(Go here for lead sheets and chord charts.)
Lyrics
1. When we see the risen Savior
In the bread that He has blessed
He becomes the living servant,
Heavenly food for holy rest
Stay with us, for day is fading
Feast with us, O secret King
Show to us how Scripture’s story
Speaks of You in everything
Do not our hearts burn brightly now?
For You’re here among us now
2. Jesus, show Yourself the author
and perfecter of our faith
In Your living and Your dying,
Consummation of God’s grace
From creation to the exile
Incarnation to the grave
Resurrection to ascension
Come, Lord Jesus, come to save
Do not our hearts burn brightly now?
For You’re here among us now
Open our eyes to see You, Christ
Risen, ascended, reigning high
Open our eyes, open our eyes to You
Feed us with living bread above
Bind us in union with Your Love
Open our eyes, open our eyes to You
3. You’re the Word that spoke creation
You’re the end of Moses’ Law
You’re the goal of Abram’s blessing
You’re the King whom David saw,
You’re the Day the prophets longed for,
You’re the covenant of grace,
You’re the hero of the scriptures,
Now we see You face to face.
Do not our hearts burn brightly now?
For You’re here among us now
Cause us to remember God the Father
Cause us to remember God the Son
Cause us to remember God the Spirit
That we might share Your great delight O God
4. Jesus, show Yourself the Prophet
Jesus, show Yourself the King
Jesus show Yourself the priest
All in all, and everything
Words & Music: Zac Hicks & Bruce Benedict, 2012
©2012 Unbudding Fig Music (ASCAP) / Cardiphonia Music
About
Ever since my conversion to a more sacramental understanding of the Lord’s Supper, and upon reading Henri Nouwen’s, With Burning Hearts, I’ve been captivated by that odd encounter that Jesus had with two downcast sojourners on the Emmaus Road after Christ’s crucifixion, recorded in Luke 24.
Several things about that encounter keep fascinating me:
- The sojourners “were kept from recognizing” Jesus for a long time (v 16)
- Part of what began lifting their spirits was when Jesus, “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” (v 27); so Jesus “preached Himself” from the Old Testament!
- While Jesus preached, their “hearts burned” (v 32)
- God allowed them to recognize Jesus only after He broke the bread (vv 31-32)
Good exegetes who look for “authorial intent” would notice that Luke’s description of this whole encounter is loaded with early Christian worship language. Emmaus Road is an encounter of Word and sacrament, the two main pillars of Christian worship from the beginning (read Bryan Chapell’s Christ-Centered Worship for more on this).
When I heard that the Gospel Coalition was summoning submissions for worship songs based on the book of Luke, I felt a nearly immediate summons to figure out how to capture chapter 24 in music. I also knew that my good friend over at Cardiphonia, Bruce Benedict, would be the perfect songwriting partner, (1) because he shares my passion for this understanding of Luke 24, and (2) because many of his songwriting strengths shine where mine are weakest. (Read his post on the song.) Bruce emailed me, in short order, the anchor verses, and then I added a few more verses and a chorus and set those things to a simple tune. Bruce tweaked the tune, tweaked my verses…then we went back and forth on some finer points of precision about theology and themes…and then Bruce passed on the words and music for the bridge, and voila, we had a song.
Here’s what I love about this song:
- Musically, it’s singable, fairly simple, and has a good dynamic and melodic contour
- Textually, it’s dense with both experience and Truth, and it’s loaded with the doctrine of the sufficiency of Christ and the theological vision of the book of Hebrews
- Experientially, it makes corporate the individuals’ experiences in Luke 24–burning hearts, opening eyes
- Theologically, it embodies the Greek concept of remembrance/anamnesis with a strong emphasis on the Trinitarian causality of that remembrance (the Trinity causes us to remember Himself in Word and sacrament)
In my opinion, this song works great alongside celebration of the Lord’s Supper or as an Offertory or song of preparation leading into the preaching of the Word. It works equally well at the top of a service as the call to worship or song of gathering. It’s quite flexible, I think.
I recorded a simple demo with piano and guitars, and afterward Bruce and I received some great constructive feedback from our friend and gifted author, musician, worship leader, and songwriter, Greg Scheer. The recording doesn’t reflect some of the subtle melodic changes from Scheer’s comments, but the below text reflects those minor revisions in the lyrics that post-date the demo. Bruce and I hope you enjoy it and maybe even utilize it in your worship.