Pentecost – Day 7 (1 July)

₁₃On that same day two of Jesus' followers were going to a village named Emmaus, about eleven kilometres from Jerusalem, ₁₄and they were talking to each other about all the things that had happened. ₁₅As they talked and discussed, Jesus himself drew near and walked along with them; ₁₆they saw him, but somehow did not recognize him. ₁₇Jesus said to them, “What are you talking about to each other, as you walk along?”

They stood still, with sad faces. ₁₈One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn't know the things that have been happening there these last few days?”

₁₉“What things?” he asked.

“The things that happened to Jesus of Nazareth,” they answered. “This man was a prophet and was considered by God and by all the people to be powerful in everything he said and did. ₂₀Our chief priests and rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and he was crucified. ₂₁And we had hoped that he would be the one who was going to set Israel free! Besides all that, this is now the third day since it happened. ₂₂Some of the women of our group surprised us; they went at dawn to the tomb, ₂₃but could not find his body. They came back saying they had seen a vision of angels who told them that he is alive. ₂₄Some of our group went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said, but they did not see him.”

₂₅Then Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are, how slow you are to believe everything the prophets said! ₂₆Was it not necessary for the Messiah to suffer these things and then to enter his glory?” ₂₇And Jesus explained to them what was said about himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the writings of all the prophets.

₂₈As they came near the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther; ₂₉but they held him back, saying, “Stay with us; the day is almost over and it is getting dark.” So he went in to stay with them. ₃₀He sat down to eat with them, took the bread, and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them. ₃₁Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from their sight. ₃₂They said to each other, “Wasn't it like a fire burning in us when he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”

₃₃They got up at once and went back to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven disciples gathered together with the others ₃₄and saying, “The Lord is risen indeed! He has appeared to Simon!”

₃₅The two then explained to them what had happened on the road, and how they had recognized the Lord when he broke the bread.