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.
Another interpretation I just heard on retreat is that the two disciples on the road to Emmaus were apostles.
James 3 : 16-18
“For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity. And the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
Receiving our Lord in Holy Communion is a vertical and horizontal relationship.
As we come, even only clumsily, to have that personal relationship with Christ, (vertical )
we stretch out our arms to wash the feet of our neighbors. That in due season the harvest of righteousness is more than your personal relationship with Christ, but a fruitful one as you and Him accomplish the task the Father had in mind all along. ( the Horizontal )
What task?
Mission.
This story is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It portrays Jesus as having a sense of humor and is even a bit of a prankster.
“What are you two talking about?”
“What things?”
He knows exactly what they’re talking about yet he leads them on. I imagine him thinking, “They are going to freak out when the realize who I AM!”
And when they do, he disappears!
Love it!
Phillip-
I am open to correction, but I do not see how the men on the road to Emmaus could have been any of the twelve apostles.
Verse 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”
If they found “the eleven” it seems they were not part of the eleven…
I agree that Jesrs did seem to be playing a bit of a prank on them. He walked with them but they did not recognize Him and this was on purpose. He listened as if He knew nothing, then surprised them by allowing them to see Him, and then, poof, gone.
Visiting the Bible Museum with a church group I happened to view in one of the mini theaters On The Road to Emmaus from Chosen. Very meaningful to see as opposed to read the chapter.
“….whose name was Cleophas, …”
I’d check that Bible Study group Phillip.
Two proofs in this thread that it couldn’t be two disciples.
[…] https://the-american-catholic.com/2026/04/19/our-road-to-emmaus/ […]
I appreciate the concerns. I had similar ones, but had to leave the retreat early so could not question the priest further. I do know that he cited that the name Cleophas was a pseudonym to cover for one of the Apostles. The other citation about returning to the eleven seems dispositive.
Again I could not ask him about this discrepancy. I do know the man is quite faithful and holds a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.
I noticed when reading the Gospel of John yesterday that the “wife of Clophas” was at the Crucifixion, and she was identified as a sister of Mary. My quick witted Bride when I mentioned it to her said, “Sister in law?”. Perhaps another argument that Cleophas was the brother of Saint Joseph.
The difficulty with that is that the name has a Greek origin. Now perhaps the Hebrew has been translated to the Greek and then on to us.
Jews at the time of Jesus often had Greek nick names, perhaps due to the number of Greek speaking Jews. Jesus is the Greek form of Yeshua, Joshua, for example.
The name Cleophas is probably an abbreviation of Kleopatros, the male version of the more familiar Kleopatra, and means “Glory of the Father”.
In Brant Pitre’s book “Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary“, Dr Pitre cites many sources and puts the pieces of the puzzle together to make a convincing argument for Clopas (John 19:25) being St. Joseph’s brother. He, and his wife Mary (the ‘other Mary’) being the parents of James, Joses and Simon. This is all in the chapter of the book offering apologetics for the perpetual virginity of The Blessed Mother.
Again, no big dog in this fight. Passed on one other theory which a man with a doctorate in theology from a Pontifical University posited. Have no reason why he has this theory though I suspected he has his reasons.
I’ll leave it at that
The encounter of Christ with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus was in the form of the Mass. The Liturgy of the Word followed by the Liturgy of the Eucharist. By going incognito Christ made it possible for the disciples to give His exegesis of the Scriptures their full and undivided attention. Christ vanished when He was recognized in the breaking of the bread. Placing the emphasis on the Eucharist.