You’ve undoubtedly heard the story. Maybe you’ve even seen the famous painting. Two disciples were walking to Emmaus on the third day after Jesus was crucified—talking a mile a minute about the strange events of recent days. Jesus, unrecognizable to them, sidled up and inquired about their conversation, at which point they asked, “How do you not know about this? What rock did you just crawl out from under?”—to which Jesus would have had a great response had He been a sarcastic Messiah.
[Download a PDF version of this devo here.]
But rather than blowing them away with inside information, He instead did something that was so Jesus: He taught them. And His teaching, which brought profound heart-change, gives us a model to imitate—that is, let Jesus do the teaching.
- Digging In (God, Show Me!)
To geek up on this scene, read Luke 24:13-24 from your Bible or Bible app. Make note of any whos, whens and wheres you see. (e.g., Who is in this scene? When is it taking place? Where is it happening?)
Then read the verses below and note two more whos: Who says what? Who does what?
Luke 24:15-32
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.
28 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.
30 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. 32 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?”
- Taking It Inward (God, Teach Me!)
It’s easy to be distracted in this scene by Jesus’ preferred mode of transportation: He just appeared and then He just vanished! And it seems that this miraculous movement proves beyond doubt that Jesus was the resurrected Messiah. But what of the miracle that took place after Jesus miraculously vanished—when the disciples turned to one another and said, essentially in unison, “Weren’t our hearts burning inside us when He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Write a note or two about how the disciples reacted to Jesus teaching. What do you make of their reaction? Why do you think their hearts burned?
- Putting Into Practice (God, Change Me!)
Here’s the thing. We can experience the same thing these two disciples experienced: having Jesus explain Scripture to us to the point that our hearts burn. We might call it a Holy Wow moment or an Aha! Moment. But how do we get there? Here are three prompts that might help.
Create an expectant atmosphere:
Clear your mind. Remove the distractions. If Jesus can show up to explain Scripture, and He can, you don’t want to miss a thing.
Make Jesus the point:
Jesus started with Moses and showed the two disciples how everything pointed to Him. Jesus is the point of our Bible time—getting to know Him, becoming like Him.
Use your whole Bible:
Luke 24 tells us that Jesus explained to the two disciples “what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” Don’t be afraid of the Old Testament. Make it a part of your Bible time.
[Download a PDF version of this devo here.]