What is our Emmaus?
Year A – Easter – 3rd Sunday
Luke 24:13–35: “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
The Church celebrates the mystery of Easter over seven weeks, from Easter to Pentecost, a period of fifty days, the time of “holy joy”, considered by the early Fathers of the Church as “the great Sunday”. Throughout this time, liturgical prayer was offered standing, as a sign of the Resurrection: “We consider that it is not permitted for us to fast or to pray kneeling on Sunday. We observe the same practice with joy from the day of Easter until Pentecost” (Tertullian).
These seven Sundays invite us to celebrate Easter… seven times (the fullness!). Last Sunday was the Easter of Thomas; today is the Easter of the two disciples of Emmaus, as recounted by Luke. With this, the (three) Sundays in which the Gospel presents us with accounts of the Resurrection come to an end.
Luke’s three appearances
In chapter 24, which concludes his Gospel, Luke recounts three appearances:
- the first, on the morning of Easter, that of the angels to the women at the empty tomb;
- the second, in the afternoon of the same day, the appearance of the Risen Lord to the two disciples walking on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus;
- the third, in the evening, the appearance of Jesus to the Eleven in Jerusalem.
These three appearances serve not only to bear witness to the Resurrection, but also to help the disciples understand the meaning of what had happened, which had so scandalised them and left them in deep dismay.
Everything concludes with the Ascension into heaven. Let us note carefully that everything takes place on the same day, the day of Easter. It is an extraordinarily long day! How can this be explained? How can it be reconciled with what the other evangelists recount? We must remember that the Gospels were written several decades later. The events were already known within the Christian communities, handed down orally. In writing, the evangelists take into account not only history, but above all the situation of their communities. In other words, they have a theological and catechetical intention. Here Luke wishes to present what a typical Christian Sunday is like. It is a literary device. Indeed, at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles he presents things somewhat differently: “He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them over forty days” (1:3).
The account of the appearance of the Risen Lord to the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus is one of the most evocative in the Gospels. It is a “Gospel in miniature,” comments Cardinal Martini, “a narrative in which faith and emotion, reason and feeling, sorrow and joy, doubt and certainty are fused, touching the deepest chords of the reader, whether believer or simply a seeker, creating profound resonance with the desire to set out on a journey towards the One who offers the fullness of happiness.”
THE FLIGHT. Who are the two disciples?
Who are the two disciples fleeing from Jerusalem? One is called Cleopas. According to a second-century tradition, Cleopas was an uncle of Jesus, the brother of Saint Joseph, a person known in the Christian community. The other disciple is not named. This allows us to identify with him or… with her! Yes, because according to John 19:25—see the Jerusalem Bible—Cleopas may have had as his wife Mary, sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The other disciple, therefore, could be… his wife! So, a couple?
The journey towards Emmaus is not a leisurely walk, but rather a return to their village, to their past, after great disappointment; a flight from the Crucified One after the dramatic defeat. “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”
The theme of the road is dear to Luke. Speaking while walking is what Jesus does in his “great journey” towards Jerusalem, which occupies ten chapters (9:51–19:27). While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, these two are moving away. Flight is the original sin of humanity, and each of us has our own Emmaus. It is not a place, but a mechanism of escape that often repeats itself in our lives.
What is our Emmaus? Faced with disappointment in God and in his promises, doubt and temptation assail us. Have we not been mistaken? Have we pursued a mere illusion? Have we taken the wrong path? Have we perhaps wasted years or even our entire life? Would it not have been better to remain in the village and live as everyone else does? Yet the flight and the desire to return “to the life before” will prove to be a vain attempt, because nothing can ever be as it was before!
THE ENCOUNTER. A travelling companion
“Jesus himself came near and went with them.” But they were too sad and disappointed to recognise him. The Lord lets them recount their (his) story and, through the Word of Scripture, helps them to reread it and understand it; he enlightens it and gives it meaning. Then their hearts are warmed and hope returns: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road and opening the Scriptures to us?”
It is the Word that interprets life. Our view of the meaning of existence, of the significance of the events of our history, all depends on the word we listen to. Which word do we choose to listen to in order to reinterpret our life? That of the world or that of Christ?
The Risen Lord follows us in our flights, like the Good Shepherd who seeks the lost sheep that has strayed from the community. The Italian theologian Pierangelo Sequeri even says that God goes before us on our paths of confusion to set a trap for us, so that we may fall into his arms. He is “the God of a thousand ambushes.”
THE RETURN. An invisible presence
Drawn by the mysterious traveller, the two wayfarers invite him to remain with them: “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” And in the “breaking of the bread” (an expression of the Eucharist), “their eyes were opened and they recognised him. But he vanished from their sight.” When they finally see him, he can become invisible. For he is no longer outside them, but within them! And they return to Jerusalem, to the community, to share their joy and, in turn, to be strengthened by the witness of others. For joy, like faith, is multiplied when it is shared.
In conclusion, this account is a small masterpiece, a refined summary of Sunday, with its reference to the Christian community, to the Liturgy of the Word, to the Eucharistic liturgy, and to the mission of the Christian: to bear witness that Christ is risen.
And we, which path are we following? Are we fleeing, or are we on the way back to Jerusalem? Have we recognised the Risen One along the road of our life?
Sunday, every Sunday, is Easter Sunday: a day of gathering from our diasporas, to rediscover the “great joy” (Luke 24:52).
P. Manuel João Pereira Correia, MCCJ
Fr. Manuel João, comboni missionary
Sunday Reflection
from the womb of my whale, ALS
Our cross is the pulpit of the Word
