And 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 (opening) the Scriptures to us?" Luke 24:32.

Many people this week will go see "The Passion," a movie produced by the famed move actor Mel Gibson. Some will go out of curiosity, some will go seeking to strengthen their faith, some will go to support a movie about Jesus, some will go to support Mel Gibson’s cause, and some to criticize the movie.

Interesting, some 2000 years after Jesus death and resurrection, not much has changed. Then some went to see Jesus because they were curious, some to strengthen their faith, some to criticize Jesus, and some for their own personal cause.

The two individuals the scripture verse above were going over the shocking events that took place in Jerusalem that weekend as they were on their way to Emmaus. While walking, the resurrected Savior joined them, “but their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. "When Jesus asked about the things they were speaking of, they shared what they knew of Jesus and said, “how the chief priests and rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and crucified Him." These two, along with others in Jerusalem were hoping that Jesus was the one whom the prophets wrote about who would redeem Israel.

In spite of this hope and visual confirmation of an empty tomb somehow they didn’t make the connection that the Redeemer had to suffer a terrible death on their behalf.

It was then that Jesus began to share, "beginning with Moses and with all the prophets concerning Himself in all the Scriptures...’was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ "

It has been reported that the movie, The Passion," is gruesome in detail. Some churchgoers who saw a preview of the movie were shocked by what they saw. Perhaps this is how those who saw the real thing felt as they made their journey home.

The lives of the two who were on their way back home to Emmaus were changed for ever. Their hearts burned as they recalled what Jesus shared with them. They finally made a connection that Jesus, the Redeemer, had to suffer and die so that He may “enter into His glory."

My prayer is that the hearts of those who see this movie, whether they believers or seekers, curious spectators, critics or skeptics will make a connection and “burn” with understanding that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of th living God.

" also pray that this passion for Christ burns because of what Jesus did, not what Mel Gibson produced. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son."

God Bless! Bro. Glenn Tatum