Formation · Conversation
Where Are You Seeing God Now
Building Relationships
As we come to this fourth conversation, we turn to a story that feels strikingly familiar to many of us—the journey on the road to Emmaus Luke 24:13–35. Two disciples are walking away from Jerusalem, carrying confusion, disappointment, and unanswered questions. They had hoped for something different. They had believed a certain story would unfold—and it didn’t.
And yet, as they walk, they are not alone.
The risen Christ comes alongside them, though they do not recognize him. He listens before he speaks. He invites them to tell their story—what they hoped for, what they lost, what they cannot yet make sense of. Only later, in the breaking of bread, do their eyes open, and they realize that God had been with them the entire time.
This conversation invites us into that same kind of journey.
We come as people who are walking—some with clarity, some with questions, some carrying disappointment or even quiet hope we’re not sure how to name. And we trust that Christ meets us not at the end of the journey, but along the road itself—often hidden, often revealed through one another.
So today, we practice paying attention:
to the stories we carry,
to the voices we hear,
and to the possibility that Christ is already present among us—even if we do not yet fully see.
The Road to Emmaus
13Now on that same day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself drew near and went with them, 16but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
17And he said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19He said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22Moreover, some women of our group amazed us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23and when they did not find his body there, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said that he is alive. 24Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but him they did not see.”
25Then he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to trust all that the prophets have spoken! 26Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
28As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is toward evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”
33That same hour they rose and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and those with them gathered together, 34saying, “The Lord has been raised indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Notes
“their eyes were kept” — Recognition is not merely intellectual; perception is given, not achieved.
“we had hoped” — The line holds grief and disappointment; resurrection meets people inside collapsed expectations.
“slow of heart… interpreted” — Jesus does not replace scripture but rereads it; suffering is not an interruption of God’s work but part of its pattern.
“took… blessed… broke… gave” — Recognition occurs in shared practice; the meal becomes a site of revelation.
“hearts burning” — Understanding is experiential as well as cognitive; truth is felt before it is fully grasped.
Vocabulary
κρατέω (krateō)
to hold fast; to restrain
λυτρόω (lytroō)
“To redeem; to set free.”
καρδία (kardia)
heart; inner life; center of will
διερμηνεύω (diermēneuō)
to interpret; to explain
εὐλογέω (eulogeō)
“To bless.”
ἀνοίγω (anoigō)
to open
καιομένη (kaiomenē)
burning; set on fire
- Where are you seeing God in your life right now?
- Where is it easy to notice? Where is it difficult?
- Has that changed recently?
- What helps you pay attention to God?
Closing Blessing
Gracious and risen Christ,
you meet us on the road—
in our questions, in our disappointments,
in the places where hope feels unclear.
Stay with us now, we pray.
As you walked with your disciples, walk with us.
As you listened to their stories, listen to ours.
As you opened the scriptures and broke the bread,
open our eyes to recognize you among us.
Where our hearts are heavy, bring light.
Where our understanding is limited, bring clarity.
Where our faith feels distant, draw near.
And as we leave this place,
send us back into the world with burning hearts—
ready to carry your presence,
to tell your story,
and to trust that you are already ahead of us on the road.
In your holy name we pray,
Amen.
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