The Lord’s day is called the first of the sabbath.^[1] But the first day itself falls away when the second follows it. That day, which both the eighth and the first, represents eternity. It is that day which we abandoned at the beginning by sinning in our first parents and so came down into this mortal state, and also the last and, as it were, the eighth day, to which we again look ahead after the resurrection, once our last enemy death has been destroyed.^[2] Only then will this perishable thing put on imperishability and this mortal thing put on immortality.^[3] The returning son [prodigal] will receive the first robe, which is to be given back to him on the last and, so to say, eighth day, after the labors of his distant exile and his feeding of pigs, and the other miseries of mortal life, and the sevenfold circulation of the wheel of time.

So it was perfectly reasonable that it should have been on the first, which is also the eighth day—Sunday—that our Lord chose to give us an example in his own flesh of bodily resurrection. Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.^[4] To this exalted state of his we must go with humility.

According to the Gospel reading, holy women came to see the sepulcher after the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week. This is how we should understand this: they started to come during the evening but reached the sepulcher as the morning of Sunday was dawning; that is, they prepared the spices with which they desired to anoint our Lord’s body on [Saturday] evening but brought the spices which they had prepared in the evening to the sepulcher in the morning. Matthew, for the sake of brevity, wrote this more obscurely, but the other Evangelists^[1] show more distinctly the order in which it was done. After our Lord had been buried on Friday, the women went away from the tomb and prepared spices and ointments for as long as they were allowed to work. Then they refrained from any activity on the sabbath, in accord with the commandment,^[2] as Luke clearly reports. When the sabbath was over, as evening was coming on, one could work again. Being unwavering in their devotion, they bought the spices which they had not prepared [earlier] (as Mark records it)^[3] so that they might come and anoint him.

Mystically, the rolling away of the stone implies the disclosure^[1] of the divine sacraments, which were formerly hidden and closed up by the letter of the law. The law was written on stone.^[2] Indeed, in the case of each of us, when we acknowledge our faith in the Lord’s passion and resurrection, his tomb, which had been closed, is opened up. We enter the tomb but do not find the body of the Lord, when in our hearts we carefully think back over the order [of events] of his incarnation and his passion and recall that he has risen from the dead and is no longer to be seen in his mortal flesh. But the Jew and the pagan, who ridicule the death of our Redeemer which they believe in but refuse to believe further in the triumph of his resurrection, continue to be like a tomb still closed by a stone. They are not capable of entering to see that the body of the Lord has disappeared by his rising, because by the hardness of their infidelity they are prevented from becoming aware that a dead person, who has destroyed death’s right of entry and has already passed into the heights of the heavens, cannot be found on earth.

Angels also brought the joyful tidings of the nativity to the shepherds in Bethlehem. Now they tell of his resurrection. Heaven yields its service to proclaim him, and the hosts of the spirits which are above attend the Son as God, even though he is in the flesh.

The women came to the sepulcher, and when they could not find the body of Christ—for he had risen—they were quite perplexed. And what followed? For the sake of their love and zeal for Christ, they were counted worthy of seeing holy angels who then told them the joyful news as the heralds of the resurrection, saying, Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! The Word of God ever lives and by his own nature is life. Yet, when he humbled and emptied himself, submitting to be made like us, he tasted death. But this proved to be the death of death, for he rose from the dead to be the way by which not so much he himself but rather we could return to incorruption. Let no one seek among the dead him who ever lives. But if he is not here, with mortality and in the tomb, where then is he? Obviously, in heaven and in godlike glory.

Do you see that they clearly understood nothing about the resurrection? The Evangelist pointed out this very thing when he said, As yet they did not know the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.^[1] In addition to their failure to understand this, they were in much deeper ignorance about other things, such as the kingdom of heaven, that we are chosen as the first fruits, and his ascension into heaven.^[2] They were still confined to the ground and not yet able to fly.

Such was the understanding they had. They expected that the kingdom would come to him immediately in Jerusalem because they had no better grasp of what the kingdom of heaven really is. Another Evangelist hinted at this when he said that they thought of it as a human kingdom. They were expecting him to enter into it but not to go to the cross and death. Even though they had heard it ten thousand times, they could not clearly understand.

God’s Son saw fit to become Son of man to make those of us who believe in him sons of God. He was delivered into the hands of sinful human beings to separate us from the company of sinful human beings and at the same time to free us from the power of malignant spirits. He was crucified and rose on the third day, so that he might grant us the virtue of suffering for him and the hope of rising and living with him.

