The Upper Room Daily Devotional Nashville, Tennessee, United States “Toward the Light" for Friday, 20 February 2015 - Scripture: Luke 24:13-35

The Upper Room Daily Devotional Nashville, Tennessee, United States “Toward the Light" for Friday, 20 February 2015 - Scripture: Luke 24:13 That same day, two of them were going toward a village about seven miles from Yerushalayim called Amma’us, 14 and they were talking with each other about all the things that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed, Yeshua himself came up and walked along with them, 16 but something kept them from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, “What are you talking about with each other as you walk along?” They stopped short, their faces downcast; 18 and one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only person staying in Yerushalayim that doesn’t know the things that have been going on there the last few days?” 19 “What things?” he asked them. They said to him, “The things about Yeshua from Natzeret. He was a prophet and proved it by the things he did and said before God and all the people. 20 Our head cohanim and our leaders handed him over, so that he could be sentenced to death and executed on a stake as a criminal. 21 And we had hoped that he would be the one to liberate Isra’el! Besides all that, today is the third day since these things happened; 22 and this morning, some of the women astounded us. They were at the tomb early 23 and couldn’t find his body, so they came back; but they also reported that they had seen a vision of angels who say he’s alive! 24 Some of our friends went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said, but they didn’t see him.”
25 He said to them, “Foolish people! So unwilling to put your trust in everything the prophets spoke! 26 Didn’t the Messiah have to die like this before entering his glory?” 27 Then, starting with Moshe and all the prophets, he explained to them the things that can be found throughout the Tanakh concerning himself.
28 They approached the village where they were going. He made as if he were going on farther; 29 but they held him back, saying, “Stay with us, for it’s almost evening, and it’s getting dark.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 As he was reclining with them at the table, he took the matzah, made the b’rakhah, broke it and handed it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. But he became invisible to them. 32 They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn inside us as he spoke to us on the road, opening up the Tanakh to us?”
33 They got up at once, returned to Yerushalayim and found the Eleven gathered together with their friends, 34 saying, “It’s true! The Lord has risen! Shim‘on saw him!” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the road and how he had become known to them in the breaking of the matzah.
In the beginning was the Word, . . . In him was life, and the life was the light of all people.[John 1:1, 4 (NRSV)]
My younger brother and I spent our boyhood years hunting raccoons at night in the forest near our southern Indiana home. One dark and cloudy night we forgot to set our compass. After about an hour, our two hounds had run so far that by the time we caught up to them, we were lost. We wandered in the deep woods, trying to find our way back to our vehicle. Finally, we remembered what our dad once taught us: “If you are lost at night, don’t wander around. Look through the trees and try to find a light in the distance. Go toward the light, and it will lead you to safety.” So that’s what we did.
We Christians sometimes lose our sense of purpose. Like the two disciples walking to Emmaus, we can become discouraged when we lose sight of Jesus. All the disciples needed was a little light to redirect their lives. Once Jesus revealed himself to them, their faith was renewed. They said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”
The light they needed was in the words that Jesus spoke to them. Whenever we are troubled and wandering through the darkness of this life, we can look for Christ in the words that he spoke in scripture and in everyone and everything around us.
The Author: Terry R. Tuley (Tennessee, USA)
Thought for the Day: Today I will look for God’s light around me.
Prayer: O God, help us to see your light in our daily lives. May the direction we choose lead us closer to you. Amen.
Prayer focus: Brothers
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