Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted for them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.  Luke 24:27 HCSB

So we don’t just pull this verse out of context, allow me to explain what’s going on here. It’s Easter Sunday. Jesus has risen from the dead and encounters two men walking to Emmaus. They are talking about Jesus being crucified and the fact that His body is now missing. They are sad because they thought that Jesus was going to redeem Israel. Israel was under Roman occupation at this time and they were thinking Jesus would put an end to all that. They were thinking about Jesus in terms of an earthly kingdom and not the heavenly kingdom.

Verse 16 tells us they were prevented from recognizing Him. But as Jesus began to walk with them He explained what had been written about Him in the scriptures from Genesis to Malachi, or the Old Testament, which was their complete Bible at that time.

In Genesis 3:15 God cursed the serpent so that their would always be hostility between man and the serpent and the man would crush the serpent under his heel. Jesus is the Messiah that would be sent to crush the serpent. In Psalm 91:13 we are told that if we choose to be close to Jesus we can trample the cobra.

In Exodus 17:5-7, God told Moses to strike a rock and from it water will pour out for the Israelites. In 1 Corinthians 10:4 we are told that the Israelites drank from a spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Jesus Christ. Jesus is the rock that was broken to provide streams of living water.

Psalm 22 speaks of Jesus’s being bruised, beaten and crucified. Verse 16 says, “A gang of evildoers has closed in on me and they pierced my hands and my feet.” Isaiah 53 describes Jesus in verses 3-5 by saying, He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He bore our sickness and carried our pains, but we regarded Him as stricken, struck down by God and afflicted. He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities, punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds.

In Malachi 4:2-3 Jesus is described as the sun of righteousness who will rise with healing on its wings allowing us to go out and playfully jump like calves from the stall. He will allow us to trample the wicked.

We have both the Old and the New Testaments. The gospels give the account of Jesus’ birth, His ministry, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. Numerous passages such as Romans 3:23-26 tells us that Jesus came to save us from sin and give us eternal life.

We are told He is coming again. Matthew 24:44 says we must be ready for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that we do not expect. Revelation 1:7 says, “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him. Even so. Amen.”

What I am getting at here is that Jesus has always been with mankind. But my question is, do you recognize Him? Do you recognize Jesus as the One who is the one and only way to God the Father (John 14:6)? Do you recognize Him as the One who saves us from our sin and gives us eternal life (John 3:16)? Do you recognize Him as the One who intercedes for us (Romans 8:34)?

In Luke 24:30-31 it says that as he reclined at the table with them, blessed the bread and broke it and gave it to them their eyes were opened. They recognized Him.

We know that these men were Christ followers. They just misunderstood His mission here on earth. But, they wanted a relationship with Him. They spoke with Him and they spent time with Him. He traveled with them and ate with them and they kept the conversation flowing.

After all this, they recognized Him. Do you recognize Him? Do you recognize His presence in your life? Do you study the scriptures so that you can understand Him and His purpose in our lives? Do you keep in constant communication with Him through prayer and Bible study?

We are told that if we deny Him before men that He will deny us before His father in Matthew 10:33. Philippians 2:10-11 tells us that at some point every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. If you don’t do that on earth, you will do it at judgment but that will be too late to save you from hell.

Trust in Jesus today. Make Him Lord and Savior of your life before it’s too late. Recognize Him for the awesome Savior that He is.

Have a great day!