Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share The Burning Hearts Society
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
The Burning Hearts Society
The Burning Hearts Society
Luke 24:28–35
May 3, 2020
On our text, Martin Luther penned, “God sees more deeply into the bottom of our hearts than we ourselves, and gives us more than we desire.”[1] He implied that the two disciples on the Emmaus Road, like us, had deep longings to see the Lord Jesus alive and reigning over His kingdom. The cross dashed their hopes, only because they failed to understand the OT teaching that “the Christ had to suffer these things and to enter into His glory” (v. 26). Jesus then explained the Scriptures from Moses to Malachi to show from them the things concerning Himself in the Old Testament (v. 27). They had a skewed theology because of a failure to properly interpret the Word Christologically,[2] shaping the teaching of Scripture to fit their notions instead of being shaped by Scripture—something we still suffer with quite often today. They had deep longings of heart they didn’t understand. They knew they needed something, Someone, to fill that longing. The Lord God had put eternity in their hearts, as Solomon wrote, but they had yet to grasp how the cross and empty tomb would bring them into this experience of eternal glory (Eccl. 3:11).[3] They thought Christ Jesus to be the one who would do so but when He died on the cross, they questioned why their hopes faded before their eyes. The longing for more, for something God-sized to fill the aching desire of their hearts still remained.
Their problem, and ours, is nothing that a good resurrection can’t cure!
The women who had witnessed the empty tomb only increased their heart desire to see Christ. Resurrection, while intimated, had not settled into their thinking as a possibility, and more, as a divine necessity following Jesus’ suffering at the cross. They longed and panted after the experience that only Christ can fill to bring their hearts into immeasurable joy and intense satisfaction. But their eyes were closed. They couldn’t see Him. Only the Lord God opening their eyes could set them free. And in doing so, He would give them more than they desired.
The risen Lord brings burning hearts into glory and joy. The Lord Jesus, risen from the dead, still brings burning hearts into glory and joy. What does Jesus do to bring burning hearts into glory and joy? Let’s consider how this unfolds, as we look at this passage.
Jesus makes burning hearts (vv. 28–29)
As Matt helped us to see last week, these two disciples listened to the greatest explanation of Holy Scripture that the world had ever heard (vv. 26–27): “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” Later, they tell us how they felt as Jesus taught. “Were not our hearts burning [and burning] within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” Their hearts pounded with an inner joy and glory they’d never known; nor could they explain it. Hearing Jesus affected them to the very depths of their being. Paul points out that when we truly hear the gospel, we’re hearing Christ. “But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus” (Eph. 4:20–21). Even as we’re being taught about Him, He speaks to us. That puts fire in the heart!
How did the crescendo of the story unfold? “And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther.” As the disciples got close to home, Jesus, yet again (e.g. vv. 17, 19) drew out a response from the disciples. “He acted as though He were going farther.” The word literally means ‘to make toward, to seem, to appear as though, to pretend.’[4] Here’s what happened. While dealing with the most serious and amazing truths, Jesus is playful[5] with these dear friends, showing a twist of “comic irony,”[6] leading to immeasurable joy.
Sometimes, out of an intense love for the joy that lies ahead, a father or mother might [...]
View all episodes
By South Woods Baptist ChurchThe Burning Hearts Society
Luke 24:28–35
May 3, 2020
On our text, Martin Luther penned, “God sees more deeply into the bottom of our hearts than we ourselves, and gives us more than we desire.”[1] He implied that the two disciples on the Emmaus Road, like us, had deep longings to see the Lord Jesus alive and reigning over His kingdom. The cross dashed their hopes, only because they failed to understand the OT teaching that “the Christ had to suffer these things and to enter into His glory” (v. 26). Jesus then explained the Scriptures from Moses to Malachi to show from them the things concerning Himself in the Old Testament (v. 27). They had a skewed theology because of a failure to properly interpret the Word Christologically,[2] shaping the teaching of Scripture to fit their notions instead of being shaped by Scripture—something we still suffer with quite often today. They had deep longings of heart they didn’t understand. They knew they needed something, Someone, to fill that longing. The Lord God had put eternity in their hearts, as Solomon wrote, but they had yet to grasp how the cross and empty tomb would bring them into this experience of eternal glory (Eccl. 3:11).[3] They thought Christ Jesus to be the one who would do so but when He died on the cross, they questioned why their hopes faded before their eyes. The longing for more, for something God-sized to fill the aching desire of their hearts still remained.
Their problem, and ours, is nothing that a good resurrection can’t cure!
The women who had witnessed the empty tomb only increased their heart desire to see Christ. Resurrection, while intimated, had not settled into their thinking as a possibility, and more, as a divine necessity following Jesus’ suffering at the cross. They longed and panted after the experience that only Christ can fill to bring their hearts into immeasurable joy and intense satisfaction. But their eyes were closed. They couldn’t see Him. Only the Lord God opening their eyes could set them free. And in doing so, He would give them more than they desired.
The risen Lord brings burning hearts into glory and joy. The Lord Jesus, risen from the dead, still brings burning hearts into glory and joy. What does Jesus do to bring burning hearts into glory and joy? Let’s consider how this unfolds, as we look at this passage.
Jesus makes burning hearts (vv. 28–29)
As Matt helped us to see last week, these two disciples listened to the greatest explanation of Holy Scripture that the world had ever heard (vv. 26–27): “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” Later, they tell us how they felt as Jesus taught. “Were not our hearts burning [and burning] within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” Their hearts pounded with an inner joy and glory they’d never known; nor could they explain it. Hearing Jesus affected them to the very depths of their being. Paul points out that when we truly hear the gospel, we’re hearing Christ. “But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus” (Eph. 4:20–21). Even as we’re being taught about Him, He speaks to us. That puts fire in the heart!
How did the crescendo of the story unfold? “And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther.” As the disciples got close to home, Jesus, yet again (e.g. vv. 17, 19) drew out a response from the disciples. “He acted as though He were going farther.” The word literally means ‘to make toward, to seem, to appear as though, to pretend.’[4] Here’s what happened. While dealing with the most serious and amazing truths, Jesus is playful[5] with these dear friends, showing a twist of “comic irony,”[6] leading to immeasurable joy.
Sometimes, out of an intense love for the joy that lies ahead, a father or mother might [...]