Now that very day two of them were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, 14 and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. 15 And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, 16 but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?” 19 And he replied to them, “What sort of things?” They said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. 21 But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. 22 Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning 23 and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. 24 Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures. 28 As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. 29 But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. 31 With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. 32 Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” 33 So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them 34 who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
This passage shows how the risen Jesus brings discouraged disciples back to faith. Two of his followers are leaving Jerusalem and going to Emmaus, about seven miles away (v. 13). They are speaking about what has happened to Jesus, but they do not understand it yet. Their hopes have been shaken because Jesus, whom they had hoped was the Messiah sent to redeem Israel, had been handed over, condemned to death, and crucified (vv. 19-21). They are walking away with sadness and confusion.
As they talk, Jesus himself comes near and walks with them, but they do not recognize him (vv. 15-16). This fits a wider pattern in the resurrection accounts. The risen Lord is truly the same Jesus, but he is not always recognized at once (cf. Mk 16:12; Jn 20:14; 21:4). Luke says their eyes were prevented from recognizing him (v. 16). The point is not that Jesus is unreal. The point is that recognition of the risen Lord does not come by ordinary sight alone.
Jesus asks what they are discussing, and they stop, looking downcast (v. 17). Cleopas answers with surprise, because the events in Jerusalem have been so public and so recent (v. 18). Then the two disciples summarize what has happened. They call Jesus “a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people” (v. 19). That description is true, but it is not complete. Jesus is more than a prophet. Still, they can only speak from the level of understanding they have reached so far.
Their sadness becomes even clearer when they say, “we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel” (v. 21). This shows what they had expected. They had hoped for a Messiah who would bring a visible national victory. But Jesus did not come to free Israel from Roman rule. He came to free his people from sin and death (cf. Mt 1:21; Jn 1:29). Their hope was too small, because their understanding of God’s plan was too narrow.
They then mention the report of the women, the empty tomb, and the message of the angels that Jesus is alive (vv. 22-24). Yet even after hearing this, they still do not believe. The facts have reached them, but the meaning has not. They do not yet have the spiritual understanding needed to grasp a Messiah who suffers, dies, and rises. Luke shows that hearing reports alone is not enough. The disciples need their minds and hearts to be opened.
That is why Jesus responds as he does: “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!” (v. 25). He is not insulting them. He is correcting them. Their problem is not lack of information, but lack of faith in what God had already spoken and was now bringing to fulfillment. Then Jesus gives the key to the whole passage: “Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (v. 26). The suffering and death of Christ were not a failure of God’s plan. They belonged to the very center of God’s plan.
Luke then says that Jesus, “beginning with Moses and all the prophets,” interpreted to them what referred to him in all the Scriptures (v. 27). This is one of the clearest statements in the New Testament that the whole history of salvation leads to Christ. His life, suffering, death, and Resurrection do not stand apart from the Old Testament. They fulfill it. The disciples do not move to faith by inventing a new meaning. They move to faith by learning to read the Scriptures rightly.
As they near the village, Jesus acts as though he will continue on, but they urge him, “Stay with us” (vv. 28-29). He does not force himself upon them. He allows himself to be invited and welcomed. Luke gives importance here to hospitality. The stranger is received, and that welcome becomes the setting for revelation.
At table, Jesus “took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them” (v. 30). These actions recall both the feeding of the multitude (Lk 9:16) and the Last Supper (Lk 22:19). Then comes the turning point: “With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (v. 31). Luke ends the story by saying that Jesus “was made known to them in the breaking of the bread” (v. 35). This expression later became an early Christian way of referring to the Lord’s Supper or Eucharist (Acts 2:42; 20:7). In this passage, Jesus is recognized in the light of the Scriptures he has opened and in the breaking of the bread he has given.
Then he vanishes from their sight (v. 31). But his disappearance does not cancel his presence. By this point the disciples know that he is truly risen. Their earlier blindness has given way to recognition. Their words show what has changed: “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” (v. 32). Their hearts had been changing even before their eyes were opened. The word of God had already begun to move them from sadness to understanding.
The effect is immediate. They rise at once and return to Jerusalem (v. 33). At the beginning of the passage they are moving away from the center of the apostolic community. At the end they return to it. They are no longer defeated followers walking away in disappointment. They are now witnesses returning with news. They find the eleven and the others gathered together, already saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” (v. 34). The testimony of the Church is beginning to come together. Peter has seen the risen Lord. The two disciples have seen the risen Lord. The scattered followers are being gathered again.
So this passage is not only a resurrection story. It is also a story about how disciples come to understand the resurrection. Jesus opens the Scriptures. Jesus is recognized in the breaking of the bread. Jesus turns sorrow into faith and wandering into return. The two disciples had known the events, but not their meaning. Only when the risen Lord interprets the Scriptures and gives the bread do they understand who he is.
This passage still teaches the Church that Christ is known when the Scriptures are opened in their true meaning and when he makes himself known in the breaking of the bread. That is why the road to Emmaus remains a clear picture of Christian faith. The risen Lord comes near, teaches, is recognized, and sends his disciples back to the others, and from there out as witnesses.
Lord Jesus, stay with us when our minds are confused and our hearts are slow to believe. Open the Scriptures to us, lead us into the truth of your suffering and glory, and make us faithful witnesses to your Resurrection. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011. Luke 24:13-35 and notes.
- Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010, 154.
- José María Casciaro, et al. The Navarre Bible: St. Luke. New York: Scepter Publishers, 2003, 351-52.
- Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990, 720-21, para. 196.
- José Enrique Aguilar Chiu, et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018, 1101-2.
- John J. Collins, Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid OP, and Donald Senior CP, eds. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century. Third Fully Revised Edition. With a Foreword by Pope Francis. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2020, 1360.
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