Surprise: It's Jesus!

Kids love surprises. It's so much fun to get a present you didn't expect or find an Easter egg on an Easter egg hunt. Surprises are great because you don't know they're coming!

Kids aren't the only ones who get surprised. Grownups do, too. And in this week's Gospel (Luke 24:13-35), even Jesus' followers get a big surprise: Jesus, who died, comes back to life and visits them!

Two disciples were walking along when Jesus appeared and walked with them. They didn't know who He was and talked about what had happened to Jesus. Jesus explained the Bible to them, and they all had dinner together. When Jesus blessed the food, they suddenly recognized Him, and He disappeared. The disciples ran to tell their friends that Jesus was alive!

That's how Jesus' friends the Apostles felt, too. Jesus had told them He'd come back to life three days after He died, but they weren't sure that would happen. They just really hoped it would!

Sometimes, surprises take a long time to come. If your birthday is coming, you might wonder if that big package in your father's garage is the bike you wanted -- but you don't know until the big day.

The Apostles had that problem. The guy they met on the road looked kind of different from Jesus, but He knew all about the Bible and all about God. Then, in the biggest surprise of all, Jesus let them see it was really Him!

"We knew it!" the Apostles thought. "We were waiting for a surprise. We should have guessed it was Jesus!"

PRAYER FOR THE WEEK: Jesus, help me remember that your coming back to life is the best surprise! Amen.

(04-15-99)