devotional post # 2084

Luke 24:13-35

Luk 24:13 That same day two of them were going to a town called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,
Luk 24:14 and they were discussing all these things that had happened with each other about .
Luk 24:15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself came close and went with them.
Luk 24:16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
Luk 24:17 And he said to them, “What is this discussion that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad.
Luk 24:18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
Luk 24:19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet with strong a work and word in God’s presence and all the people,
Luk 24:20 and how our chief priests and rulers betrayed him to be condemned to death, and crucified him.
Luk 24:21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and not only that, it is now the third day since these things happened.
Luk 24:22 Also, some women of our group amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning,
Luk 24:23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.
Luk 24:24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him.”
Luk 24:25 And he said to them, “O stupid ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!
Luk 24:26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should go through these events and enter into his glory?”
Luk 24:27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Luk 24:28 So they came close to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther,
Luk 24:29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is near evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them.
Luk 24:30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
Luk 24:31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he disappeared from their sight.
Luk 24:32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”
Luk 24:33 And they got up that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,
Luk 24:34 saying, “The Lord has really risen, and has appeared to Simon!”
Luk 24:35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was revealed to them by the breaking of the bread.

slow hearts, burning hearts

This beautiful story reveals something deeply true about life in this in‑between age: even those who genuinely want to see Jesus often struggle to recognize Him. The disciples on the road to Emmaus were not unbelievers. They were not hostile. They were not indifferent. They were grieving followers who longed for Jesus — and yet, when He walked beside them, they did not know Him.

Their eyes were kept from recognizing Him, not because He was absent, but because their expectations, sorrow, and limited understanding clouded their vision. And that is still our experience today. We long for Christ. We seek Him. We pray to see His hand at work. Yet He often comes to us in ways we do not expect, through Scriptures we overlook, in moments we misinterpret, and in truths we are slow to believe.

But there is a remedy — the same remedy Jesus gave those two disciples.

He opened the Scriptures.

The Christ first encountered in the gospels now invites us to find Him in the pages of the Old Testament. He is there in the promises, the patterns, the sacrifices, the shadows, the stories. He is the true Passover Lamb, the greater Moses, the better David, the suffering Servant, the promised King. But our hearts, like theirs, are often slow to believe.

Yet when the pieces begin to fall into place — when we start to see Him woven through the whole story of redemption — something awakens in us. The Scriptures begin to glow with meaning. Familiar passages take on new depth. The Old Testament becomes a treasury of Christ’s presence and work. And like the two disciples, our hearts begin to burn within us as He reveals Himself through the Word.

This is the gift He still offers: not merely information, but illumination. Not merely knowledge, but recognition. Not merely teaching, but an encounter.

So we pray:

LORD, show us Yourself in the Scriptures.
Open our eyes to see You where we have not seen You before.
Make our hearts burn with living faith as You walk with us through Your Word.