Luke 24:28-32
 
Luke 24 relates several events that happened after the resurrection of Jesus. Two Sundays ago, Jon preached from the story known as “The Road to Emmaus.” When Jesus appeared to them, they did not recognize Him. They did, however, express their perplexity concerning Jesus’s death and the stories of His possible resurrection. In response, Jesus said, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” (v. 25). “Slow to believe” ( slow of heart, literal translation) in this verse means something like “dull” or “slow to understand.” The Message puts it this way, “So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can’t you simply believe all that the prophets said?”
Jesus did not, however, leave His disciples in their slow-heartedness. Instead, He took them on a study tour of the Hebrew Scriptures, showing them many things about Himself, things that explained the necessity of His death and resurrection.
At dinner that night, when they recognized Him, Jesus mysteriously disappeared. The disciples remarked, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (v. 32). Because of their encounter with Jesus and because of His biblical exposition, the two disciples moved from slow hearts to burning hearts, from dense dullness to impassioned insight. Though the expression “burning hearts” is not common in the Bible, we get its sense intuitively. Burning hearts are hearts stirred up or inflamed into passion. They are excited and fully alive, eager and ready to go.
What gets the disciples’ hearts on fire is the teaching of Jesus as He “opened the Scriptures to us” (v. 32). In Scripture, the presence and power of God are often represented by fire (burning bush, pillar of fire, Mt. Sinai, etc.). In Acts, the Holy Spirit is poured out on the disciples, with what seemed like tongues of fire.
Have you ever experienced anything like this? I have on numerous occasions. I n my early seminary years, there were many debates about the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts, and I was unsure what to believe. This worried me because I wanted to be filled with the Spirit, and I wanted to have solid biblical theology. You might say I was stuck in “slow heart” mode, although I was working hard to get up to speed.
In the late 80’s, I attended evening services at the Vineyard of Anaheim. Pastor John Wimber was often the speaker. Later, I took his course, “Signs, Wonders and Church Growth” at Fuller Seminary. He often preached on the presence and power of the Spirit. Guided by his teaching and wisdom, I understood for the first time how the Holy Spirit worked in the lives of Christians. As a believer in Jesus, I had received the gift of the Spirit (Romans 8). I learned that the Holy Spirit had so much more experiences and giftedness to give me (1 Corinthians 12-14). As I listened to John Wimber, my heart burned within me, a combination of delight in learning, joy in the truth, and eagerness to experience more to the Spirit’s work in my life.
Sometimes my “burning heart” moment comes when I’m working on a challenging passage of Scripture. Perhaps I’m working on a sermon on a biblical text that I find puzzling. I’ll work hard on the original language and read commentaries. I’ll pray a lot and wait on God. And then suddenly, it all become clear to me. I’ll see what Scripture is saying. In those moments my heart burns, a combination of gratitude for God’s help through the Spirit, joy in learning something new about God, and excitement over the chance to share what I’ve learned with others.
Now, in many ways my heart is still plenty slow. There’s much in Scripture that I don’t understand. And I expect there’s plenty that I think I get when, in fact, I’m missing the point. But to whatever extent I have learned what’s true, I give thanks to God for teaching me through Scripture, through wise interpreters, through thoughtful reflection, and through the gifts of the Spirit. I expect that, like me, you’d love the Lord to reveal even more to you, turning our slow hearts into burning hearts for God.
Do you ask the Lord to reveal more truth to you through Scripture? If so, what has happened? If not, would you be willing to start asking?
Dear Lord, as You teach me, may my heart burn with joy, gladness, and passion for You and Your truth.
Two Sundays ago, Jon preached from the story known as “The Road to Emmaus” from Luke 24. When Jesus appeared to them, they did not recognize Him. They did, however, express their perplexity concerning Jesus’s death and the stories of His possible resurrection. In response, Jesus said, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” (v. 25). “Slow to believe” (slow of heart, literal translation) in this verse means something like “dull” or “slow to understand.” The Message puts it this way, “So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can’t you simply believe all that the prophets said?”
Jesus did not, however, leave His disciples in their slow-heartedness. Instead, He took them on a study tour of the Hebrew Scriptures, showing them many things about Himself, things that explained the necessity of His death and resurrection.
