Luke 24
KNECHTLuke 24:11
JESUS APPEARS TO TWO DISCIPLES ON THE WAY TO EMMAUS
IT also happened that in the course of the same day two of the disciples¹ went to Emmaus², and talked together of the
¹ Disciples. Not apostles. Most likely the home of one of them, at all events, was at Emmaus.
² Emmaus (Fig. 93). This little town lay about eight miles to the west of Jerusalem (see Map).
— LXXX. JESUS APPEARS TO TWO DISCIPLES ON THE WAY TO EMMAUS. 717
events¹ that had taken place in Jerusalem. Jesus suddenly joined them under the form of a stranger. He walked on with them, but they knew Him not². He asked them what these events were of which they spoke, and why they appeared so sad.
Then one of them, whose name was Cleophas, answered: “Art Thou alone³ a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known
the things that have been done there in these days?” Then Jesus asked: “What things?” They replied: Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet⁴, and concerning our chief priests
¹ The events. About our Lord’s death, and about what Magdalen and the other women had that same day reported that they had seen.
² Knew Him not. He did not wish to make Himself known at once, so that the disciples might unrestrainedly speak out the thoughts of their hearts, and that He might instruct them. They thought that He was a pilgrim, returning home from the feast. Our Lord blinded the eyes of their body, so that He might gradually open the eyes of their soul.
³ Thou alone. “Even the strangers and pilgrims in Jerusalem must have heard all about these things. Are You the only one who has heard nothing?” Their hearts were so entirely occupied with all that had taken place concerning Jesus, that they thought nobody could be thinking of anything else.
⁴ A Prophet. “We hoped”, they said, “that it was He that should have redeemed Israel; and now besides all this, to-day is the third day” &c. They had
— 718 LXXX. JESUS APPEARS TO TWO DISCIPLES ON THE WAY TO EMMAUS.
and rulers who crucified Him. Now to-day it is the third day since these things were done. Yea, some women, also of our company, who have been at the sepulchre, say He is alive.
When Jesus had heard these words, He said to them: “O foolish and slow of heart to believe all¹ the things which the prophets have spoken! Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so enter into His glory?” Then, beginning with Moses and the prophets, He explained to them everything² in the Scriptures that was said in relation to Himself.
When they reached Emmaus, He made as though he would go farther, but they pressed Him to remain with them, as the day was far spent. He remained accordingly. But when they sat down to table, He took bread, and blessed, and broke³, and gave it to them. And immediately their eyes⁴ were opened, and they knew Him. But He vanished⁵ from their sight. They then said to one another: “Was not our heart burning⁶ within us whilst He was walking in the way?”
hoped that He would prove to be the Messias, but their hopes in the Messias, like those of the rest of their people, were principally earthly. The Pharisees explained the prophecies relating to the Messias in a very one-sided way. They ignored the passages which treated of the humiliations and sufferings of the Redeemer, giving exclusive prominence to those which described His power and majesty, and even these they interpreted in a sense entirely earthly. Therefore our Lord, in His answer, emphasized: “Should you not have believed all that the prophets have said? i. e. not only what they said about His glory, but also what they said about His humiliations?”
¹ Believe all. How imperfect is your understanding of the Scriptures! You have, indeed, the will to believe, and are not stiff-necked like the Pharisees, but you have much to do before you can rid yourselves of your false hopes about the Messias, and can believe all that has been written concerning Him.
² Everything. i. e. all the types which foreshadowed the Messias (such as Isaac, the brazen serpent, the paschal lamb &c.), and all the prophecies, which showed that Christ ought to have suffered what He did suffer, and enter into His glory through His sufferings.
³ And broke. He did exactly as He had done at the Last Supper, and therefore gave them His own Body under the form of bread, to be the Food of their souls.
⁴ Their eyes. Were opened as soon as they had received the Holy Eucharist.
⁵ Vanished. For the object of His apparition was accomplished, as soon as they had recognised Him, and were convinced of the reality of His Resurrection.
⁶ Burning. They had felt so wonderfully drawn to Him while He was speaking with them, that now they felt they ought, by their feelings, to have recognised who He was.
