The Gospel, according to John, describes the story of two disciples of Jesus walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus on Sunday morning, the day of the Resurrection of Jesus. Emmaus is a city about 7.5 miles from Jerusalem. It was then a stranger joined them in their conversation. The conversation was all about Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. The Gospel does not say much about the identity of these two disciples.
From the Gospel narratives, we know they were not just the ordinary disciples who knew Jesus intellectually, but rather, someone who knew Him personally and had developed a relationship with Him.
However, when we study and compare John, Mark, and Luke’s Gospels, we get a better idea of who was at the foot of the Cross when Jesus was crucified. “But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene” (John 19:25).
When we look at (Mark 15:40), we learn that this Mary, wife of Clopas, is the mother of James the less, a cousin and an apostle of Jesus. (Mark 16:1) tells us that Mary, the mother of James, brought spices to prepare the body of Jesus. When we look at (Luke 24:10), we learn that the women who went to the tomb and to whom Jesus appeared include Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary, mother of James.
These two disciples who walked to Emmaus were not just disciples alone, but they were members of the extended family of Jesus. This Mary was at the foot of the Cross, and she was there early morning on Sunday to go into the tomb of Jesus. Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene, then to two of these disciples, then to the Apostles. This explains how closely they were connected to Jesus and the tragedy of His Crucifixion.
This episode of Jesus walking with these two disciples gives us two messages. The first one is about the need to establish a relationship with Jesus. These disciples were bonded with Jesus, and they were with Him even at the foot of the Cross and were looking for Him. So, Jesus revealed Himself to them even before appearing to His Apostles. This is an invitation for us to be bonded with Him. Catholics believe that devotion to the Holy Eucharist is a way of bonding with Christ. The disciples realized Jesus only at the breaking of the bread. In the Eucharist, we touch Him, we taste Him, and we experience Him as the Risen Lord.
The second message is about the companionship with Jesus in our life journey. It is always helpful to have good and faithful companions on our journey, especially if the journey is long and tiring. Our life is a journey from the Holy City of Jerusalem to the City of God experience, which is Emmaus, where they experienced the Risen Christ. It is like our life journey from the womb to the Tomb. In this journey, like the disciples, we too are frustrated, disappointed, upset, overwhelmed, and even preoccupied with different things in our lives. We think we are alone most of the time, but the good Lord is always walking with us. Even during these most difficult times of our lives, He is walking with us. All we need is His grace to open our eyes to see Him, touch Him, and experience Him in the midst of our pain and preoccupation.
