Bible Passage: Luke 24:13-35
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: April 19, 2026

Bulletin – April 19, 2026

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

People who like to study things often study why people go to church.  Many different reasons are given.  This morning I want to share with you some of the more commonly mentioned reasons people give for why they attend church.  People responded by saying church makes them feel inspired.  It makes them feel encouraged.  It makes them feel like they are part of a community and that they belong.  Some say it makes them feel like a better person.  And the number one reason often given for why people attend church is this:  it makes them feel closer to God.

What do you think of those answers?  Did you notice something they all have in common?  Every one of those reasons centers on the word “feel.”  For many, attending worship or Bible study is all about experiencing a “feeling.”  What shall we make of that?  It is part of our DNA as Lutherans that we reflexively recoil from too much emphasis on “feelings.”  And for good reason.  But it’s a fair question.  Should you “feel” something when you come to church?  Should you “feel” nothing when you come to church?

In our text today are two disciples of Jesus who “felt” something.  What they felt was strong and internal.  So powerful was the feeling that they likened it to a fire!  What was it that caused these disciples of Jesus to say, Were Not Our Hearts Burning within Us?

When our text begins, their hearts are not burning.  They are burdened and bewildered.  You see, it is the afternoon of Easter Sunday.  Cleopas and his friend have set out on the seven mile walk from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus.  They are talking, trying to make sense of the day’s events.  The reports from the women who had gone to the tomb, the appearance of the angels at the tomb, the visits to the tomb that verified it was, in fact, empty.  As they talk about these things, a fellow traveler joins them.  It is Jesus.  They are kept from recognizing him.

Jesus innocently asks, What are you discussing together as you walk along? (v. 17)  They are stunned.  “Did you just arrive from out of town?  The whole town is buzzing about the things that have happened!”  Jesus wants to draw them out.  What things? (v. 19)  Then the truth comes out!  They tell Jesus how he was crucified.  Then they say this, We had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. (v. 21)  Ah!  There it is!  “We had hoped.”  They had hoped Jesus was the Messiah but this crucifixion and everything that has happened that day seems like an unexpected detour.  It had them second-guessing.  They were losing hope!

Jesus will help them!  He will help first of all by being lovingly honest with them.  How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? (v. 25-26)  They were being foolish!  They were forgetting what the Word of God said!  A read of the Old Testament will show that it was divinely necessary that the Christ die and rise again!

And then Jesus does something wonderful and unexpected!  He conducts Bible class with them while they walk!  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (v. 27)  Oh, how I would love to have attended that Bible class!  To have Jesus Christ, the Son of God, explain Old Testament prophecy!  What a treat!  I always wonder what portions of Scripture he used?  Did he start with Genesis 3:15 and explain that when God told Satan that he would strike the heel of the Seed of the Woman, this meant the Messiah would have to die?  Did Jesus remind them of all the sacrifices required in the old covenant and remind them that they all died a substitutionary death for the sinner?  Did he remind them of the Passover lamb, that perfect lamb whose blood saved those who sheltered beneath it? He had to take them to the psalms of David and Isaiah 53!  He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed…he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the rich in his death…After the suffering of his soul he will see will see the light of life. (Isaiah 53:5, 8-9, 11)  It’s all right there!  In prophecy and in type!  The whole wonderful story!  What a Bible class!

Oop…Bible study is over.  They have arrived at their destination.  Jesus acts like he is going on.  Stay with us (v. 29), they plead.  Jesus does.  They sit at the table for dinner.  Jesus assumes the role of Host (he always is).  He says the prayer and breaks the bread.  Their eyes are opened.  “It’s Jesus!”  He’s gone.  Then they say, Were not our hearts burning within us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us? (v. 32)

What was it that had made their hearts burn?  Was it when they were walking alone with their own thoughts trying to figure it all out?  How foolish we are when we try to know spiritual truth using the “light” of human reason!  That is a worm-hole of hopelessness!  How foolish we are when we are feeling desperate, almost hopeless, and we leave our Bibles closed and imagine we can make sense out of any of this!  What made their hearts burn?  The unfolding of Scripture and seeing Jesus there!  Cleopas and his friend were experiencing Psalm 119:130, The unfolding of your word gives light.  And that creates fire!  Holy fire!  Spirit-ignited fire.  Not cheap, manufactured religious “enthusiasm,” but real, genuine fire and zeal.  It creates fire in our hearts because it shows us Christ, crucified for our sin and risen for our justification.  That is what we will find in the Word.  Jesus once said, These are the Scriptures that testify about me. (John 5:40)

We Lutherans don’t need to be afraid of talking about feelings!  You will FEEL something when Scriptures are opened and you see Christ, crucified and risen!  You will say, “Cleopas, I know what you mean!  My heart is burning too!”

Amen.