Luke 24 - A Couple of Good Questions

Resurrection Sunday has come and gone. No doubt that in the next few weeks every fellowship will hear, read, or sing about about the events of Luke chapter 24. This chapter of the Bible contains some questions that stir my heart when I consider them.

The first comes in verse five. "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" This question is posed by an angel to the women who go to Jesus' tomb. The angel goes on to say, "He is not here , but has risen." In other words, why come to a place of death to find life or the living?

Isn't that what we did before we were saved, looking for "life" in all the wrong places? Thinking that wealth, education, a good job, or sex could fulfill our days on earth. Ephesians 2:1-9 says, " And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience
among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

Jesus said in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy: I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." True life, true living comes through Jesus.

The next question comes in verse thirty-two. "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?"

"That same day two of Jesus’ followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. As they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them. But God kept them from recognizing him.
He asked them, “What are you discussing so intently as you walk along?”
They stopped short, sadness written across their faces. Then one of them, Cleopas, replied, “You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days.”
“What things?” Jesus asked.
“The things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth,” they said. “He was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people. But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. This all happened three days ago.
“Then some women from our group of his followers were at his tomb early this morning, and they came back with an amazing report. They said his body was missing, and they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive! Some of our men ran out to see, and sure enough, his body was gone, just as the women had said.”
Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
By this time they were nearing Emmaus and the end of their journey. Jesus acted as if he were going on, but they begged him, “Stay the night with us, since it is getting late.” So he went home with them. As they sat down to eat,he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment he disappeared!
They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” (Luke 24:13-32)

This reminds me of the day that I became a Christian. Although I had heard (with my ears) the Scriptures many times, one day I heard them with my heart. In my deadness the Scriptures were just words. On that day the Scriptures came alive! My heart "burned within"!

Since that day I have had many, many moments of "heartburn". (Sorry, I couldn't resist!) As I grow in my faith, God reveals more and more of Himself to me. After 30 years of walking with Jesus, I'm still learning new things, still being amazed by the awesomeness of God.

Look for life beyond the dead things. Allow the Word of God to burn in your heart. I will close with a quote from Ravi Zacharias that I have referred to in other articles, "Jesus didn't come to make bad people good, He came to make dead people live."

1 John 1:1-4 says, "We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy."

God bless y'all real good.