  them but they didn't recognize Him.  They found it strange that this man who joined them did not seem to know about all the events that had transpired in Jerusalem the past few days.  The men then, in great detail, told all about the way the prophets had foretold his coming, his persecution, his  crucifixion  and even the empty tomb.  Jesus admonished them for not believing  the prophetic scripture.  Still, they did recognize Him.  When they neared the house they were to stay for the night they invited Jesus to stay with them.  Jesus accepted the invitation. It was  only when Jesus took the bread. blessed it and began to give it to  them did they recognize who this "stranger" was.  When they recognized Him he disappeared from their sight.  This story brings up some very interesting and strong points.  Notice that the two men did not recognize Jesus until he took the bread, blessed it and gave it to them to eat.  Jesus didn't wait to be served, he immediately took residence, so to speak, and served them,  He took charge.  He gave them the physical bread to nourish their bodies after the 7 mile walk from Jerusalem.  That is the way it is when we are told about Jesus, accept him into our heart and take our nourishment from him. Jesus does for us sinners what he did for those two men.  They invited him into their home when they still did not recognize him for who he was.  He accepted their invitation to stay.   But then Jesus took over and fed them.  He took control and did what he does so well.  He gave them nourishment.  When we accept Jesus to come into our heart he gives the Holy Spirit to empower us and He truly reveals who he is and immediately begins to nourish us with his spiritual food.  Remember, the two men supplied the bread but when Jesus blessed it and broke it he gave it to them.  You  and I have our talents and gifts but we have been using them in our way and for ourselves mainly. When Jesus comes in as our Lord and Savior he enables us  to use our gifts for others.  In other words, he blesses and enriches what we already have so it can be a blessing to others. However, that is not the end of the process.  Our growth spiritually comes as we feed on his Word, as we commune with him in prayer and as we serve him with our whole heart.  A formula I have found to be helpful in my spiritual life is this:  we are blessed, we are called, we are enabled and then we are blessed to be a blessing.  This was made so clear to me yesterday when I spoke about the book, "I've Always Been Rich".  I explained how I had been blessed with food, clothing, home, Christian parents and then a wonderfully spiritual husband throughout my life so I consider that as being rich. I was called into ministry and accepted the call. God enabled me by providing  the training I needed.  Then yesterday I had the privilege of sharing that journey with 80 women at a local church.  What a tremendous privilege of sharing God's  grace with those women and being drawn together in Christian love.  It just doesn't get more blessed than that.  Emmaus story found in Luke 24:13........Blessed..... in Genesis 12: 1-3.
Marilyn Rensink   Email mjrevmom6@aol.com   Books available as is speaking.