Today, as we review the Emmaus story one more time, we meet two downcast, discouraged travelers returning to their home from Jerusalem. On the way, they are met by Jesus, but they don’t recognize him. They are heading home with crushed dreams and lost hopes.
But as Jesus explains the Scriptures to them, their hearts burn, their dreams are reawakened, and their emptiness is filled. Cleopas and his friend receive a new heart and spirit within them, for Jesus is alive. They have an urgent message to proclaim. This cannot remain hidden; the others need to hear the good news.
The travelers experience communion with Jesus as they open their home to him and break bread with him. But the story does not end there. The disciples return to Jerusalem to tell the others that Jesus is alive. Their mission is to return and tell their story to their friends and family.
We are called to do the same—to share with those closest to us the good news of Jesus Christ. This can be a difficult calling. Our listeners may have a hard time relating to us. Yet it is in community that our faith is strengthened.
As we leave the Lord’s table, we proclaim that death does not have the last word. We are part of the resurrection community.
Lord Jesus, may your Spirit reignite us to share your power at work in our lives. May we gladly “tell the old, old story” of you and your love. In your name we pray. Amen.
About the author — John Kuperus
Since he was young, John Kuperus has had a passion that everyone would know Jesus. Spreading the good news that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15) is very important to him. To be better equipped for missions, John attended Reformed Bible College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He applied these skills with marketplace evangelism in a business he started in Sussex, New Jersey. This calling continued to follow him, so John attended seminary and became a minister in the Christian Reformed Church, serving a church in Ontario for eight years. Currently he serves as a missionary for Youth with a Mission (YWAM). He witnesses Jesus changing lives as people walk out of the darkness into the light. John is married to Helen, and they have seven children.
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