BLESSED BROKEN GIVENSample

Given for the Life of the World

Today we come to the final word, “given”. The text shows Jesus blessing bread and opening the eyes of the disillusioned and downcast. This is about being blessed, broken, and given, for the sake of others, not just ourselves. To be given is to live for the life of the world. This story shows us how. 

First, Jesus joins us where we are on the journey.

On the way to Emmaus, two disciples hung their heads and hid their tears. At that moment, Jesus “arrived and joined them on their journey” (Lk. 24:15). He didn’t say, “Come follow Me.” That was all well and fine the first time, but not this time. Not when faith had been shattered, when hopes had been badly broken. When we are too weak, too broken to come to Jesus, He comes to us. So we must do for the disappointed and disillusioned around us.

Secondly, Jesus is the culmination of God’s saving story. 

Jesus began to explain to them from the law and the prophets how it had been prophesied that the Messiah would have to suffer and then be raised up. They had been reading the Scriptures wrong. The story is about Him. Can we find a way to tell the world its own story by narrating the drama of salvation in a way that points to Jesus and is truly good news?

Thirdly, Jesus demonstrated a kind of radical hospitality.

When they reached Emmaus, Jesus acted as if He was continuing on the road to see if they were curious enough to know more about who He was. So He waited. “Stay with us,” they said. “It’s nearly evening, and the day is almost over.” Jesus accepted their offer. Then when they sat at the table, Jesus took the bread and began giving thanks. In Jewish culture, the host always says the blessing; the guest never does. Jesus the guest started acting like the host.

The church needs to recover the art of radical hospitality—not just the hospitality that makes our sacred spaces ready for others, but the hospitality that shows up in someone else’s space with a posture of openness.

We can become the bread that is blessed, broken, and given for the life of the world.