Focus: Comfortable Christianity (continued)

Text: Lk.24:29,33

"But they CONSTRAINED him, saying, Abide with us: for it is TOWARD EVENING, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them."

"And they ROSE UP THE SAME HOUR, and returned to Jerusalem..."

After the death of Christ on the cross, two of Jesus' disciples were returning back to Emmaus, their hometown, when the resurrected Christ joined them in their conversation. Along the way he took over the conversation and exegeted the scriptures to the point that their hearts were set on fire. It was nothing short of a supernatural encounter with the original author of the Holy Book, the Bible.

Here is what happened as they sat together for dinner:

"And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him..." - Lk.24:30,31.

They encountered the scriptures through him, and begged him to pass the night with them. Now at the dinner table they encountered the resurrected Christ. First, the Book; now, the divine author of the Book. Power from on high entered them. Their spirits revived as their whole system was stirred up and galvanized. They got up immediately to go back to Jerusalem and tell the story. They couldn't sleep. They couldn't wait till tomorrow. And remember that they had just arrived from Jerusalem that evening. A journey no less than 3 hours walk, but they wouldn't bother. Telling the story of Jesus was uppermost in their minds. They had no time to waste and no excuse to make. That's authentic and uncontainable Christianity! That's holy fire from the Holy Spirit burning in their hearts! You just can't have it and not show it. O Lord, give us this power also, and quicken us by it! Amen.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter