Making Jesus Known at The Table (Luke 24:28-35)

Chad Richard Bresson

The Table of Los Fresnos

Sermons • Sermon • Submitted 5 days ago • Presented 5 days ago

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You Are Known By What You Eat

When I say “The Breakfast of Champions”, what comes to mind? Yes. Wheaties. You know you’ve made it to the top of yours sports profession when your face is on a box of Wheaties. It all started with baseball great Lou Gehrig in 1934… not quite 100 years ago. Since then, hundreds of athletes have been on the boxes of Wheaties. Some athletes have had their own cereal. Doug Flutie had Flutie Flakes. Cereal companies do this because they are looking for a boost in sales. Their goal is for the celebrity to make their cereal known. You almost never hear of the opposite though, do you? You would be hard pressed to find a celebrity who became a celebrity because of a popular cereal they ate. It doesn’t work that way. Or does it?

There’s an absolutely fascinating statement at the end of our story today. Our story has an a-ha moment, but the entire day in which the statement was made had more than its share of a-ha moments. The entire day was upside down. Luke starts his story with some ladies who were absolutely distraught… in shock. These women had seen their best friend executed. These women accompanied the body to its burial site and watched as the body was laid to rest. Some of these women were family members. Some, were part of his traveling companions. They saw their best friend die. They saw him buried.

Then they returned to the tomb to finish the task of anointing the dead body with burial spices, only to find the body missing. Two men in brilliant clothing, angels, tell them that their best friend Jesus is alive, he has risen from the dead. They don’t see Jesus, but they run off to tell others who were Jesus’ friends. And our story today is about two of those friends.

These two friends are walking away from Jerusalem having been told the shocking news. These two disciples of Jesus were having trouble making sense of the past 72 hours. They had watched their Messiah executed on a Roman cross. They are totally confused. And then this stranger shows up. And this stranger isn’t showing a lot of empathy.

Conversation with a Stranger

Dr. Luke clues us in to who this stranger is. He says Jesus joins them on their walk. They don’t know it’s Jesus. They don’t see him yet. So we know who this is… and it’s Jesus acting like Jesus. Jesus, the stranger, is asking questions.

There’s a long conversation that happens. This is a conversation between strangers. And this stranger who joins the two walking listens to their story and he says this:

Luke 24:25-26 “Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Wasn’t it necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

Not a lot of empathy there initially. But there is compassion. Jesus doesn’t leave them completely in the dark. Jesus shows them from the Old Testament how none of what has happened over the last few days should be surprising. The Messiah had to suffer and die to save men from their sins and become a ransom for many. Jesus tells them it’s been there in front of them the whole time in their Bibles:

Luke 24:27 Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted for them the things concerning himself in all the Scriptures.

All the Scriptures. That’s a remarkable statement. Jesus the theologian, the rabbi, tells them that the whole Bible is about the Messiah, himself. This statement changed the way I understood the Bible. All the Scriptures. The Old Testament isn’t simply a history book. And it’s not primarily about the nation of Israel. It’s about Jesus.

But even as great as it is to understand that the Bible is all about Jesus from this passage, we’ll miss the purpose of what Jesus is doing if we stop there. Jesus is not giving them a theological lecture or a defense of his resurrection as He is interested in their hearts. There is grace for their confusion. The apex of the story is not that Jesus sets them straight. The highlight of the story is how Jesus engages them and turns their world upside down.

The A-HA moment

They hear the explanation. And they are so energized by the conversation, that they resort to hospitality with this stranger who has been giving them a view of the Old Testament they hadn’t seen before. They come to the village where the two of them were going… and it’s as if the arrival interrupts a fascinating conversation. They want to know more. So twice they ask Jesus to “stay” with them. Stay. The conversation with a stranger has them desiring to hear more and they offer their hospitality:

Luke 24:29 They urged him, “Stay with us, because it’s almost evening, and now the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

Stay with us. Understanding the Messiah from “all the Scriptures” leads two disciples of Jesus to offer hospitality to this stranger. Because of the Gospel, their home is to be the home for a stranger.

They want Jesus to stay, and he does stay with them. Emmanuel, God With Us, has come to their house to take up His stay with them. But it’s not long before the entire experience is being flipped on its head by Jesus.

The Meal

The strangers eat together. The Conversation that led to Hospitality has now led to a meal. But then there’s this:

Luke 24:30 It was as Jesus reclined at the table with them that he took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.

Two things here. “Reclining at the table” is how Jesus and his society ate. Only those well off could afford chairs and tables, and even then, most reclined when they ate. The most common way for people to share a meal was to eat in a reclining position on the floor around the food. This is the sign of hospitality.. to be reclining at a table was to be the guest of hospitality, and here, the guest is a complete stranger, albeit one who was obviously a rabbi.

But this also is not normal. This is where the script is flipped and Jesus is doing the unexpected. Jesus took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the other two disciples. The two disciples are no longer the host. They asked Jesus to stay and Jesus ends up being the one who is providing the meal. They thought it was their meal. No, this is HIS meal.

