When Heart’s Burned!

¹³ Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles^[a] 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?”

²⁸ As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on 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 itand 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?”

The savior of the world, after rising from the grave. After staring death in the eyes and muzzling him, comes back in the flesh and meets some of his disciples. Imagine His emotions – excitement, trepidation, nervousness?

Yet in verse 28. we find the most remarkable thing happening. Jesus the GodMan, doesn’t assume that his proximity in distance to those he is with equals intimacy with them. Jesus doesn’t impose Himself on them, and He never imposes Himself on us. God is a true gentleman.

Wouldn’t it have been tragic if those two men hadn’t chosen to invite Jesus the risen Lord to stay a while longer and break bread with them? And yet, how many Emmaus road experiences do we have, when in our proximity to God we don’t chose to invite him to intimacy with us.

Every Sabbath is a wonderful opportunity to accept God’s invitation to a 24hr date and experience an awesome day that will leave us saying like those men  – “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”