Luke 24:30Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Recognize where to seek the Lord, and learn how to be in His presence and come to know Him through this sacred act. Those with understanding grasp something far deeper in this current reading than those who do not. After revealing Himself, the Lord withdrew; He departed from them in body, the very One whom they had held by faith. Thus, He withdrew in body from the entire church and ascended into heaven, so that faith might be strengthened. For if you acknowledge only what is visible, where is your faith? But if you believe even that which is unseen, you will experience joy upon your sight. Let faith grow, for the vision will return. That which is unseen will manifest; it will manifest, dear brethren; but take heed of how it finds you. That which is prophesied to come: where is it, when will it arrive, how does it exist? Be assured, it will come, and it will indeed arrive, even if you do not wish for it to. Woe to those who did not believe; great fear will fall upon them; but for those who have faith, there will be immense joy. The faithful will rejoice, while the unfaithful will feel shame. The faithful will exclaim, We give thanks to You, O Lord; truly, what we have heard is true; indeed, what we have believed and hoped for, we now see. The unfaithful will question, Where is this? Why did we not believe? Where is this? Why did we deem what was shared with us as false? Yet let those who believe without seeing be honored, for when they glimpse the truth, they will exult. For our salvation, the Lord took on human form and even faced death in the flesh. Yet having risen on the third day, He will no longer die; having taken on flesh once more, He first provided us a model of the indestructible resurrection. Then, having ascended in that same flesh to the Father, He now sits at the right hand of God, sharing in the Father's judgment, and we anticipate His return to judge the living and the dead. Let us also hold fast to the belief that we will receive the same flesh, the same bones, and the same structure of our being eternally. We will all be resurrected, yet not all will rejoice. For there is a time coming, says the Lord, when all who are in the graves will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who have done good will rise to the resurrection of life, while those who have done evil will rise to the resurrection of judgment (John 5:28, 29).

So the disciples did not recognize Him until the breaking of bread. Indeed, those who do not partake to their own condemnation discern Christ in the breaking of the bread.

As Paul has also written, Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some have entertained angels unawares (Heb. 13:1-2). This is why Peter advises, ‘Be hospitable to one another without grumbling’ (1 Pet. 4:9). The Truth itself states, ‘I was a stranger, and you welcomed me’ (Matt. 25:35).

Consider a significant incident relayed from the elders: a certain master of the house, who regularly welcomed strangers to his table, one day invited a stranger whom he had not previously known. In his usual humility, he sought to wash his hands, only to turn and find there was no one present to wash. While he pondered this unexpected turn of events, the Lord spoke to him in a dream that night, saying, ‘In other times, you have received Me in My members, but yesterday you received Me personally.’ Indeed, the One who comes in judgment will declare, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to Me’ (Matt. 25:40). Before judgment, He is received in His members; yet, personally, He seeks out those who welcome Him, and still, we often hesitate to extend the warmth of hospitality. Invite Christ to your meals so that you may partake in the honor of being welcomed to the Eternal Banquet. Offer a place to the wandering Christ so that when the time of judgment comes, He will not see you as strangers but will recognize you as His own in His Kingdom, through the grace of the One who lives and reigns, God forever and ever. Amen.

Among them was Cleopas, a relative of the Lord (Mary, his wife, is noted as the sister of the Mother of God, reference Jn. 19:25). The identity of the other individual remains uncertain. Both were journeying from Jerusalem to Emmaus, a village located approximately 60 stadia away. They departed before the news of the Lord's appearance to Mary Magdalene had spread. During their journey, they engaged in discussion regarding the recent events that had transpired in Jerusalem. The disgraceful death of Jesus had shattered their hopes of seeing Him as the Restorer of Israel. The Lord approached them, partially altering His own appearance (Mark 16:12) and partially concealing their vision (Luke 24:16), initiating a conversation where He demonstrated that it was foretold in Scripture that the Messiah, the Restorer of Israel, was destined to suffer; and that it was through this suffering that He would attain glory. This approach encouraged them to recognize that if they truly regarded Jesus as the Messiah, they should not perceive His death as the end of His mission; rather, they should anticipate the glorification promised in Scripture through His resurrection. Jesus spoke at length (for their journey was indeed considerable), explaining the significance of the prophetic texts concerning the Messiah, His suffering, and resurrection. The Evangelist does not specify which passages the Lord referenced, but undoubtedly they were the same passages that the disciples and apostles, including Peter and Paul, would later proclaim in their sermons and letters. The disciples found joy in these words; their hearts were ignited with hope. When they reached their destination, their companion intended to proceed, but they compelled Him to stay and share an evening meal. At that moment, He revealed Himself to them in the breaking of the bread; they perhaps noticed the wounds on His hands, yet He vanished from their sight. This deepened their conviction that they had indeed encountered someone extraordinary, not just an ordinary man, and they promptly returned to Jerusalem to share the news with the Apostles.

In this manifestation of the risen Christ to the two followers, and in His later appearances, there are three noteworthy aspects: first, the journey to and from Emmaus by Jesus, who had died two days prior from severe wounds, loss of blood, and intense suffering; second, His consumption of food; and third, if Christ had arisen in the same weakened, mutilated body that was laid to rest after His crucifixion, He would not have been able to travel roughly 20 versts to Emmaus and back, nor even to move at all. Thus, if He undertook such a journey, it confirms that He was resurrected with a body restored to its pre-crucifixion state, aside from the scars He bore from His Passion.

In addressing this matter, it is important to note that during His earthly existence, right up until His death on the cross, Christ refrained from utilizing His divine power to relieve His human sufferings. This was essential so He could exemplify the perfect standard to which we are called. Yet, He also stated, "I lay down My life that I may take it up again... I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again" (John 10:17-18). Therefore, since Christ possessed the authority to reclaim life, i.e., to resurrect by His own power rather than being raised by another, and considering that with His Resurrection there was no longer a requirement to contain His divine power, it is evident that He did not rise with a frail, hurt, and depleted body, but with one that was restored or glorified.

Having the ability not only to perform extraordinary miracles and to raise the dead but also to conquer death Himself, the Lord was certainly capable of using His divine power to renew His exhausted body. After rising with a glorified body, Christ was able to eat, even though He had no need for food to replenish His human strength during the forty days following His Resurrection until His Ascension. He became invisible and manifested at will, through His inherent divine power, for which there were no hindrances.

Moreover, they might have noticed the marks of the crucifixion on His hands (Luke 24:39-40), which could have contributed to their recognition of Him. Yet, these factors alone do not explain the enlightenment of their understanding. Their eyes were kept from recognizing Him by the deliberate intention and action of the Lord, just as they were opened by the same divine purpose.