Warm Baths and Burning Hearts

Sunday, 7th October 2007

Thank you all for your prayers regarding my relationship with my former pastor. I am sure that God will restore it in His time.

But let's move on and get back to the topic about unveiling Jesus Christ in the Scriptures.

A couple of days back, I blogged about how Jesus put His signature right there in the beginning of Scriptures, and that the real Bible Code that needs to be decoded is where Jesus can be found in the Scriptures. What will result from this spiritual journey of discovery is an increasing hunger and thirst for the Word of God!

This was exactly what happened to 2 disciples of Jesus, the account of which Luke records in chapter 24 of his version of the gospel.

In particular, note the following sequence of events:

These 2 persons started out the journey on the road to Emmaus feeling "downcast" (v.17)

Jesus explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets (v.27)

When they reached Emmaus, they wanted Jesus to stay on with them, even though Jesus appeared as though He were going further (v.28)

Even though the "excuse" they used to persuade Jesus to stay over with them was because it was "nearly evening" and "the day was almost over" (v.29), yet this did not prevent them from leaving Emmaus immediately and making their way back to where they started their journey! (v.33)

I submit to you that the real reason why they wanted Jesus to stay on was not because it was getting late, but because they were so excited about Jesus being unveiled that they wanted to hear more! That is why in verse 32, they said, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"

These 2 disciples were tranformed from people feeling downcast to people whose hearts were ablazed with so much excitement, that they were compelled to make the 12-km trip back to Jerusalem without hesitation.

What transformed them was the revelation of Jesus in the Scriptures, specifically the Old Testament Scriptures, because when this event happened, the New Testament was not written yet!

In verse 27, Luke says "...beginning with Moses and all the Prophets". This refers to the 5 books written by Moses, namely Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, and the Prophetetic books such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.

As 21st-century believers, we have the added privilege of the New Testament Gospels and the other Epistles where Jesus Christ is revealed clearly for all to see.

Many of us avoid reading the Old Testament because it appears dry and boring. Yet these very same Sciptures caused those 2 disciples to have "burning hearts" because the Scriptures became alive when Jesus was unveiled.

And those same Old Testament Scriptures can do likewise to us! Paul says that ALL Scripture is beneficial to us, and ALL means Old + New Testament.

Let's look for Jesus in Genesis and discover Him as the one who would crush Satan's head and our Ark that protects us from the evil in the world.

Let's look for Jesus in Exodus and see Him as our Passover Lamb (Ex 12).

Let's look for Jesus in Numbers and see Him as the one lifted up to give us eternal life (Num 21; Jn 3).

Let's look for Jesus in Leviticus and see Him as our sin offering (Lev 4), burnt offering (Lev 6), and our Jubilee (Lev 25).

Let's look for Jesus in Deuteronomy and see Him as the slain man in the field (Deut 21), and the one who took the curse of the Law upon Himself when He died on the tree (Gal 3:23), so that we now only enjoy the blessings but not the curses (Deut 28).

Emmaus means "hot springs" or "warm bath". May we as His modern-day disciples take "warm baths" to soak up His Word each day so that it causes our hearts to burn continually with passion. Amen?