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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. (NIV)

‘ Thus do they not so much compare notes as compare hearts, in the review of the sermon Christ had preached to them. They found the preaching powerful, even when they knew not the preacher. It made things very plain and clear to them; and, which was more, brought a divine heat with a divine light into their souls, such as put their hearts into a glow, and kindled a holy fire of pious and devout affections in them.’ Matthew Henry

Warren Wiersbe says that the mourners became missionaries. These two dejected people were revitalised by their fellowship with Jesus and His personal ministry of the Word. The burning heart gives a person the ‘get up and go’ they need to change their plans and follow the Lord in a new direction. These two had done the long walk from Jerusalem and, it seems, had no intention of travelling any further that night. But how different they were when they realised that Jesus was alive. On that return trip, my guess is they felt like they had wings on their heels. Upon their arrival in Jerusalem they received further confirmation of what they by now deeply knew. So the two, and the eleven, were able to strengthen each other in the faith. This mutual edifying should be a part of every Christian gathering.

PRAYER: Lord, whenever, wherever my heart may be cold, I ask that by your presence and truth you will set it ablaze with love for you

 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. (NIV)

There was something in Jesus’ breaking of the bread that struck a chord with them (35). Perhaps they saw the marks of the nails in His Hands? I don’t know. But I was thinking, as I read these verses, that we have to receive what Jesus has done for us. He wants to ‘give’ to us the broken bread of His body; the benefits of His atoning sacrifice. Every time we take communion, eating the bread and drinking the wine, receiving it inside ourselves, we physically recognise our need of Jesus within. What He has done for us is objective fact outside of ourselves, but only when we take His gift inside ourselves do we receive the benefits.

I was also thinking that our own meal tables can be sacramental. When we share hospitality with others, prayerfully asking Jesus to be present – to bless our guests, and the food (however simple) and the conversation – who can say what He will do with this? The space of hospitality may also become the place of revelation

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. (NIV)

Be encouraged. The living Jesus responds to our pleas. He hears our requests. He regularly does what we ask, even though it may initially appear to be unlikely that He will. May we, then, as Jesus Himself taught, ”…always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1).

”The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16)

‘Those that have experienced the pleasure and profit of communion with Christ cannot but covet more of his company, and beg of him, not only to walk with them all day, but to abide with them at night. Christ yielded to their importunity: He went in, to tarry with them. He has promised that if any man open the door, to bid him welcome, he will come in to him, Rev.iii.20′ Matthew Henry.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, in those situations where it looks like you mean to ‘go farther‘, give me the faith to go on asking, seeking, knocking. Thank you that you do respond to the heartfelt pleas of your people, and you always give just what is right.

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 the only one visiting Jerusalem who does 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 they did not see Jesus.”

²⁵ He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Messiah 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. (NIV)

Oh the irony of verse 18. Jesus knew from first-hand painful experience ”the things” that had ”happened” in Jerusalem. He had lived, and died, and lived again through them all.

Oh the irony of the beginning of verse 21. The Hope of Israel was walking along with them, but they did not yet realise it.

Oh the irony of the ending of verse 21 (See Luke 18:31-34). God was giving them the biggest hint, but they could not yet receive it.

But what an eye-opening Bible Study this led to (25-27). The best Bible Study ever given. How we wish we could have been there.

‘This exquisite idyll of the Resurrection is too lifelike and natural to have been invented. The sorrowful walk; the reasonings; the wonder that anyone could have been for ever so short a time in Jerusalem without knowing of the events that filled their souls; the lingering hope; the despair that the third day was waning and He had not come; the clue of the morning announcement which had not been followed up; the burning heart-all these touches are full of natural pathos.

How swiftly the seven and a half miles must have sped in such company; and what new light illumined the pages of the Old Testament! All the Bible is full of Him, but we need to be shown its meaning.’ F.B.Meyer

 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 the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

¹⁹ “What things?” he asked. (NIV)

You have to love this story don’t you? It is full of the most exquisite irony.

We know the name of only one of the two people who were travelling to Emmaus that day: ‘Cleopas’. But it has been suggested that the other person could have been his wife. This is conjecture, although it’s an interesting thought. However, the Bible doesn’t tell us, so I assume it’s not important for us to know.

But here’s the point I want to make today. Sometimes God/Jesus asks His people questions, not because He doesn’t know, but because they need to speak. These two on the Emmaus Road needed to let something out rather than hold it in: their sadness, disappointment and discouragement.

What do you need to pour out to Jesus today? Not because He is ignorant, but because He cares…cares deeply for you.

”Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Pe.5:7)

 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. (NIV)

‘…why should not life be one sweet walk of fellowship with One whom we cannot see, but whose presence fills our hearts with burning love, until suddenly the veil shall part in twain! See 1 Peter 1:8.’ F.B.Meyer

What a heart-warming story this is. It is found, in detail, only in Luke. It is at one and the same time charming, poignant, human, mildly amusing, and above all it is uplifting.

Note this simple principle: as they talked about the things concerning Jesus they encountered the presence of Jesus.

