Probably my favorite narrative in the entire New Testament (Luke 24: 13–35). The postResurrection, pre-Ascension appearance of the risen Christ to those two disciples walking along the road to Emmaus has always been a mysterious and theologically deep encounter that has fascinated me since childhood.

“Now that very day two of them were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.

He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?”

They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?”

And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”

They said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.”

And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures.

As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.

And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?”

So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who were saying, “The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!” Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.”

My Art and Reflection

I was inspired to write an iconic panel about this encounter on a refined ceramic tile coated with gesso and oil paints with both rose gold leaf as well as silver leaf embellishments. The shape of the 3 figures follows the style of Russian/Ukrainian iconography which tends to use a very limited color palette, lots of browns and reds with an austerely beautiful motif.

I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed creating it.

Some observations that strike me about this particular Scripture:

(1) Only one of the disciples is identified by name and hence gender. The identity of the other disciple has been the subject of much scholarship and debate for centuries. Two men (Cleopas, brother of St. Joseph and a friend)? OR A husband and wife couple (Cleopas, brother of St. Joseph and his wife Mary who was
with St. Mary at the foot of the Cross)?

(2) Emmaus is a place mentioned in only one other Book of the Bible, the Book of Maccabees.

(3) The two are walking away from Jerusalem. Jesus, their friend, their teacher, their savior has just died an unjust death. They believed he had come to redeem the world but, from their perspective, his death is a crushing blow. Whether they are driven by fear for their lives or the disappointment of their belief that Jesus was the Messiah, they are walking away from the other disciples and from the last place they encountered Jesus.

(4) “When Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.”God yearns to draw near to us. Even when we don’t yearn to draw nearer to him, he’s constantly drawing nearer to us. Even when we are full of uncertainty, disappointment, frustration and fear, God comes to walk alongside us.

(5) “But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.” I could spend my entire life contemplating and praying about this line. How did the resurrected Christ look? Did he have a kind of glow or shimmer about him? How often are we blind to the presence of God in our lives? Are we too distracted? Too busy? Too tired? Too stressed?

(6) Jesus’ response to their confusion and despair is actually one of compassion. He breaks open the Scriptures for them. While they are wondering how it is even possible for Jesus to resurrect from the dead and whether to still believe in him, Jesus takes the time to walk them through exactly how this was all meant to happen the way it did.

(7) “When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight.”

Their eyes were opened through the Eucharist. Jesus has walked with them on the road, he’s been revealed to them in the Scriptures, but it is through the breaking of bread that they finally come to see his true presence. He took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them.

The Mass/Divine liturgy is fully demonstrated in this surreal encounter; the Liturgy of the Word (reading the Scriptures) AND the breaking of the bread (the Holy Communion/Eucharist).

David Salako
June 2025