Luke 24

This chapter is most intriguing to me.
The way the resurrection is described
sparks my curiosity,
I want to know more about this.

The tomb is found empty.
Two men on the road walking out of town,
talking about the recent events,
are joined by a stranger
who questions them.

Luk 24:17
And He said to them,
What words are these
that you have with one another as you walk,
and are so sad?
Luk 24:18
And one of them, whose name was Cleopas,
answered and said to Him,
Are you only a stranger in Jerusalem
and have not known the things
which have occurred there in these days?
Luk 24:19
And He said to them,
What things?
And they said to Him,
The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth,
who was a man,
a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
Luk 24:20
and how the chief priests and our rulers
delivered Him to the judgment of death,
and have crucified Him.
Luk 24:21
But we had trusted that He was the One
who was about to redeem Israel.
And besides all this,
today is the third day since these things were done.

Why did he spend the time with these two?
I think it is a picture of the overall state of mind
of those who are left behind,
and the clues are:
1) they are leaving the scene
2) sad because they hoped he was the saviour
What happens to a people
when their leader is assasinated?
They go into shock,
and then disappointment,
and then they go their separate ways
if no one else is there to pick up the baton.

So these guys are leaving,
but when they realize the truth,
they turn right back around
and return
to be with the other christians.

Luk 24:27
And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets,
He expounded to them in all the Scriptures
the things concerning Himself.
(skip)
Luk 24:31
And their eyes were opened,
and they knew Him.
And He became invisible to them.
(skip)
Luk 24:33
And they rose up the same hour
and returned to Jerusalem
and found assembled the Eleven
and those with them.

What a gift these two received!
It says
"beginning at Moses and all the Prophets,
He expounded to them in all the Scriptures
the things concerning Himself"
Can you imagine hearing THAT bible study?
I would like to know what he said.
Maybe I will get to hear that someday.

Next, it says he became invisible to them.
Oh yeah, now THIS is interesting!
I study physics and how the world is put together.
The currently accepted theory
that everything we sense mostly energy fields
leaves a lot of room for mysterious possibilties.

So if it says resurrection bodies can become invisible,
the first thought i get is that they are rather like ghosts,
but then it also says

Luk 24:42
And they handed to Him a piece of a broiled fish
and of a honeycomb.
Luk 24:43
And He took it and ate before them.

My mental picture of ghostly spirits
doesn't include the part about eating.
Ghosts don't eat.

Now I am reminded of other places in the bible
where angels appeared among us,
sharing meals and conversations with people.

I really have to modify my mental picture.

For all I know,
I may have shared an experience with an angel
and never known it.
These two on the road didn't know it,
until it was revealed to them.

I think there could be a lot more going on
behind the scenes
than we realize, eh?

And at the end an EVEN BETTER gift!
One almost beyond my capacity to imagine:

Luk 24:45
And He opened their mind to understand the Scriptures.

I think of all the people down through history,
desperate to have some insight,
all the people who latch on to every passing fad,
who pay attention to every claim of wisdom
who long for the power that truth and knowledge bring.
All the people led astray by false promises.

I remember what it was like when I was a teenager
wondering what life was all about,
and now that I'm an older man,
still wondering.

I can really appreciate a miracle like:

"He opened their mind to understand the Scriptures".

I pray for that gift, too.
.