Cleopas & his Fellow Disciple - Luke 24:13-35

Cleopas and his companion

     On the same day of the resurrection, two followers of Jesus were walking to a village called Emmaus. This was a village about 7 miles from Jerusalem. One of these disciples is identified as Cleopas. The other is not given a name, although some scholars have speculated that it was his wife.
     There is another woman, known as a follower of Jesus, who is known as the husband (or possibly the daughter or mother) of someone named Clopas. It is possible that Cleopas and Clopas are the same individual, but there is not enough information to determine this. Cleopas is a genuine Greek name and Clopas appears to have been of semitic origin. If Clopas and Cleopas are the same, then the wife’s name was Mary.
     Luke only tells us that Cleopas and his companion were traveling to Emmaus on the same day as the resurrection. They had not left the city until after the news of the empty tomb had spread, for they are discussing all the things that had happened.
     As they walked, a stranger came up to them. It was Jesus, but they didn’t recognize him. (Hardly surprising, considering that they’d been grieving for his death and most of Jesus’ followers weren’t sure, for a while, whether the news of the resurrection was too good to be true.
     Jesus asked what they were discussing. Cleopas and his fellow disciple proceeded to tell him all about Jesus of Nazareth, how the chief priests and scribes had conspired for his death, and then got him crucified. They spoke of the hopes they had had that Jesus would be the one to redeem Israel. To add to the confusion, it was now the third day since his death, his body has disappeared, the women who’d gone to the tomb had seen angels telling that Jesus was alive.
     The stranger proceeded to “explain” how these things had been necessary and of great meaning. Still, the two disciples did not recognize Jesus.
     When they came to Emmaus, the stranger appeared to be continuing beyond the village, but the two disciples urged him to stay with them. It is unknown whether this was their home, or whether they were staying at an inn. But it was almost evening and they clearly wanted to continue their discussion with the stranger. When the time came to break bread, the stranger took it and blessed the bread. Only then, in the act that Jesus had done many times, did Cleopas and his fellow disciple recognize him. But then he vanished from their sight. The disciples are amazed, with the sense that they should have recognized him. After all, his wisdom had caused their hearts to burn within them
     The two disciples jump up and immediately return to Jerusalem to tell the news. But before they can tell their story, they hear that Jesus has also appeared to Simon.

     There is a courage in these two disciples that is interesting. Yet their direction is also interesting. They were going away from Jerusalem, after news of the resurrection. They could have been returning home. If they were husband and wife, they may have had responsibilities for children that needed attending. But for whatever reason, they were departing, still discussing the events that had passed.
     Considering that Jesus had been killed by spiteful and powerful individuals, there was some risk in their telling, to a stranger, of the events. They expressed freely the fact that powerful religious leaders were responsible for this terrible thing. They spoke of the resurrection, which could have made them look ridiculous in the eyes of some people. But they openly spoke of these things. They had the joy of seeing the risen Jesus and carrying the news of his presence back to their fellow disciples, something they did immediately, not waiting for a more personally comfortable time.

What parallels could be drawn between the disciples of today and those on the road to Emmaus?

What characteristics about Cleopas and his fellow disciple would we want to emulate today?