The women came to the tomb, but they didn’t find the body in the tomb. Instead, they were told by angels that Christ had risen. The women reported this to men. And what’s written? What did you hear? These things seemed in their eyes like an idle tale. How very unhappy is the human condition! When Eve related what the serpent had said, she was listened to straightaway. A lying woman was believed, and so we all died. But [the disciples] didn’t believe women telling the truth so that we might live. If women are not to be trusted, why did Adam trust Eve? If women are to be trusted, why did the disciples not trust the holy women?

So in this fact we have to reflect on the goodness of the Lord’s arrangements, because this, of course, was the doing of the Lord Jesus Christ that it should be the female sex which would be the first to report that he had risen again. Humanity fell through the female sex; humankind was restored through the female sex. A virgin gave birth to Christ; a woman proclaimed that he had risen again. Through a woman death, through a woman life. But the disciples didn’t believe what the women had said. They thought they were raving, when in fact they were reporting the truth.

This hope, this gift, this promise, this tremendous grace—when Christ died his disciples lost it from their spirits, and on his death they fell away from hope. Here we see them receiving the news of his resurrection, and the words of the messengers seemed to them like an idle tale. Truth became like an idle tale. If ever the resurrection is proclaimed nowadays, and someone thinks it’s an idle tale, doesn’t everybody say he’s all twisted up? Doesn’t everybody loathe and detest what he says, turn away, close their ears and refuse to listen? That’s what the disciples were when Christ died. What we abhor is what they were. The leading rams had the disease which the lambs shudder at.

The Spirit of truth would by no means have permitted this hesitation, wavering in human weakness, to enter the hearts of his preachers, if their trembling anxiety and questioning delay were not to have established the foundations of our faith. Consequently it was our doubts and our danger that was being considered in the apostles. We, in the guise of the apostles, were being instructed against the slanders of the wicked and the proofs of earthly wisdom. Their seeing instructed us, their hearing informed us, their touching strengthened us.^[1] Let us give thanks for the divine plan and the necessary slowness of the holy fathers.^[2] They doubted so that we need not doubt.

If he left his clothes behind in the tomb, it was so that Adam could enter into paradise without clothing, just as he had been before he had sinned.^[1] In place of having to leave paradise clothed, he now had to strip himself before entering there [again]. Or [alternatively], he abandoned them to symbolize the mystery of the resurrection of the dead, for just as [the Lord] rose into glory without clothes, so we also [will rise] with our works and not with our clothes.

As two of the disciples walked to a village called Emmaus, they talked about Christ, regarding him as no longer living but mourning him as dead. As they conversed, Jesus drew near and went with them, without being recognized by them, for their eyes were restrained, so that they should not know him. You must know that these two disciples belonged to the number of the seventy, and that Cleopas’s companion was Simon—not Peter or the one of Cana—but another Simon, of the seventy.

At his radiant birth therefore a radiant star appeared, and at his dark death there appeared a dark gloom.^[1] . . . The Lord of the star appeared in his own person to the two who were traveling with him along the road, but his identity was hidden from them. His star too was like this, for its light appeared to all humanity while its pathway was hidden from all humanity.

Here we are with two others, walking along the road and talking to each other about the things that had been happening in Jerusalem—about the iniquity of the Jews, about the death of Christ. They were walking along, talking the matter over, grieving for him as if he were dead, not knowing he had risen again. He appeared and joined them as a third traveler, and entered into friendly conversation with them. Their eyes were held from recognizing him; their hearts, you see, needed more thorough instruction. Recognition is deferred.

We, they said, had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. O my dear disciples, you had hoped! So now you no longer hope? Look, Christ is alive! Is hope dead in you? Certainly, certainly, Christ is alive! Christ, being alive, found the hearts of his disciples dead, as he appeared and did not appear to their eyes. He was at one and the same time seen and concealed. I mean, if he wasn’t seen, how could they have heard him questioning them and answered his questions? He was walking with them along the road like a companion and was himself the leader. Of course he was seen, but he wasn’t recognized. For their eyes were restrained, as we heard, so that they wouldn’t recognize him. They weren’t restrained so that they wouldn’t see him, but they were held so that they wouldn’t recognize him.

Ah yes, brothers and sisters, but where did the Lord wish to be recognized? In the breaking of bread. We’re all right, nothing to worry about—we break bread, and we recognize the Lord. It was for our sake that he didn’t want to be recognized anywhere but there, because we weren’t going to see him in the flesh, and yet we were going to eat his flesh. So if you’re a believer, any of you, if you’re not called a Christian for nothing, if you don’t come to church pointlessly, if you listen to the Word of God in fear and hope, you may take comfort in the breaking of bread. The Lord’s absence is not an absence. Have faith, and the one you cannot see is with you. Those two, even when the Lord was talking to them, did not have faith, because they didn’t believe he had risen. Nor did they have any hope that he could rise again. They had lost faith, lost hope. They were walking along, dead, with Christ alive. They were walking along, dead, with life itself. Life was walking along with them, but in their hearts life had not yet been restored.

