Friday, April 1, 2016

Where in the World is Emmaus?

The Gospel reading for Easter Wednesday was Jesus meeting up with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, one being Cleopas.  Where in the world is Emmaus?  There have been many assumptions as to where Emmaus was exactly located.  It might be more prevalent what “Emmaus” means:  Hot springs; in earnest longing.[1]  The two disciples were in earnest longing of the Messiah, of God.  They were near the hot springs, a nearness to, a yearning for, God.  Fittingly, “Cleopas” means: the whole glory; renowned father; famed of all.[2] The other disciple is not named.  Assumptions have been made as to who the other disciple was; however, it may be, perhaps, more beneficial to us if we put our names for the other disciple.  Then we would be walking and speaking with “Cleopas,” those exuberant for the whole glory of God.  When we are increasingly being transformed, conformed, to the image of the Son, we are famed of all, an image of the renowned father.


Now, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.[3]  Why were they prevented from recognizing Him?  Jesus desires that we believe all of the Scriptures, not only those that gratify us.  We must rejoice in the “bad” times as well as the “good,” just as Jesus, for we are part of the Church, the Body of Christ.  [The Sanhedrin had the apostles] flogged, ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them. So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.[4]  The Church, the Body of Christ, must be visible; otherwise, it is not a body.  There must be the unity that Jesus prayed for; it must be the visible Christ on earth.  This is what is portrayed by the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.  Jesus wants us beholden to each other, understanding that we cannot persevere on our own.  Two are better than one: They get a good wage for their toil. If the one falls, the other will help the fallen one. But woe to the solitary person! If that one should fall, there is no other to help. So also, if two sleep together, they keep each other warm. How can one alone keep warm? Where one alone may be overcome, two together can resist. A three-ply cord is not easily broken.[5]  We can go to hell on our own; however, if we desire heaven, we need the Body—we need each other.  Jesus wants us to see Him in each other, depending upon one another.  He wants us to see Him in the breaking of bread.  The bread is Jesus—body, blood, soul, and divinity—Him giving Himself for us.  However, the bread is also made up of many grains: each of us, because we are in Christ.  We also must be broken; and, in our brokenness, we can see Christ and others will see Christ.  Do we not see Christ in the brokenness of the apostles when they were persecuted and martyred?  Did they not see Christ in their brokenness?  They left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.  They were on the road to Emmaus.

As mentioned previously, “Emmaus” means “hot springs, in earnest longing.”  Because of Jesus’ resurrection and His promises, the apostles had an earnest longing for Christ and for the “hot springs.”  They did not see the “hot springs” as themselves individually, but in the Church.  In the first reading, Acts 3, when the crippled man asked Sts. Peter and John for alms, both of them looked intently at the man, and Peter said, “Look at us”—not “me.”  The man fixed his attention upon them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.[6]  The “hot springs” was in the name of Jesus Christ, the Church.  The Church was visible in Peter and John.  St. John Chrysostom, in his homily on Acts 3, relates:

“He did not say, I give thee something much better than silver or gold: but what? ‘In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up.’  Such was also the way of Christ.  Often He healed by word, often by an act, often also He stretched forth the hand, where men were somewhat weak in faith, that the cure might not appear to be spontaneous. ‘And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up.’  This act made manifest the Resurrection, for it was an image of the Resurrection.”[7]

Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”[8]  In saying, “I give you what I have,” St. Peter was not referring to himself individually but what all the apostles had received:  “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”[9]  Now, one might object that Peter did not say anything about forgiving sins.  I answer, “Which is more important to God: forgiving sins or just healing a body?”  All of Jesus’ miracles are a result of forgiving sins; they are to show us what is occurring spiritually.  That is what is occurring in Acts 3.  This man is no longer able to beg for alms; now, he must begin working.  This is why St. John Chrysostom is correct in saying that this healing is manifesting the Resurrection.  Before we are healed from our sins, we are unable to do the works of God, which we are able to do when our sins are washed away in Christ through Baptism. 

The two disciples were on their way to Emmaus, the “hot springs.”  Where in the world do we find Emmaus, the “hot springs”?  Where Jesus dwells Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—the visible Church, the Catholic Church.  Give thanks to the Lord, invoke his name; make known among the peoples his deeds!  Sing praise to him, play music; proclaim all his wondrous deeds!  Glory in his holy name; let hearts that seek the Lord rejoice!  Seek out the Lord and his might; constantly seek his face.  Recall the wondrous deeds he has done, his wonders and words of judgment, you descendants of Abraham his servant, offspring of Jacob the chosen one!  He the Lord, is our God whose judgments reach through all the earth.  He remembers forever his covenant, the word he commanded for a thousand generations, which he made with Abraham, and swore to Isaac”…[10]  Yes, let us rejoice, for we have reached Emmaus, with an earnest yearning to come face-to-face with the Messiah, our Lord, becoming the image of Him.



[1] Stelman Smith and Judson Cornwall, The exhaustive dictionary of Bible names, 1998, 68.
[2] Stelman Smith and Judson Cornwall, The exhaustive dictionary of Bible names, 1998, 54.
[3] New American Bible, Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Lk 24:15–16.
[4] New American Bible, Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Ac5:40–41.
[5] New American Bible, Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Ec 4:9–12.
[6] Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain), The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, (New York: National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, 1994), Ac 3:5–8.
[7] Chrysostom, St. John (2010-03-19). Saint Chrysostom: Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistle to the Romans (Kindle Locations 2139-2142).  Kindle Edition.
[8] Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain), The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, (New York: National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, 1994), Ac 3:6.
[9] Catholic Biblical Association (Great Britain), The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, (New York: National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, 1994), Jn 20:21–23.
[10] New American Bible, Revised Edition., (Washington, DC: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2011), Ps 105:1–9.