Luke 24:28-35 Amplified Bible
28 Then they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as if He were going farther. 29 But they urged Him [not to go on], saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening, and the day has just about ended.” So He went inside to stay with them. 30 And it happened that as He reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. 31 Then their eyes were [suddenly] opened [by God] and they [clearly] recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. 32 They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was talking with us on the road and opening the Scriptures to us?” 33 They got up that very hour and went back to Jerusalem, and found the eleven [apostles] gathered together and those who were with them, 34 saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon [Peter]!” 35 They began describing in detail what had happened on the road, and how Jesus was recognized by them when He broke the bread.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
The disciples had been with Jesus for three years.
They had sat at his feet and seen him as their Teacher.
They had followed his instructions as their Lord and Master.
Jesus was also their Friend, and they loved sharing their hearts with him.
Jesus was their Messiah, and they enjoyed being with Him, in His presence.
But, as Henri Nouwen puts it, “His body and blood and their body and blood had not yet become one.”
Now, after his resurrection, Jesus broke bread with two of his followers, and this brought their relationship to a whole new level.
Jesus revealed Himself through the Scriptures, showed them the way by going before them and opening up a whole new realm as he is explaining his mission, Father God’s redemption plan for sinners, as told throughout Holy Scriptures.
As Jesus gave them the bread, they recognized him.
They realized that their Lord, Master, Teacher, and Friend was with them again.
He was alive!
He was with them!
They carried on an engaging conversation with Him for several miles.
When evening had come, they stopped and rested with Him and ate with Him.
He broke bread and shared the bread with them – and their EYES were OPENED!
The revelation: “The Lord Jesus had risen from the dead!”
This revelation brought them to their feet.
They returned (ran back as fast as they could) to Jerusalem to tell their story, and they found the other disciples saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen …!”
The reality of Christ’s resurrection brings the community of faith together to celebrate and enjoy the One who NOW walks with us, NOW lives within us!
Joyful, joyful, we adore thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
hearts unfold like flowers before thee,
opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
drive the dark of doubt away.
Giver of immortal gladness,
fill us with the light of day!
Luke 24:28-35 The Message
28-31 They came to the edge of the village where they were headed. He acted as if he were going on but they pressed him: “Stay and have supper with us. It’s nearly evening; the day is done.” So he went in with them. And here is what happened: He sat down at the table with them. Taking the bread, he blessed and broke and gave it to them. At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him. And then he disappeared.
32 Back and forth they talked. “Didn’t we feel on fire as he conversed with us on the road, as he opened up the Scriptures for us?”
A Ghost Doesn’t Have Muscle and Bone
33-34 They didn’t waste a minute. They were up and on their way back to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and their friends gathered together, talking away: “It’s really happened! The Master has been raised up—Simon saw him!”
35 Then the two went over everything that happened on the road and how they recognized him when he broke the bread.
Now, I want to ask you some very important and rather personal questions:
Why did Jesus walk all those miles with those two folks on the Emmaus Road?
Why did Jesus first choose to come close to those two raging skeptics?
Why did Jesus choose to come to your skeptical self and reveal Himself to you?
Why did Jesus first choose to reveal himself to those two raging skeptics?
Why did Jesus choose to reveal Himself to your skeptical self through Scripture?
In that most unexpected of moments, what did you feel when your eyes opened?
Why do you believe Jesus chose to “open your all too skeptical eyes?”
Why did Jesus save you?
Some might think it’s to take us to heaven or to bless us. (Psalm 23:5-6)
While these things are part of it, they are not the main reason.
The main reason Jesus revealed Himself to you, opened your eyes to His life and saved you is so He could be in a BFF intimately personal relationship with you.
I know that may seem mightily overwhelming when you think of who Jesus is and where you were, who you are and where and who we are, but it is 100% true.
For the joy which was before Him, and is now before you, since Jesus saved you for relationship, how can you make the most of it and truly enjoy Jesus Christ?
5 Ways You Can Enjoy Christ
1. Engage His Presence
Enjoying Christ means being able to enjoy his presence.
The best way to enter his presence is through worship.
Psalm 22:3 says God inhabits the praises of his people.
This verse means God sits among the people who praise him.
When you worship, you get God’s attention, and he draws near to you.
The one thing God desires more than anything else is to be close to you. He desires this because He wants, deeply desires for you to enjoy his presence.
There are so many Scriptures that invite us into his presence and the beauty of his presence is everything we need is there.
You will find joy, peace, comfort, freedom, and the ability to leave every worry and care behind you.
If you really want to enjoy Christ, then you must spend time in his presence.
Spending quality time in his presence does not always mean you always have to open your mouth and say something.
Sometimes sitting quietly, in His sanctuary, in private before him and allowing his Spirit to minister unto, you is exactly what you need. (2 Samuel 7:18-29)
You cannot enjoy Christ without being in his presence, so make quality time for it – take every advantage of it and God in Christ promises you will not regret it.
