"I once was blind..."

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 recognised him... Luke 24:30-31

Do you ever fail to see what’s right in front of your nose? I'm afraid I do. I read a newspaper article once about someone I slightly knew - and who had actually been mentioned to me only a few days before! - but I completely failed to see the connection. I wasn't expecting to read about this person in the paper, so when he appeared there it simply didn't dawn on me that it was the same man. Once it was pointed out to me I thought, "How could I have been so stupid, so blind! How could I have failed to see ?"

It's the afternoon of Easter Day. Two people are walking sadly from Jerusalem to Emmaus, roughly seven miles away. One of them is called Cleopas, so it's quite possible that the other is his wife Mary. They are completely confused by the events of the last few hours. They are disciples of Jesus, and have seen him crucified on Friday. They have sat through that wretched, bleak, utterly miserable Saturday. Now they are heading, presumably home, to Emmaus. But before setting out they have been puzzled by rumours: Jesus, it is said, is alive again! For some reason they don't have time to check the facts. But they mull it over as they walk.

They are joined by a stranger. It is Jesus himself - but they don't recognise him. Perhaps it's getting dark (no street lights, remember). Perhaps his face is partly cloaked. Most likely their numbed minds just can't process what is right before their eyes; Jesus is dead, after all.

He explains what has been going on. But still they don't "get it". They persuade this stranger to share a meal with them at their home. And then... something happens. He takes it on himself to break the bread, the most ordinary action you could imagine - and suddenly they understand. They know him from the way he does it. The scales fall from their eyes. They see.

It's rather like Mary Magdalene that same morning. She finds the tomb open and empty. She assumes the body has been stolen. She becomes aware of a man standing near her. He asks why she is so upset. She thinks he is a gardener, and asks him where the body is. He speaks just a single word - her name: "Mary". And suddenly she too... sees. "Teacher!" she cries out.

It is the greatest moment of your life when your eyes are opened and you see Jesus yourself for who he truly is: the risen Son of God. Nothing can ever be the same again. Has that yet happened to you? 

Now here’s something we need to grapple with, something a little puzzling: that moment of seeing, of revelation, is both a gift and a command. It’s a gift, because it is something that happens to us, perhaps right out of the blue. But it’s also a command, because we are commanded to believe, to have faith.

To be honest, I don't quite know how to marry those two things together; they seem contradictory. But experience shows that it is so. We mustn't use the fact that our eyes haven't yet been opened as an excuse, a cop-out. God calls us to see - but then if he calls us to see, surely we needn't doubt that he will make it happen, as long as our hearts are humble and open?

Can you think of another couple in the Bible of whom it is said that "their eyes were opened"? Sadly, in this case it was to see their downfall: "they knew that were naked", and so they took steps to cover their shame. Yes, Adam and Eve, right at the beginning (Genesis 3:7).

The first creation goes horribly wrong. Adam and Eve see the catastrophe that has overtaken them. But now, on Easter Day, Cleopas and Mary see the miracle of the risen Christ. God is giving birth to the new creation, a creation of which we are all invited to be a part. 

Are you yet part of this wonderful new creation? Have your eyes yet been opened?

Lord Jesus Christ, please open my eyes. Please help me to see. Amen.