At dinner that night, when they recognized Him, Jesus mysteriously disappeared. The disciples remarked, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” (v. 32). Because of their encounter with Jesus and His biblical exposition, the two disciples moved from slow hearts to burning hearts, from dense dullness to impassioned insight. Though the expression “burning hearts” is not common in the Bible, we get its sense intuitively. Burning hearts are hearts stirred up or inflamed into passion. They are excited and fully alive, eager and ready to go.
What gets the disciples’ hearts on fire is the teaching of Jesus as He “opened the Scriptures to us” (v. 32). In Scripture, the presence and power of God are often represented by fire (burning bush, pillar of fire, Mt. Sinai, etc.). In Acts, the Holy Spirit is poured out on the disciples, with what seemed like tongues of fire.
Have you ever experienced anything like this? I have on numerous occasions. In my early seminary years, there were many debates about the Holy Spirit and spiritual gifts, and I was unsure what to believe. This worried me because I wanted to be filled with the Spirit and have solid biblical theology. You might say I was stuck in “slow heart” mode, although I was working hard to get up to speed.
In the late 80’s, I attended evening services at the Vineyard of Anaheim. Pastor John Wimber was often the speaker. Later, I took his course, “Signs, Wonders and Church Growth” at Fuller Seminary. He often preached on the presence and power of the Spirit. Guided by his teaching and wisdom, I finally understood how the Holy Spirit worked in the lives of Christians. As a believer in Jesus, I had received the gift of the Spirit (Romans 8). I learned that the Holy Spirit had so much more experience and giftedness to give me (1 Corinthians 12-14). As I listened to John Wimber, my heart burned within me, a combination of delight in learning, joy in the truth, and eagerness to experience more of the Holy Spirit’s work in my life.
Sometimes my “burning heart” moment comes when I’m working on a challenging passage of Scripture. Perhaps I’m working on a sermon on a biblical text that I find puzzling. I’ll work hard on the original language and read commentaries. I’ll pray a lot and wait on God. And then suddenly, it all becomes clear to me. I’ll see what Scripture is saying. In those moments, my heart burns with gratitude for God’s help through the Spirit, joy in learning something new about God, and excitement at the chance to share what I’ve learned with others.
Now, in many ways, my heart is still plenty slow. There’s much in Scripture that I don’t understand. And I expect there’s plenty that I think I get when, in fact, I’m missing the point. But to whatever extent I have learned what’s true, I give thanks to God for teaching me through Scripture, wise interpreters, thoughtful reflection, and through the gifts of the Spirit. I expect that, like me, you’d love the Lord to reveal even more to you, turning our slow hearts into burning hearts for God.
Do you ask the Lord to reveal more truth to you through Scripture? If so, what has happened? If not, would you be willing to start asking?
Dear Lord, as You teach me, may my heart burn with joy,
gladness, and passion for You and Your truth.

Psalm 51:10-13
 
In Psalm 51:12, David prays, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” David is asking God to give him, not some new experience of joy, but rather joy he once knew but lost along the way. The Hebrew verb translated as “restore” has a basic meaning of “return” or “turn back” (shub, Hebrew). The particular form of the verb in verse 12 means “to cause to turn back” or “to bring back.” So, David is not praying for a new kind of joy. Rather, he wants the Lord to bring back the joy he knew before. Why is David praying this way?
We know that David wrote it after the prophet Nathan rebuked him for his affair with Bathsheba. The opening verses reveal the heart of a broken man who agonizes over his sin. He cries out for mercy, mentioning his “transgressions,” “iniquity,” and “sin” (vv. 1-2). Though David certainly sinned against Bathsheba (whom he sexually violated) and her husband (whom David had killed), David acknowledges that, most of all, he sinned against God and did “what is evil in [God’s] sight” (v. 4). He admits that he is guilty and worthy of God’s judgment (v. 4).
David asks the Lord, “Hide your face from my sins, and blot out my iniquities” (v. 9). Yet he seeks more than forgiveness. Rather, he seeks deep, inner cleansing: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me” (v. 10). David needs the renewal of his human spirit as well as the presence of God’s Spirit, by which his human spirit is renewed.
In verse 11, David prays, “Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” Then he adds, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation” (v. 12). The joy David speaks of here has two primary features. First, it is a result of being in God’s presence, which comes through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Second, the joy to which David refers is “the joy of your salvation.” It’s the joy we experience when God saves us.
