Did Not Our Hearts Burn Within Us?

For the majority of my Christian life the Old Testament (OT) has felt like a vast mystery. I grew up loving the iconic stories that many of us are familiar with, like Moses and the Exodus or David and Goliath, but I don’t know that I ever truly understood it as “Christian Scripture.” I saw them as good stories that had a moral lesson to them that I should learn and apply to my life. This isn’t bad per se, but attempting to moralize Old Testament stories only works with a small portion of the material found there. What do you do with all the parts of that aren’t exciting narratives that seem to have such a clear lesson to be seen? What do you do with the long genealogies or large swathes of legal codes? If you are anything like me you do one of two things: 1) you ignore it completely or 2) you skim through it to get through your Bible reading plan.

It doesn’t have to be this way! It was a little over a year ago when I was struck by a somewhat strange story found in Luke’s Gospel. Luke 24:13-35 tells the story of two disciples on their journey from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus. As they were walking and talking, Jesus approached them and asked them what they discussed. Jesus, whom they were kept from recognizing, approaches them, and asks them what they are talking about, and they respond with sadness about his death, burial, and the report about his resurrection that they apparently weren’t sold on. I think it’s worthwhile to quote Jesus’ response here in verses 25-27.

25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (ESV)

Things get even more wild though when Jesus eventually sits down with them at a meal. He blesses some bread and gives it to them and they finally recognize who he is! At that moment he vanishes.

There are two things that are worth focusing on here. First, Jesus clearly believes the OT bears testimony to him in some way. Minimally, the reference to Moses includes the Law (i.e., the first five books of the Bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) and the Prophets would have to include at least Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the 12 Minor Prophets, but the case can convincingly be made that this refers to the entirety of the OT. The OT is a book about Jesus! This is not only how Jesus seems to understand it, but also how the New Testament (NT) authors regularly apply it in their own inspired writings. I think most people are willing to assent to this, but in reality, many people don’t read it like it is a Christian book.

Second, I want to highlight the response of the disciples to this whole event. Verse 32 reads, “They said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?’” I love that so much. Seeing Jesus in the OT created a burning in their hearts! Once again, I have to ask if this is our normal experience reading the OT? For me, the answer for a long time was no. It was confusing. Reading a confusing book is exhausting and feels like a chore. I preferred the NT because it seemed so much easier. But I just needed someone to come alongside me and help me see how the OT authors, being carried along by the Holy Spirit, really did write in such a way to point us to Jesus. For me, that was two semesters of OT Intro and Interpretation and Biblical Hebrew with good friends and a fantastic professor who loved Jesus and the OT.

I can honestly say now that I have felt that burning in my heart many times as I have read through various books, from Genesis all the way through Malachi and my faith has been strengthened for it. You can’t look at Jesus and not be changed. I have a deep desire to help others see him just as I have been helped to see him. I want to help people read the OT like it was always meant to be read, a book that teaches us about Jesus and his kingdom.

To this end, I hope to write several articles on the three major divisions of the OT according to the Hebrew ordering of the OT canon – which contains the same books but is just in a different order.

Finally, I want to just leave you with a passage to think on that may be discussed later.

Proverbs 30:4

Who has ascended to heaven and come down?

Who has gathered the wind in his fists?

Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?

Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is his name, and what is his son’s name?

Surely you know!