Travelling with others
Allan Vint
August 28, 2021
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Luke 24: 13-35 (NIVUK)
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognising him.
17 He asked them, ‘What are you discussing together as you walk along?’
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, ‘Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?’
19 ‘What things?’ he asked.
‘About Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied. ‘He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.’
25 He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going further. 29 But they urged him strongly, ‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognised him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, ‘It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognised by them when he broke the bread.
August is not a month normally associated with a regular fireworks display and yet each year, when most people sleep, there is a wondrous display of shooting stars in the night sky during that time. The spectacle is called the ‘Perseid meteor shower’, which is caused as the earth travels through the trail of dust left behind by the comet Swift Tuttle. So, on a clear dark summer night there will be on view an often breathtaking, frenetic light show.
Although we all travel through life with our own suitcase of memories and stories, hopes and fears we also, in our interactions with others, unavoidably leave behind fragments of ourselves. The words we speak, the kindness we offer, the love we share all have the potential to cause a smile or even to occasion a tear. As such we need then to be mindful of what we are leaving in our wake, after we move on.
As Christians the call on us is to be Light. I would hope that this light would so sparkle with God infused energy that our intersection with the lives of others creates a wonder-filled legacy. This surely is the kind of gift we ought to bequeath as an addition for another person’s suitcase, for it is a consignment easily and joyfully carried.
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, when your life touched others there was always a transfer of love involved.
Lead us in our journeying to follow the example of the master.
To create good memories for others
To lift up and create worth
To bring a ray of light which shines even in the darkest of nights.
Amen
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