They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures”
– Luke 24:32
I love this verse and had the opportunity to preach on it just a few days ago to honor a spiritual father to me in ministry, Jim Shaddix, who I moved to seminary to study under, specifically to study preaching.
There’s a lot I could say here, but the reason why he comes to my mind whenever I read this verse is because years ago he had a ministry called Burning Heart Ministries. It doesn’t exist in the same way today, but he set it up to train and mentor preachers of God’s Word who would open the Scriptures, it was all based on Luke 24:32, in ways that would lead to hearts burning in people.
That’s the language here. Here’s the context. In Luke 24, two followers of Jesus are walking on a road. One of them Cleopas, the other one, we don’t know his or her name, and Jesus meets them. This is after he has risen from the dead. They don’t recognize who he is and what he does. When you look back up in verse 27 of Luke 24, Luke writes that beginning with Moses and all the prophets. He interpreted to them and all the scriptures, the things concerning himself.
Luke 24:32 teaches us that all of Scripture points to Jesus.
What a conversation. Jesus just going from Genesis to Malachi and everywhere in between, all over the Scriptures showing how he and he’s talking about himself in the third person was promised through all of that, like remember that promise in Genesis 3 that a seed would come from the woman and Satan would bruise his heel, but this seed would crush Satan’s head. It happened. That’s exactly what happened at the cross and the resurrection of Jesus.
And then he just goes on and on with story after story in the Old Testament, prophecy after prophecy. It’s all pointing to Jesus. And they don’t realize that it’s Jesus they’re talking to until a few verses later when he breaks bread with them and their eyes are opened, and then Jesus is gone and they look at each other and they say, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us? Literally, he lit us up while he opened the Scriptures.” And here’s the beauty of this passage.
Actually, there’s so much beauty in this passage that we could talk about, but here’s one thing to take away from it. Jesus could have just immediately revealed himself to these travelers, but he didn’t. And at least one reason why is to show us the power of just opening the Scriptures and showing people Jesus in them, that there is power in the Word of God to light hearts on fire and not just power in a preacher standing in front of a crowd of people like, yes, that.
Luke 24:32 teaches us God’s Word can set hearts on fire.
So for any preacher or teacher of God’s Word, know when you open the Scriptures and that’s your job, open the scriptures, know there’s power in that Word to light hearts on fire, to save people from their sins, to transform people’s hearts. Only the Word of God can do that. So fill your teaching and preaching with God’s Word, not your thoughts, not your ideas, not your personal convictions, no. The Word, the truth of God. Open the Scriptures and point people to Jesus, but not just those who stand on a stage or in front of a crowd of people. This is Jesus doing this with two people on a road. That means you and I can do this today with anybody we interact with. Open the Scriptures.
Tell somebody today what the Bible says about Jesus, and trust that as you do, there is power in the words you are speaking, in the Holy Spirit who’s empowering you to speak those words. There is power to light hearts on fire, to save people’s souls today, to transform people’s lives today. Oh God, help us to faithfully open the Scriptures in our conversations with people today, whether we pull out a physical Bible or not, whether we pull it up on our phone or not.
This verse leads us to encourage others with God’s Word.
God, we pray that you would help us to speak your truth in conversation as we walk today, as we talk with others, as we sit with others over meals, as we interact with others. We pray for this in our relationship with brothers and sisters in Christ today. Help us to encourage others with your Word and in your Word to point them to Jesus and his love for them.
God, we pray that you’d help us to spur other brothers and sisters on toward Jesus today with our words through the use of your Word. And God, we pray this, for those who don’t know you, who have not seen you, they have not had their eyes opened to the glory of Jesus. We pray for friends, for family members, for coworkers, for classmates today. Help us with boldness that comes from your Holy Spirit to share your Word and to trust its power to transform hearts.
Prayer for the Phu Thai People
And God, we pray for this among all the unreached peoples of the world. We pray specifically today for the Phu Thai people of Thailand and in other places, including in the United States where these million men and women and children live who don’t know the truth about who Jesus is in their Buddhism. They don’t know who you are, oh God, and how much you love them.
So God, we pray, send labors today to the Phu Thai, to open the Scriptures and cause hearts to burn and people to turn and trust in your love for them. Oh God, we pray that you would send labors to all the unreached people groups of the world so that the Scriptures might be open, hearts might be transformed by Jesus in them. Oh God, we pray all this according to your Word, which we love, which causes our hearts to burn. In Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
