The 2nd Communion

When we take Communion, we often think of the very first one which Jesus initiated at the Last Supper. This was BEFORE the Cross so we feel sad. This is ok of course to reflect on our sin, the ways we have betrayed him, his suffering and death for our sins. 

In Luke 24, we find the report of what happened on the day of Jesus resurrection. Just 3 days after the 1st Communion, we find the 2nd Communion recorded. This passage is AFTER the Cross and there is a distinct difference between the 2 communions making the 1st one (sorrow) only a preparation for the 2nd one (joy).

The passage I want to focus on begins at v13 with two followers on a long walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus. 

v13 The journey was 7 miles - 11km.  Given that a average person can walk at 5km per hour, depending on the conditions maybe that would take 2-4 hours. Probably they set out after lunch as later it tells us they arrived just as it came to the evening.

As they are walking, Jesus joins them but they do not recognise him.  Jesus must have been bursting to tell them "Surprise!" but instead he plays along in the role of a stranger, it is quite amusing for him I think.

He can see they are sad so when he asks them what they are discussing, they express surprise that he hasn't heard the sad events of the last few days.

"What things?" he says as if winking to the audience.

v19 “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”

They saw Jesus as only a man, a prophet. Is that how you see Jesus? 

v21 "We had hoped". They had faith but their hopes had been smashed to pieces. All their dreams had ended when Jesus died. But their emotions did not reflect the REALITY of the situation! God had made a promise which he had already delivered even if they didn't know it.

v27 "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself". Jesus kept referring to scripture to encourage them with the truth. In the darkest of nights, we need to remind ourselves of God's promises in scripture and hold on tight.

Finally they reached the end of their walk together. They felt encouraged. They wanted to hear more from the stranger so they invited him in for a meal.

v30-31  "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..."

Suddenly their eyes were opened and they saw Jesus! This was the moment these 2 followers were transformed. Within an hour of eating this Communion, they were on their way back to Jerusalem to tell the 11 disciples the Good News.

I imagine them running back the entire 11km, the tiredness they had felt just before having gone and they were bursting with excitement instead.

There is a great transformation that takes place between the 1st and 2nd Communion. 

From hoping to knowing

From confusion to understanding

From fear and anxiety to faith and peace

From mystery to revelation

From darkness to light

From defeat to victory

We are no longer strangers but his friends.

I didn't include this in the Communion message but I remembered a passage from "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" by CS Lewis, my favourite story when I was young!

 "At that moment they heard from behind them a loud noise—a great cracking, deafening noise as if a giant had broken a giant's plate.... The Stone Table was broken into two pieces by a great crack that ran down it from end to end; and there was no Aslan.

"Who's done it?" cried Susan. "What does it mean? Is it more magic?"

"Yes!" said a great voice from behind their backs. "It is more magic." They looked round. There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.

"Oh, Aslan!" cried both the children, staring up at him, almost as much frightened as they were glad....

"But what does it all mean?" asked Susan when they were somewhat calmer.

"It means," said Aslan, "that though the Witch knew the Deep Magic, there is a magic deeper still which she did not know. Her knowledge goes back only to the dawn of time. But if she could have looked a little further back, into the stillness and the darkness before Time dawned, she would have read there a different incantation. She would have known that when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backward."