3rd of Easter – Emmaus & Heartburn (1)

“Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”  Whaaaa…?  Christ’s gift of heartburn?

What does the Greek, kaio, “to burn,” signify?  Two things, the presence of God and purification.  Check it out:

Exodus 3:2            There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.

Malachi 4:1           See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.

But there’s more!

It’s the sign of waiting for the coming of the Lord.  That is, the two disciples were now ready to “wait in joyful hope for the coming of the Lord” on the last day.  Hmmm…

Luke 12:34–36         For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  “Be dressed for action and have your lamps BURNING;  be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.

The burning in their hearts also tell of the heartburn that will impel many disciples toward the proclamation of Christ’s salvation to the world.  And that the proclamation is related to the divine heartburn of knowing in our bones why Christ had to suffer so to enter into his glory.

Isaiah 62:1            For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch.