THE PERKS OF BIBLICAL LITERACY
We’re building THE EMMAUS TABLE on this vision: to bear witness with a burning heart. This language comes from Luke’s account of Resurrection Sunday; after the power of God in the Holy Spirit raised Him from the dead, victory in hand, after the stone was rolled away, after angels sat atop it and once again bore witness to good news of good surprises, and after He spoke to a friend who mistook Him for the gardener, Jesus went for a walk.[1] Incognito, if you can imagine it.
Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?”
Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?”
And He said to them, “What things?”[2]
These two disciples were shocked anyone could be within shouting range of Jerusalem and not know what had just taken place that weekend. They caught Him up best they could, not realizing they were testifying about Jesus to Jesus, and were likely shocked by His response:
Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.[3]
Still not realizing who He was, they listen fervently as they walk all the way to their village of Emmaus. It’s beginning to get dark, and like any good Middle Eastern host, they invite their new friend in for the night. He obliges, and they all sit around the table for dinner. This mysterious, biblically literate Man then pulled a stunt reminiscent of the Angel of the LORD with Samson’s parents:[4]
Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.[5]
That’s the fun part of the story. But imagine being these two, who then turned to each other and (remarkably) exclaimed: “Did not our hearts burn within us while He walked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”[6] They were in His presence and heard His prophetic witness—for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy[7]—and it lit their hearts on fire.
And then they ran back to Jerusalem to do the same, to share their newfound biblical literacy with their friends in the hopes it would encourage them in their own dark confusion (and then, for fun, Jesus rocked back up and took it from there).[8] One could surmise the presence of God goes hand-in-hand with the prophetic witness of God.
But consider His rebuke: in their confusion and discouragement, He identified folly and reticence to “believe all the prophets have spoken.” All the prophets have spoken. I believe this is a word we might also receive ourselves today.
He explained to them why the confusing events of the days prior, which must’ve felt like a bit of a plot twist, were consistent with the testimony of God through His appointed Hebrew prophets; indeed, He does nothing without first informing His “servants, the prophets.”[9] So everything is written down already. “I am the LORD, I am He, who tells you of things beforehand.”[10] Indeed. Problematically, however, some now take the part of the story which Jesus had to illuminate on the road to Emmaus, that the Son of Man would indeed suffer,[11] and do the same thing these two disciples had done: focus on the one part of the story they mostly understand and treat it like it’s the whole story altogether.
While the Christian church has historically (and rightly) clung to the cross of Christ, we’ve criticized the Jews for focusing on the crown. But biblical literacy demands we cling to both—because the prophets spoke of both. Consider that Zechariah had prophesied Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem on a donkey the week before this Emmaus table experience.[12] Just a few chapters later, he prophesies that Jesus will very literally deliver Jerusalem from a literal war and then literally reign from her holy hill—His holy hill.[13] And just as He fulfilled one promise, He will fulfill the other. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus brought important, critical clarity to a confused, fledging body of believers on Resurrection Sunday. In doing so, He not only demonstrated biblical literacy, He encouraged the cultivation of it.
If ever there was a day His disciples needed biblical literacy, there are two contenders: Good Friday, and the Day before He returns on the clouds in power and glory.[14] We need biblical literacy. We cannot believe “all the prophets have spoken,” let alone bear witness to anyone else, if we do not know what the prophets have spoken. And there are perks to biblical literacy: Jesus said, “Take heed that no one deceives you.”[15] I humbly submit that it is difficult to be deceived when you are already anchored in the truth. If you’re biblically literate, all the bad news of the world won’t sway you so much. It will likely sober you, but it need not phase you. If you’re biblically literate, you’ll know when a church is run by a false teacher. You can serve and support younger disciples to find truth and grow up into maturity.[16] Your heart, mind, and soul will enjoy unflinching confidence in the resurrection and restoration yet to come. You can live fearlessly like a “super conqueror”[17] in this “present evil age”[18] because you know His promises to trust them.
There are tremendous perks to biblical literacy. Let’s get in the Word.
Often, we close our INKWELL articles with three questions. This week, we want to challenge you instead: Share this story with someone, whether they know Jesus or not, and discuss what it does in your heart. To “bear witness with a burning heart,” we must have a burning heart that actually bears witness.
FREE RESOURCES FROM THE EMMAUS TABLE
[1] See Romans 8:11; Ephesians 1:19-20; 1 Corinthians 6:14; Luke 24:1-7; John 20:1-18
[2] Luke 24:13-19, NKJV
[3] Luke 24:25-27, NKJV
[4] See Judges 13
[5] Luke 24:30-31, NKJV
[6] Luke 24:32, NKJV
[7] Revelation 19:20
[8] Luke 24:32-45
[9] Amos 3:7
[10] See Isaiah 42:9; 46:10; Matthew 24:25; John 13:19
[11] Luke 24:26
[12] See Zechariah 9:9; Matthew 21:1-11; John 12:1, 12-16
[13] See Zechariah 12-14
[14] Daniel 7:13-14; Matthew 24:30; 26:64; Mark 13:26; 14:62; Acts 1:9-11
[15] Matthew 24:4
[16] See Hebrews 5:12-14
[17] Romans 8:37
[18] Galatians 1:4
Stephanie Quick (@quicklikesand) is the founder and creative director of The Emmaus Table. She lives in the Golan Heights and hosts the TABLE TALKS podcast. Browse her free music, films, and books in THE EMMAUS TABLE App and at stephaniequick.org.