July 29 2025

Tuesday July 29

Burning Hearts

Luke 24:25-35

25 Then He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?" 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. 28 Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. 29 But they constrained Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent." And He went in to stay with them. 30 Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. 32 And they said to 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?" 33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, "The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!" 35 And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

Today we're looking at Luke 24:25-35. Luke is the only gospel that tells us the story about these two men on the road to Emmaus. While they're walking, they're confused, troubled, sad, discouraged, and disappointed. Jesus did not fulfill the expectations they had about setting up the kingdom and running out the Romans authorities. They had heard that Jesus had resurrected, but they did not believe. My friends, when we don't believe in the resurrection like we should, even as believers, we're going to be disappointed, discouraged, and sad. So what is the answer to that?

We find it here in this passage. Jesus talked to them about the Scriptures, Moses, the prophets, and all the things in them concerning Himself. Then He acted as if He would go further when they got to the village of Emmaus. But they constrained Him and said, "No, it's getting evening. Stay with us." So He did, and what happened next, Luke say it best: “As He sat at the table with them, He took bread, blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they knew Him, and He vanished from their sight. They said to one another, "Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us on the road and while He opened the scriptures to us?" So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, "The Lord is risen indeed and has appeared to Simon." They told about the things that had happened on the road and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.”

What a powerful message for you and me today. It was as they heard the scriptures, as Jesus talked and conversed with them and fellowshipped with them, their hearts began to burn. Even though they didn't see Him exactly as He really is, the Son of God, the risen Savior, their hearts still burned from the Scriptures. Then as they sat at bread with Him and He broke it, their eyes were opened.

My friend, the answer to sad, discouraged, disappointed hearts is when you spend time with Jesus. Spend time with Jesus in His Word, meditate upon Him, think about Him, and listen to Him. Your heart will begin to burn, and that's when He opens your eyes, makes Himself known to you in the scripture, and you have that real fellowship with the Lord. This is what we need, “Just a closer walk with Jesus”, as the old hymn says. Spend that time with Him.

That's what you and I should desire more than anything else as we open up the Scripture in the morning, not just to read our devotional Scriptures, but to spend time with Jesus in His Word. As they ran back the eight miles to Jerusalem to the Upper Room so excited that they couldn’t wait to tell the other disciples what they had experienced. I'll guarantee you if every church member spent time with Jesus during the week in the word of God, when they came together on Sunday morning, they would not have a dead service.

When they got back to the service, the other eleven and many of the other followers of Jesus were all excited about what had happened. They exclaimed that Simon had also seen Jesus. They were all saying, "Jesus indeed is risen. He has appeared." What a great service they had back then, rejoicing in the risen Savior. Would to God that would happen in all our churches each Sunday. I have a feeling that he crowds would come like they did on the day of Pentecost.

Have your experienced a “burning heart” recently? When was the last time that the Holy Spirit opened your eyes to see Jesus in the Word?

God bless!