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Easter Season · Third Sunday of Easter · Year A

Luke 24:13-35

Known in the Breaking of Bread

April 19, 2026

Supper at Emmaus, Caravaggio
Supper at Emmaus, Caravaggio, c. 1601National Gallery, London
The moment of recognition, with one disciple's arms flung wide towards the viewer and a basket of fruit tipping off the edge of the table.Their eyes were opened and they recognised him, and he vanished from their sight. The painting is the half second before the vanishing.CaravaggioThe painter who put street models and raking light into altarpieces, killed a man in a brawl, and changed European painting in under twenty years.National Gallery, LondonFounded in 1824 by buying one banker's collection, and deliberately placed in Trafalgar Square so that people from every part of London could walk to it.National Gallery, London
Roman Lectionary
GospelLuke 24:13-35Lk 24:13-35
Second Reading1 Pet. 1:17-211 Pt 1:17-21
First ReadingActs 2:14, 22-33
Responsorial PsalmPs. 16:1-2a+5, 7-8, 9-10, 11 (11a)Ps 16:1-2a+5, 7-8, 9-10, 11 (11a)

Overview & Insights

“Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road?” (Luke 24:32)

Only Luke tells this story, and he tells it in the shape of a liturgy. Two travelers rehearse the events, a stranger interprets the scriptures beginning with Moses and all the prophets (v. 27), and then bread is taken, blessed, broken and given (v. 30) in the same four verbs Luke used at the feeding (9:16) and at the supper (22:19). Recognition comes at the table rather than during the exposition, though it was the exposition that made their hearts burn (v. 32). The narrative is careful about sight: their eyes were held (v. 16) and then opened (v. 31), both passive, both God’s doing. Emmaus itself cannot be located with confidence, and the manuscripts disagree over whether it lay sixty or a hundred and sixty stadia from Jerusalem. One of the pair is named Cleopas, otherwise unknown; the other is left anonymous.

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Take it further: Luke 24:13-35

Commentary

Commentary on Luke 24:13-35Commentary on Lk 24:13-35 Working Preacher (Luther Seminary)

Lutheran exegetical anchor on why belief in the risen Jesus came only through his appearing, not self-evidence.

Luke 24:13-35 CommentaryLk 24:13-35 Commentary Center for Excellence in Preaching

Reformed preaching-focused reading of the Emmaus encounter for this exact pericope.

Breaking Bread: SALT's Lectionary Commentary for Easter 3 SALT Project

Ecumenical progressive-Christian lens on Christ recognized in the breaking of bread.

The Road to Emmaus Explained Catholic Productions (Dr. Brant Pitre)

Catholic voice tying the Emmaus meal to the Eucharist.

Danger, Laughter, Easter 3 (A) Sermons That Work (The Episcopal Church)

Episcopal preaching voice on Christ's offered body on the Emmaus road.

Background & Word Study

Gospel of Luke Summary, Part 2 (Luke 10-24)Gospel of Lk Summary, Part 2 (Lk 10-24) BibleProject

Animated overview placing chapter 24 within Luke's larger literary design.

Luke 24 InterlinearLk 24 Interlinear BibleHub

Greek interlinear text for word-level study of the Emmaus narrative.

The Church Fathers

Catena on Luke 24Catena on Lk 24 catenabible.com

Patristic catena of comments on the Emmaus chapter.

Sermons & Reflections

In the Breaking of the Bread Journey with Jesus

Lectionary essay for this exact Sunday (Amy Frykholm) reflecting on Luke 24:13-35.

Worship & Prayers

Week 2 - Third Sunday of Easter, Year A - Preaching Notes UMC Discipleship Ministries

Per-Sunday worship and preaching planning notes for this text.

Podcast

Sermon Brainwave #352 - Third Sunday of Easter Working Preacher Sermon Brainwave

Podcast episode covering all four Third-Sunday-of-Easter Year A texts, including Luke 24:13-35.

Art & Music

Third Sunday of Easter, Year A - texts and art Vanderbilt Revised Common Lectionary

Vanderbilt's per-Sunday page pairing artwork with the day's texts.

Study Hub

Luke 24:13-49 resource indexLk 24:13-49 resource index Textweek

Curated link index for further study of the Emmaus passage.

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