The supper at Emmaus

St Luke Chapter XXIV : Verses 25-32

Contents

• Luke xxiv. Verses 25-32.  Douay-Rheims (Challoner) text & Latin text (Vulgate)
• Douay-Rheims 1582 text
• Annotations based on the Great Commentary of Cornelius A Lapide

Luke xxiv. Verses 25-32.

And their eyes were opened, and they knew him.
Caravaggio. 1602-3. National gallery, London.

25 Then he said to them: O foolish, and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken.

Et ipse dixit ad eos : O stulti, et tardi corde ad credendum in omnibus quæ locuti sunt prophetæ!

26 Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into his glory?

Nonne hæc oportuit pati Christum, et ita intrare in gloriam suam?

27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures, the things that were concerning him.

Et incipiens a Moyse, et omnibus prophetis, interpretabatur illis in omnibus scripturis quae de ipso erant.

28 And they drew nigh to the town, whither they were going: and he made as though he would go farther.

Et appropinquaverunt castello quo ibant : et ipse se finxit longius ire.

29 But they constrained him; saying: Stay with us, because it is towards evening, and the day is now far spent. And he went in with them.

Et coegerunt illum, dicentes : Mane nobiscum, quoniam advesperascit, et inclinata est jam dies. Et intravit cum illis.

30 And it came to pass, whilst he was at table with them, he took bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to them.

Et factum est, dum recumberet cum eis, accepit panem, et benedixit, ac fregit, et porrigebat illis.

31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him: and he vanished out of their sight.

Et aperti sunt oculi eorum, et cognoverunt eum : et ipse evanuit ex oculis eorum.

32 And they said one to the other: Was not our heart burning within us, whilst he spoke in this way, and opened to us the scriptures?

Et dixerunt ad invicem : Nonne cor nostrum ardens erat in nobis dum loqueretur in via, et aperiret nobis Scripturas?

Douay-Rheims : 1582 text

25. And he ſaid to them: O fooliſh, and slow of hart to beleeue in al things which the Prophets haue ſpoken.

26. Ought not Chriſt to haue ſuffred theſe things, and ſo to enter into his glorie?

27. And beginning from Moyſes and al the Prophets, he did interpret to them in al the ſcriptures the things that were concerning him.

28. And they drew nigh to the towne whither they went: and he made ſemblance to goe further.

29. And they forced him, ſaying: Tarie with vs, because it is toward night, and the day is now farre ſpent. And he went in with them.

30. And it came to paſſe, whiles he ſate at the table with them, he tooke bread, and bleſſed and brake, and did reach to them.

31. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him: and he vaniſhed out of their sight.

32. And they said one to the other: Was not our hart burnin in vs, whiles he ſpake in the way, and opened vnto vs the ſcriptures?

 

Annotations

    25. Then he said to them: O foolish, and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken.  foolish:  Ἀνόητοι, rendered here in the Vulgate “stulti,” but Gal. iii.1., “insensati.” With these keen words Christ as the Master rebukes the disciples for their ignorance and slowness to believe. For a teacher is allowed to stimulate his disciples by sharp reproof to the pursuit of higher or more accurate knowledge.

    So our nature, frail and dull of understanding, needs some such stimulus to enable it to believe in spiritual things, and to keep itself steadfast in the hope of their realisation.

    26. Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and so to enter into his glory? He calls His glorious resurrection and ascension, the sending of the Holy Spirit, His exaltation over every creature, the adoration of His name, the spread of the gospel throughout all the world, and His eternal kingdom, “glory.”

    “Ought not,” (“futurum erat,” the Arabic and Syriac). It behoved Christ through the Cross to enter glory:

    1.  Because the prophets had foretold it.

    2.  Because God the Father had decreed it from all eternity.

    3.  Because it was necessary that He should purchase our redemption by His death upon the Cross.

    4.  Because it was fitting that such glory should be obtained through the merit of such sufferings and labour.

    5.  Because it behoved Christ, as leader, to become an example to the martyrs, and to all those who strive through much tribulation to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

    The meaning is, “My death upon the Cross has shaken your faith and hope in My resurrection, therefore ye said ‘we trusted’ (sperabamus). But ye spake rashly and without cause. For this ought to have confirmed your faith, for there is none other way to the resurrection save through death, nor to glory save through suffering, and the reproach of the Cross.”

    28. And they drew nigh to the town, whither they were going: and he made as though he would go farther. This was no deceit: for He would have gone on if the disciples had not constrained Him, but as He knew that they would thus constrain Him to abide with them, in this respect he was not willing, but was making as if (προσεποιεῖτο) He would have gone further.

    Hence S. Augustine (Quæst. Evang.) says, “When one feigning has reference to a certain meaning, it is not a falsehood, but a certain figure of the truth.” And again, “A fiction founded on truth is a figure; not so founded, it is a lie.” And S. Gregory (hom. 23 in Evang.) writes, “By the word ‘fingere’ we mean to put together or form, hence modellers of clay we call ‘figuli.’ He who was the truth did nothing by deceit. He manifested Himself to them in the body, such as He came before them in their midst. He would prove them whether they could show charity to Him as a stranger, although they might not yet love Him as God.”

    29. But they constrained him;  “From which example it is gathered,” says S. Gregory, “that strangers are not only to be invited to hospitality, but even to be taken by force.” And S. Augustine adds (Serm. 140 De Temp.), “Detain a guest, if you wish to recognise the Saviour; for hospitality restored what unbelief had taken away.”

    saying: Stay with us, because it is towards evening, and the day is now far spent. And he went in with them., i.e. it is drawing near sunset. In order to detain Christ as their guest they exaggerate the lateness of the hour, for they returned soon after to Jerusalem, which was a three hours’ journey.

