Emmaus

Location

Emmaus was a village about seven and a half miles ('threescore furlongs' — Luke 24:13) from Jerusalem. Its exact location is uncertain; four traditional sites have been proposed since antiquity — Emmaus-Nicopolis (Amwas), Qubeibeh, Motza, and Abu Ghosh. The Gospel identifies the village only by its distance from Jerusalem.

Biblical importance

Emmaus is the village of the first great post-resurrection appearance in Luke 24. Two disciples — Cleopas and an unnamed companion — walked from Jerusalem to Emmaus on the afternoon of the first Easter, grieving. The risen Christ joined them, opened the Scriptures to them, and was known to them at the evening meal 'in breaking of bread' (Luke 24:35). The whole story is a portrait of every Christian Eucharist.

Historical timeline

• The first Easter afternoon (c. AD 30 or 33) — The two disciples walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus (Luke 24:13).
• Same evening — Christ is known 'in breaking of bread'; they return that same hour to Jerusalem to tell the eleven (Luke 24:33-35).
• Second century — Emmaus-Nicopolis (Amwas) becomes the earliest traditional site, mentioned by Eusebius (Onomasticon).
• Byzantine — Basilica built at Emmaus-Nicopolis (Amwas).
• Crusader — Church built at Abu Ghosh (a Crusader-era Benedictine site) and at Qubeibeh.
• Modern — Several candidate sites are venerated; the Franciscans and Benedictines each hold traditional Emmaus churches.

Important biblical events

• Luke 24:13-35 (KJV) The full account — the walk, the opening of the Scriptures, the meal, the knowing.
• Mark 16:12-13 (KJV) A shorter parallel: 'he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.'

Related People

• Christ Jesus — the third traveller on the road.
• Cleopas — one of the two, named in Luke 24:18.
• The unnamed companion — whom tradition sometimes identifies as Cleopas's wife, or as Simon, or as Luke himself.

Connected Places

• Jerusalem — the city they left and to which they returned.
• Golgotha — the Cross whose story they were telling as they walked.

Christian tradition

• The Emmaus story is read every Easter season in most Christian lectionaries.
• It is the paradigm of the two halves of the Christian Eucharist — the opening of the Scriptures ('did not our heart burn within us') and the breaking of the bread.
• Christian art from the earliest centuries has depicted the road to Emmaus.

Household reflection

Emmaus teaches the household that Christ meets us on the roads of ordinary life — the walk home, the drive to work, the trip to the shops — often unrecognised until He breaks the bread.

When the household is grieving, read Luke 24 aloud. Christ is the third traveller with every mourning family.

Room connections

Where this entry meets the household in the wider house of CrossAIHub.

• Read (Library) — Read Luke 24:13-35 slowly every Easter Monday — a household Easter tradition.
• Pray (Chapel) — Pray the Emmaus verse: 'Abide with us: for it is toward evening' (Luke 24:29 KJV) — the household Vespers versicle.
• Family (Kitchen Table) — On Easter Monday, invite an unexpected guest to the table — the household 'Emmaus meal.'
• Sing (Choir Room) — Sing 'Abide with Me' (Henry Francis Lyte, 1847) — the great Emmaus evening hymn.
• Learn (Workshop) — Study the four candidate sites of Emmaus in a good Bible atlas — a lesson in Christian pilgrimage history.

Further reading

Luke 24 in the KJV.

Eusebius, Onomasticon (fourth century) — earliest identification of Emmaus.

Any study of the Eucharistic pattern of Luke 24.

Elsewhere in the Atlas

• Jerusalem
• Golgotha
• Christ Jesus
• Peter
• Return to the atrium — the Atlas's main room.