Chapter 2 - Cleopas
A new hope
… And then, when he looked at you… when he looked at you with those eyes that seemed to see right into your heart… then you knew… you knew you were held, and were known, and were loved….
Luke 24:13-35
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognising him.
17 He asked them, ‘What are you discussing together as you walk along?’
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, ‘Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?’
19 ‘What things?’ he asked.
‘About Jesus of Nazareth,’ they replied. ‘He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.’
25 He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going further. 29 But they urged him strongly, ‘Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.’ So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognised him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, ‘It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.’ 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognised by them when he broke the bread.
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The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®
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Background:
Luke 24 includes this beautiful account of how Jesus journeys alongside two companions and opens their minds to understand better all ‘the things’ that had taken place in Jerusalem.
But there are several questions that the passage raises…
Who were these people?
Cleopas and his companion aren’t mentioned anywhere else in Luke’s Gospel. The only other possible reference is in John 19:25,‘Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
Cleopas is traditionally identified with the Clopas named in this verse
Cleopas wasn’t numbered among the apostles, but he was obviously well known to them, and although he and his companion didn’t take part in the last supper, they knew where to find the apostles on that first Easter day. Luke 24:1-10 records the detail that Mary Magdalene (together with other women) made the discovery of the empty tomb, had an encounter with two angels and reported all this to ‘the Eleven and all the others.’ The way that verse 13 starts, ‘Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus’ implies that Cleopas and his companion were numbered among ‘all the others’. They must have been key, and growing leaders in the movement that Jesus started; perhaps part of the 72 that were sent out by Jesus (Luke 10:1-23).
Why didn’t they recognise Jesus?
Luke 24:16 says, ‘that their eyes were kept from recognising him’, implying that Jesus had deliberately disguised himself. Was this some sort of spiritual glamour, or was he wearing a hood?A common thread in all the gospels is that the disciples, even those closest to Jesus, don’t immediately recognise him when they meet the resurrected Jesus. Why? I suspect that he was a younger version of the Jesus they knew. Personally, if I was to have a resurrection body, I’d like one that was younger, fitter and with perhaps a little more hair than I currently have 😊. It is worthy of note that, even though Jesus isn’t immediately recognised in some of his resurrection appearances, he still carried the wounds of the crucifixion.
With so much going on, when the followers of Jesus were trying to make sense of all that had taken place, and were at a loss to understand what had happened to the body of Jesus, why did Cleopas and his companion choose to leave Jerusalem and travel to Emmaus (about a 2 hour walk to the west of Jerusalem)? Did they have links to that place, were they hoping to find something there? Did they come from Emmaus originally? They were obviously well known enough at their destination, that they felt they had the right to invite a stranger in to stay with them for the night.
We know the name of Cleopas, but not his companion. Who was he/she?
As explained above, the traditional view is that Cleopas and Clopas were the same person. If so, then it would seem reasonable to assume that his travelling companion was his wife, Mary.If they were from Emmaus, how did they come to know Jesus and get close to the inner circle of disciples?
If they’d only just started to follow Jesus in that final week, it seems highly unlikely that they would know the location of the upper room, and that Mary, Cleopas’ wife, would be there at the cross. Therefore, it seems probable that they had been following Jesus for some time.From the Gospel accounts we know that thousands of people from all over Israel and the surrounding nations came seeking Jesus. Some came looking for healing, others because they were hoping he would be the Messiah (the one who would lead a revolution against the Romans), and some may have come for the food… we know that thousands got a free meal out of him on at least one occasion 😊😊 (Luke 9:12-17). Perhaps Cleopas and his companion left home looking for the Messiah, and then joined him, hoping that he was the one that the prophets had foretold.
As I read this passage, I’m struck by how Jesus listened to them on the road. A lot is recorded of Jesus’ speaking and teaching, but here Luke records the fact that he listened. He knew exactly what Cleopas and his companion were talking about, but he gave them the space to share it with him, before he then begins to teach and help them to see the events of the last few days differently. When our hearts are clouded with pain, anger, or grief, sometimes we all need a good listening to. And on that 2 hour walk I imagine that Jesus gave them plenty of time to talk; listening and asking questions, prompting them to share all that was on their hearts.
Then Jesus comes back with that phrase, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!’ Not exactly an affirming response! After they have just poured out their hearts to him, this could sound like a rebuke. It’s certainly not a pastoral technique that I would recommend! But I wonder if, rather than it being said in frustration or anger, it was said with love and laughter; an invitation to look at it again, to look at all that had happened and see it differently.
Most people have had the experience of trying to explain something to someone, and they just don’t get it. But when they hear the exact same thing from someone else, everything suddenly falls into place. Jesus has been teaching his disciples for years, and they haven’t grasped what he’d been saying about his death and resurrection. But now they are in a different place, and before he reveals who he is (and they go crazy over the fact that he is back from the dead), he takes this opportunity to go over what he has said before. Suddenly it falls into place, their minds are opened, and they see all that has happened in a different light.
This reflection will be through the eyes of Cleopas. For this reflection, I’m assuming that:
His companion was his wife, Mary
His parents and older siblings ran a farm in Emmaus.
The and his wife were frustrated with the problems and high taxes caused by the Roman occupation and were longing for the coming of the Messiah to restore the kingdom of Israel.
They left home 2-3 years earlier when they heard reports of a holy man in northern Israel that was performing miracles and building a movement that seemed to promise change. They went thinking this Jesus may hold the key to all that they had hoped for.
Before reading on, I suggest you pause and ask God to speak to you through this reflection, read the passage from Luke’s Gospel again, and then imagine that you have Cleopas sitting with you, sharing his story, witnessing to what happened on that day.
As before, when you read through the Bible passage and the story:
Take time to notice how you feel about what you are reading.
Are there things in the story that jar, or resonate with you?
Are there things that surprise you, or that you disagree with?
Why is that?If you were Cleopas’, how would you feel at the end when you recognise Jesus?
And the end of the story, before moving on to the thoughts and questions for reflection, pause and ask God what he might be wanting you to take from this story.
If you find it helpful, make notes in a journal as you read and pray.
Click the link below to read Cleopas’story
If you’d prefer to listen to the story, you can play a recording at the top of the next page. If you do that, please remember to scroll down to the end to see the questions for reflection.