Luke 24:30-35
Encounter with Christ: Word and Sacrament Together – Luke 24:30-35
Luke 24:30-35 (NIVUK)
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognised him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 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?' 33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, 'It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.' 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognised by them when he broke the bread.
Commentary
Revd. Mark Fletcher: Faith is the choice that we make. It is never forced upon us. We need to make that choice each day to choose Scripture and prayer and silence and walking with Jesus. We need to choose where we turn when life is hard. We need to remember where we encounter God. And so they invite him for dinner and he sits down with them. And then this most fabulous moment. Verse 30, while he was at table with them, he took bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to them. And then their eyes were opened and Christ was revealed before them as he broke bread. Do you get the significance of that? That what Jesus chooses to do is make himself known as bread is broken. Just as the Last Supper spoke of the cross, this encounter with Christ is focused on communion. That our encounters with Christ are not just intellectual, not just head, but they’re head and heart and soul and sight and touch and taste. That the Word, the Scriptures, and the sacraments go together. You know, sadly, so often church is kind of divided along those lines, sacrament or word. But here in Luke’s Gospel, the two are beautifully intertwined. It’s echoed again right at the end of the passage in verse 35. They told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. Do you see how significant this is? Luke is telling the story of a resurrection encounter with Christ that we all can share in. Christ points them and therefore us to the encounters with him that he has put in place for all of us. Word and sacrament. Scripture and communion.