The Stranger on the Road that they Invited in for Dinner
25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. 28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, 29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32 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?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Luke 24:25–35 ESV
Conversation with Strangers on the Road
Some men are walking along a road and another man walks up beside them. They talk as the walk along the road, and the 2 men that are together are distressed about reports of Jesus rising from the dead that day. Jesus is walking along with them and for some reason they don’t recognize Him.
He calls them ‘foolish ones’ which of course breaks what we learned last month about being kind, but the rest of the time He does pretty good. Jesus tells the men all about how the Christ, the Chosen One from God, had to suffer and die for the sins of others and then be raised from the dead. They had already believed that Jesus was a prophet. They had some vague notion of what Jesus had taught and what He did in His life. Jesus built on what they already knew and brought them clarity on how He fit into that.
Inviting Jesus in Voluntarily
One of the most moving parts is when they arrive at the house. It says that Jesus acted as if He was going farther. The 2 men insisted that He stay with them and they invited Him in. Once inside, they discovered things about this man that they never realized. They realized that not only was everything they heard that day true, but that He cared enough for them to even be with them Himself.
Throughout the scriptures and history since, Jesus does not force Himself on anyone. Here He is even acting like He is going to go on somewhere else. One level of hospitality is to give someone shelter when the ask. The higher level of hospitality is to offer before they have to. If Jesus would have asked to stay with them, under the cultural laws of the Middle East at that time, they would have had to let Him stay or be shamed by their neighbors.
By acting like He is going to walk on, He puts them in a position to make the choice.
Do we want more of this amazing person in our life? Do we want to know more about Jesus?
Jesus leaves it up to them, and I’m sure that if they wouldn’t have invited Him in, He would have walked on and found someone that would.
Once they invite Him in, they discover what they would have never imagined. It’s the same for the Christian life now. From the side that didn’t believe, we would have never imagined the experience that we have now that we are part of the Body of Christ. I would have never known the compassion, mercy, joy, and hope that I feel since I’ve invited Jesus into my house, but when I did, I had very little understanding of what I was believing.
Just as Jesus convinced interested people that are willing to believe on Easter, He is still convincing them today.