The End of a Long Day (Lent 35, 2025)

“But [the two men] urged [Jesus] strongly,
‘”‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.’” (Luke 24:29)

It had been a very long day.  Our entire devotional series “The Way It Had to Be” takes place on Resurrection Sunday.  It began, as you recall, “that same day” when some of the disciples encountered the empty tomb, and angels had told women witnesses that He was alive.

Ever had one of those long days that is so eventful
that it seems like years have passed, not hours?

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed. No wonder these two men were talking through it.  Jesus is with them now—even though they still don’t know He’s Jesus but there is a feeling of reassurance His wise teaching brings. It confirmed what has already been hinted:

… that all of this was the plan … not a mission failure.

The long, long day is nearly over, and they don’t want Jesus to feel He must go on alone after dark, so they strongly urged Him to stay with them. ” So He went in to stay with them.  30 When He was at the table with them, He took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them.” 

Principle: God’s work continues into eternity.

Questions for further thought:

During Jesus’ ministry He said, “As long as it is day, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:4-5). Could the Light of the World have easily gone on (or disappeared) …or was there still work to be done at the table of fellowship with two men He’d met on the Road to Emmaus?

How was the table fellowship of a communal meal a fitting end to Jesus’ resurrection appearance to these two men? 

It is unlikely these two men witnessed the Last Supper which was intimate and only with the Twelve.  They might have seen Him give thanks and break bread before on any number of occasions of His public ministry.  But even if they didn’t, what does it say about His authority in prayer that might have opened their eyes?

Prayer:   Thank You, Jesus, for Your Holy Spirit who makes things known to us that we’d never know apart from Him.  Thank You that Your promised Counselor can be present with any number of people simultaneously and He makes Your presence real and personal. We ask, Father, for You to cause us to yield more of ourselves to Your presence every day and do this for Your glory. Amen.

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Lent began Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025, and will continue until Resurrection Sunday, Easter (April 20, 2025). I hope you’ll join me and be prepared to have your eyes opened. I know mine have been in writing this series, “The Way it Had to Be.”

The author gratefully acknowledges Grok XI for assisting with this year’s pictures.
Technology can be amazing.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2025 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

“Seeing His Love with New Eyes” was the topic for 2024 and it explored looking at God’s love beyond the superficial and trite notions of love. They are archived beginning February 14, 2024.

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.

A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 

Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 

ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.

Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.

Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.

Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.

Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.

The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

Revelation in 40 devotionals for 2022 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.

“Created to Display His Image” explored what it truly means to be made in God’s Image and the profound significance of that fact. They are archived beginning February 22, 2023.