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The Road To Emmaus

[13] That very day two of them (disciples) were going to a village named Emma-
us, about seven miles from Jerusalem, [14] and talking with each other about
all these things that had happened. [15] While they were talking and discussing
together, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. [16] But their eyes were
kept from recognizing Him. [17] And He said to them, “What is this conversation
which you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, loo-
king sad. [18] Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered Him, “Are You the
only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there
in these days?” [19] And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him,
“Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word be-
fore God and all the people, [20] and how our chief priests and rulers delivered
Him up to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. [21] But we had hoped
that He was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the
third day since this happened. [22] Moreover, some women of our company a-
mazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning [23] and did not find His
body; and they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels,
who said that He was alive. [24] Some of those who were with us went to the
tomb, and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.”

[25] And He said to them, “O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe all that
the prophets have spoken! [26] Was it not necessary that the Christ should suf-
fer these things and enter into His glory?” [27] And beginning with Moses and all
the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning
Himself.

[28] So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He appeared to
be going further, [29] but they constrained Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is to-
ward evening and the day is now far spent.” So He went in to stay with them.
[30] When He was at table with them, He took the bread and blessed, and broke
it, and gave it to them. [31] And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him;
and He vanished out of their sight. [32] They said to each other, “Did not our
hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us
the Scriptures?” [33] And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem;
and they found the Eleven gathered together and those who were with them, [34]
who said, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” [35] Then they
told what had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the brea-
king of the bread.

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Commentary:

13-35. In the course of their conversation with Jesus, the disciples’ mood chan-
ges from sadness to joy; they begin to hope again, and feel the need to share
their joy with others, thus becoming heralds and witnesses of the risen Christ.

This is an episode exclusive to St. Luke, who describes it in a masterly way. It
shows our Lord’s zeal for souls. “As He is walking along, Christ meets two men
who have nearly lost all hope. They are beginning to feel that life has no meaning
for them. Christ understands their sorrow; He sees into their heart and communi-
cates to them some of the life He carries within Himself.”

“When they draw near the village, He makes as if to go on, but the two disciples
stop Him and practically force Him to stay with them. They recognize Him later
when He breaks the bread. The Lord, they exclaimed, has been with us! ‘And
they said to each other: “Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us
on the road, while He opened to us the Scriptures?”’ (Luke 24:32). Every Chris-
tian should make Christ present among men. He ought to act in such a way that
those who know Him sense ‘the aroma of Christ’ (cf. 2 Corinthians 2:15). Men
should be able to recognize the Master in His disciples” (St. J. Escriva, “Christ
Is Passing By”, 105).

13-27. Jesus’ conversation with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus gives
us a very good idea of the disillusionment felt by His disciples after His apparent
total failure. Cleopas’ words summarize Christ’s life and mission (verse 19), His
passion and death (verse 20), the despair felt by His disciples (verse 21), and
the events of that Sunday morning (verse 22).

Earlier, Jesus had said to the Jews: “You search the Scriptures, because you
think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to Me”
(John 5:39). In saying this He indicated the best way for us to get to know Him.
Pope Paul VI points out that today also frequent reading of and devotion to Holy
Scripture is a clear inspiration of the Holy Spirit: “The progress made in biblical
studies, the increasing dissemination of the Sacred Scriptures, and above all
the example of tradition and the interior action of the Holy Spirit are tending to
cause the modern Christian to use the Bible ever increasingly as the basic
prayerbook and to draw from it genuine inspiration and unsurpassable exam-
ples” Paul VI, “Marialis Cultus”, 30).

Because the disciples are so downhearted, Jesus patiently opens for them the
meaning of all the Scriptural passages concerning the Messiah. “Was it not
necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?”:
with these words He disabuses them of the notion of an earthly and political
Messiah and shows them that Christ’s mission is a supernatural one — to save
all mankind.

