Emmaus (Greek: Ἐμμαούς, Latin: Emmaus; Hebrew: אמאוס) is a town mentioned in the Gospel of Luke from the New Testament. Luke reports that Jesus appeared, after his death and resurrection, before two of his disciples while they were walking on the road to Emmaus.
Its geographical identification is not clear, several locations having been suggested throughout history. We only know that it was connected by a road with Jerusalem; the distance given by Luke varies in different manuscripts and the figure given has been made even more ambiguous by interpretations.
The place name Emmaus is relatively common in classical sources about the Levant and is usually derived through Greek and Latin from the Semitic word for "warm spring", whose Hebrew form is hamma or hammat (חמת). There are many sites with the name Hama, Hamath and variations thereof in the ancient and present-day Middle East.
In the case of one possible candidate for Luke's Emmaus, namely modern Motza, another evolution of the name has been suggested (see there).
Emmaus Nicopolis (lit. "Emmaus City of Victory") was the Roman name for a city associated with the Emmaus of the New Testament, where Jesus is said to have appeared after his death and resurrection. In the modern age, the site was the location of the Palestinian Arab village of Imwas, near the Latrun junction, between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, before its depopulation in 1967. Emmaus Nicopolis was the name of the city from the 3rd century CE until the conquest of Palestine by the Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate in 639. The site today is inside Canada Park in the West Bank, and maintained by the Jewish National Fund of Canada.
Emmaus Nicopolis appears on Roman geographical maps. The Peutinger Table situates it about 31 kilometres (19 mi) west of Jerusalem, while the Ptolemy map shows it at a distance of 32 kilometres (20 mi) from the city. This location is confirmed by ancient sources and translations of the Gospel of Luke (e. g. Codex Sinaiticus), which give the distance between biblical Emmaus and Jerusalem as 160 stadia. The geographical position of Emmaus is described in the Jerusalem Talmud, Tractate Sheviit 9.2:
Emmaus (French: Emmaüs) is an international solidarity movement founded in Paris in 1949 by the Catholic priest and Capuchin friar Abbé Pierre to combat poverty and homelessness.
Since 1971 regional and national initiatives have been grouped under a parent organization, Emmaus International, now run by Jean Rousseau, representing 350 groups in 37 countries, offering a range of charitable services.
Emmaus is a secular organisation, but Communities around the world have kept the name because of its symbolism. The biblical story, found in the Gospel of Luke, describes how two men saw the resurrected Jesus at the town of Emmaus, and so regained hope.
The organization's guiding principle can be found in the Universal Manifesto of Emmaus International:
The first Emmaus Community was founded by Father Henri-Antoine Groues (known as Abbé Pierre) in Paris in 1949. The former Resistance member was also an MP who fought to provide accommodation for the homeless people of Paris.
Who is Jesus Christ
The question echoes down Emmaus Road
Dead or raised to life
The same doubts spoken first so long ago
When a stranger came
To two men on their journey
And it was not long before
Their broken hearts were burning
Chorus:
Somewhere between where you are and Emmaus
A stranger wants to come and walk with you
Somewhere along the way your heart will be burning
Drawn into the holy flame of truth
Right now He may be a stranger to you
What will he be when your journey's through
Somewhere between where you are and Emmaus
The Savior wants to walk with you
Some ask Him in to stay
As night falls on their own Emmaus Road
Some push Him away
And never see the mystery unfold
But those who take to heart the word that has been spoken
As He breaks the bread of life their eyes will open
Chorus (2 times)