Mark 16:12

The Appearance to Two of them

12. After that On the world's first Easter-Day the risen Saviour manifested Himself first to Mary Magdalene, then to the other ministering women. The Evangelist now proceeds to relate the appearance to the two disciples journeying towards Emmaus, which is more fully described by St Luke (Luke 24:13-35).

he appeared "he is schewid," Wyclif. This word in the original is applied to our Lord's "manifestations" of Himself after His resurrection (a) by St Mark twice, here and Mark 16:14; (b) by St John three times, John 21:1; John 21:14; (c) by St Paul to our "manifestation" in our real character at the Last Judgment, 2 Corinthians 5:10 (comp. 1 Corinthians 4:5); (d) by the same Apostle to the "manifestation" of Christ at His second coming, Colossians 3:4. The word points here to a change in the Person of our Lord after His resurrection. He is the same and yet not the same. (a) The same. There are the well-known intonations of His voice, and the marks in His hands and feet (John 20:20; John 20:25); and He eats before His Apostles, converses with them, blesses them. And yet He is (b) not the same. His risen Body is no longer subject to the laws of time and space. He comes we know not whence. He goes we know not whither. Now He stands in the midst of the Apostles (John 20:19); now He vanishes out of their sight (Luke 24:31). He knows now of no continuedsojourn on earth. He "appears from time to time" (Acts 1:3); He "manifests" Himself to chosen witnesses, as seemeth Him good.

in another form It is plain from St Luke 24:16 that He was not at the time recognised. This appearance would seem to have been vouchsafed early in the afternoon of the day of the Resurrection.

unto two of them The name of one was Cleopas = Cleopatros, not the Clopas of John 19:25, and another whose name is not known. Some have conjectured it was Nathanael, others the Evangelist St Luke.

as they walked from Jerusalem in the direction of the village of Emmaus. St Luke says it was sixty stadia(A. V. "threescore furlongs"), or about 7½ miles from Jerusalem. From the earliest period it was identified by Christian writers with the Emmaus on the border of the plain of Philistia, afterwards called Nicopolis (1Ma 3:40), situated some 20 miles from Jerusalem. Afterwards it was identified with the little village of el-Kubeibeh, about 3 miles west of the ancient Mizpeh, and 9 miles from Jerusalem. The true site has yet to be settled.