Change of Heart
The people who hear Peter’s testimony and preaching are cut to the heart. The writer of 1 Peter instructs believers to love deeply from the heart. The disciples who encounter the risen Christ notice afterward that their hearts were “burning” within them as Jesus reveals the scriptures and then himself to them in the breaking of the bread. Whether a call to repentance, hope, recognition, or love, people are deeply affected by encounters with the one raised from death to become followers of Jesus’ way. They not only turn from their sin and doubt but literally change direction, going back from Emmaus to Jerusalem with renewed courage, faith, and hope. These heart-changing encounters with Jesus fulfill a promise from God for the whole community, from those who have lived a long life to those who are children.

Gospel: Luke 24:13-35
28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem, and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.