Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Communion
with Risen Christ in daily life
“When he was at
the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.”(V.30)
A great part of eastern culture is its emphasis on
hospitality. Many grandfathers and grandmothers find it a point of pride and
joy to prepare and provide a home cooked meal for an invited guest. Those who
have been on the receiving end of the serving spoon of an especially hospitable
host will invariably leave a couple pounds heavier. When invited to one of
these meals, don’t make the mistake of trying to serve yourself. The honor of
serving belongs unquestionably to the host.
In today’s passage, we find a wonderful role reversal
occurring. Since Jesus was invited in as the guest we would expect that he
would be served; but here we see Jesus is the one who takes the bread, blesses
it, and serves it to the disciples. It’s amazing how after Jesus takes up the
position of the host that the disciples eyes were opened. In a way it makes
sense too. As long as we run the show and made him a guest then we will never
see him for who he really is. But, once Jesus is given that place of honor
within our own lives we will be able to see him better.
We have all seen the sign that says: Christ is the
head of this house, The Unseen Guest at every meal, The Silent Listener to
every conversation. In a negative way it might accurately reflects our own
walk with Jesus. At some point in time, we may have given him that head chair
and ate what he offered. Later on, we became restless and demoted him to guest
status. We change up the menu to foolishly suit our taste, but we still keep
him close by for conversations. Times goes on and eventually our once glorious
host gets another demotion to that of a mute listener. As the silent listener,
not only is his rightful position robbed from him, his voice is suppressed
also. (Now, I doubt this is what was intended by the original saying, but it is
strikingly true in our lives nonetheless.
The disciples learned a lesson that day. Communing with
Jesus as a guest is pretty exciting, capable of giving spiritual heart burn (vs
32), but communion with Jesus as the host is life changing, capable of turning
distraught disciples into a witness (vs 33-35). Real communing with Jesus,
then, is a daily task of exalting his as the host of our lives.
Prayer: Lord, humble me in your presence so that you
alone would be the True Host in my life. Help me to realize that I am a guest
in your world. Allow me the privilege to share in the meal that your hand
provides.
Thought for the day: The honor of being the host within
our lives belongs to Christ alone.
Rev.
Larry Philip Varghese, Horeb MTC, Los Angeles.A