LUKE 24 (PART 2): OPEN MY MIND

This poetic sermon
will be my final version
of what is interpreted
from the Book of Luke.

I feel some grief in this process,
because I've spent so much time
following Jesus.

But starting tomorrow,
I turn to Daniel.  
Daniel is the book
the Lord is leading me to write from.

But for today,
let me ask you this question,
Can you imagine talking to a friend
about another person,
whom you both loved
that is now dead?

And all of a sudden,
the dead friend appears,
not as a ghost,
but as the real thing?

In flesh and blood,
he walks right up to you,
as if his death never even happened.

I think I would faint,
or run away.
At the very least,
I would question everything
I had learned up to that day!

Anyway, I pray
that these verses
will blow your mind -
they certainly did mine!

“Now that same day two of them
were going to a village called Emmaus,
about seven miles from Jerusalem.
They were talking with each other
about everything that had happened.
As they talked and discussed
these things with each other,
Jesus himself came up
and walked along with them;
but they were kept from recognizing him.”
He asked them,
“What are you discussing together as you walk along?”

They stood still, their faces downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, asked him,
“Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem
who does not know the things
that have happened there in these days?”

What things?” Jesus asked.

“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
“He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed
before God and all the people.
The chief priests and our rulers
handed him over to be sentenced to death,
and they crucified him; 
but we had hoped that he was the one
who was going to redeem Israel.
And what is more,
it is the third day
since all this took place.
In addition, some of our women amazed us.
They went to the tomb early this morning
but didn’t find his body.
They came and told us
that they had seen a vision of angels,
who said he was alive.
Then some of our companions went to the tomb
and found it just as the women had said,
but they did not see Jesus.”

He said to them,
“How foolish you are, and how slow to believe
all that the prophets have spoken!
Did not the Messiah
have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”
And beginning with Moses
and all the Prophets,
he explained to them what was said
in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”

“As they approached the village
to which they were going,
Jesus continued on as if he were going farther.
But they urged him strongly,
“Stay with us, for it is nearly evening;
the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them,
he took bread, gave thanks,
broke it and began to give it to them.
Then their eyes were opened
and they recognized him,
and he disappeared from their sight.

They asked each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he talked with us on the road
and opened the Scriptures to us?”

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem.
There they found the Eleven and those with them,
assembled together and saying,
“It is true!
The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.”

Then the two told what had happened
and how they recognized Jesus when He broke the bread.
While they were still talking about this,
Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”

They were startled and frightened,
thinking they saw a ghost.
He said to them,
“Why are you troubled, and why do doubts
rise in your minds?”
“Look at my hands and my feet.
It is I myself!
Touch me and see; a ghost does not have
flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

“When he had said this,
he showed them his hands and feet.
And while they still did not believe it
because of joy and amazement,
he asked them,
“Do you have anything here to eat?”
He took the food
and ate it in their presence.

He said to them,
“This is what I told you while I was still with you:
Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me
in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

Then he opened their minds 
so they could understand the Scriptures.

He told them,
“This is what is written:
The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead
on the third day,
and repentance for the forgiveness of sins
will be preached in his name
to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

“You are witnesses of these things.
I am going to send you what my Father has promised;
but stay in the city until you have been clothed
with power from on high.”

“When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany,
He lifted up his hands and blessed them.”

“While he was blessing them,
he left them and was taken up into heaven.”

“Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem
with great joy and expectation!
And they stayed continually at the temple,
praising God.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭24:13-53 NIV

If I had witnessed this, there would be no way
I would ever again question my faith.
But for now, I will draw in and learn more about
all the things that Jesus said must take place
before He comes again.

I will wait patiently
as my Lord and Savior makes intercession for me.
I will declare "Lord, Come"
as I wait for Him to bring Heaven to earth.

“Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me
in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.
Then he opened their minds 
so they could understand the Scriptures.”

As I close the gospel of Luke,
my final prayer is this,
“Jesus, open my mind
​to have more faith in you.”