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“They said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?’” (Luke 24:32).
This passage, from Luke’s Gospel, is a part of the “Road to Emmaus” look of Jesus Christ following His resurrection from the lifeless.
In the Road to Emmaus story, the resurrected Christ walks with Cleopas and an unnamed companion — and so they do not initially acknowledge Jesus. It is just once they see Jesus break bread and bless it that they understand that He has certainly risen from the lifeless — after which they go off, telling others about what they noticed.
“Nearly every writing in the New Testament proclaims the resurrection of Jesus,” Rev. Jeremiah J. Johnston, PhD, advised Fox News Digital.
Johnston is pastor of apologetics at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, and creator of “Body of Proof: The & Best Reasons to Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus – and Why It Matters Today.”
“The four Gospels describe the discovery of the empty tomb. Three of the Gospels describe appearances of the risen Jesus to his followers,” he stated.
But, “perhaps no appearance is more applicable to our time than the encounter on the 7-mile walk on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus,” he stated.
“Jesus is walking with us, even when we do not recognize Him.”
“If I were a critic of Christianity, perhaps the most difficult problem would be coming up with a reason why there are any Christians in the first place,” stated Johnston.
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After all, “Their founder was a crucified criminal. Crucifixion was the most heinous and shameful way to die.”
This isn’t any extra evident than in Luke 24:13-35, the full “Road to Emmaus” passage.
“Not realizing they are walking and conversing with the resurrected Messiah, they admitted, ‘We had hoped that he was the one’ (Luke 24:21),” stated Johnston.
“The early Christian movement should have died out, but instead it thrived. Why? The resurrection of Jesus,” he stated.
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With Jesus’ resurrection, there was bodily proof that what He stated was true.
He had defeated loss of life, and had risen once more.
There are different classes to be discovered from the Emmaus Road, stated Johnston.
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“The reminder of the Emmaus Road is that when we experience adversity, Jesus is walking with us, even when we do not recognize Him or feel His presence,” he said.
This is because “He is alive forevermore.”
“On this Easter weekend, may our hearts burn with the truth of the empty tomb and the resurrected savior because Jesus is not behind us on a cross. He is before us on a throne,” he said.
Despite the promise and hope offered through Christ, “we live in a society that has largely given in to despair,” he said.
“And that leads to a lot of suffering and angst. Many people wonder, ‘What is the point of life?’ But the resurrection gives us with hope. Resurrection hope is what sustains us in struggling and adversity, because it did these disciples on the highway to Emmaus,” stated Johnston.
He added that “according to Jesus, the resurrection is the foundation of our purpose.”
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This means that an individual’s total life “can be poured out in a God-serving way.”
“That’s what the resurrection does for us. We are and continue to become the people who bring hope because Jesus conquered death for each of us,” he stated.
The information of Jesus’ bodily resurrection from the lifeless was the energy that “united the apostles, launched the first church, and invaded the Roman Empire,” he stated.
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“Without the resurrection, there would be no good news, and the New Testament would not even make sense, but Jesus has risen from the dead. And we have unending hope.”
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