“A Word for this Week” Pastor Bill Mugnolo: HARP Pastoral Advisor
Week of May 1-7, 2017 “Heartbreak, Heartburn, Heartfelt” … Luke 24:13-35
Anyone who reads the Bible on a fairly regular basis probably has a favorite verse or passage. While I can’t identify for myself one specific favorite, the account of Jesus’ encounter with the two disciples along the Emmaus Road is certainly one that especially speaks to me. Three “heart” words best describe for me what takes place in this passage from Luke, Chapter 24:
Heartbreak: The two disciples were heartbroken as they spoke to the “stranger” who was walking alongside of them. They had placed such high hopes upon Jesus of Nazareth whom they saw as being “a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all people.” But Jesus—whom they had hoped would “redeem” Israel—had been crucified. And yet rumor had it that He had been raised from the dead. The two disciples were not only heartbroken, they were surely confused.
Heartburn: The stranger, far from having any sympathy for two, called them out as being foolish for refusing to believe what the prophets had written about the Christ. He said, “Wasn’t it necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory.” He then explained the Scripture to the two disciples. They would later recall, “Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the Scriptures?”
Heartfelt: After Jesus revealed Himself through the breaking of the bread, the two disciples returned to Jerusalem with heartfelt conviction and spoke of all that happened to them along the Emmaus Road.
May we too, take these words “to heart”. May they break our hearts of sin, burn within us God’s truths, and may we proclaim them with heartfelt love.
