And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:25-27
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?” Luke 24:32
Dear Lord Jesus, of all your post-resurrection appearances (1 Cor. 15:3-7), my favorite is the visit you paid disheartened friends on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). Your meeting with a shattered and shamed Peter was incredibly kind and healing. Your appearance to the apostle Paul, who in his own words was a man unworthy of even being called an apostle, marked him forever. All of us have enjoyed the fruit of that visitation, through Paul’s life and writings.
But I love how you came alongside of the Emmaus men, for I am so much like them. I’m often a foolish slow-of-heart man, who needs the gospel today as much as the first day I believed it. How I praise you for your tender forbearance, unlimited patience, and grace-full persistence.
As you dealt with my brothers, so deal with me. Continue to reveal yourself as the main character and hero in all the Scriptures. Don’t let me read the writings of Moses without thinking about you, Jesus—especially the law. May Moses’s words always drive me to the riches of your grace; for you have fulfilled the demands of the law for us, and are now fulfilling the beauty of the law in us.
And continue to show me how you are fulfilling everything the prophets have spoken—not just the things concerning your sufferings on the cross and your resurrection from the dead, but also all the promises of your present work, as Redeemer and Restorer. Your cry from the cross, “It is finished,” is the foundation and guarantee of your ongoing work in our world.
Lastly, Lord Jesus, grant me “redemptive heartburn,” like that which you ignited in the hearts of our Emmaus brothers. Continue to open the Scriptures to me, Jesus, until the Day you return to finish making all things new. So very Amen I pray, in your holy and transforming name.