— LXXX. JESUS APPEARS TO TWO DISCIPLES ON THE WAY TO EMMAUS. 719
The same evening$^(1)$ they returned to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven gathered together, who exclaimed: “The Lord is risen indeed$^(2)$, and hath appeared to Simon.” The two disciples now told the apostles how they also had seen the Lord, and how they had known Him in the breaking of bread.
COMMENTARY.
Further proofs of the Resurrection. The Lord had risen indeed, for He had appeared a) to Peter, and b) to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, conversing with these two last for a considerable time, and instructing them in the Faith. These form the third and fourth apparitions of Jesus after His Resurrection. His sudden mode of disappearance proved that His Body was glorified, subtle and agile.
The apparition to Peter. Our Lord appeared to St. Peter before any of the other apostles 1. to distinguish him as the chosen head of His Church; 2. to repay him for the greater love he bore Jesus than the others; 3. to assure him of His forgiveness, and to show to the whole world how pleasing to Him were Peter’s tears of contrition, and how willing He is to forgive repentant sinners.
The doctrine of the apostles is the doctrine of Jesus Christ. We see in this chapter how our Lord Himself instructed His apostles and disciples in the understanding of the Scriptures. All the explanations of the types, prophecies &c. which are to be found in the writings and discourses of the apostles are, therefore, to be regarded as the explanations of our Lord Himself
Jesus Christ is the promised Redeemer, for in Him and through Him was fulfilled all that the prophets foretold about the Redeemer.
Faith must be entire. Our Lord rebuked the disciples because they, like the rest of the people who were misguided by the Pharisees, believed only in those prophecies which treated of the glory and power of the Messias, and ignored those which related to His humiliations, sufferings and death; and He expressly demanded of them that they should believe all that God had revealed through the prophets. So now God requires of us Catholics to believe, not only the truths which suit our inclinations, nor again only such truths as the Church has
$^(1)$ The same evening. Although it was already evening, and the way was long. They wished to lose no time in announcing to the apostles the good news that Jesus was really alive and had appeared to them.
$^(2)$ Is risen indeed. “It is no delusion, as we thought it was earlier in the day, when the women told us that He was risen. He has really risen and has appeared unto Simon (Peter).” Where our Lord appeared to Peter, and what He then said to him, the Gospel does not inform us.
— 720 LXXX. JESUS APPEARS TO TWO DISCIPLES ON THE WAY TO EMMAUS.
defined in the past, but every truth which the Church teaches now and may teach in the future.
The human nature of Jesus Christ obtained its glorified state (its Resurrection, Ascension, and place at the right hand of the Father) by the merits of its humiliations and sufferings. “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so enter into His glory?” asked our Lord of the two disciples. Through His sufferings, the human nature of Jesus Christ won a share in that glory which the Son of God had with the Father before the world began (chapter LXVIII). St. Paul says (Phil. 2, S. 11): “He humbled Himself, becoming obedient, even to the death of the Cross. For which cause, also, God hath exalted Him, and hath given Him a Name which is above all names, that in the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.” We, in the same manner, must win heaven by humility, patience and obedience. The way of the cross is the way to heaven.
Communion under one kind. Jesus gave His Body and Blood to the two disciples under the one form of bread, to be the Food and Nourishment of their souls.
Our hearts ought to burn within us each time we find ourselves in a church, in the Presence of our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, and still more when we receive Him in Holy Communion.
The two disciples corresponded with grace, and therefore obtained further grace. When Jesus, whom they considered to be a stranger, asked them about what they were speaking together so earnestly, they confessed their belief that He whom the chief priests had given over to be crucified was no malefactor, but the promised Messias. And when our Lord reproached them for their want of faith, they accepted His reproof humbly. They thus made themselves worthy that our Lord should explain to them the types and prophecies, and so confirm their faith. And when, prompted partly by a kind solicitude for Him, and partly by a desire to profit further by His instructions, they invited the unknown stranger to eat and sleep at their house, our Lord gave them His Body to be the Food of their souls, and made Himself known to them “in the breaking of bread”. Thus all their doubts were set at rest, their faith was confirmed, and an unspeakable joy filled their hearts. “God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (James 4, 6).
