Burning hearts

"The disciples at Emmaus"
 - Alexandre Bida

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 23-24; Psalm 119:129-152

TO CHEW ON: "And they said t one another, 'Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?'" Luke 24:32

The story of the travelers meeting Jesus on the road to Emmaus is one of my favourites. Perhaps it's because I see myself in those sight-restrained disciples. I've often wondered, why did they not recognize Him?

Perhaps Jesus' physical look had changed. We read the stories of other people not recognizing Him either (Mary Magdalene John 20:14; the disciples - Luke 24:36-37). He was the last person they expected to meet on that journey. And our reading says, "their eyes were restrained" suggesting that there was also a supernatural aspect to their blindness. (God operates, even in the smallest details, in the fullness of time.)

Then, after they had walked, talked, and listened to Jesus explain the Scriptures and convinced Him to eat with them, He went through those familiar motions: "… He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them…" Luke 24:30. They had seen this exact ritual before—at the feeding of the 5,000 (Matthew 14:19), the feeding of the 4,000 (Mark 8:6) and the last supper (Matthew 26:26). What a wonderful thing for which to be recognized!

Jesus left after that. It seems His purpose was not to hang out with them in the way He had before. That time was over. Now they simply needed to know He was alive and how the events that had just taken place fulfilled prophecy.

After he left, the disciples recalled and recognized their reaction to Jesus on the road: "…'Did not our hearts burn within us?'…" Henri Nouwen describes how Jesus may come to us in the same way:

"Jesus joins us as we walk in sadness and explains the scriptures to us. But we do not know that it is Jesus. We think of him as a stranger who knows less than we do of what is happening in our lives. And still—we know something, we sense something, we intuit something: our hearts begin to burn. At the very moment that he is with us we can't fully understand what is happening. We can't speak about it to each other. Later, yes, later, when it is all over, we might be able to say, 'Did not our hearts burn within us as he talked to us on the road and explained the scriptures to us?' But when he walks with us it is all too close for reflection" - Henri Nouwen, With Burning Hearts, p. 50.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus help me to recognize Your voice. Thank You for the witness of a burning heart. Please stir up the coals to a hotter fire. Amen.

MORE: Inner fire

• Jesus came to ignite inner fire - Luke 12:49.

• It is kindled by meditation, and bursts into speech - Psalm 39:3.

• It is fed by fellowship with Jesus - Luke 24:32.

• The light in our hearts is a reflection of "the glory of God in the face of Christ" - 2 Corinthians 4:6.

• That inner fire makes it impossible not to speak - Jeremiah 20:9.

"So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem …. And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread" - Mark 24:33,35.
PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 119:129-152

The Bible Project VIDEO: Luke Ch. 24 (Luke Mini-series)

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.

Table presence

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Luke 24:28-49

TO CHEW ON: "And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread." Luke 24:35

"Come Lord Jesus, be our guest

May this food to us be blessed.  Amen."

This childhood grace came true in the flesh for two disciples. Unbeknownst to them, Jesus was their traveling companion on the road to Emmaus. At the end of the seven-mile walk, they invited this interesting stranger to stay with them.

It was in the breaking of bread that they recognized Him. What was it that twigged—the lift of His eyes when he gave thanks? The way He tore the bread and dipped it into the sauce? The way He chewed? The fact that these disciples recognized Him during their meal tells us they had shared meals with Him before.

Henri Nouwen talks about the meaning of this incident:

"The table is the place of intimacy. Around the table we discover each other. It's the place where we pray. It's the place where we ask: 'How was your day?' ...


'The table, too, is the place where distance is most painfully felt. It is the place where the children feel the tension between the parents, where brothers and sisters express their anger and jealousies...


'Around the table, we know whether there is friendship and community or hatred and division. ...it is also the place where the absence of that intimacy is most painfully revealed" - Henri Nouwen, With Burning Hearts, pp. 74,75 (paragraphing added to ease online reading).

Mr. Nouwen's musings bring me to the question, is the table in my home a place of blessing or pain? Do I truly expect Jesus to be my guest? Is He present with me, with us, in this most ordinary, mundane, and needful activity of life?

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for sharing with us Your life on earth in these ordinary ways (and inspiring Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to record them). Please be with me in my sitting and walking, at the table and doing the dishes, when I work at my computer or read my book. Please join me in all my activities of daily living. Amen.

MORE: Nouwen again...

"Jesus accepts the invitation to come into the home of his traveling companions, and he sits down at table with them. ...Then something new happens. Something scarcely noticeable to an untrained eye. Jesus is the guest of his disciples, but as soon as he enters into their home, he becomes their host! And as their host, he invites them to enter into full communion with him" - Henri Nouwen, With Burning Hearts, p. 77.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The ministering listener

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Acts 12:20-13:12

TO CHEW ON: "As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, 'Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them'" Acts 13;2.

We can learn much about the Holy Spirit and His activity by studying Luke's stories of the early church. Here we discover that He spoke to the prophets and teachers of the Antioch church not only through their times of intentional religious practice (fasting), but also "as they ministered."

[Ministered (leitourgeo) means performing religious or charitable acts, fulfilling an office, discharging a function officiating as a priest, serving God with prayers and fasting (compare liturgy and liturgical) - Dick Mills, Word Wealth, New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1515. 

The Lexicon at StudyLight.org  says "It is used of Christians serving Christ, whether by prayer, or by instructing others concerning the way of salvation, or in some other way, as well as of those who aid others with their resources, and relieve their poverty."]

The word leitourgeo is used in two other places as well. In Hebrews 10:11 litourgeo ministry refers to the Old Testament priests ministering in the Levitical offerings. In Romans 15:27 it is used in connection with giving an offering, i.e. ministering to fellow Christians in material ways.

In other words, the disciples in today's reading were not only engaged in prayer and fasting, but were probably busy with practical ministering duties (which could have included working at the local food bank, or helping patch a widow's roof, or bringing a meal to a needy family) when the Holy Spirit communicated to them His special instructions for Barnabas and Saul.

It's a comfort to know that God speaks not only when we're sequestered in our prayer closets, but also when we're busy in practical ways. Let's be listening to hear Him through the din and clatter of our ministering today.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to keep my ears tuned to hear You through and in the sounds of my day-to-day ministering duty. Amen.

MORE: The receiving worker

"...mission is not only to go and tell others about the risen Lord, but also to receive that witness from those to whom we are sent. Often mission is thought of exclusively in terms of giving, but true mission is also receiving. If it is true that the Spirit of Jesus blows where it wants, there is no person who cannot give that Spirit. In the long run, mission is possible only when it is as much receiving as giving, as much being cared for as caring. We are sent to the sick, the dying, the handicapped, the prisoners, and the refugees to bring them the good news of the Lord's resurrection. But we will soon be burned out if we cannot receive the Spirit of the Lord from those to whom we are sent" - Henri Nouwen, With Burning Hearts, pp. 115, 116.