As they told these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them and said, “Peace to you.”
Luke 24:36
We all know the power of a story. A story communicates. Jesus used the power of stories to teach. Furthermore, stories of the experiences of others bring theories and principles to life. We can relate to the stories of others because all stories are human stories. The uniqueness of someone’s story makes it interesting; the familiarity makes it powerful. Deep down, we are all longing, hoping, praying, and needing the same things. And stories can inspire courage, fear, love, good, and evil.
As the two disciples told the story of their experience—of how they walked with the stranger who turned out to be Jesus—Jesus showed up. He physically stood in the midst of the disciples as the story was being told. That must have been impacting! This experience communicates. It communicates something about the Resurrected Jesus and about the power of our testimony.
A testimony is a person’s true experience. What the testimony of those two men communicated is important. It did not communicate a formula—that the others needed to walk to Emmaus in order to encounter Jesus. It did not communicate superiority—that the two men were more important than anyone else because of the encounter. It communicated something about Jesus—He was alive. It meant He cared about these men and cared about the others. The testimony gave them another option than they had just moments before. It was a testimony of hope that Jesus would encounter them, and encounter them He did.
The testimony has power to prophesy what God is like and what He likes to do. It does not give formulas. It reveals the nature of God impacting a person’s life. Every believer has an experience with the Resurrected Christ. Share it. Every time you share your personal story about Jesus, the Resurrected Christ is standing in your midst. You may tell about how He healed you, filled you, forgave you, loves you, pursued you, died for you, or protected you. Whatever your experience is, tell it! Know that as you do, He stands in that moment with readiness to do it for others. Through your testimony, Jesus speaks to others.
The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.
Revelation 19:10