Jul 10 2019 Luke 24: 12-35

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on.

Jesus has died, and the tomb found empty by the women. Everyone is mourning the loss of this man, who was to be their savior. And now, not only has he been killed, his body is missing. Grief abounds.

Two people were walking to Emmaus talking about all that happened. Unbeknownst to them, Jesus himself walks up and asks them what they’re upset about. They are surprised that he doesn’t know – everyone must have been talking about this. Jesus calls them foolish, for not understanding the scripture, and retells Scripture stories which all pointed to what happened. After doing this, the story says, Jesus walked ahead of them, as if he were continuing on without them.

Wait, what?

We hear a story where humans are experiencing normal human grief. In an era before social media, and photographs, they didn’t recognize Jesus. Even if they knew what he looked like, and he looked just as he did before death and resurrection, I can imagine they would not have presumed this was the dead man. Jesus describes everything to them, as if to convince them that everything points to this. And then he walks on.

The story continues, that they ask him to stay with them, as it’s getting dark. So he does, and shares dinner with them. As he breaks bread, their eyes are opened, and they recognize Jesus. And in an instance, he’s gone. Again.

This morning, I’m thinking about the fact that after appearing to them and explaining things to them, he walks away as if he’s leaving them. It’s only after they ask him to stay that he is made known.

So is that the way it is? Is Jesus ready to appear, explain, and walk away? Was Jesus playing coy?

Maybe not coy. Maybe trying to get us past the huge stumbling block we all have of unbidden advice. It’s always harder to hear advice or learn a lesson if we haven’t asked for it. Unbidden advice is rarely heeded. The men, after hearing Jesus’ story asked him to return and stay with them. It was after their bidding, he broke bread and was made known.

Jesus is ever-present, but ready to walk away. Daily, or hourly, I need to invite him to stay. It’s at my invitation, Jesus is made known. That’s not to say that absent my invitation, he would walk away, or at least I believe he would never walk too far. He’s always within earshot, to return and be made known.

Today, I want to think about ways to build in that invitation in my every day. Maybe it’s when I get a drink of water. Or look at my phone. It doesn’t really matter how I invite Jesus to stay. It only matters that I invite Jesus back. It is then, after my bidding, he’s made known.