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

The Bible is unlike any other book. It has God as its author. It is eternal. Its truth is unchanging. It contains words of life and salvation. It transforms. It is spiritual in nature.

Since the very nature of Scripture is that it is given by God (2 Tim 3:16), readers of Scripture, being finite and corrupted by sin, are unable to grasp, to see, to perceive, to understand, to believe, and to delight in the wondrous, precious truths conveyed (1 Cor 2:14). We need God to help us perceive and receive what God has spoken to us. We need His grace to open our minds and hearts so that we grasp by faith and rejoice in what we discover!

That is indeed what occurred when the Risen Lord spoke with the two disciples on the Emmaus road in Luke 24. They had read the Scriptures. They knew the Scriptures. But they had not grasped, fully understood, and been thrilled by the glories of God revealed in Scripture. Jesus “opened” the Scriptures to them. He walked through the Pentateuch and the Prophets and showed them all the ways in which the Bible displayed the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (v27)! And their hearts burned within them as He spoke! When the glories of the Scripture were revealed, it set a fire in their souls. It thrilled them to see what they now could see!

The Spirit of God works in the same way in our lives today as did Jesus on the Emmaus road. He illumines our hearts and minds to see and grasp and taste and delight in the treasures of Scripture. If the Spirit were not at work in our hearts, we would gloss over and miss the glories that God has revealed!