Mensa Otabil - Did Not Our Heart Burn Within Us?
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Luke chapter 24, verses 31 to 32: «Then their eyes were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. 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? '» The two disciples finally reached their destination, the village of Emmaus, and they turned in to go to their home. The stranger with whom they had been walking wanted to continue on his journey, as it was getting dark in the evening, so they persuaded him to stay overnight. They did all of this still unaware that it was Jesus. They were impressed by His exposition of the Scriptures; probably, they wanted to hear more. They felt He was someone who could help them and explain their confusion, so they invited Him in, and He came in. There is a lesson here that Jesus comes only when we invite Him. If they had not invited Him, He would have moved on. It is a very important observation that many times we don’t invite Him into our situation, yet we still want Him there. If you want Him to be in your situation, you need to invite Him.
They invited Jesus, and He came in; they went home with Him and wanted to have a meal. As was customary in every Jewish home, before a meal, they blessed the table. The blessing of the table involves the breaking of bread. Jesus took the bread, and they honored Him by leading the table. He took the bread and broke it, and the Bible says that when He broke it, their eyes were opened. How that happened, we don’t know, because these two disciples were not at the Last Supper to see the institution of Holy Communion, so they may not have applied any spiritual meaning to what Jesus was doing. What did they see? Perhaps at that moment, they noticed the nails in His hands, or maybe God just opened their eyes, but through the simple act of breaking bread, their eyes were opened. The moment their physical eyes were opened to the physical presence of Jesus, He vanished from their sight.
However, this revelation or knowledge of Jesus began when He opened the Scriptures to them. It was when the Scriptures were opened to them that their spiritual perception came alive, enabling them to recognize Him as Jesus. Then they made a very interesting observation: «Did not our hearts burn within us when He walked with us and opened the Scriptures to us?» This means that from the time Jesus entered their presence, they had felt something they couldn’t articulate. They sensed something unusual within them, and when He started talking, something inside them responded to what He was saying, but they couldn’t fully understand it. Sometimes, we experience this too; we might be in a service where the Word of God is being shared, and we just feel something happening to us, yet we can’t pinpoint it, or we may be in a meeting with worship occurring, and we sense something significant, though we can’t identify it. Over time, God brings clarity to these spiritual sensations that we feel.
It was when they recognized it was Jesus that everything they had experienced on the road made sense, and they were no longer sad. The important lesson to learn is that many times we go through experiences we do not understand, but in the end, God opens something to us, and everything from our past makes sense. That’s why you shouldn’t give up until you reach the point where God opens your eyes, and then everything will make sense to you. I pray that you would have such an encounter with Jesus that your heart will respond to Him and your spirit will respond to Him.
Let’s pray together. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, let the entrance of Your Word burn like fire in my heart. In Jesus' name, Amen and Amen.» Friends, I trust that you’ve enjoyed our discussion about these two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Tomorrow, I will start a new teaching. I am Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.