You heard just now that the Lord Jesus, after rising from the dead, found two of his disciples on the road, talking to each other about all that had happened, and said to them, What is this conversation you are having with each other, and why are you so sad? . . .

So what is the benefit of this reading for us? A very considerable one, if we understand it rightly. Jesus appeared. They saw him with their eyes and did not recognize him. The Master was walking with them along the way, and he himself was the way. But they weren’t yet walking along the way. He found, you see, that they had wandered off the way. After all, when he had been with them before the passion, he had foretold everything: that he was going to suffer, to die and to rise again on the third day. He had foretold it all, but his death had erased it from their memories. They were so shattered when they saw him hanging on the tree that they forgot about his teaching. They did not expect him to rise, nor did they hold on to what he had promised.

After Nero and Domitian . . . persecution was raised against us sporadically among the cities as a result of insurrection among the people. In this persecution we have learned that Simon [Symeon], the son of Clopas, whom we have shown to have been the second bishop of the church at Jerusalem, gave up his life by martyrdom. The witness of this is Hegisippus, whom we have already quoted. When relating about certain heretics, he goes on to show that Symeon was accused by them at this time and was tortured in many ways for a great many days because he was clearly a Christian. He astonished to the highest degree both the judge himself and those with him, and won for himself an end similar to the passion of the Lord.

So then, what kind of consideration does the doubting of Moses demand of us? . . . Moses doubted when the wood came into contact with the rock.^[1] . . .

The disciples doubted when they saw the Lord crucified. He came to them after his resurrection, as they were talking to each other about this matter in a sad conversation. He kept their eyes from recognizing him, not in order to remove himself from believers but to put them off while they were still doubters. He joined in their conversation as a third party and asked them what they were talking about. They were astonished that he should be the only person not to know what had happened—to the very man, in fact, who was asking about it. Are you, they said, the only stranger in Jerusalem? And they went over all that had happened to Jesus. Straightaway they proceeded to open up all the depth of their despair and, although unwittingly, they showed the doctor their wounds: We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. The doubt arose because wood had come into contact with the rock. What Moses figuratively stood for was fulfilled.^[2]

Recognition, though, happened only when Jesus opened up the Scriptures for them, because they had given up hope and said, But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. O my dear disciples, you had hoped, now you don’t hope? Come here, robber, give the disciples a lesson. Why have you given up hope, just because you have seen him crucified, because you’ve looked at him hanging there, because you have thought him weak? He was like that for the robber too, hanging on the cross beside him. The robber was sharing in his punishment but he believed straightaway and acknowledged him, while you on the other hand have forgotten he is the author of life.^[1] Cry out, robber, from the cross! You, a criminal, win over the saints! What did they say? We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. What did this man say? Jesus, remember me, when you come in your kingdom.^[2] So you had hoped, had you, that it was he who would redeem Israel? O my dear disciples, if he was the one that was going to redeem Israel, it means you have defected. But he has reinstated you; he didn’t abandon you. By becoming your companion on the way, he himself became for you the way.

So he began to expound the Scriptures to them to help them recognize Christ precisely in the point on which they had forsaken Christ. The reason, you see, that they had despaired of Christ was that they had seen him dead. He, however, opened the Scriptures to them, so that they would realize that if he hadn’t died, he couldn’t be the Christ. He taught them from Moses, he taught them from the following Scriptures, he taught them from the prophets what he himself had told them: that it was necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory. They listened, they were filled with joy, they breathed again, and, as they said themselves, their hearts burned within them. And still they didn’t recognize the presence of the light.

In this discourse the Lord shows that the law was necessary to make ready the way and the ministry of the prophets to prepare people for faith in this marvelous act, so that when the resurrection really took place, those who were troubled at its greatness might remember what was said of old and be induced to believe. He brings forward, therefore, Moses and the prophets, interpreting their hidden meaning and making plain to the worthy what to the unworthy was obscure. In this way he settles in them the ancient and hereditary faith taught them by the sacred books which they possessed. For nothing which comes from God is without its use, but all have their appointed place and service. In their due place servants were sent to make ready for the presence of the Master. They brought in beforehand prophecy as the necessary preparative for faith, so that, like some royal treasure, what had been foretold might in due season be brought forward from the concealment of its former obscurity, unveiled and made plain by the clearness of the interpretation.

