This memorable painting by the Italian artist, Caravaggio, is a vivid depiction of the hospitality shown to Jesus by two disciples after they had walked together from Jerusalem to Emmaus on the evening of the first Easter Day. The painting shows the very moment when the disciples recognised their travelling companion was, indeed, Jesus, resurrected from the dead. As St Luke recorded in Lule 24:30-31 it was when Jesus blessed the food in his familiar way that ‘their eyes were opened, and they knew him’.
The painting was completed at the height of the artists fame and is one of his most arresting domestic images. One disciple is about to leap out of his chair while the other throws out his arms in astonishment. The disciples are portrayed as ordinary working people with wore clothes and one with a shell fastened to his smock – a symbol of pilgrimage to this day.
The servant or innkeeper attending to his guests is a masterpiece of thoughtful concentration. He invites us to read his thoughts as he tries to comprehend whatever is happening at the corner table in his inn. When Jesus promptly disappears and the other two rush away to make the journey back again to Jerusalem, his confusion and perplexity could only have increased.
This simple mealtime scene reminds me of the importance of all meals with family or friends where we are nourished and blessed by food, conversation and fellowship. The food on our tables and where it comes from also reminds us of the importance of sustainability in this the Church’s season of Creation-tide.
Perhaps the innkeeper’s thoughts may invite us to read our own thoughts as we take stock of where we’ve reached in our journey of life, and for some, our journey of faith.
David Hawkins 1st September 2025
