Luke 24:13--32...Go and read the WHOLE TEXT for the lesson. This is an after the resurrection event.
15) So it was while these two disciples conversed and reasoned together about the things concerning Jesus and the events of the last few days, Jesus Himself (THE WORD OF GOD) drew near to them and walked with them.
16) but their eyes were closed and restrained and by that they did not recognize him. (Failure to IDENTIFY the GLORY)
30) Now it came to pass later that evening, as Jesus sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it and gave it to them.
31) Then their eyes were opened and they knew it was Jesus; and He suddenly vanished from their sight.
32) And they said to each other, Did not our heart BURN WITHIN us while HE TALKED, while HE talked with us on the road, and while He opened up the scriptures to us?
I love this text, what a divine resurrection encounter. You know the scriptures tells us that with many INFALLIBLE PROOFS Jesus showed himself alive from the dead. In other words the resurrection of Christ is infallible. It can be lied against, and the blind can refuse to believe it, but all those lies and all the unbelief in all the world can never change the fact that God raised HIS SON our blessed Savior from the dead, and SAT HIM DOWN at His own right hand IN THE THRONE OF GOD. It Is A Done Deal. It is infallible to God and by HIS SPIRIT so it is to men.
But here in our text (Hope you went and read all the text), is something the Lord wants us TO SEE. These 2 disciples (here in our text) had been walking with Jesus down a road for a few hours. They were in a level of fellowship with the resurrected Master. They were listening to Jesus, looking at him right in the face speaking the Word, and these two even spent the whole afternoon with the Lord, THE WORD OF GOD. But we need to see something that is happening here during this whole visitation so that we can pray about it.
These two BELIEVERS have no idea who it is that is walking right there with them. They were in the Presence of the Living Risen Lord and Christ but were blind to the glory. They did feel something burning in their hearts as this man was speaking to them but their eyes were blind to the glory of what was staring them in the face and to what was being said.
Part of the reason for this NUMBED HARDENED HEART AND UNIDENTIFYING STATE was they were in a state of doubt and unbelief and Jesus rebuked them for that(Luke 24:25 & Mark 16:14)).
According to Romans 14:23, that verse of scripture tells us that doubt and unbelief are spiritual sins. Sin has consequences. It can make the heart hard to see and understand Jesus and the Word of God. We can even believe in Jesus, even belong to Jesus, and BE SAVED, but at the same time doubt His Word and miss out on a whole lot of what he is saying. We can even fail to RECOGNIZE or IDENTIFY things of Jesus and His Word, and you can have blind areas in you spiritual redemption understanding. Yes your saved and yes you belong to Jesus and He knows you by name, but at the same time your doubt and unbelief of His Word and your lack of IDENTIFYING THE HIDDEN TREASURE in the field of the scriptures is robbing you with their effects upon your eyes, upon your heart and life, and by that we fail to enjoy the fullness of blessings of the gospel (Romans 15:29). We are grieving and quenching the Spirit. And we all know that as long as the Spirit is being grieved and is in a state of being quenched, then we are not enjoying the fulness of the blessing of the gospel in our churches and in our lives, but just fragments of the glory.
All afternoon these two disciples were seeing and hearing the WORD OF GOD and yet they did not see the glory nor the value of THE WORD, though THE WORD was masterfully being proclaimed to them By the Lord himself who was right there next to them alive from the dead YET BY THEM UNRECOGNIZED. Their eyes were closed in their heart and mind.
So it is with us sometimes who believe and belong to Christ. We have read the Word of God, heard the Word of God. We are listening to preachers preach the Word of God yet we just don't get it, we just don't see the value. We like, read the word of God but to our understanding it seems to be nothing more than a blank page before us. We just don't get it.
Well let's stop kicking ourselves in the head about it and here is a good reason why. These two men in our text were followers of Christ for years. They loved the Lord and they were believers. They had been with Jesus for years and knew him well as the Son of God with Power, the Christ. But we find in our text that there is a place that can be in even in a believers life where though he does believe and belong to Christ, his eyes can still be in a restrained or closed type position in the spirit and in the mind. In that state, you can be in the Word and hanging around the spoken Word all evening and not see the glory nor the value of what is being said or presented. You hardly get a thing from it. That can be certainly true as we see its reality in our text.
These two believers were hanging around THE WORD all afternoon with the eyes of their hearts and minds in a restrained closed spiritual position and THEY WERE SAVED CHRISTIANS. This is the same state many believers are in today and many others have been in, in the past generations.
But friends as in all things, THERE IS ALWAYS REAL HOPE IN CHRIST. Jesus Opened Their Eyes. God has an answer. We find in our test that the Lord can heal us of this closed eyes condition and our eyes can be opened to His Recognizable Presence and to the Riches of God's Glory that He has placed in His Word. Like Elijah prayed so should we. Elijah praying for his servant said, Lord open his eyes. Then suddenly God opened his eyes and that servant SAW THE GLORY that had been theirs all the time with them of which he was numb and blind to before.. It was there all the time BUT HIS EYES WERE RESTRAINED AND CLOSED TO IT. Once he saw it though, HE GREATLY REJOICED and was TREMENDOUSLY COMFORTED.
There is GLORY, MUCH GLORY, even the glory of God in HIS WORD,even riches OF LIFE and VALUE, blessings and benefits beyond all this world's natural understanding. All we need is our EYES OPENED to THE HIDDEN TREASURES THAT ARE IN THE FIELD OF THE SCRIPTURES......deno......share freely.
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