PRAYER PRACTICE
SPOKEN PRAYER: Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the passage.
DAILY READING
REFLECTION
A Great Story!
by Pastor Dave Mann
This is one of my favorite narratives in the Bible. There are so many moments of surprise, irony, and awe.
Verse 17 – As the two men and Jesus (hidden from recognition) are walking together, Jesus acts as though he does not understand what they are talking about and asks for clarification. The two men stop dead in their tracks, dumbfounded that anyone could be in Jerusalem and not have heard about the events of the past days.
Verses 18-19 – Cleopas asks Jesus if he were the only one in town so clueless that he NOT know what has gone down recently. Jesus plays along further and acts dumb, asking, “What things?” How can Jesus keep a straight face?
Verses 19-23 – And so the two men take it upon themselves to enlighten their anonymous guest about what had happened to Jesus. Imagine that you try to teach Jesus about his crucifixion and resurrection!
Verse 24 – At the close of their explanation of the resurrection, the duo presumes to add the exclamation point of their frustration about those who actually saw the empty tomb, “But they did NOT see JESUS!” And as they spoke those words, they were looking right at the One and Only Resurrected Christ!
Verses 25-27 – Finally Jesus takes control of the conversation and begins to explain to them what they are missing – what the entirety of the Hebrew Scriptures was preparing them for. I wonder what verses made it into Jesus’ final cut of the summary of the first 39 books of the Bible. What do you think? Here’s my list.
· Genesis 1-3
· Genesis 12:1-3
· Genesis 15
· Exodus 11-14
· Exodus 20
· Deuteronomy 6:4-6
· Deuteronomy 18:15
· Psalm 14:1-3
· Psalm 51
· Isaiah 53
· Jeremiah 31:27-34
· Habakkuk 2:4
Are there other passages that you suspect Jesus quoted and explained? Let me know your thoughts.
Lord Jesus, you are so patient with us, listening to our ranting and raving. And when the time is right, you lead us into truth. We are amazed at your love. Keep on coming, Lord Jesus. By the power of your historical resurrection, rise into our hearts again and again. Amen!
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