He Promised. He promised to eat and drink with them in the kingdom. And now here He is, the Risen One, delivering on that promise. And they thought they were hosting the meal? This is what happens when Jesus shows up at His Table.

The Opening of the Eyes

Jesus starts acting the part of the host and providing the meal and it’s at that moment that they have their light-bulb moment.

Luke 24:31 Then their eyes were opened.

They do not recognize Jesus until he is the One hosting the meal. Do not miss the importance of what opens their eyes. The language of Dr. Luke is not an accident:

Jesus took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.

They have seen this before. Here’s how Luke describes the day that Jesus fed thousands with five loaves and two fish:

Luke 9:16 Jesus the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke them. He kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples.

And the last time that Jesus “took the bread, blessed, and broke it and gave it to them” was just a few short days ago:

Luke 22:19 Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, gave it to them, and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

And now, having had the conversation on the road, the one who fed thousands from a boys lunch, the one who shared a last meal with his disciples, is now seated with two of his disciples… his first meal after the resurrection...for the third time:

Jesus took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened.

This is their Messiah. This is their Savior. This is their Redeemer. They’ve seen this before. They’ve heard this before. What is it that opens their eyes? What is it that gives them their light-bulb moment? What is is that changes them and transforms them in the moment from confusion and unbelief to belief? It’s the Lord’s Supper. The Lord’s Table. The place where the Bread of Life is given and the Cup of Salvation is given for the forgiveness of sins. And they know it. they aren’t just talking about the resurrection when they get to the rest of the disciples.

Again, this is how Dr. Luke describes their a-ha moment:

Luke 24:35 They began to describe what had happened on the road and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of the Bread. The meal that Jesus provides is a meal in which Jesus is feeding himself to his people and making himself known to them. This isn’t a celebrity making the bread known. Jesus has flipped the script. This is a meal that is making Jesus known. It is at this Table where Jesus is no longer a stranger. At this people, Jesus’ people are no longer strangers. At this Table, strangers become friends. Relationships are transformed at this Table.

The Mission

And of course, this isn’t something they keep to themselves. They can’t wait to tell. Jesus being made known in the meal prompts them to go and tell. Christ’s Good News compels them to go on mission with the Good News that Jesus has risen from the dead.

Christ’s Table hospitality

This meal is where all of the eating and drinking in the Gospels are leading. All those table hospitality stories in the gospels? It seems Jesus was preoccupied with tables. Jesus always seems to be either eating (reclining) at tables or telling stories about tables. And he’s doing it with sinners. Those who need Him. And all along the way, Jesus is teaching us something about His Table, the Lord's Supper. Jesus’ resurrection day has one of the most important table meals in the Bible.

That same Table continues to provide making Jesus and His forgiveness known to God’s people.

Jesus’ meal provides forgiveness, life, and identity.

This is absolute grace. This is love. This is where He makes himself known to strangers and sinners. This is where sinners are forgiven. It’s a fascinating thing in that line… “their eyes were opened… and then they recognized Him.” That is the exact same line used way back at the beginning of our story with our first parents. When Adam and Eve sinned, the Bible says “their eyes were opened, and they saw their nakedness.” Jesus is reversing the sin problem here with his meal in the breaking of the bread. Blind eyes from sin and sickness and death and the devil are being opened so that all they see is Jesus.

This is one more place where I think we tend to miss the main point of this story. And I know there are helpful programs and organizations that use the Emmaus story. I have found many of them helpful to me. So I’m not here to throw stones. But the point of this story is not a conversation with Jesus. The point of this story is not walking with Jesus and having Jesus give us the meaning of his life, death, and resurrection. The point of the story is not "Jesus in all the Scriptures", as great as that is and as meaningful it is to me when, for years, I was told otherwise. All of these things are good. But this isn’t the point.

The point was to get to that meal. To have their eyes opened. To recognize Jesus. To see Jesus. We are so focused on conversation and knowledge because knowledge is power. We long to find meaning and knowledge gives us that. Or so we think. We do need to know, like these disciples the proper understanding of Christ’s death and resurrection from all the Scriptures. But meaning.. our meaning for life, is found in Jesus. Seeing Jesus. Our eyes being opened to Jesus and Jesus alone. And Jesus opens our eyes and He gives us meaning and identity through this meal.

The meal Jesus provides at His Table creates community and makes His home.

This Table is where Jesus makes his enemies his friends. This Table is where Jesus makes strangers His family. This table is where Jesus comes to stay. Jesus is always here making himself known to sinners and strangers making them family and friends. Jesus stays here. You will always find Jesus here at His home. This Table is Jesus’ home and it’s where he welcomes us home. Where He is known. And we are known by Him.

Let’s Pray.

The Table

This Table is where Jesus shows up to give us himself. Jesus loves us here. Jesus gives us grace here. Jesus gives us our identity here. Jesus provides us with community here. This is His meal FOR US.

The Benediction

Numbers 6:24-26 “May the Lord bless you and protect you;

may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.”

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