February 7

“And their eyes were opened, and they knew him.” Luke 24:31

Though the hearts of these two burned with warm appreciation of the truth about Christ, they had no inkling of how close and how intimate was their experience of him personally. Like Mary, who had joyfully announced his resurrection to them before they set off on their journey, they completely failed to recognize him when he drew near. Unlike her, however, they found nothing in his voice which enlightened them.

The Lord spent a lot of time with these two. All of it he occupied in the most profitable exercise of expounding the Scriptures. Yet still they did not know him, though they must by then have been intellectually convinced that Jesus was the Christ and that he had risen from the dead. There are, however, two kinds of knowledge. One comes from study, the other from an inward seeing, and we need them both. Christianity is built on more than a Book: it is built on the spiritual revelation which comes with that Book.