Road to Emmaus, Luke 24:32 Wall Art

Walking into the sunset

We see the three men from the back, as if we were a few steps behind on the same path. Jesus is in the middle, in a long white robe with a rust-red mantle thrown over one shoulder. The disciple on the left wears olive green, carries a leather bag and a walking staff, and lifts his free hand as he talks. The one on the right has a cloth wrapped round his head, a blue-gray cloak and his own staff and bag.

The road is pale ochre and runs toward a low sun. An olive tree leans in from the left, two dark cypresses stand behind it, and on the right a dry-stone wall leads the eye to a small village on the hill. The words float above the scene: “Did not our heart burn within us?”, with Luke 24:32 in smaller letters.

Who were the two disciples on the road to Emmaus?

Luke tells the story on the evening of the first Easter Sunday. Two followers of Jesus are leaving Jerusalem for a village called Emmaus, about seven miles away (“threescore furlongs” in the King James). Only one is named, Cleopas. They are discouraged, because the man they had hoped would redeem Israel has been crucified, and the women's report of an empty tomb sounds to them like an idle tale.

A stranger joins them and asks what they are discussing. Then, “beginning at Moses and all the prophets”, he explains how the Scriptures spoke of the Messiah's suffering. At the village they press him to stay, saying “Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” At table he takes bread, blesses it and breaks it, and in that moment they recognize him, and he vanishes from their sight.

The full verse is their reaction: “And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” They had felt the truth before they could see it. That same hour they walked the seven miles back in the dark to tell the others.

For Easter, a pastor's study, a new beginning

This is an Easter image without a tomb or a cross, which makes it easy to keep on the wall all year. Pastors and Bible teachers often love the Emmaus story because it is, in a sense, the first Bible study after the Resurrection, so the print is a thoughtful thank-you for a minister or a small-group leader.

It is also given at baptisms, especially for adults who describe their faith as a slow road rather than a sudden flash. Hang it in an entryway or a hallway, where it matches the movement of people coming and going.