new church life: march/april 2015
of self. So, “beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in
all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”
Here we have exactly what the New Church teaches! And so, just as the
Lord opened up the Scriptures for those first disciples , He opens them again
for us today – and we still don’t get it! Why not? Because we’re not ready?
Because we don’t want to? Because we don’t care enough to stay with it, despite
our disappointments and confusion?
But the story continues (v. 28), as “they drew near the village... and He
indicated that He would have gone farther.” This is clearly not just a reference
to distance; it’s an obvious metaphor: He would have told them even more!
It was as He had said before, “I still have many things to say to you, but
you cannot bear them now.” (John 16:12) And so they said to Him, “Abide with
us, for it is near evening, and the day is far spent.” In other words, “Slow down,
take it easy; we can’t follow any more, we can’t take it all in. Stay with us. Don’t
get ahead of us. Give us time. Our understanding is limited.”
“And He went in to stay with them.” What a marvelous image! And
how deeply significant of the Lord’s infinite patience and merciful Divine
providence. “He went in to stay with them.”
“And it came to pass, as He reclined at the table with them that He took
bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened
and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.” (Verses 30-31)
To walk, in the Word, is to think from intention and involves a change
of state. To stand still (or steadfast) is to maintain an intention from the will.
But to sit or recline is to live according to that will; it is to rest content in the
decisions you have made. So in the story, having walked and talked, reasoned
and discussed, thought, reflected, and most of all heard the Lord’s profound
explanations of everything as far as they could understand, the disciples sat
down to rest and eat with the Lord. Still – incredibly – they did not know who
He was until He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. And
“then their eyes were opened, and they knew Him.”
Think of it. We know that the sense of smell is one of the strongest triggers
of human memory, and now combined with the sight and sound and closeness
of the Lord throughout that day these men were undoubtedly confronted with
the powerful recollection of all the many times the Lord had broken bread
with them before the crucifixion: the feeding of the 5,000, the dinners, the
feasts, and all His parables involving bread or meals – even His prayer with
its reference to “daily bread.” But most powerful of all must have been the
memory of that last Passover meal just a few days before, where He had done
the same thing: blessing and breaking the bread and offering it to them all
saying, “Take, eat, this is My body,” and “This do in remembrance of Me.”
Now, here He was again, just as before only more wonderfully than
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