Sacred Scripture contained the prophecy that God would bring about salvation
through the redemptive passion and death of the Messiah. The Cross does not
mean failure: it is the route chosen by God for Christ to achieve definitive victory
over sin and death (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:23-24). Many of our Lord’s contempora-
ries failed to understand His supernatural mission because they misinterpreted
the Old Testament texts. No one knew the meaning of Sacred Scripture like
Jesus. And, after Him, only the Church has the mission and responsibility of
conserving Scripture and interpreting it correctly: “All that has been said about
the manner of interpreting Scripture is ultimately subject to the judgment of the
Church which exercises the divinely conferred commission and ministry of wat-
ching over and interpreting the Word of God” (Vatican II, “Dei Verbum”, 12).

28-35. The Master’s presence and words restore the disciples’ spirits and give
them new and lasting hope. “There were two disciples on their way to Emmaus.
They were walking along at a normal pace, like so many other travelers on that
road. And there, without any fuss, Jesus appears to them, and walks with them,
His conversation helping to alleviate their tiredness. I can well imagine the scene,
just as dusk is falling. A gentle breeze is blowing. All around are fields ripe with
wheat, and venerable olive trees, their branches shimmering in the soft glowing
light.

“Jesus joins them as they go along their way. Lord, how great you are, in every-
thing! But You move me even more when You come down to our level, to follow
us and to seek us in the hustle and bustle of each day. Lord, grant us a child-
like spirit, pure eyes and a clear mind so that we may recognize You when
You come without any outward sign of Your glory.

“The journey ends when they reach the village. The two disciples who, without
realizing it, have been deeply stirred by the words and love shown by God made
man, are sorry to see Him leaving. For Jesus ‘appeared to be going further’ (Luke
24:28). This Lord of ours never forces Himself on us. He wants us to turn to Him
freely, when we begin to grasp the purity of His Love which He has placed in our
souls. We have to hold Him back (’they constrained Him’) and beg Him: ‘Stay
with us, for it is towards evening, and the day is now far spent’ (Luke 24:29).

“That’s just like us—always short on daring, perhaps because we are insincere,
or because we feel embarrassed. Deep down, what we are really thinking is:
‘Stay with us, because our souls are shrouded in darkness and You alone are
the light. You alone can satisfy this longing that consumes us.’ For ‘we know
full well which among all things fair and honorable is the best—to possess God
for ever’ (St. Gregory Nazianzen, “Epistolae”, 212).

“And Jesus stays. Our eyes are opened, as were those of Cleopas and his
companion, when Christ breaks the bread; and, though He vanishes once more
from sight, we too will find strength to start out once more — though night is fal-
ling — to tell the others about Him, because so much joy cannot be kept in one
heart alone.

“The road to Emmaus—our God has filled this name with sweetness. Now the
entire world has become an Emmaus, for the Lord has opened up all the divine
paths of the earth” (St. J. Escriva, “Friends of God”, 313f).

32. If you were an apostle, these words of the disciples of Emmaus should rise
spontaneously to the lips of your professional companions when they meet you
along the way of their lives” (”The Way”, 917).

33-35. The disciples now feel the need to return to Jerusalem immediately; there
they find the Apostles and some other disciples gathered together with Peter, to
whom Jesus has appeared.

In sacred history, Jerusalem was the place where God chose to be praised in
a very special way and where the prophets carried out their main ministry. God
willed that Christ should suffer, die and rise again in Jerusalem, and from there
the Kingdom of God begins to spread (cf. Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8). In the New
Testament the Church of Christ is described as “the Jerusalem above” (Gala-
tians 4:26), “the Heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22) and the “new Jerusalem”
(Revelation 21:2).

