“Were Not Our Hearts Burning?”
Luke 24:13-35
Easter Sunday, April 8, 2007
We come here each Sunday and we sing about Jesus, we pray to Him, we read about Him and listen to sermons about Him, and I hope we go out of here loving Him a bit more.
But for the average person in the seats, does it really make a difference?
Does it really burn inside us to the point where we’re convinced to our core that what we do and read is really true and is really worth living for and giving our lives to?
I wonder how many people are in churches today and thinking, “This is just another Sunday – I hope that today God will do something to convince me that He’s real, because I’m tired of just playing the game. I’m tired of sitting here like I have it all figured out, because quite frankly, I’m about to chuck all out the window.
“I know what the Bible says – I’ve heard it my whole life. But it’s not really part of who I am. I could take it or leave it.
“I want to believe it – I really do. God help me.”
I’ve been there. I grew up hearing about God and Jesus, and went through all sorts of religious rituals hoping that I would find God in all of it.
And while I sometimes got some really cool emotional stimulation, I never found God in any of it.
But I continued, just hoping that someday it would make sense and that God would show Himself to be real for me in my life.
I can guarantee you that there are people like that right now in churches all around the world.
Maybe that’s you today. Maybe someone is here today wondering just what kind of a difference this whole Jesus thing should make in our lives or if it’s just a big waste of time.
If that’s you, I want to invite you to open your heart today as we look at a passage of Scripture that I think you’ll identify with.
And for those of you who may not be struggling with that, let me just invite you to rejoice in what God can do in the lives of people who want a touch from Him.
Our passage deals with two guys who are talking about what had been happening the last few days – the arrest, trial, crucifixion, and now the body of Jesus is not where it was buried.
And while it doesn’t say all that they were discussing, I can’t help but wonder if maybe they were asking the same kinds of questions I’ve been talking about – is God real, and is this religion and Jesus stuff real, and does it really matter, given everything that’s just happened?
Luke 24:13-35 (p. 749) –
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?"
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?"
19 "What things?" he asked.
"About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see."
25 He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
These guys were Israelites who had grown up their whole lives listening to Moses and the Prophets every week in the synagogue.
They probably had cool flannelgraphs with Moses and Joshua and King David. But they probably weren’t the blond Norwegian-looking guys we had in our flannelgraphs growing up, but that’s beside the point…
These guys eventually started following Jesus. We don’t know how close they were to Him, but for some reason they saw hope in Jesus for themselves and for Israel.
And now it was crashing down around them with the death of Jesus.
But a personal experience with Jesus changed everything for them.
For the first time, the truth came alive in their hearts, and their hearts burned because of it.
All the religious teaching they had received growing up finally made sense as they listened to Jesus bring it all together.
What I want to really point out here is found in the connection between verses 27 and 32 –
27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
And…
"Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
The connection here is that in both verses, it’s Jesus and the Scriptures. He shows them that He is the fulfillment of everything they heard growing up.
So here’s what I want you to take home with you today.
When we allow Jesus to reveal Himself in the Scriptures, our lives are changed.
The lives of these guys were changed when they saw that all of their religious training and education came together in Christ and that He wasn’t dead but alive.
For many people the Bible is nothing but an obscure religious book. And truth be told, churches haven’t done all they can to prove otherwise!
But when we look at the Bible not as an obscure religious book but as God’s attempt to reach out to us so we can live a life of meaning of significance on earth and spend eternity in heaven when we die, it comes alive.
Folks, I can tell you that when I finally started seeing the Bible for what it really is – God’s Word to me, my life took real meaning.
And I’ve never been the same since.
Gone was the emptiness of ritual religion. Gone was the feeling that God couldn’t care for an insignificant kid from the reservation. Gone was the fear that I’d never measure up in the sight of God.
And God has the same thing in store for everyone who wants it.
What makes the Scriptures come alive is Jesus – living in us, speaking to us through His Spirit in His Word.
When we realize that Jesus isn’t just some nice religious guy, but rather God Himself who cares so much about each person here that He was willing to die for them, our hearts can burn within us as we look to the Scriptures.
Folks, if you want to get past empty religion, if you want to get past wondering if God is real and if He really cares about you, let me assure that Jesus wants that for you, even more than you do.
And He says, “Let Me reveal Myself to you through My Word.”
For those who have maybe hit a desert in their walk with God, and it’s lost its freshness and vitality, Jesus says the same thing to you: “Let Me reveal Myself anew to you through My Word.
And for those who are in the midst of great fellowship with Jesus right now, and your spiritual life is going great, Jesus says the same thing: “Continue to let Me reveal Myself to you through My word.
Look over toward the end of the chapter here, in Luke 24:45 –
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
Here’s where I think most people fall short in trying to get something from the Bible. They don’t ask Jesus to help them.
Believe me, folks, He wants to help – all of us, no matter how long we’ve believed in Him or how short of a time.
He wants to help us.
Last week I issued a challenge – to take the next four months and read through each of the four gospels to really learn and discover Jesus from the Scriptures, setting aside your preconceived notions and just let the Scriptures speak to you.
I want to echo that again today, and add the idea that you need to pray to Jesus to open your mind to understand the Scriptures.
When that happens, Jesus will come alive in the pages, and you’ll never be the same.
You’ll be like the guys walking down the road with Jesus – your life will be impacted and changed forever.
Let’s be people who have a “burn” for Jesus.
We don’t just possess the truth – we allow the truth to live in us and transform us.
The truth of Scripture doesn’t do much good if don’t allow it to change us.
The message of Jesus isn’t just forgiveness of sins and a home in heaven – although that would be more than enough.
The message of Jesus includes the fact that he changes lives.
The Bible says that if Christ is in us, then we are a new person.
And folks, for me that was extremely good news! I needed a new life, and He’s not done transforming me to be more like Jesus.
So how about you?
Are you willing to let the truth of the risen Jesus burn in your heart and change you to be more like Him?
There are plenty of people who are in churches today all around the world. But I can tell you beyond the shadow of a doubt that while large numbers are singing about Him and listening to His Word and even praying to Him, they are not being changed by Him.
Why? Because they don’t know that Jesus wants to meet with them personally through His Word.
Easter is a day where we celebrate the victory of Christ over death.
But the great thing about that is that His victory over death wasn’t just for Him. It was for you and me.
Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sins – the penalty we deserve to pay.
He rose so that we could have victory over death and the grave.
But as true as that is, the fact remains that not everyone will gain the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection.
Only those who respond to the invitation of Christ will be able to know that their sins are forgiven and that they have a home in heaven.
And so I want to do what I do often on Sunday mornings, and that is to extend that invitation to you.
The invitation is to put your trust in Jesus and what He did for you by dying and rising again.
I don’t care how many times you’ve heard the invitation. Hearing it doesn’t get you to heaven. Responding to it does.
