Heartburn

Heartburn

Two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus. Jesus himself came along and joined them and began walking beside them. But they didn’t know who he was, because God kept them from recognizing him. –Luke 24:13, 15-16

As two followers of Jesus walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus, they were joined by a stranger who seemed to know nothing of the recent crucifixion of Jesus or the reports of his resurrection. Something about their exchange with this stranger was unsettling. As they listened to him explain how all the Old Testament Scriptures pointed to Jesus, they fought a burning sensation inside. It was Jesus walking with them, and they didn’t even recognize him.

Perhaps these followers didn’t recognize Jesus because he simply was not who they were looking for. They had been blinded by disappointment. Luke tells us that sadness was written across their faces. “We had thought he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel,” they said (Luke 24:21). They were simply too lost in their sadness, too disappointed by his death, and too desperate to make sense of their lives to see Jesus. They were too busy talking about Jesus to enjoy his very presence. Their hearts were burning with the presence of God in their midst, yet they didn’t recognize him. It wasn’t until Jesus broke the bread and gave it to them that they remembered Jesus breaking the bread on the hillside to feed the five thousand, breaking the bread at the Last Supper. God opened their eyes, and they recognized the presence of Jesus among them. The heartburn of the afternoon gave way to hearts filled with hope for the future because they had experienced the presence of the living God in their lives.

Imagine walking for seven miles with Jesus and sitting down to dinner, never knowing it was he. Yet perhaps that is the way it is with us. He’s right here with us, and we don’t recognize him. We’re so disappointed he has not come through for us in the way we hoped he would that we can’t appreciate his presence. We’re so sad that we simply can’t see him. Beg him to stay with you. See him break the bread for you. Feast upon the truth he tells you and the understanding he feeds you. Don’t miss your Savior right beside you.

My heart burns with your presence, Jesus, and I never want to miss you again because I am blinded by disappointment or simply too sad to see you. Open my eyes and my heart to your very presence here with me.

DIGGING DEEPER