[This reflection by David Makanjuola was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 30/Jul/2023]
Very soon after Jesus’ resurrection, two of His disciples were walking on the road to a place called Emmaus. You can read the details in Luke’s gospel.[1] They were feeling very downcast and sullen as they walked. A stranger asked to walk with them and after finding out that the reason they were so glum was because they were grieving about Jesus’ death, the stranger explained, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself”. They later realised, after he had left, that the stranger was actually Jesus. They then said “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Dennis, in his ‘Yours’ article last week, (worth reading if you missed it) talked about a ‘Holy Spirit picture’ and how it brought him peace when thinking about a friend who was very unwell. When this sort of insight, or revelation if you like, is backed up by what is written in scripture, it makes me think about the disciples’ comment about their hearts burning within them. We would call it a ‘light bulb’ moment nowadays.
We go through periods in life when worry, doubt, fear, insecurity and other negative situations drain us of peace. At times like this, we need to remember God’s word, and we also need for this to be put into context for us. The Holy Spirit does that.
Jesus said to His disciples that “….when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth”. Later in that chapter in John’s gospel,[2] Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace”.
Dennis’s article raised the question as to whether it was a choice between his feelings or the scriptural passages; in essence, a choice of either one, or the other. An old friend once told me that sometimes, it is not “either or”, but rather, “both and” – in this case, both scripture and the enlightenment that the Holy Spirit brings.
You could say that the disciples on the road to Emmaus knew the scriptures in their minds, but it was Jesus, explanation that brought into their hearts. May the Holy Spirit do the same for us each and every day.
References:
[1] Luke 24 v13-35
[2] John 16 v13
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Last week’s reflection: Whom Do I Trust? by Dennis Ginter
Contributed by David Makanjuola; © David Makanjuola