Reflections on Luke 24:32
"Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?"
Nearly ten years ago, a message appeared in our online outreach inbox from a woman with a dangerous question. Shayna* had heard a rumour that some Jews believed in Jesus, and she reached out to us wanting to know if it was true. As I met with Shayna for the first time via video chat, it was clear she was Haredi. That meant her curiosity alone could carry significant social consequences from her ultra-Orthodox community.
Shayna was searching. She wanted to know who Jesus was and what following Him might mean for her future. Together, we began reading the Gospel of John. She would drive outside her neighbourhood and park to study in her car, afraid of how her family would react if they discovered her interest in Jesus. By the time we reached the end of John 3, Shayna shared that she believed Yeshua was the promised Messiah and wanted to follow Him.
That confession, however, was only the beginning of a very rocky journey of faith. Shayna has walked toward Jesus—and away again—through grief, fear and confusion. When a family member discovered her Christian Bible, their reaction was angry and painful. Over time, loneliness and pressure took their toll, and she asked to cut off contact with us entirely.
Three years later, she was open to meeting with us again. She told us she was trying to live a religious life, yet still found peace sleeping with her Bible under her pillow. She wanted to receive daily devotional texts from us. Shayna is slowly turning back toward Jesus, not through pressure or argument, but through prayer and the assurance that we are willing to walk with her wherever she is.
It reminds me of Jesus' own posture toward the disciples as He joins them on the road to Emmaus. That road is a shared journey: Two disciples walking in disappointment and sorrow, unaware that Jesus Himself is beside them. As they move away from Jerusalem with heavy hearts, He does not rush them or interrupt their pain. Instead, He listens patiently as they recount everything that has happened, allowing them to speak from their own understanding.
Though Jesus holds all truth, He does not overwhelm them with correction. He honours their struggle, staying with them in the tension of a world that does not yet look redeemed. This same tension often surfaces in conversations with Haredim: a deep hope for redemption paired with shock at the claim that Yeshua is the One Moses and the Prophets wrote about. Many wrestle with the weight of the Law, unanswered prayers and the very painful cost of revisiting long-held beliefs.
As a minister among the Haredim, I am continually drawn to Yeshua's incarnational example. Yet the most humbling lesson is this: The moment of recognition does not come during teaching, but at the table. When the bread is broken, eyes are opened.
Though teaching the word is vitally important, recognition of Yeshua never comes through intellectual dominance. It comes through shared presence—through hospitality, vulnerability and staying close.
The road to Emmaus is a story for all of us. We never walk alone. Yeshua has been beside us the whole time, inviting us to walk with others as He walks with us.
*Name has been changed to protect privacy.
By Laura Barron, Director of Specialised Ministries