APPLICATION. If our Lord were to ask you what you were talking about as you walked along with your companions, what could you answer? Perhaps you were talking boastfully, or untruthfully, or immodestly, or abusing and ridiculing others, even those
— LXXXI. JESUS APPEARS TO THE ASSEMBLED APOSTLES.
set in authority over you. “Let no evil speech proceed from your mouth, but that which is good to the edification of faith, that it may administer grace to the hearers” (Eph. 4, 29).
Luke 24:26
JESUS APPEARS TO THE ASSEMBLED APOSTLES, AND INSTITUTES THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE
[Luke 24, 26. Mark 17, 14. John 20, 11]
WHILE the apostles and disciples were thus assembled together¹ in a room in Jerusalem, the doors of which were closed, Jesus came² and stood in their midst, saying to them: “Peace³ be to you! It is I, fear not!” They trembled with fear, thinking it was a spirit⁴. But He said to them: “Why are you troubled? See My Hands and Feet! A spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see Me to have.” Then He showed them His Hands, His Feet, and His Side⁵. But they still wondered⁶, and were scarcely able to believe their senses, when Jesus asked: “Have ye here anything to eat?“⁷ They gave Him broiled fish and some honeycomb. And when He had eaten in their presence, He took what remained, and gave it to them. “Then He opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures.“⁸
¹ Assembled together. On the evening of the day of the Resurrection, when, as was related in the last chapter, the eleven apostles and the other disciples were assembled together. In this chapter further particulars are given, and we are told that they were in a room—probably the room which Jesus had sanctified by the institution of the Holy Eucharist.
² Came. Suddenly, and without passing through the door.
³ Peace. This salutation, which Jesus repeated, had since the consummation of His Sacrifice on Calvary acquired an especial significance and force. By these words our Blessed Lord imparted to His disciples the fruits of His saving death, i. e. a complete reconciliation with God and a forgiveness of all their sins.
⁴ A spirit. They believed that His Soul was visiting them with only the appearance of a body, instead of with His real Body.
⁵ His Side. The wound in His Side.
⁶ Wondered. For very joy, just as, of old, Jacob (Old Test, XXVI) could not believe the good news that his son Joseph was still alive. They could not realise the truth, so great was their joy, but went on saying to themselves: “Is it possible? Can it be true? Is it not a delusion?”
⁷ To eat. In order to convince them that His Body was real and not merely an apparition. The glorified body can eat, though it need not eat, for it does not require earthly nourishment.
⁸ Scriptures. i. e. what was written in the law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms concerning Him (Luke 24, 44, 15)
KNIGHT, Commentary 5, ed — LXXXL. JESUS APPEARS TO THE ASSEMBLED APOSTLES.
Again He said: “Peace be to you! As¹ the Father hath sent Me, I also send you.” When He had said this He breathed upon them², saying: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.‘³
Now it so happened that Thomas was not with the other apostles when Jesus appeared to them. Therefore they told Thomas afterwards that they had seen the Lord. But Thomas declared that he would not believe unless⁴ he saw in His Hands and in His Feet the print of the nails.
Eight days after, the apostles were again assembled, Thomas being in their midst. And Jesus suddenly appeared to them, saying: “Peace be to you!” Then He told Thomas to put his finger in the print of the nails in His Hands and Feet, and to put his hand into His Side. Thomas did so, and exclaimed with fervour: “My Lord and my God!‘⁵ Jesus replied: “Because thou hast seen Me, Thomas, thou hast believed. Blessed⁶ are they that have not seen, and have believed.”
COMMENTARY.
Proof of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus appeared in the midst of the assembled apostles, let Himself be touched by them,
¹ As. With the same power, and for the same end.
² Breathed upon them. As a sign that He imparted to them His own Spirit, i. e. the Holy Ghost, to enable them to forgive the sins of men on earth.
³ Retained. i. e. are not forgiven by God. By these words our Lord actually imparted to His apostles the power of binding and loosing which He had previously (chapter XXXVI) promised that He would give them.
⁴ Unless. Thomas had repeatedly proved his love for, and faithfulness to Jesus, but he could not believe that He had risen boldly from the dead. He thought the other apostles were under a delusion, so he demanded not only to see the wounds of our Lord, but actually to touch them, before he would yield his faith.
