Luke 24:32

New International Version (NIV)

“Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

For Meditation

The story is told of a supervisor who ordered a casually dressed man he saw around his company’s premises to carry a box to a delivery truck without realizing he was the owner of the company on a surprise visit. He got the shock of his life when the site manager later called a meeting, and the man was introduced as their boss. Situations like this happen a lot, especially when the other person plays along incognito.

The disciples on the way to Emmaus had such an experience with Jesus (Lk. 24:1-35). Before their eyes, their expected Messiah had been shamefully lifted on a wooden plank and crucified. The strong deliverer they hoped in and trusted to establish the Davidic kingdom had turned out to be weak in the hands of the chief priests and the Roman administration. The show was over, and the two disciples walked along the seven-mile stretch to Emmaus, reviewing the events of the previous three days. This stranger came along who sounded naïve and ignorant of the events of the crucifixion and “alleged” resurrection of Jesus, the current major news in Jerusalem.

“What are you discussing together as you two walk along?” … “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem?” …“What things?” … “About Jesus of Nazareth …” (17-19).

Their narrative revealed their disappointment and anxiety about their future.

“They crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (21).

The saga had become more perplexing to them. According to some of their women, their Master’s body was not in the tomb when they visited, and some angels told them that their Master was alive. Furthermore, some of the men had verified and confirmed the women’s report (21-24).

“So, just leave us alone and take your ignorance somewhere,” the two disciples may have said under their breath.

1. Have you dismissed someone you didn’t recognize like that before?
2. Have you been so absorbed in your troubles and disappointments that you yelled at your loved one without noticing who they were?
3. Are you fighting to make sense of something so baffling and simply unbelievable in your life?
4. Has Jesus become that way to you because you can’t understand Him anymore in your struggles and suffering?
5. “Is He really true?” “Have I believed for nothing?”

I don’t know what you may be going through now and what your disappointment with the Lord may be; but I pray you will not dismiss Jesus from your life. Your faith has found the right place to rest in Him, and very soon, the cloud will be lifted and His light will shine through to warm and lead you out of those cold trenches.

So: May you heart “burn within you” as Jesus speaks to you through your tears and doubts; and may you leap with joy and declare that Jesus is alive and active in your life even in your darkest hour.

Shalom