13 And behold, two of them went, the same day, to a town which was sixty furlongs from Jerusalem, named Emmaus. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 And it came to pass, that while they talked and reasoned with themselves, Jesus himself also drawing near, went with them.
16 But their eyes were held, that they should not know him. 17 And he said to them: What are these discourses that you hold one with another as you walk, and are sad? 18 And the one of them, whose name was Cleophas, answering, said to him: Art thou only a stranger to Jerusalem, and hast not known the things that have been done there in these days? 19 To whom he said: What things? And they said: Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, mighty in work and word before God and all the people; 20 And how our chief priests and princes delivered him to be condemned to death, and crucified him.
21 But we hoped, that it was he that should have redeemed Israel: and now besides all this, today is the third day since these things were done. 22 Yea and certain women also of our company affrighted us, who before it was light, were at the sepulchre, 23 And not finding his body, came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, who say that he is alive. 24 And some of our people went to the sepulchre, and found it so as the women had said, but him they found not. 25 Then he said to them: O foolish, and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken.
26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into his glory? 27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures, the things that were concerning him. 28 And they drew nigh to the town, whither they were going: and he made as though he would go farther. 29 But they constrained him; saying: Stay with us, because it is towards evening, and the day is now far spent. And he went in with them. 30 And it came to pass, whilst he was at table with them, he took bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to them.
31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him: and he vanished out of their sight. 32 And they said one to the other: Was not our heart burning within us, whilst he spoke in this way, and opened to us the scriptures? 33 And rising up, the same hour, they went back to Jerusalem: and they found the eleven gathered together, and those that were staying with them, 34 Saying: The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. 35 And they told what things were done in the way; and how they knew him in the breaking of the bread.
Luke 24: 13-34
Emmaus is about seven and a half miles from Jerusalem. A healthy man could walk the distance in two and a half to three hours at a leisurely pace. However, that is by how the crow flies. Traveling through the Judean foothills between Emmaus and Jerusalem, the walk would probably take slightly more than twice that time.
Who Cleophas was we are not certain. A pretty good ancient source outside of the Bible says he was a younger brother of Saint Joseph. Emmaus is a Greek rendering of the Hebrew word hammat, meaning warm springs or hot springs. Why Cleophas and his unnamed companion were walking to Emmaus we do not know. Perhaps to spread the word that Jesus had risen from the dead, but that is speculation.
What Jesus taught to them we do not know, and how I wish we did. I assume it was what He had previously taught the Apostles about how the prophets predicted Him, and to avoid repetition Luke did not include it. Or perhaps Cleophas and his companion had passed on, and all Luke had was the bare bones description of the event from other people who had heard about it. We do not know what we do not know.
Arriving after dark at Emmaus they shared the usual traveler rations of the day of bread and wine. They recognized Christ when He broke the bread. Christ then vanished.
A striking passage, and it has always given me much food for thought. It displays our lives in miniature. We spend our lives going here and there for purposes that usually fade in our minds within weeks of the passage of each day. The truly important part of our life is our relationship to God, and Jesus taught us most of what we know about that relationship. Our personal contact with Christ in this life is through the Eucharist, and in our faith that He will come again. None of us know how far each of our days are spent, but for each of us there will come a last day. May our eyes, and our hearts and our souls, always know Him, especially when our eyes are closing for the last time in this Vale of Tears.
