The Emmaus Trail
The Emmaus Trail is the road between the Cenacle place in Jerusalem and the village of Emmaus (Nicopolis). On the morning of Easter Sunday, two disciples traveled that road on foot, and when they were on their way, they had a manifestation of the risen Jesus. The specific path that the disciples followed and the exact place where Jesus joined them is unknown. There is also a variety of sites that currently claim the honor of being Emmaus.
The biblical passage describing this scene on Easter Sunday is Luke 24: 13-35. The text presents some data of great interest to us. From this text, we know that one of the two disciples who set out was Cleopas. The other disciple remains anonymous throughout the story.
The disciples of Emmaus left the Cenacle in the morning. It was the first day of the week (Sunday). They departed from where they were hiding after the Crucifixion of Jesus, in the Upper Room. The reason for their departure is not explicit at the beginning. Still, the text as a whole conveys the idea that these disciples had been disappointed. The reason for their disappointment would have been the way the events unfolded. They then decided to abandon the adventure they had embarked on and return to their village.
The Crucifixion of Jesus had taken place around the feast of Easter. It means that the Emmaus Trail scene can be placed with great confidence in the Jewish month of Nisan, shortly after the full moon.
The distance between Emmaus and Jerusalem is a disputed question. The Gospel of Luke indicates the distance in stadia, but the old versions of the text show diversity in explaining the distance. While the Codex Vaticanus indicates that Emmaus is 60 stadia distant, the old versions of Synaitucus and the Church Fathers who were more interested in the toponymy indicate that Emmaus is 160 stadia from Jerusalem.
We do not know the speed at which the disciples walked. What we do know is that starting early in the morning (shortly after Mary Magdalene returned to the Cenacle) and walking from Jerusalem, they reached Emmaus when evening fell.
The town of Amuas (Emmaus Nicopolis) fits perfectly with the Synaitucus version regarding the 160 stadiums and allows us to reconstruct the events of that morning as follows:
- On the Resurrection's morning, Cleopas and his friend decided to set out on the way back to their village, disappointed at the end of their adventure.
- They didn't leave earlier because of Shabbat. The distance they had to travel was longer than that allowed on that day.
- Before leaving, they are alarmed by what the women tell about the empty tomb. Mary Magdalene even claims that she has spoken with the Risen Jesus.
- In any case, as they have not seen Him, the disciples begin the journey that will take them from Jerusalem to Emmaus Nicopolis, where they plan to stop at dusk.
- On the way, they meet a pilgrim who makes the encounter with them. The pilgrim does not seem to know the events of the Passion and death of Christ. The disciples tell him about their feelings.
- The pilgrim explains how, according to the Scriptures, all this had to happen.
The Text of Luke is as follows.
That very day, the first day of the week, two of Jesus' disciples were going to a village hundred and sixty stadia 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. However, some women from our group 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 Christ 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 the 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 bread.
Luke 24: 13
Today one could walk the Emmaus Trail, and various initiatives are to recompose its steps in detail. The place of departure is the Cenacle, currently located on the outskirts of the Old City (next to the Zion’s Gate). However, in the time of Jesus, it would be a house inside the Upper City of Jerusalem, within the walls.
From the Upper Room, the straightest path is the one that leads through the Old City, entering through the Zion’s Gate and across the Armenian Quarter until exiting the Jaffa Gate. From the Jaffa Gate, the path continues along Jaffa Street in a northwesterly direction through the New City of Jerusalem and past places such as Zion Square, the modern HaDavidka building, the Mahane Yehuda market, and reaching Jerusalem Central Station (Yitzhak Navon).
After leaving the urbanized part of the road, you can cross the town of Lifta, which leads down the valley to the remains of the Roman road. The disciples of Emmaus probably saw this valley in much the same way as it is today. After passing Lifta, there are several alternatives to continue on the way to Emmaus. You can walk through the village of Mevaseret Zion from east to west, or you can continue along the path further south, which is now used by Highway Number 1.
In any case, the next urbanized area that the walker is in is the current city of Abu Gosh, where one could find the Crusader Church and the Abbey. As the place is about 60 stadia from Jerusalem, it was also a candidate to receive the title of Emmaus, and local tradition remembers this.
The path continues northwest from Abu Gosh, leaving the towns of Yad HaShmona and Neve Ilan to the south and leaving the villages of Nataf and Mevo Horon to the north. This part of the road is not much urbanized, and zigzags following the valley and the Neve Ilan Forest until it enters the Ayalon Park. From the top of Khirbet Akeed begins the final stretch where you can find old wine presses and some ancient buildings such as the Roman baths.
Emmaus Nicopolis is the point of arrival. The ancient village of Emmaus has disappeared, but archaeological investigations have brought to light the remains of the Byzantine Era, when Emmaus became a city of importance. Also, in the time of the Crusaders, the place had regained a confident presence.
Today you can visit the remains of the Byzantine Basilica, the baptistery, and mosaics from the same period, and the remains of the reconstruction in the Crusader Era. Also, now you can visit the modern buildings that the Community of the Beatitudes preserves and manages.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem organizes every year, coordinating with the Community of the Beatitudes, a pilgrimage that runs along the Emmaus trail from the Cenacle in Jerusalem to Nicopolis. This walk takes place on Easter Monday and concludes with the Eucharist in the old basilica of Emmaus, at the site of the breaking of bread.
This holy place has enormous significance in the Christian tradition. There are various reasons. We could say:
- Jesus goes out to meet the disciples
The message of the Gospel of Luke is evident in this regard. The risen Jesus Christ does not want to lose any of his disciples. The term disciple is taken in a broad sense. That is, not only is he going to strengthen and protect the eleven apostles (Judas left his post), but his Resurrection gives a message of hope to all the disciples, especially those who are closest to him. They are about to lose it, as it happens with Saint Thomas or with Cleopas and his friend.
- Jesus becomes recognizable in the Breaking of Bread
Luke points out that, although the disciples had been listening to Jesus speak and their hearts burned in their breasts, the moment they recognized that he is Christ is that of the Breaking of Bread. Luke uses that expression when describing the first Eucharist at the Last Supper, just a few days before. Christ's Presence in the Eucharist had a unique value for the nascent community since the day of the Resurrection.
The risen body of Jesus is a human body. But, at the same time, it is a glorious body. The recognition that he is human arises spontaneously. Cleopas and his friend recognize him as a "stranger," not as if he were a spirit or an angel. Similarly, it happens with Maria Magdalena, who mistakes him for the gardener, or the disciples in the second miraculous catch. They do not recognize that he is the Master initially, but they do not doubt that a human being appears before them. In all three cases (Emmaus, Magdalena, and the fishing), there is a process of recognition. People need to find out who that human is. But the Person it is not confused with an angel or a spirit. Jesus appears to them with his own body.
- Jesus explains the Scriptures
Once Redemption was completed with his Passion, death, and Resurrection, Jesus Christ dedicates a part of Easter Sunday to exegesis. Jesus explains his Passion's meaning and the mystery of his Person to the disciples. To do so, he turns to the Bible. Starting from Moses (Torah) and the prophets (Nebi’im), Jesus explains everything that has a foreshadowing value in the text. Understanding Christ, grasping the details of his identity and his mission, requires knowing the Old Testament, to understand Jesus of Nazareth in the context of the chosen People and the Lord's promises.