All that we read in holy Scripture for our instruction and salvation demands an attentive ear. You have just heard how the eyes of those two disciples whom the Lord joined on their way were kept from recognizing him.^[1] He found them in despair of the redemption that was in Christ, supposing him now to have suffered and died as a man, not imagining him to live forever as the Son of God. So he opened to them the Scriptures and showed them that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and for all things to be fulfilled that were written concerning him in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms—in short, the whole of the Old Testament. Everything in those Scriptures speaks of Christ, but only to him who has ears. He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And so let us pray that he will open our own.

Even when the army

surrounded Elisha

a voice proved the key

to the eyes of the shepherd.^[1]

When the disciples’ eyes

were held closed,

bread too was the key

whereby their eyes were opened

to recognize the omniscient:

saddened eyes beheld

a vision of joy

and were instantly filled with happiness. HYMNS ^[1]

And no one should doubt that his being recognized in the breaking of bread is the sacrament, which brings us together in recognizing him.

Remember, though, dearly beloved, how the Lord Jesus desired to be recognized in the breaking of bread, by those whose eyes had been kept till then from recognizing him. The faithful know what I’m talking about. They know Christ in the breaking of bread. It isn’t every loaf of bread, you see, but the one that receives Christ’s blessing and becomes the body of Christ. That’s where they recognized him. They were overjoyed and went straight to the others. They found whom they already knew. By telling what they had seen, they added to the gospel. It was all said, all done, all written down. And it has reached us.

The Lord Jesus was made known, and after being made known he appeared no more. He withdrew from them in the body, since he was held by them in faith. That indeed is why the Lord absented himself in the body from the whole church, and ascended into heaven, for the building up of faith.

He blessed the bread, broke it, and they recognized him. That’s how you recognize Christ—those of you who believe he is the Christ. But your graces should consider what all the disciples were like before the Lord’s resurrection. I beg their pardon for saying so, but they weren’t yet believers. They became great believers later on, but before that they were even inferior to us. We, I mean to say, believe that Christ has risen again, which they didn’t yet believe. But afterward they saw, they touched, they went over him with eyes and hands, and in that way they believed, and their hearts were given strength from the holy Scriptures. So they drank, they burst forth, and they filled us up too.

Do you want me to show you how the fire goes out from the words of the Holy Spirit and ignites the fire the hearts of believers? . . . And again in the Gospel it was written, after the Lord spoke to Cleopas, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures? Where will your burning come from? What coals of fire will be found in you who are never set on fire by the declaration of the Lord, never inflamed by the words of the Holy Spirit? Hear also in another place David himself saying, My heart became hot within me. As I mused, the fire burned.^[1]

Good then is love, having wings of burning fire, that flies through the breasts and hearts of the saints and consumes whatever is material and earthly but tests whatever is pure and with its fire makes better whatever it has touched. This fire the Lord Jesus sent upon earth.^[1] Faith shone bright, devotion was enkindled, love was illuminated, and justice was resplendent. With this fire he inflamed the heart of his apostles, as Cleopas bears witness, saying, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures? Therefore the wings of fire are the flames of the divine Scripture.

This shows that we must not only employ zeal to learn the sacred literature but also pray to the Lord and entreat day and night^[1] that the lamb of the tribe of Judah may come and, himself taking the sealed book, may deign to open it.^[2] For it is he who opening the Scriptures kindles the hearts of the disciples so that they say, Did not our hearts burn within us while he opened to us the scriptures?

Just as we are distinguished from others by faith, so let us also be distinguished by morals and by works. Let us be on fire with charity, which the demons never had. It is the fire those two also were burning with on the road. When Christ, you see, had been recognized and had left them, they said to each other, Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures? Burn then, in order not to burn with the fire the demons are going to burn with.

Be on fire with the fervor of charity, in order to differentiate yourselves from demons. This fervor whirls you upward, takes you upward, lifts you up to heaven. Whatever vexations you suffer on earth, however much the enemy may humiliate Christian hearts and press them downward, the fervor of love seeks the heights.

Cleopas, it says, and his companions rose up that same hour, the same of course in which Jesus had vanished out of their sight, and returned to Jerusalem. But it does not say that they found the Eleven gathered together that same hour and told them what had happened concerning Jesus. This took place on the fortieth day after his resurrection—the day on which he was also taken up. The Evangelist therefore has omitted the events which took place in the intervening time. It was then that Cleopas and his companion found the Eleven discussing in private and saying that the Lord was risen and had been seen by Simon. Regarding this appearance, there is no mention where or when or how this took place. It was during these days that the events in Galilee also took place, which Matthew has recorded.^[1]