    Cardinal Hosius his whole life long had these words continually in his heart and on his lips, and died repeating often, “Abide with us, O Lord, for it is toward evening,” and in truth the Lord abode with him, working many marvels by his means in Poland, in Germany, and in Italy, which are related by his biographer Rescius, who ends by eulogising him as “the atlas of religion, the voice and other hand of Paul, the demolisher of Luther, the janitor of heaven, and the love and admiration of the world.”

    30. And it came to pass, whilst he was at table with them, he took bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to them. He blessed it by causing it to become His body as in the consecration of the Eucharist. For that Christ thus consecrated it, although Jansenius and some others deny it, is clear:

    1. Because S. Matthew, S. Mark, and S. Luke use the same words concerning the institution of the Eucharist, as S. Luke uses here.

    2. Because this blessing does not appear to have been given at the commencement of the meal, for Christ wished not to vanish out of their sight before He had eaten with them, lest they might think him a phantom. It was given in the midst, or rather at the end, of the meal. It was not therefore the ordinary blessing on what had been provided for their use, but solemn and eucharistic.

    3. This is clear also from the effect which this blessing of the bread had upon the disciples: “their eyes were opened and they knew Him.”

    4. Furthermore, this is the opinion of the great majority of the Fathers. So the author quoted by S. Chrysostom (Hom. 17) says, “The Lord not only blessed the bread, but gave it with His own hand to Cleopas and his companion. But that which is given by His hand is not only sanctified, but sanctification and a cause of sanctity to the recipient.”

    Again, “How did the Lord will to make Himself known? By the breaking of bread. We are content then; in the breaking of bread the Lord is made known unto us. In no other way is it His will to reveal Himself. Therefore, although we shall not see Him in bodily form, He has given us His flesh to eat.” S. Augustine (Serm. 140 De Temp.).

    This passage of Holy Scripture is a proof of the use of one species only in the Eucharist, for it is clear that Christ neither consecrated nor gave the cup to the disciples. After He had blessed the bread, and given it to them, they knew Him, and immediately He vanished out of their sight. S. Augustine, Chrysostom, Bede and others.

    31. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him. “See here the power and effect of the Eucharist. It opens the eyes of the mind to the knowledge of Jesus, and enables it to comprehend heavenly and divine mysteries. For the flesh of Christ possesses a great and illuminative power.” Theophylact. Hence S. Augustine (Serm. 140 De Temp.) says, “Whosoever thou art that believest, the breaking of bread consoles thee, the absence of the Lord is no absence. Have faith, and He whom thou seest not is with thee.”

    Tropologically, he goes on to say, “By the exercise of hospitality we come to the knowledge of Christ.” Again, “Let him who wishes to understand what he has heard, put in practice what he has understood.” “Behold the Lord was not known whilst He was speaking, but when He gives them to eat, He allows Himself to be recognised.” Gregory. Or according to the Gloss: “Truth is understood better in operation than by hearing; and none know Christ unless they are partakers of His Body, i.e. the Church, whose unity the Apostle commends in the sacrament of bread, saying, ‘we being many are one bread, and one body.’ ” 1 Cor. x. 17.

    and he vanished out of their sight.. ἄφαντσς ἐγένετο, absconditus ab illis, Arabic version. Christ was present with His disciples, but made Himself invisible to them: a power possessed, as theologians teach us, by His glorified body. So after His resurrection He was wont to appear to His disciples and vanish from their midst.

    Calvin, rashly, denies this, and contrary to its meaning translates ἄφαντος by “He withdrew Himself.” He denies this somewhat craftily, lest he might be compelled to acknowledge that Christ was present in the Eucharist, but hidden and invisible.

    The causes why Christ vanished out of their sight directly He was recognised by the disciples are these:—

    1. To show that He had risen from the dead, and had become glorified. For it is the property of a glorified body to appear or disappear at will. His sudden disappearance therefore was a new argument by which Christ proved the truth of His resurrection.

    2. To teach that by the resurrection He had passed from this mortal life to a state of glory, and therefore no longer held familiar converse with men, but with God and the angels.

    3. To teach us how we ought to reverence Christ, and those blessed ones who have entered into heaven. For we are bound to render to our glorified Lord the worship of latria, and to the blessed saints that of dulia.

    4. That the disciples might return to the Apostles, who were sorrowing over the death of Christ, and comfort them by the tidings of His resurrection and appearing.

    32. And they said one to the other: Was not our heart burning within us, whilst he spoke in this way, and opened to us the scriptures? This was a new and certain proof that Christ was alive from the dead. For Christ taught not as Aristotle, Plato, and the philosophers, but so as to inflame the hearts of his hearers with divine love. Let then all teachers and interpreters of Holy Scripture imitate their Master, and seek not only to enlighten the understandings of those who attend upon their teaching, but to kindle the love of God in their hearts as well. Let them not be content with being as the Cherubim, but be also as the Seraphim. Let them be as S. Francis and his disciple S. Bonaventura, who became known as the “Seraphic Doctor.”

    So David wrote, “Thy word is exceedingly refined” (ignitum, Vulgate), Ps. cxviii.140; and Solomon: “Every word of God is pure,” Prov. xxx. 5; and Moses: “From His right hand went a fiery law,” Deut. xxxiii. 2.

    So also Christ declared, “I am come to send fire on the earth.” S. Luke xii. 49. Thus the Baptist “was a burning and a shining light,” S. John v. 35; and Elias the prophet “stood up as fire, and his word burned like a lamp,” Ecclus. xlviii. 1. Let us be, each one, an Ignatius, a burning and fiery disciple and preacher of Christ, so that the words of the prophet may be true of us, “Their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps.” “They ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.”

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.

SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.

 

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.