⁵ My God. Our Lord knew that Thomas had the will to believe, and therefore He appeared to him as he wished, so as to remove all doubts from the mind of this apostle who would have to bear testimony to His Resurrection before Jews and Gentiles. Thomas, as our Lord commanded him, put his finger into the marks of the wounds in His Hands and Feet, and his hand into the wound in His Side; and then all doubt vanished! Not only did he believe that our Lord was standing before him in His own risen Body, but the wonderful Resurrection made him recognise His Divine Omnipotence as he had never done before, and he sank on his knees before Jesus, and worshipped Him; thus atoning for his former scepticism by the most explicit act of faith.
⁶ Blessed. Greater would have been his merit, if Thomas had believed the trustworthy testimony of the other apostles.
— LXXI. JESUS INSTITUTES THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 723
and ate with them. He imparted to His apostles various gifts and instructions for the good of His Church; gave them the power to forgive and retain sins; and opened their minds to understand the types and prophecies relating to the Messias.
The apostles as witnesses to the Resurrection. It was not without reason that our Lord sought to convince the apostles by the evidence of their senses that He had risen from the grave with the same Body which had died on the Cross. He did this because they were to testify before Jews and Gentiles to the fact of His Resurrection. Thus, Peter was able to say on the day of Pentecost, when speaking to ten thousand men: “This Jesus hath God raised again, whereof all we are witnesses!” and not one man could contradict him. St. John was able to write with equal truth: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life (Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word, made Man) we declare unto you” (1 John 1, 1).
The mission of the apostles and their successors. Our Lord’s words: “As the Father hath sent Me, so send I you”, are full of very deep meaning. Even as God the Father had sent the Son into the world, so did God the Son send the apostles. Their mission therefore is divine, and the end for which they were sent forth is the same end as that for which Jesus Christ was sent. Now, what was the end for which our Lord was sent into the world? He Himself answers the question thus, in His discourse with Nicodemus: “God sent His Son into the world, that the world might be saved by Him.” This was the mission which He transferred to the apostles. The work of Redemption was accomplished, and the office of the apostles was to apply the fruits of Redemption to men, in order that they might be saved. This was the office of the apostles, and this is the office of the Church. To her has our Lord bequeathed the treasures of His doctrine and of His merits, to administer them for Him, and it is only through her that we can receive a share in these treasures. For this reason our Lord said: “He that heareth you heareth Me, and he that despiseth you despiseth Me!” (Luke 10, 16.)
The holy Sacrament of Penance. Jesus Christ, by His Passion and Death, obtained for the world the forgiveness of sin. But this forgiveness has to be applied to each individual. Now, in order that individual men might actually receive this pardon, and with it the peace of God, our Lord gave to His apostles the power of remitting sins in His stead, and equally of retaining them should the sinner be unworthy of forgiveness. By doing this our Lord instituted the holy Sacrament of Penance, whereby all sins, without exception, can be remitted, provided the sinner be contrite. Our Lord left it to the apostles to decide whether the sinner was or was not worthy of absolution; but since they were not omniscient as He was, they could not decide unless the sinner
46* — LXXXI. JESUS APPEARS TO THE ASSEMBLED APOSTLES.
revealed or confessed his sins to them; and thus, while our Lord imposed on the apostles the duty of deciding as to the condition of the sinner, and of acting as judges, He equally imposed on the faithful the duty of revealing the condition of their souls, and of confessing their own individual sins.
The peace of God, and the consolation given by the holy Sacrament of Penance. When our Saviour was born into the world, the angels sang: “Peace on earth to men of good will.” And now that the work of Redemption was accomplished, and He was on the point of returning to heaven, our Lord imparted peace to His own; and, in order that all might receive this peace of soul, He instituted the holy Sacrament of Penance. By means of this Sacrament any poor, anxious sinner can receive pardon and grace, and with these peace for his uneasy soul—that peace of God which, according to St. Paul (Phil. 4, 7), “surpasseth all understanding”, and is the greatest treasure on earth. The Sacrament of Penance was not instituted to torment us, but to console us. It is the tribunal of God’s mercy, and will enable us to stand one day before the tribunal of His justice, and obtain everlasting peace. We cannot possibly thank our loving Saviour sufficiently for having instituted this holy Sacrament.
