Special moments! Wonderful, unexpected experiences from God! Ever had one?
Well two disciples on their way to the little village of Emmaus about 7 miles from Jerusalem after the crucifixion of Jesus had one!
They were perplexed, they were despondent, they were deeply disappointed! The One they thought was the Messiah had just been killed – martyred by the Jewish religious leaders and Roman government!
As they traveled along and were in conversation with one another, a stranger came alongside and struck up a conversation with them… He was not someone they recognized. (He was really Jesus… the One who had just been crucified – their Lord; but the Bible says “their eyes were kept from recognizing Him.”) “What are you talking about?” He said. They couldn’t believe this guy hadn’t heard what had just happened in Jerusalem – everyone was talking about it! So they told Him all about it.
And then something incredible happened! He explained the significance of it all to them from the Bible – beginning to end! Here’s what 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.”
Oh, I’ve got to tell you, I’d have given anything to have listened in on that conversation! I mean, imagine it – the risen Lord, the One who had been crucified, the Messiah explaining beginning to end what the Scriptures had prophesied about Himself and how it had all be fulfilled in His own death, burial, and resurrection, to the most intricate detail! What a Bible study that had to have been! Wow! … Wow!!
Still they didn’t get it… They still didn’t recognize Him! Hard to believe eh?
This “stranger” acted like He had further to go as they approached Emmaus… They enjoyed the Bible study and asked Him to stay with them and join them for dinner. And then the miracle happened! The Bible says, “When He was at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him!” They were just about to say something… “And then He vanished from their sight!”
It just had to blow them away! Incredible! Not only had they had an incredible Bible lesson from the risen Messiah Himself… He had personally revealed Himself to them! Their remark to each other after Jesus disappeared tells it all: They said, “Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while he opened to use the Scriptures!”
Now I’ve never had an experience just like that, but I can tell you I’ve had some powerful moments of revelation and illumination with the Lord! Things He’s done in my life – ways He’s revealed Himself – events in my life in which He’s made Himself so real to me! A “burning heart?” Yeah, I’d say so. And sometimes those experiences have come at the most discouraging moments in my life – times when I’ve been really down and doubted everything about my faith! Hey, “fasten your seat belt” – He can and does come alongside and make Himself VERY real!
