Luke 10… Jesus is all like, “The harvest is plentiful!” Great, right? We’re thinking big yields, full barns, and spiritual abundance. But then, in the very next breath, He drops the kicker: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.” …That’s like saying, “The buffet is huge! Now go jump into that pit of hungry lions and enjoy some amuse bouche.” PARADOX! We’re supposed to gather the crop while simultaneously trying not to be the snack.

Luke 24… Cleopas and his comrade are talking ALL ABOUT Jesus. And then Jesus shows up out-of-nowhere and asks them, “Whatchya talk’n about?” And they don’t recognize Him!? This would be like if you and I were having a passionate discussion bout MJ v. Lebron: Who’s the G.O.A.T.? And then Jordan and James join us, and pretend not to know what were talking about, and we don’t realize who they are! Is Jesus disguised or something? Is Jesus like Edmond Dantès pretending to be Abbé Busoni??? …However you imagine the particulars, Jesus plays dumb. He’s literally the protagonist of the story they’re obsessing about, and Jesus is like, “What’s going on? Did something happen in Jerusalem lately?” And Cleopas & Co. start telling Jesus about the crucifixion, and the reports of the resurrection, and then Jesus (still a complete mystery man to these guys) launches into a mind-blowing explanation of Himself as the fulfillment of the entire Bible!

And then they arrive at their destination, and Jesus pretends like He’s just gonna keep traveling. But these guys beg Him to stay for dinner! So Jesus sticks around, and during the amuse bouche they finally realize ‘THIS IS JESUS!’ and POOF – He vanishes!

*That really happened!