The Divinity of our Lord stands out prominently in the chapter we have just read, for only God could impart the Holy Ghost, and only God could give to mortal men the power of forgiving sins. It would have been impossible for our Lord to have said: “Receive ye the Holy Ghost, and whose sins you shall forgive they are forgiven”, had He not been God. The sixth apparition of our Lord (to Thomas) is a further and incontestable proof both of our Lord’s Resurrection and of His Divinity. 1. He knew the thoughts of Thomas, and knew that he had said: “Unless I see the marks of the nails. . . I will not believe.” He was, therefore, omniscient, as God alone can be. 2. When Thomas worshipped Him and called Him his Lord and his God, Jesus did not say: “What are you doing, Thomas? I am not God!” No, He accepted the apostle’s homage, and called those blessed who believed without, however, requiring ocular evidence.
The faith of Thomas was not without merit. We might be inclined to think that Thomas’ faith was not a virtue and had no merit, because he only believed after he had seen and touched the risen Saviour. But we should be mistaken. It was only the Body and the wounds of our Lord that Thomas could see; he could not see His Godhead. As, however, Thomas had the will to believe, the tokens of our Lord’s marvellous Resurrection enabled him to recognise His Divinity, and believe in it. His faith, therefore, was a gift of God, and a true and meritorious faith. The chief priests and scribes, even had they seen and touched the risen Lord, would not have believed in Him, because the will to believe was wanting to them.
— LXXXL JESUS INSTITUTES THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE. 725
The unbelief of Thomas was unreasonable, and was therefore rebuked by our Lord. He ought to have trusted the testimony of His fellow-apostles. Thomas, as an apostle, had himself, to be, an eye-witness of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and as an eye-witness can only give evidence of what he himself has seen, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, went after the wandering sheep, and appeared to Thomas to convince him of the reality of His Resurrection, so that he might declare it to all the world, as an eye-witness.
The unbelief of Thomas has, by the Providence of God, been rendered very useful to us. “By touching the Lord’s wounds, the apostle has healed for ever the wounds of unbelief in our hearts; and thus the unbelief of Thomas is a greater help to belief than the faith of the other apostles” (St. Gregory the Great).
Sunday. It was on a Sunday that our Lord rose from the dead; and on the following Sunday the apostles and disciples were once more assembled together. We can see by this that from the very beginning the faithful kept this day holy, as being the day on which our Lord rose from the dead. Again, it was on a Sunday that the Holy Ghost came down on the apostles. Thus Christians have always kept holy the Sunday instead of the ancient Sabbath, it being the day on which God both completed and confirmed the work of Redemption—the new spiritual creation.
Our Lord retained the marks of His five wounds in His glorified Body, and ascended into heaven with them: 1. as a witness that He rose from the dead with the same Body which was crucified and laid in the grave; 2. as a sign of His victory over sin, hell, and death; 3. as a token of His everlasting office of High Priest and Mediator with the Father; for His wounds are ceaselessly interceding for us with the Father, and imploring Him to have mercy on us for the sake of our Lord who suffered for us; 4. as a proof of His infinite love for us. They are a consolation to the penitent sinner, but a terror to the impenitent, for Jesus will show them to these last at the Day of Judgment, and will say to them: “All this I suffered for you, but you would not love Me nor be converted!”
The five grains of incense are placed in the Paschal Candle in remembrance of the five wounds of the risen Saviour.
APPLICATION. Are you one of those ignorant Christians who regard the Sacrament of Penance as a burden rather than a boon? Did it ever occur to you how much it cost your Saviour to obtain the pardon of your sins? Thank Him, then, from the bottom of your heart for having instituted this Sacrament of mercy. Receive it with the most careful preparation, and never neglect to make a fervent thanksgiving after receiving it.
— 726 LXXXII. JESUS APPEARS TO THE DISCIPLES BY THE SEA OF GALILEE.
Throw yourself with Thomas at the Feet of Jesus, and worship Him as your Lord and your God. If Jesus is your God, His doctrine is divine truth, and His Church is a divine institution. Keep a firm hold on your holy Catholic Faith, and pray to God to increase your faith, and to make it more firm and living.