David reveals that he lost that particular joy somewhere along the way. While he once rejoiced over the ways God had saved him, over time, the memory of those events faded. Taking for granted all that God had done to save him in the past, David lost touch with the joy that comes in response to God’s saving grace, mercy, and love. Of course, his sin against Bathsheba, Uriah, and God contributed to his loss of joy. When we turn away from God, we lose the joy of God’s presence.
I can relate. Perhaps you can also. It’s easy for me to miss this kind of joy. For one thing, I experienced eternal salvation by grace through faith more than 45 years ago. When I was 15 years old, I went forward at an evangelistic service to “receive Christ as my Lord and Savior.” I did feel a special kind of joy at that time and joyfully shared my newfound faith with others. Today, I can take my eternal salvation for granted.
At times, however, God does indeed restore in me the joy of salvation. This happens regularly when I celebrate communion with my church. The words of institution remind me of what Jesus said and did. The elements of bread and juice represent the body and blood of Jesus, both given for me. The Holy Spirit stirs within me, perhaps because I am more available. But there is also something wonderful about sharing in communion with my sisters and brothers in Christ. Together we experience the joy of God’s presence in communion.
Sometimes I find it easier to get in touch with the joy that comes from recent experiences of God’s salvation. I’m referring not to the once-for-all salvation that I received as a teenager, but rather to many other instances in which God has saved me from various dangers and disasters (some of my own making!). I’m talking about things like being saved from serious accidents when I drove like a madman. I’m also thinking of mistakes I have made in life, work, and relationships, which could have been devastating had it not been for God’s mercy. When I reflect on the ways I have experienced God’s salvation throughout my life, I am filled with gratitude, gratitude that leads to joy.  
Let me encourage you to reflect on the following question.
What helps you to have the joy of God’s salvation
restored in your life?

Mark 11:17 — “And He was teaching them and saying, ‘Is it not written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations”?’”
When the Lord Jesus entered Jerusalem to accomplish salvation, He deliberately went into the temple and cleansed it in a forceful manner.
In fact, those who were exchanging money and selling doves, cattle, and sheep in the temple were not entirely without reason. Because the Law emphasized the holiness of sacrifices, anything offered to God had to be of the best quality—clean and without blemish. During the Passover, most Jews had to travel long distances to Jerusalem. Bringing sacrificial animals over such journeys could easily result in injury, disease, or even attacks by wild animals. To ensure that sacrifices could be properly offered, stalls were set up near the temple to sell animals for sacrifice.
Money changing was also necessary because the temple tax during Passover had to be paid in specific Jewish coins, rather than Roman currency bearing pagan images. Providing money exchange services enabled those coming from afar to fulfill this requirement.
So why did the Lord Jesus react so strongly, driving them out and overturning everything? First, greedy merchants colluded with the priests, turning what was meant to be a service that helped others worship God into an opportunity for personal profit. Their greed even led them to extend these stalls into the temple itself, transforming a place meant for prayer, repentance, and seeking God into a noisy and chaotic marketplace.
Moreover, these stalls were set up in the outer court of the temple—a place specifically designated for Gentiles who sought to worship and pray. The noise, commotion, and even foul odors deprived them of their opportunity and right to draw near to God. This is why the Lord Jesus emphasized that God’s temple is to be “a house of prayer for all nations.”
All of these issues share a common essence: they hinder people from coming before God in prayer and worship. This is the zeal of the Lord Jesus—to remove every obstacle that blocks people from worshiping God and to open a clear way for them to come before Him. It was this very zeal that led Him to willingly and steadfastly walk the path to the cross.
Dear brothers and sisters, the Lord Jesus has already removed every barrier that separates us from worshiping God—not merely the merchants, but sin and the power of Satan. And He did so not with a whip, but with His own precious blood and life, opening for us a new and living way that leads directly into the presence of the Father.
What a joyful and uplifting grace and truth this is! The Lord Jesus has removed every obstacle that hinders you from worshiping God. Are you unable to fully devote yourself to daily worship and prayer because of life’s pressures, inner struggles, weakness of faith, or even the bondage of sin?
The good news proclaimed by the suffering and resurrection of the Lord Jesus is this: He has come for you. Through the victory of the cross, He has already removed every barrier that prevents you from wholeheartedly worshiping Him, praying to Him, and delighting in Him.
May you, during this sacred season, hold firmly by faith to the truth and grace of the victory of the cross, and worship Him fully—with all that you are—as your heart has always longed to do.