A Walk with the Servant | Mark 16:12-13, Luke 24:13-34

Sermon Summary

Scripture: Mark 16:12-13, Luke 24:13-34

Have you ever felt your passion for God fade? Your heart once burned with faith, but now it feels cold, distant, or full of doubt. Maybe you’ve wondered if God hears your prayers anymore, or if He’s truly near in your discouragement. You’re not alone. Even the closest followers of Jesus felt this way. And today, as we walk through the story of two disciples on the road to Emmaus, we’ll see how Jesus Himself restores discouraged hearts, reignites our faith, and sets us ablaze again with passion for Him.

The Bleak Problem

Two disciples left Jerusalem heavy with grief. They had heard Mary’s testimony of the empty tomb, they had even heard Peter and John speak of what they saw, but it wasn’t enough. Their hopes for a Messiah who would redeem Israel were dashed. They walked home sad, confused, and unconvinced.

When Jesus joined them on the road, they didn’t recognize Him. Their eyes were restrained. Cleopas asked, “Are you the only stranger who doesn’t know what has happened?”—ironically asking the One who understood the cross better than anyone else. They spoke of Jesus as a mighty prophet in word and deed, but their voices carried despair: “We had hoped he was the one to redeem Israel.”

That phrase—we had hoped—captures the bleakness. They knew the Scriptures, but they believed only the parts that fit their desires. They wanted the glory, not the suffering. Jesus gently rebuked them: “O foolish ones, slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?”

Their problem was not ignorance of Scripture, but slowness of heart to believe all of it. And isn’t that often our problem too? We hold to the promises we like, but we resist the parts about suffering, the cross, and trials. We know the truth in our heads, but we’re slow to embrace it with our hearts.

The Big Picture

On that seven-mile journey, Jesus gave the greatest Bible study ever taught. Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained how all the Scriptures pointed to Himself.

He might have shown them Genesis 3:15, the promised seed of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head. He might have reminded them of Abraham and Isaac, the substitute sacrifice God provided. He could have explained the blood of the Passover lamb in Exodus, the Levitical sacrifices, the bronze serpent lifted in the wilderness, the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, the pierced Messiah of Psalm 22, the promised King from Micah and Zechariah, and Daniel’s prophecy of His exact coming.

Every page testified of Him. Every shadow pointed to His cross and His resurrection. And for those disciples, what was once a scattered collection of stories suddenly became one great story—God’s story of redemption fulfilled in Jesus.

This is the big picture: the Bible is not disconnected moral lessons or inspirational sayings. It is one unified narrative about Christ. And when we see Him as the center, the Word comes alive.

The Burning Passion

As evening came, the disciples urged the stranger, “Stay with us.” At the table, He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. Their eyes were opened. They recognized Him—and He vanished.

But notice what they said: “Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the Scriptures?” Their passion was reignited not in the moment of physical recognition, but while the Scriptures were opened to them.

That’s the lesson for us. Faith is not reignited by chasing emotional highs or dramatic signs. It is ignited when Jesus reveals Himself to us through His Word. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ.

Cold hearts are warmed when we walk with Jesus in the Scriptures. Apathetic spirits are set ablaze when the Spirit opens our eyes to see Christ on every page. And just like those disciples, once our hearts burn with this truth, we cannot keep it to ourselves. They immediately ran back the 11 kilometers to Jerusalem in the night, bursting with joy to tell others, “The Lord has risen indeed!”

Hearts on Fire

The road to Emmaus begins with sadness and doubt but ends with passion and witness. The difference was meeting Jesus in the Word. That same risen Christ meets us today—not physically on a dusty road, but spiritually through the Scriptures.

So if your heart has grown cold, the remedy is not a new emotional experience. It is opening your Bible, inviting the Spirit to show you Christ, and walking daily with Him in the Word. Then you will find what those disciples found—hearts burning again with faith, joy, and passion for the risen Lord.