Where were they going? (Easter A3)

At our minsterial meeting Cliff was looking at this painting of the road to Emmaus over my head.

"What are they going away from?" He asked. "Have they given up? Going home? Going away from Jesus?"

He was interested that "their eyes were kept from recognizing him." If they had seen him for who he was, Cliff thougth, they would have been so overwhelmed that they wouldn't have heard the scriptures opened to them.

We also quipped about who the two were. One is named Cleopas, is the other his wife who was at the cross? (One of the disciples in this painting could be a woman.) Was it Simon Peter? Some other Simon? Ultimately what does it matter?

Also we were divided over the breaking of the bread. We agreed that to the two it probably wouldn't have been identified with the Eucharist, but would Luke's audience have made that association? Can we?

I love meeting with those guys to question.