The Emmaus Road

And they said to on another, "Were not out hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?"
Luke 24:32

Read Luke 24:13-34

The Bible is full of journeys. The New Testament alone has several, a small sample: the vivid picture of Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey, Paul’s epic conversion on the Road to Damascus, the horrifying seafaring journey in Acts 27, and my favorite, the Road to Emmaus.

It is this particular story that has birthed a revelation of the incredible grace of God, one that I always assented to mentally, but now have it burned in my heart. It is just so darn easy to fall into the trap of a "works salvation." Some may say that the grace which I cling to is "easy believism" of "cheap grace," on the contrary, it has now occurred to me that to throw myself on the mercy of God for His total work of Amazing Grace is a true act of humility.

Here is my interpretation of the events on the Emmaus Road in Luke 24:
The resurrected Christ comes upon two fellas and asks them what they are talking about. Cleopas replies, "Are you clueless? Don’t you know of all the happenings around here?"

The two men begin to give Jesus the cold hard facts, much like we do concerning our faith, and He finally calls them foolish men and slow of heart. He then begins to explain the living Scriptures and the two men are overwhelmed at His words and beg Him to stay and eat. They break bread, Jesus suddenly disappears and thus the most powerful part of the chapter, at least to me:

"Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?’

This is my Emmaus Road revelation:
Precisely as in Luke, He found me on this Road, not the other way around. John 15:16 states: You did not choose Me, but I chose you... Now before you think I am going to launch into a Calvinistic rant here, let me say, that the Gospel of Grace is a wonderful thing; it is an enigma surrounded by a mystery wrapped in a conundrum. The book of Joshua also states to "choose this day whom you will serve." Somewhere in all of this, I know it is He who found me, and because of that burning in my heart, it is also what I desire!

If His grace is as I believe, it is going to be hard to leave the road. David said, "One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life."(Ps 25:12) My walk on the Emmaus road has been at different paces; sometimes I am woefully behind, sometimes I am jumping out half cocked, too far ahead, and then there are those moments when I am breaking bread with the Master and my heart is burning within me.

The point is, I am always on the road! It is the security of knowing as the Psalmist said, "I have chosen the faithful way" yet, He even gives us that desire, for it is so true; "He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:6)

It has been a liberating revelation of the powerfully explosive yet gentle touch of Grace! It is with brutal honesty that I face this "works salvation" head-on and realize it is actually chalked full of a deadly sin: the Pride of Life that makes me think I can earn His love. As Brennan Manning so aptly states:

The Good News means that we can stop lying to ourselves. The sweet sound of amazing grace saves us from the necessity of self-deception...I don’t need to apply spiritual cosmetics to make myself presentable to Him.

Will you join me on the Road? Your heart will burn within you too!

Mark the Mad Hatter
Luke 24