Monday, April 1: Luke 24:1–35 (Eastertide)
“Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.”
Two despondent disciples walk toward Emmaus. Jesus joins them, but they don’t recognize Him, not until they enter the house, and Jesus takes the bread, blesses it, and gives it to them. That’s when “they knew Him.”
A great many Christians long for connection to the blessed things of our salvation accomplished by our Lord during Holy Week, so they watch movies on the topic, or listen to special Easter-oriented Christian music. Those things may benefit Christian knowledge and even stir godly emotion, but the Lord Himself has given us true connection in the Word and Sacraments of His Church. In the Lord’s Supper, we receive what Christ instituted on Maundy Thursday, what Christ sacrificed on Good Friday, and what rose from the dead on Easter morning. God grant us to rejoice in the forgiveness of sins and the promise of our resurrection, bestowed on us in Holy Communion.
Collect: Almighty God, Who, through Thine Only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, hast overcome death, and opened unto us the gate of everlasting life: We humbly beseech Thee, that, as Thou dost put into our minds good desires, so by Thy continual help we may bring the same to good effect; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.