The Walk to Emmaus
A Sermon by the Rev. Michael D. Gladish
Lessons: Luke 24:13-43; Isaiah 55:1-7; Arcana Coelestia 9412
Now it came to pass, as He reclined at the table with them, that He took bread,
blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they
knew Him; and He vanished from their sight. (Luke 24:30-31)
T
he story of the two disciples walking to Emmaus is one of the most striking
of the Lord’s appearances on the day of His resurrection. It is a beautiful
story, full of obvious symbolism and deep meaning for our spiritual lives
today, not to mention many connections to other stories in the Word. And so,
just as the disciples walked then with the Lord, we are going to walk through
this story today and reflect on its powerful message about how the Lord was
known to His disciples, and how He is known to us today.
We begin at Luke 24:13 with the two disciples traveling (walking) on
Easter Sunday from Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus. We do not know
the meaning of the name, Emmaus, but we know that a village represents
what is relatively external in our spiritual lives, since it is out in the country,
beyond the larger cities that represent the principal doctrines or teachings of
the Church. Jerusalem in particular was the center of the Jewish religion and
culture, and so represented all the main ideas and affections associated with
that religion.
The two disciples clearly were leaving all this behind as they reasoned
together in their disappointment and fear about the crucifixion of their
Messiah. Indeed, they couldn’t even call Him their Messiah anymore, but in
verse 19 just “a Man, a Prophet, mighty in word and deed....”
We can only imagine how confused and sad their conversation was as they
reasoned together about all that they had seen over the weekend.
Even the fact that they were going to a village about seven miles from
Jerusalem – actually 60 furlongs, or stadia in the original Greek – is loaded
with meaning, since the number 60 can be factored down to 6 and 10.
These numbers represent F