Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us? We reflected on this question as we read the incidents that followed Jesus’ resurrection found in the 24th chapter of Luke. Reading the Scriptures at our breakfast table on Resurrection Sunday meant looking back at the greatest miracle and greatest proof of the authenticity of our faith. It was an edifying and comforting experience.
Days before Jesus was taken up to heaven, He made sure that His followers fully understood His Word and His work. “Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures” (Luke 24:45). Until the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus made careful steps to reveal His self and communicate His message. As a result, his disciples acknowledged that “their hearts burned while He was with them” (Luke 24:32), “they worshiped Him” (Luke 24:52), “they returned…with great joy” (Luke 24:52), and “they stayed continually at the temple, praising God” (Luke 24:53).
Indeed, it is only when Jesus opens our minds (cognitive), hearts (affective) and bodies (kinesthetic) to His truths and His self that we can fully understand His character and will. Only then can we fully appreciate His suffering and death. Only then can we fully experience the power of His rising from the dead. Only then, can we return to our spheres of influence with a joyful heart and an attitude of praise.
Our prayer is for Jesus to open the inner sanctum of our beings to His self and His Word. May the Scriptures come alive in us that we may see its relevance even in the trivialities of life. May His presence become real that it is concretized in our daily dealings. May His Words permeate our hearts, burning it with passion to live out the essence of the cross and the empty tomb.
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