Seeing and Sharing Christ

 By Alistair Begg

Their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight … They rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven.

Luke 24:31, Luke 24:33

Good news needs to be shared. Sometimes, when we have guests in our home whom we know very well, and especially if they are brothers or sisters in the family of faith, we may ask them to pray before we share a meal. It is a request meant to honor the visitor to our table. Luke’s Gospel gives us a similar scene, though here the visitor appears to have taken the lead in deciding that He would pray. After Jesus’ encounter with two disciples on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus, He “went in to stay with them” (Luke 24:29), and “when he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them” (v 30). Previously, on their long walk from Jerusalem, when this pair encountered Jesus, “their eyes were kept from recognizing him” (Luke 24:16). But now, as Jesus blessed the meal, they were made to see Him. God chose this moment to reveal that they were in the presence of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Just as God through His Spirit opened these disciples’ eyes to behold the truth of the risen Christ, so He used His word to ignite within their hearts a passion for who Jesus was and is. As soon as they recognized Jesus, and even after He disappeared, “they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?’” (Luke 24:32). The hour was late, they had walked a long way, and they had just sat down to eat, and yet they could do nothing other than rise and return to Jerusalem to share the amazing news with the eleven disciples. What a night that must have been! Their enthusiasm is a reminder to us that the news that Jesus is alive wasn’t simply their news, or the Eleven’s news for that matter. It is news that needs to be shared and that is most enjoyed in company with others who understand its glorious implications. It belongs to all who are the Lord’s. And no matter what language we speak, what country we visit, or what journey we take, we are not far from other believers with whom we can rejoice together in a living hope given to us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3-5). You can share this joy right where you are, though, with those you live with and worship with by looking them in the eye and, with a smile, saying, “Jesus has risen.” This news needs to be shared. Do you long to see Christ for who He really is and show others the same? Do you desire to see and to help others see Jesus in the humdrum affairs of life? If so, then ask God to do what He did for these disciples, that you may discover afresh and share who Jesus is and what He is to you.