Luke 24:28-35
28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
“Be known to us, Lord Jesus, in the breaking of the bread.”
This story about the disciples encounter with Jesus on the road to Emmaus is so rich with symbolism and meaning that it’s hard to find one thing to concentrate on. I am, however, usually drawn to the way that Jesus makes himself known to them in the breaking of the bread.
There is plenty of Eucharistic (Communion) symbolism here to go around. At the Last Supper, Jesus made himself known to his disciples as our Living Bread, the host and food at His Table. “This is my body, given for you…This is my blood, shed for you”. That, alone, would make sense of Jesus suddenly being recognizable when he broke the bread in front of them again. But I think there’s even more to this.
Perhaps it isn’t only at the Communion Table where Jesus makes himself known to us in the breaking of the bread. Maybe this is a lesson about Community in Christ as well. Maybe, Jesus is showing us that, wherever and however we gather with other believers to remember Him, Jesus is present among us. I take great comfort in the image of Jesus as the guest at every table and the companion in every conversation.
Prayer: Be known to us Lord Jesus in every breaking of the bread. AMEN