David was an unusual boy. I met him in my late teens, as I was preparing to go to Bible College, and knew him for only a short time. He may have been a little younger than me. He was bright, intelligent, a Grammar school student, and he attended the local parish church. He truly came to know the Lord, and was filled with the Holy Spirit. This put him at odds with some of the more theologically liberal people in his congregation, but he took a bold stand for truth. I remember one summer day, when we took the train from Wigan to the Lake District. We spent the day on the steamer, and just walking and talking as we made our way around Ambleside. Our talk was about Jesus, and oh how our hearts burned. It was a day of thrilling conversation. I need to say, we didn’t talk about Jesus like this because I am particularly devout. It was David. He was so full of the Holy Spirit he delighted to talk about the Lord. But it was a pleasure to join in.

PRAYER: Lord, renew our conversations. Teach us to talk about you much more than we do. May your Word fill our words, so that we build one another up as we walk together on life’s Emmaus Road.

When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. ¹⁰ It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. ¹¹ But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. ¹² Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.(NIV)

The first witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus were ”the women” who faithfully went to His tomb in the early morning. Here is an example of the revolutionary nature of Christianity. In that culture, women were demeaned. They were regarded as less important than men. So much so that they were not allowed to be witnesses in a court of law. Every morning, in his prayers, a Jewish man would thank God that he was not born a Gentile, a woman or a slave. But the good news of the risen Lord was entrusted to a band of devoted women who were among His followers. A few years later, the apostle Paul was to write to the Christian community in Corinth:

”God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” (1 Cor.1:28,29)

In this ‘Upside Down Kingdom’, God gets things done in His own way. Regularly this runs counter to human thoughts, ideas and prejudices.

Although the women were not generally believed at first, Peter modelled the right approach (12). He investigated the evidence for himself. Over the centuries, those who have followed in his steps, looking into these matters with honest hearts, have often come to believe.

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. ⁵ In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” ⁸ Then they remembered his words. (NIV)

Selwyn Hughes said, ‘If you want to meet God all the time, you must meet Him some of the time; and if you want to meet Him everywhere, you must meet Him somewhere.’

For many years, the early morning has been an important time for me to meet with Jesus. I’m not unfailingly consistent with this discipline. Nor do I want to be prescriptive. I’m not saying this practice is for everyone. We are not all ‘larks’; not all ‘morning people’. The important thing is to pray, and we can do this anywhere and any time. I just find generally that morning is my best time.

Furthermore I can add that many a morning I have come with my confusions and fears, my heartbreaks and conundrums, and I have found that the early morning mists clear in the presence of the risen Lord, and as I am caused to ”remember” Him, and what He has said in His Word. In those moments, perspective can be regained. There is a re-balancing of the wheels of life; a re-tuning of the signal to get past the ‘static’ and on to the divine wavelength.

I heard someone say recently that effective praying is fundamentally about ‘showing up’ consistently, in the place of prayer. It’s not a matter of whether or not you think you’re ‘good at it’. It’s just coming, and being with the Lord.

PRAYER: Lord, please will you clear the mists that hover over my soul. May your Sunlight break through my doubts and fears. Remind me of all that you are and all that you say in your Word. Please meet with me in the garden of my cloudy uncertainty and renew me in faith, hope and love.

²¹ The talk of a good person is rich fare for many,
    but chatterboxes die of an empty heart.

²² God’s blessing makes life rich;
    nothing we do can improve on God.

²³ An empty-head thinks mischief is fun,
    but a mindful person relishes wisdom.

²⁴ The nightmares of the wicked come true;
    what the good people desire, they get.

²⁵ When the storm is over, there’s nothing left of the wicked;
    good people, firm on their rock foundation, aren’t even fazed.

²⁶ A lazy employee will give you nothing but trouble;
    it’s vinegar in the mouth, smoke in the eyes.

²⁷ The Fear-of-God expands your life;
    a wicked life is a puny life.

²⁸ The aspirations of good people end in celebration;
    the ambitions of bad people crash.

²⁹ God is solid backing to a well-lived life,
    but he calls into question a shabby performance.

³⁰ Good people last—they can’t be moved;
    the wicked are here today, gone tomorrow.

³¹ A good person’s mouth is a clear fountain of wisdom;
    a foul mouth is a stagnant swamp.

³² The speech of a good person clears the air;
    the words of the wicked pollute it. (The Message)

Whenever we come, from time to time, to the book of Proverbs, it’s worth ‘sucking’ each one like a sweet. Proverbs requires meditation. On the face of it, some of the sayings may seem inaccurate: untrue to experience. Take verse 30 for example. In this world God’s ”Good people…” don’t ”last”. They are regularly removed from the world by ”the wicked”. Yes, but look deeper and you will see that the righteous do endure. See things in eternal terms. Take the (very) long view. Ultimately, the godly come through the storm (25; see Matt.7:24-27). It is always true that ”God’s blessing makes life rich…” and ”The Fear-of-God expands your life” (vv.22,27). God-blessed people bless the world in many ways, not least in their speech (vv.21,31,32). They are ‘air fresheners.’