Emmaus #56

Emmaus is a village near Jerusalem named only in Luke’s Gospel, as the destination of two disciples walking home on the afternoon of the first Easter. On the road, the risen Jesus joined them without being recognized, and they knew him only when he broke bread at their table. Where Emmaus actually was is unknown, and several sites compete for the name.

Biblical Significance

Luke says that two of Jesus’ followers were going that same day to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, or sixty stadia (Luke 24:13). One is named Cleopas (Luke 24:18), and the other is not named. As they talked over the events of the crucifixion, Jesus himself drew near, but they were kept from recognizing him (Luke 24:14-16). They told him, with sadness, of their hope that Jesus of Nazareth would redeem Israel and of the report by some women that the tomb was empty (Luke 24:17-24).

Jesus answered by explaining, beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, everything in the Scriptures that concerned himself (Luke 24:25-27). When they reached the village, they urged him to stay, since the day was nearly over. At the table he took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, and their eyes were opened, at which he vanished from their sight (Luke 24:28-31). They asked one another whether their hearts had not burned within them as he opened the Scriptures to them (Luke 24:32). Without delay, they returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven and others gathered, who told them that the Lord had risen and had appeared to Simon. The two then described what had happened on the road and how he had been made known in the breaking of the bread (Luke 24:33-35).

The story connects the risen Christ to the reading of Scripture and to the shared meal, themes that later Christians have seen echoed in worship. It also shows the slow movement of the disciples from grief to belief.

Today

The location of Emmaus is uncertain, partly because Luke’s manuscripts differ on the distance: most read sixty stadia, about seven miles, while some read one hundred sixty. Several candidates have been proposed. Emmaus-Nicopolis, near Latrun, was accepted by early Christian writers, and it fits the longer figure, but it is far more than a day’s round trip. Qubeibeh, northwest of Jerusalem, has been honored since the Crusader period and lies at about the right distance. Abu Ghosh, another Crusader-era tradition, is roughly the same distance to the west. Some scholars point to Motza, west of Jerusalem, which may be the place Josephus calls Emmaus, though he gives its distance as thirty stadia. None can be proved, and churches stand at several of these places. The village’s exact site matters less to the story than the encounter itself.