Jesus Burned

What Did Jesus Do?

Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us?
Luke 24.32

Heartburn is certainly discomforting. But words that cause our hearts to ignite with passion are quit another thing. Consider,

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.
Shakespeare, Henry V

With such words Shakespeare depicted the means by which beleaguered Henry so inspired his weary and outnumbered soldiers that they won an overwhelming victory at Agincourt in France in 1415. As powerful as these words are, they are mere fiction, a credit to Shakespeare, but hardly attributable to Henry.

In contrast, we have many words of Jesus factually recorded in the Bible, words that still enflame hearts with holy fire. Let us picture ourselves one of the small circle reclining at table with Jesus the night He spoke these words, and see how our hearts begin to warm,

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him…

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
John 14.6-7, 12-14

If we feel no stirring at these words, it might be time to consult a cardiologist, as there would appear to be something seriously wrong with our hearts. And there is no better heart surgeon than the Holy Spirit who can give us a new heart in an instant; we have the Lord’s promise that He will do it to the glory of the Father if we but ask. Fiery oratory is not required; there is no evidence that Jesus harangued the disciples on the road to Emmaus. But at a time when their hopes were all but extinguished, Jesus breathed the flame of renewed faith and hope into them by opening up the truth about Himself in the Scriptures.

No fire can burn without fuel. The fuel that sustains faith is the Word of God, capable of igniting a conflagration; we need to fuel our faith daily with the Word. And when we encounter a heart bereft of hope, doused by doubts, chilled by fears, deadened by sin, we have at hand the tools to make it burn if we would employ them—prayer and the Word. That’s what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4