The Church began in the Holy City. Later on, St. Peter, not without a special
intervention of Providence, moved to Rome, thereby making that city the center
of the Church. Just as Peter strengthened these first disciples in the faith, so
too Christians of all generations have recourse to the See of Peter to strengthen
their faith and thereby build up the unity of the Church: “Take away the Pope
and the Catholic Church would no longer be catholic. Moreover, without the su-
preme, effective and authoritative pastoral office of Peter the unity of Christ’s
Church would collapse. It would be vain to look for other principles of unity in
place of the true one established by Christ Himself [...]. We would add that this
cardinal principle of holy Church is not a supremacy of spiritual pride and a de-
sire to dominate mankind, but a primacy of service, ministration and love. It
is no vapid rhetoric which confers on Christ’s vicar the title: ‘Servant of the ser-
vants of God’” (Paul VI, “Ecclesiam Suam”, 83).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: John 20:1-18 (or 1-9) (Or the Gospel from the Easter Vigil may be used)

The Empty Tomb

[1] Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early,
while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the
tomb. [2] So she ran, and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one
whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,
and we do not know where they have laid Him.” [3] Peter then came out with the
other disciple, and they went toward the tomb. [4] They both ran, but the other
disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first; [5] and stooping to look in, he
saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. [6] Then Simon Peter
came, following him, and went into the tomb; he saw the linen cloths lying, [7]
and the napkin, which had been on His head, not lying with the linen cloths but
rolled up in a place by itself. [8] Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb
first, also went in, and he saw and believed; [9] for as yet they did not know the
Scripture, that He must rise from the dead. [10] Then the disciples went back
to their homes.

The Appearance To Mary Magdalene

[11] But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped
to look into the tomb; [12] and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the
body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. [13] They said to
her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have
taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” [14] Saying
this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it
was Jesus. [15] Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do
you seek?” Supposing Him to be gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have
carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
[16] Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabbo-
ni!” (which means Teacher). [17] Jesus said to her, “Do not hold Me, for I have
not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, I am
ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.” [18] Mary
Magdalene went and said to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told
them that He had said these things to her.

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Commentary:

1-2. All four Gospels report the first testimonies of the holy women and the dis-
ciples regarding Christ’s glorious resurrection, beginning with the fact of the emp-
ty tomb (cf. Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1ff; Luke 24:1-12) and then telling of the
various appearances of the risen Jesus.

Mary Magdalene was one of the women who provided for our Lord during His
journeys (Luke 8:1-3); along with the Virgin Mary she bravely stayed with Him
right up to His final moments (John 19:25), and she saw where His body was
laid (Luke 23:55). Now, after the obligatory Sabbath rest, she goes to visit the
tomb. The Gospel points out that she went “early, when it was still dark”: her
love and veneration led her to go without delay, to be with our Lord’s body.

4. The Fourth Gospel makes it clear that, although the women, and specifically
Mary Magdalene, were the first to reach the tomb, the Apostles were the first
to enter it and see the evidence that Christ had risen (the empty tomb, the linen
clothes “lying” and the napkin in a place by itself). Bearing witness to this will
be an essential factor in the mission which Christ will entrust to them: “You
shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem...and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8; cf.
Acts 2:32).

John, who reached the tomb first (perhaps because he was the younger), did
not go in, out of deference to Peter. This is an indication that Peter was alrea-
dy regarded as leader of the Apostles.

5-7. The words the Evangelist uses to describe what Peter and he saw in the
empty tomb convey with vivid realism the impression it made on them, etching
on their memory details which at first sight seem irrelevant. The whole scene
inside the tomb in some way caused them to intuit that the Lord had risen.
Some of the words contained in the account need further explanation, so terse
is the translation.

“The linen clothes lying there”: the Greek participle translated as “lying there”
seems to indicate that the clothes were flattened, deflated, as if they were emp-
tied when the body of Jesus rose and disappeared—as if it had come out of the
clothes and bandages without their being unrolled, passing right through them
(just as later He entered the Cenacle when the doors were shut). This would
explain the clothes being “fallen”, “flat” “lying”, which is how the Greek literally
translates, after Jesus’ body—which had filled them—left them. One can readily
understand how this would amaze a witness, how unforgettable the scene
would be.

