JESUS, THE SUCCESSFU L EVANGELIST
A CHIASTIC STRUCTURE FOR LUKE 24:13-35
A. The movement away from Jerusalem
(v.13) Now that very day two of them were making their way to a village
called Emmaus, about sixty stadia from Jerusalem
B. The conversation on the road
(v.14) They were talking with each other about all that had happened.
C. Jesus drew near to them
(v.15) While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus, himself drew near
and began to walk with them.
D. The disciples' inability to recognize Jes us
(v.16) But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
E. Dialogue between the sad disciples and Jesus
(vv.17-24) And he said to them, "What is all this talk that you exchange with one another
as you walk?" They stopped for a moment, looking sad... "Are you the only stranger in
Jerusalem..." And he said to them, "What things?" They answered, "All that happened to
Jesus of Nazareth who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the eyes of God and all the people..."
F. Jesus teaches the disciples
(vv.25-27) He said to them, "How foolish you are and slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets have said! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter
into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted for them what
concerned himself in the Scriptures.
F. Jesus feeds the disciples
(vv.28-30) They drew near to the village to which they were going, and Jesus pretended to be
going on further. But they invited him earnestly, "Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is
already far spent." So he went into the village to stay with them. While he had reclined at table with
them, he took the bread, blesed and broke it and gave it to them.
E. The joy of recognition
(vv.31a; 32) And they admitted to each other, "Were not our hearts gradually catching fire within
us as he spoke to us on the road and opened to us the sense of the Scriptures?
D. The opened eyes
(v.31) Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.
C. The disappear ance
(v.31b) but he vanished from their sight.
B. Sharing the news of the resurrection
(v.34-35) They found that the Eleven and their companions had gathered together, and
were saying, "It is really true! The Lord has been raised and he has appeared to Simon!"
Then they explained what had happened on the road, and how he became known to them
in the breaking of the bread.
A. The return to Jerusalem
(v.33-35) Even at that late hour they rose up and returned to Jerusalem.
THE CHIASTIC STRUCTURE OF LUKE 24:13 - 35
First, it is important to establish the meaning of chiasm- a very common literary form in
Roman and Semitic literature referring to the "X" shape or symmetrical arrangement of
parts whereby the end resembles the beginning. The Emmaus text exemplifies a chiastic
structure. The chiastic structure of the Emmaus story has the disciples moving away from
Jerusalem in despair but returning in faith; they change from people whose hearts were
cold and whose eyes were blinded to true followers of Jesus whose "hearts burn on the
way" and whose eyes are opened. All of these observations...point to the on-going
ministry of the Risen Jesus as the focus of the story, a remarkable piece of good news for
Luke's church." In the explanation of the chiastic structure below, a dynamic process is in
effect. We see a move away from Jerusalem in despair, but a return to the holy city in
faith.
In "A" of the chiastic structure, the disciples move away from the city of Jerusalem.
Rather than patiently waiting with the others in the Holy City, they flee at a time of crisis.
Their hopes and expectations in this Messiah have been destroyed. Section "B" tells of
the discussion and conversation on the road about the things that have happened in their
midst concerning this Jesus of Nazareth. Even though Jesus approaches and begins to
walk with them "C", their eyes were kept from recognizing him "D". Section "E"
begins with the dialogue between Jesus and the sad disciples. Cleopas' indignant response
to the stranger is followed by Jesus' leading question "What things?" to which the two
bewildered disciples tell their version of the story of Jesus of Nazareth. At the center of
the chiastic structure we find Jesus' action of admonishing and teaching the disciples "F"
through a long exegetical lesson of which the reader gets little detailed information.
After the instruction on the road, the scene shifts to table fellowship in Emmaus "F" or
the "unravelling of the mystery" where the disciples share bread with their still
unrecognized guest. During the course of the meal, the two disciples recognize Jesus in
the breaking of the bread.
At the center of our chiastic structure is a double action of expounding the Scriptures and
breaking and sharing the bread. For Luke, Jesus' action of teaching and meal sharing is
clearly a paradigm for the life of the young church.
In section "E" of the chiastic structure, the Emmaus disciples, having recognized the
Lord, share their joy and emotion with one another, unlike the sadness they experienced
on the road with the stranger in "E" (verses 17-24). The analogy of the "burning hearts"
of Cleopas and his companion is the only way for them to adequately describe this
wonderful event of their recognition of the Lord. Yet just as he approached them in their
blindness on the road and led them to sight, as soon as they recognize him after the bread
is broken, he disappears from their midst"C". They are both able to look back over the
past few hours and see how Jesus slowly brought them back to faith (v. 32) and helped
them discover the meaning of the Messiah's suffering, death and resurrection. For
Cleopas and his companion, they found that meaning in the breaking open of the
Scriptures and the sharing of bread. Such a discovery produces a desire in them to return
to the assembled community in Jerusalem, and to share with those who waited there the
good news of the resurrection "B" Just as they were moving away from the city of
Jerusalem in 24:13, the end of the story finds them moving back "A" to Jerusalem, to be
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This chiastic analysis is taken from chapter 3 of Emmaus: The Road to Recognition. The Literary Structure
of Luke 24:13-35. An Exegetical Study. Dissertation for the Licentiate in Sacred Scripture for the Pontifical
Biblical Institute in Rome by Thomas M. Rosica, C.S.B. April, 1990.
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THE CHIASTIC STRUCTURE OF LUKE 24:13 - 35
reunited with the other disciples and apostles who waited for Jesus in the Holy City. We
know that their waiting was not in vain.
The use of chiasm to analyze the Emmaus story is an excellent method to examine the
movement and meaning of this pericope. There are many different chiasms at work in
the story, and the above example is only one particular structure. This chiastic structural
analysis offers significant clues to the meaning of the narrative and may also help us to
formulate some of the major questions and liturgical and doctrinal issues about the
kerygma with which the Lukan community was struggling. The chiastic structure does
answer one fundamental question which may very well have preoccupied Luke and his
Christian community: "What was the real significance of the empty tomb?" After the
Resurrection, where could Jesus be found?"
____________________________________________________________________________________
This chiastic analysis is taken from chapter 3 of Emmaus: The Road to Recognition. The Literary Structure
of Luke 24:13-35. An Exegetical Study. Dissertation for the Licentiate in Sacred Scripture for the Pontifical
Biblical Institute in Rome by Thomas M. Rosica, C.S.B. April, 1990.
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