2. Engage His Promises
Part of building your relationship with Jesus is studying and praying, getting to know what he says, reveals in His Holy Scriptures, and promises He has made.
Sometimes we like to focus on the promises of blessing, but what is greater than those are his promises to be with you.
If it comes down to making a choice between having the One who blesses or the blessing, His wisdom says choosing the One who blesses wins out every time.
One way to really enjoy Christ is to think of the many promises he has made to walk with you through life.
“…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
“So do not fear, for I am with you: do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
When You’re Between a Rock and a Hard Place
43 1-4 But now, God’s Message,
the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,
the One who got you started, Israel:
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
I’ve called your name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That’s how much you mean to me!
That’s how much I love you!
I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,
trade the creation just for you. (Isaiah 43:1-4 Message)
“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (Deuteronomy 31:8).
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).
I know God has promised to provide and bless and those things are wonderful.
But knowing he will be with you is the greatest of all the promises because if he is with you and for you, then who can be against you (Romans 8:31)?
The comfort, the place of Shalom, knowing there is nothing in this life that can ever separate you from His love sets a foundation for you to love, enjoy Jesus.
3. Engage and Value His Purpose
If you want to enjoy your relationship with Christ, then you need to value the things he values.
His purpose for your life and your purpose for your life must align.
If these two things don’t agree, then you will never enjoy Christ.
Part of his purpose for you is to walk in obedience and avoid sin.
There was a 30 year period of time in my life where I allowed sin to rule, which was clearly never in alignment with even .001% of Jesus’s purpose for my life.
I can assure you those were the most miserable times in my life.
I have discovered the best place to be in life is walking in the center of his will.
When you innately know you are doing what God has called you to do, there is a definite place satisfaction and a decisive source of enjoyment that comes that is utterly, fully and completely unmatched by anything, anyone else on this earth.
This has nothing to do with how big or small your family is, how much money you o an do not make or how successful, how big a failure you are in your career.
Those things are not germane nor are they the foundation of enjoying Christ.
When you walk and talk with Jesus, listen to His Words with intent to align your life with His life, His purpose, there is no greater joy you will ever experience!
4. Engage His People
You cannot enjoy your life with Christ if you do not engage with and enjoy his people.
A friend I know who is married and has one kid recently told me this story.
He and his wife were invited to share a family dinner with another couple.
They could find no one to watch their son and asked if they could bring them.
They were told they were welcome, but we don’t really want kids in our house.
That dinner never happened.
A friendship was damaged …
You cannot say you love Jesus if you don’t love the ones he calls his own.
It is simply not possible.
Here is how the Bible puts it.
“Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen” (1 John 4:20).
Make a friend, Be a friend, Bring a friend to Christ ….
If you are going to enjoy Christ, then you must learn to enjoy his people.
So often we focus on the faults and failures, failings and imperfections we see in others, and most of the time they are quickly obvious and easy to spot, mention.
I know mine are.
But guess what?
So are yours.
We are all imperfect people who are reflections of a perfect Christ.
Sometimes we get it wrong and mess this up, but as the expression goes, you do not throw the baby out with the bath water.
If you want to enjoy Christ, you cannot separate that from enjoying his people.
By the way, you better get used to His people because you are going to spend eternity with them, so you might as well enjoy them now.
5. Engage His Position
The last thing you need to enjoy Christ is to engage the position he must have in your life.
He must be Lord of all.
The truth of walking and talking with Jesus is either He is Lord of absolutely everything, or He is Lord of absolutely nothing.
There is no in between.
People that never make Jesus Lord of their life never experience the full joy of walking with Jesus.
When Jesus is Lord, and he sits at the center of your life, then life takes on a whole new perspective.
You will face many of the same challenges, but you will do so with Jesus at the helm of your life.
Knowing this alone can free you from anxiety because if He is at the wheel, you will arrive safely wherever He wants you to go.
Build Your Relationship
Enjoying Christ is all about the relationship you and I share with Him, and if you and I miss this, then you and I miss it all.
The fact is you and I have someone we can be completely transparent with, who knows everything thing about us good and bad, yet still desires to fellowship.
This is truly amazing.
I encourage you to lean muchly into your Koinonia relationship with Jesus.
Be intentional about spending time with Him, make him the center of your life.
If you do, you will discover your walk with him will get sweeter and sweeter every day.
I will leave you with the words from a song by the Heritage Singers.
“I just keep falling in love with Him
Over and over, and over, and over, again
I keep falling in love with Him,
Over and over, and over and over again
He gets sweeter and sweeter as the days go by,
Oh, what a love between my Lord and I
I keep falling in love with Him
Over and over, and over, and over, again.”
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 100 The Message
100 1-2 On your feet now—applaud God!
Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence.
3 Know this: God is God, and God, God.
He made us; we didn’t make him.
We’re his people, his well-tended sheep.
4 Enter with the password: “Thank you!”
Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
Thank him. Worship him.
5 For God is sheer beauty,
all-generous in love,
loyal always and ever.
Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 