“The napkin...rolled up in a place by itself”: the first point to note is that the
napkin, which had been wrapped round the head, was not on top of the clothes,
but placed on one side. The second, even more surprising thing is that, like the
clothes, it was still rolled up but, unlike the clothes, it still had a certain volume,
like a container, possibly due to the stiffness given it by the ointments: this is
what the Greek participle, here translated as “rolled”, seems to indicate.

From these details concerning the empty tomb one deduces that Jesus’ body
must have risen in a heavenly manner, that is, in a way which transcended the
laws of nature. It was not only a matter of the body being reanimated as hap-
pened, for example, in the case of Lazarus, who had to be unbound before he
could walk (cf. John 11:44).

8-10. As Mary Magdalene had told them, the Lord was not in the tomb; but the
two Apostles realized that there was no question of any robbery, which was
what she thought had happened, because they saw the special way the clothes
and napkin were; they know began to understand what the Master had so often
told them about His death and resurrection (cf. Matthew 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke
9:22; etc....)

The empty tomb and the other facts were perceptible to the senses; but the resur-
rection, even though it had effects that could be tested by experience, requires
faith if it is to be accepted. Christ’s resurrection is a real, historic fact: His body
and soul were re-united. But since His was a glorious resurrection unlike Laza-
rus’, far beyond our capacity in this life to understand what happened, and out-
side the scope of sense experience, a special gift of God is required — the gift of
faith — to know and accept as a certainty this fact which, while it is historical, is
also supernatural. Therefore, St. Thomas Aquinas can say that “the individual ar-
guments taken alone are not sufficient proof of Christ’s resurrection, but taken to-
gether, in a cumulative way, they manifest it perfectly. Particularly important in
this regard are the spiritual proofs (cf. specially Luke 24:25-27), the angelic tes-
timony (cf. Luke 24:4-7) and Christ’s own post-resurrection word confirmed by mi-
racles (cf. John 3:13; Matthew 16:21; 17:22; 20:18)” (St. Thomas Aquinas, “Sum-
ma Theologiae”, III, q. 55, a. 6 ad 1).

In addition to Christ’s predictions about His passion, death and resurrection (cf.
John 2:19; Matthew 16:21; Mark 9:31; Luke 9:22), the Old Testament also fore-
tells the glorious victory of the Messiah and, in some way, His resurrection (cf.
Psalm 16:9; Isaiah 52:13; Hosea 6:2). The Apostles begin to grasp the true
meaning of Sacred Scripture after the resurrection, particularly once they re-
ceive the Holy Spirit, who fully enlightens their minds to understand the content
of the Word of God. It is easy to imagine the surprise and elation they all feel
when Peter and John tell them what they have seen in the tomb.

11-18. Mary’s affection and sensitivity lead her to be concerned about what has
become of the dead body of Jesus. This woman out of whom seven demons were
cast (cf. Luke 8:2) stayed faithful during His passion and even now her love is
still ardent: our Lord had freed her from the Evil One and she responded to that
grace humbly and generously.

After consoling Mary Magdalene, Jesus gives her a message for the Apostles,
whom He tenderly calls His “brethren”. This message implies that He and they
have the same Father, though each in an essentially different way: “I am ascen-
ding to My Father” — My own Father by nature — “and to your Father” — for He
is your Father through the adoption I have won for you and by My death. Jesus,
the Good Shepherd, shows His great mercy and understanding by gathering to-
gether all His disciples who had abandoned Him during His passion and were
now in hiding for fear of the Jews (John 20:19).

Mary Magdalene’s perseverance teaches us that anyone who sincerely keeps
searching for Jesus Christ will eventually find Him. Jesus’ gesture in calling His
disciples His “brethren” despite their having run away should fill us with love in
the midst of our own infidelities.

15. From Jesus’ dialogue with Mary Magdalene, we can see the frame of mind
all His disciples must have been in: they were not expecting the resurrection.

17. “Do not hold Me”: the use of the negative imperative in the Greek, reflected
in the New Vulgate (”noli me tenere”) indicates that our Lord is telling Mary to
release her hold of Him, to let Him go, since she will have another chance to
see Him before His ascension into Heaven.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.