03/22/2023
I really love the story of Jesus appearing to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. This morning I am concentrating on what those disciples said after they finally realized that the man they had been traveling with was actually Jesus; "did not our heart burn within us."
“And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” Luke 24:32 KJV
Two things happened in this scripture that led their hearts to burn; the first was being near and speaking with Jesus, and the second was in His revelation of scripture.
When we study God’s Word and pray, we often feel near to Jesus, and in those moments, the conversation changes from one of common speech to one that absolutely thrills our hearts. In those moments the Holy Spirit has full rein in us and divine words and utterances of praise gush from our mouths as we worship the Lord and lift Him up. In those times of communion our hearts burn within us and we wish the moment would last forever without abating. Have you been there? Has the presence of the Holy Spirit ever filled you completely and allowed your spirit to speak unbridled, and directly to God and His son Jesus?
“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
Romans 8:25-27 ESV
If you have ever allowed the Spirit to fill you, then you know the burning heart of a disciple. In that moment when your heart burns for Him, you are walking the way of faith with Him every bit as much as the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Jesus is speaking with you as passionately as He was His disciples.
Or perhaps your heart has burned when you have come to realize that Jesus was there with you while reading your Bible, or when the Holy Spirit gave you a revelation of something you had never seen before in a scripture. Have you had moments like this? Has your heart ever burned as the scripture was opened to you? Has the Holy Spirit ever revealed a new truth in a verse you have read and reread many times before?
We read scripture over and over, but all of a sudden the light comes on and new meaning rushes to meet us. A truth we had been blinded to before suddenly thrills us and leads us into spontaneous prayer. At that moment our hearts are on fire, and they are burning for communication with the Lord. Praise flows from us without thought, or prompting... we find that we too are experiencing a walk on the road to Emmaus and Jesus is opening us to scripture. In that revelation, our discipleship is reaffirmed and all we can think about is getting back to Jerusalem so that we can tell others of our new found truth... Jesus is alive!
This morning I could barely wait to send this email. My heart burned as I typed each letter and quoted the scripture. Prayer sprang forth as I wrote these words. My prayer chair was suddenly covered in the dust from the road to Emmaus and I knew I needed to rise in this same hour to return to Jerusalem.
“And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,”
Luke 24:33 ESV
And I think back on how Jesus introduced Himself on the road to Emmaus and know that in this conversation we are having today, that there is no sadness, for Jesus is risen and we have walked the way with Him this morning just as His disciples did.
“And he said to them, "What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?" And they stood still, looking sad.”
Luke 24:17 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for all that transpired on the road to Emmaus, but I especially thank you for the hearts that burned for your Son and your Word. Help me Father to feel the same burning in my own heart as I read your Word and meet your Son along the way. Lord I thank you for never allowing me to stray too far from Jerusalem without calling me back. Your Word whispers to me and my heart shouts out in joy. Holy Father we are approaching Easter, yet even as my heart breaks for the suffering of your Son, I look beyond the cross to see Him risen, and walking with me in the way. My heart burns as He leads me, and in the scripture He reveals to me. I read it as if it were new. Jesus, Son of God, never depart from me but stay with me, "for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent." Continue to speak your mind to me Lord, and abide in me now and forevermore.
““For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 2:16
Rich Forbes