Read Luke 24:13-35
Mom leaned over, kissed me on the forehead and whispered goodnight. She marched slowly to the door and began to pull it closed. The hinges screamed for WD-40 and I woke up. Before I let her go to bed, I asked for another story, and she began to tell me about a strange man who knocked on our front door one rainy night.
His car broke down on a nearby street, and he somehow made his way through the woods and found out house. Mom and Dad invited him in, gave him food and shelter from the rain, and let him use the phone. After about an hour of sharing stories together, he said he had somewhere he needed to be and walked out the front door. My dad followed to offer him a ride. As dad made is way through the doorway, the man was gone. Dad searched all around the house wondering what could’ve happened to him, but the search was futile. The man had vanished. When Dad came back in the house he was soaking wet and confused. He noticed the family Bible opened to a page he’d never seen before with words underlined, which was strange because this Bible was for family records, not for underlining. The verses said:
“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.” Then the righteous will answer him, saying, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we see a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?” And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”
Mom and Dad has seen an angle, a ghost, or maybe just an Olympian skilled in the 400-meter spring.
The night I asked for a story, she told me he was an angel. Maybe the story was true, or maybe it was something she made up on the spot to get me to fall asleep. I know this for sure, the story creeped me out.
The Gospel of Luke reports a similar story of two travelers who encountered Jesus on the Road to Emmaus. They were followers of the new movement Jesus stared in Judea. They were passionate about His teachings and believed in Him. But He was dead. And the thoughts
running through their minds filled with sadness as they debated the question, “If this was really the Son of God, the one who was supposed to rescue the Jewish people form oppressions, how could He be dead?”
Just then Jesus shows up, but he doesn’t disclose His identity. They walk the rest of the seven miles together and Jesus pulls off the same stunt as my parent’s new Olympian friend. He vanishes. The travelers realize this had to be Jesus and ask each other one of the most powerful questions in all of scripture, “Were not our heart burning inside of us as He spoke!?” All of their suspicions were eased, He wasn’t head, He was alive. He is the Son of God, His words are true, and He not only redeems and rescues Jewish followers, but everyone and all of creation.
Yes, their hearts were burning.
- Sometimes Jesus reveals Himself in ways and through people we don’t expect. Have you ever seen Jesus in unexpected ways?
- At Mission Discovery, we call these moments ‘God Sightings’. What is a ‘God Sighting’ you have had this week? What did that experience teach you?
- The travelers asked, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us?” Have you ever felt Jesus in such a powerful way that your heart was ‘burning within you’?
Day 7 of 8 from the 2016 Mission Discovery Devotional
