Luke 24:30-31 (NIV) 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.

When Jesus resurrected on the third day just as He said He would, it shook and confused a lot of people. The women who went to the tomb to put the spices on the body as was the custom were alarmed when they found the empty tomb. When they ran to tell the disciples, they were as alarmed and confused as the women were and at first, didn’t believe them. Even though Jesus had told them that this would be how it would happen, they either didn’t believe it or didn’t understand at all what He had told them. Two of the disciples (not part of the Twelve) were walking down a road talking about all of this after they heard the report that the tomb was empty. They were disheartened as they were discussing all the things that had happened up to that point. All of a sudden, Jesus appeared and caught up with them as they were walking. He joined in their conversation and began explaining the scriptures that spoke about Him. All this time, they had no idea who He was. They invited Him to stay with them for the evening as it was getting late and while they were eating, Jesus took the bread that was there, blessed and broke it and gave it to them. It was then that their eyes were opened and they realized that this was Jesus!

Many have wondered how they could have not known who this was. Many have also wondered what it was that made them realize that this was Jesus. We don’t know for sure, but the fact remains that they didn’t recognize Him until their “eyes were opened.” That makes me wonder how many times in our lives we have missed seeing Jesus. Jesus promised us that He would be with us always. He also said that if we abide in Him, He will abide in us. That means that He is always with us. But are we always aware that He is with us? Unfortunately, no. We are very much like those two disciples that were walking alongside of Him and had no idea that they were in the company of the Risen King. We go through life that way. We are too busy and distracted with our everyday lives to see that He is with us. When we face trouble and difficulties, we are too worried and fearful to recognize that He is with us. It wasn’t until those two disciples sat down to spend unhurried time with Jesus that their eyes were opened. The lesson for us is to be alert and to know that Jesus is with us, just as He promised. We need to spend time with Him in prayer and in His Word so that we will be sensitive to His presence. No matter what is going on in our lives, we should live with the knowledge that Jesus is with us at all times. How different our lives would be and how differently we would react to the circumstances of life if we would see that Jesus is with us always. He is with us just as He promised He would be. See Him with the eyes of faith because He is there with you and has been there all along.

Pastor Joey Vazquez