Luke 24 reflection:
The last chapter of Luke. 24 weeks into this year and we wrap the book of Luke. The final chapter does not disappoint.
We ended chapter 23 with a cliffhanger. Jesus was dead.
And we start this chapter with the woman going to the tomb to with burial spices – note they were expecting to found Master Jesus dead – not alive.
The women are told Jesus is alive and run back to tell the disciples. The disciples did not believe. Yet Peter runs to check out the tomb.
Then we get 30 verses (from13-43) all about a strangely familiar encounter between Jesus and his disciples.
Two men walk along the road to Emmaus. They are talking about all that has happened in Jerusalem. Jesus joins them, but the two men do not recognize him.
They are despondent. They are lost. They tell him what has happened and how they feel a deep sense of loss.
Jesus says, “why don’t you all get it?” And then he starts in the Old Testament and explains it all to the two men about how the Christ must suffer and then enter into his glory.
They get to the village.
Jesus pretends like He is going on, but they convince him to stay.
It is the breaking of bread that the two men recognize Jesus. And then Jesus is gone.
They respond like this:
Back and forth they talked. “Didn’t we feel on fire as he conversed with us on the road, as he opened up the Scriptures for us?” — Luke 24:32 (The Message)
Didn’t we feel on fire as he conversed with us on the road….
When we encounter Jesus and when he opens up the Word(s) of God to us – in other words when we hear God’s voice – our heart burns within us.
In life, we hear a lot of voices. There a lot of words and phrases that attempt to stick to us. There are words of depression, of disease, of doubt that attempt to attach themselves to our hearts and lives.
That feeling and experience are different than when God speaks. When God speaks, our hearts burn. Our hearts can sense that God is showing himself. It is different than other voices we experience.
It is the difference in hearing the voice of a person that loves you verses hearing voices in a crowd. A few days ago I was in a gas station and there was a man that was speaking very angrily to the person he was with. It was harsh, it hurt, and seemed abnormal. At the same time, one of my sons came out of the restroom and called my name. In one was life, a life I knew and I shared in. Another, a voice near me that was heard, but it did not need to be owned.
God’s voice is the same. It is known. It can be trusted. It speaks of life. And thus our heart burns because it knows we are near and experiencing the Author and Perfecter of our faith.