Our Souvenir?

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Luke 24:13-35

"When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight."

 

 

1

Again, let us begin with a recap of what we learned last Sunday. Is there anyone who still remembers what we learned last Sunday? Well, last Sunday we learned the importance of being strict about believing God. When you seriously think Sunday is the day you should come to church and worship God no matter what happens, we can consider you as a real and serious Christian. Yes, sometimes believing God well and rightly requires us to sacrifice important things. For example, when you are invited to one of your friends’ birthday party on Sunday, if you can say to your friend, “I am so sorry but I need to tell you. I am a Christian so Sunday I have to go to church and worship God,” you are the serious Christian. Or when your parents want you to learn swimming Sunday, if you can say to your mom, “Mom, Sunday we have to go to church,” you are a strict believer. When you are strict enough to believe God, now Jesus’ saying – humans are more important than religious regulations – makes sense to you.

 

2

That being said, let us move to today’s Bible story. It is Luke 24:13-35. This story tells us about Jesus’ two disciples, not included in the twelve. It was three days after Jesus died on the cross. The two disciples hopelessly walked to Emmaus approximately 8 miles away from Jerusalem. When they had met Jesus for the first time, they were mesmerized by his supernatural power. When they saw Jesus heal people with all kinds of diseases, even bring the dead back to life, they strongly believed that Jesus might turn over the Empire of Rome and become King over Israel. However, as you know, Jesus was nailed to the cross and he died on it. The two disciples thought that Jesus might break those nails and the cross and kill all Roman soldiers with his supernatural power. What did Jesus do? He just died. The two disciples quietly waited in Jerusalem, hoping some spectacular things might take place in three days. However, nothing happened. On the third day after Jesus passed away, they decided to leave Jerusalem because they heard that Roman soldiers were still in a hurry to catch Jesus’ disciples. With this introduction in mind, let us read the story.

 

3

What is most interesting to me in the story is that they did not recognize Jesus. They spent lots of times with Jesus. They admired Jesus a lot. They tried hard to be like Jesus because Jesus was their teacher. When Jesus died on the cross and nothing happened three days later, they changed their mind. They wanted to forget who Jesus was and what Jesus did. It worked well. On the road to Emmaus, they met Jesus but could not recognize him. Jesus tried hard help them to recognize who he was, teaching them the Bible. It was useless. Even directly learning from their teacher, they did not recognize who was teaching.

 

4

There was only one more thing Jesus could do to help them recognize him. That was the last supper. As night approached, they found an inn. They sat at a table to have dinner together. Jesus took bread, gave thanks to it, broke it, and gave it to his disciples. Right that moment, they remembered what Jesus did at the very night when Roman soldiers came to arrest him. Interestingly, when their eyes opened, Jesus disappeared. The Bible says that when they realized whom they were with, their heart suddenly got warmed. It means that they deeply realized that Jesus was their teacher and they were Jesus’ disciples – not by head, but by heart. That is why they turned back and ran toward Jerusalem again, now risking their lives. So, guys, the purpose of Communion is remembering who Jesus is to you. When we do communion, we remember who Jesus is, what Jesus did for us, and what we can do with the realization. Today I hope you guys carve in mind that communion is for remembering Jesus. Let me ask you. What is communion for? Then, your answer is: remembering Jesus. That is correct.

 

 

Prayer

God, thank you for helping us learn that communion is for remembering Jesus. To do communion rightly, we also need to know who Jesus is and what Jesus did for. God, today we will keep in mind that communion is for remembering Jesus. We will not forget this important meaning. We pray in your name Jesus Christ. Amen.