Pr Joshua Yong

Luke 24:25-26 – “Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?”

Just two weeks ago, on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, we remembered the death, crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Forty days after Christ’s resurrection, He ascended into heaven. One of the questions which comes to mind is: “Why did the Lord Jesus Christ remain on earth for forty days after His resurrection before ascending into heaven?” Christ could have ascended immediately after His resurrection since He had already completed His work of atonement. However, when we look at the post-resurrection accounts of the Lord Jesus Christ, we understand why the Lord Jesus Christ chose to remain on earth for forty days before His ascension. During those forty days, the Lord Jesus Christ encouraged His frightened disciples; He restored Peter to the ministry; He commissioned His disciples to do the work of the Gospel, promising unto them the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Lord had various purposes for remaining on earth after His resurrection.

One of the post-resurrection accounts was recorded for us in Luke 24. Christ appeared to two disciples. One of them was identified as Cleopas (v18), but the other is unknown to us. These two disciples were discussing all that happened unto the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 24:14), and the Bible tells us that as they communed and discussed with each other, the mood was sombre and even sad (v17).

1) The Slowness of Heart Expressed

But why were the disciples sad? The Bible tells us that even when the Lord Jesus Christ drew near unto them and went with them, “their eyes were holden” so that they were unable to recognise their Lord (v15-16). Their inability to recognise Christ was in fact a picture of their dullness of heart. The Lord Jesus Christ in verse Luke 24:25 said, “… O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.” The word “fools” here describes a person who is unwise, i.e. slow of understanding. Being “slow of heart” describes a dullness of heart. This describes a spiritual slowness, where there are some uncertainties which a person struggles with. These disciples were immature in their faith and what they expressed was doubt. They had heard of Christ’s crucifixion (v20) and also of His resurrection (v22-24), but because the women said “him they saw not,” they were filled with sadness. Because they had not yet seen Him, instead of gladness and rejoicing, they were filled with sadness. Their faith still had to be accompanied by sight.

This may also be what some Christians experience at certain points in their lives. Though we may have faith, we are unable to rest our faith fully upon the Word of God, where sometimes we still want to see or touch in order to believe. We are people who are very much influenced by our five senses; we place a lot of trust in these five senses. Yet, when it comes to spiritual things, the Bible tells us that what we need is good spiritual eyesight and not physical eyesight.

In Luke 24, the Lord Jesus Christ was right before their eyes, yet they were unable to see. Let this not be the case for us.

2) The Remedy for the Slowness of Heart

Here we see how the Lord dealt so firmly, yet also patiently with them. The Lord Jesus Christ chided them, “Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:25-26). The Lord Jesus Christ identified and pointed out the true spiritual state of the disciples. This is where God’s people must honestly reflect upon and recognise our true spiritual state.

The Lord Jesus Christ then expounded to the disciples from the Scriptures concerning Himself. Luke 24:27 says, “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” The Lord Jesus Christ taught them from the Scriptures concerning Himself that they might have a fuller understanding concerning who Christ is and what He has accomplished. This is one of the reasons the Lord Jesus Christ remained on earth after His resurrection – it was so that He could guide the disciples to a more complete faith.

Luke 24:32 tells us that the disciples testified, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” How did their hearts turn from being slow to “burning”? It is because Scripture was opened to them, and when they believed and understood the things spoken of Christ in Scriptures. The truth of God’s Word pierced right into their hearts and ignited a flame and a passion within them.

The remedy to slowness of heart is to open the Word of God and to see what the Word of God says concerning Christ. Do you know the Word of God? Do you know what the Word of God says concerning Christ? Too many Christians today do not have an intimate understanding of Christ. We cannot be content with a superficial understanding of the person of Christ. A deeper understanding of Christ is acquired not through an academic study of Scripture, but through a devotional meditation upon the Scripture in faith.

3) The Progress from the Slowness of Heart

Once the disciples’ eyes were opened, they recognized the Lord Jesus Christ and then Christ vanished out of their sight. Notice how the faith of the disciples had grown such that even when Christ was no longer physically with them, their faith did not diminish or waver.

A wonderful expression of the strengthening of their faith was seen when the Bible says that “… they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together…” (v33). The distance between Jerusalem and Emmaus was about 12 km. They were about to rest for the night because it was already evening. Yet, because they were encouraged in their faith, in the very same hour, they rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the eleven disciples what they had heard and seen, testifying that “the Lord is risen indeed” (v34). They did not want to wait till the next day before travelling to Jerusalem. Their hearts were truly burning within them.

If we have suffered from slowness of heart, pray that the Lord will awaken our hearts through His Word today. A burning heart will be expressed and manifested in our zeal in service and in preaching the Gospel. If we serve a risen Saviour, and if we preach of the risen Saviour, we cannot but do so with burning hearts.