Luke 24:35

ἐξηγοῦντο. ‘They narrated.’ The word occurs four times in the Acts and in John 1:18.

ἐν τῇ κλάσει τοῦ ἄρτου. ‘In the breaking of the bread.’ The articles are important as giving to the act a sacramental character. It has been objected that Cleopas and his companion, not being Apostles, had not been present at the institution of the Lord’s Supper; but this was by no means the only occasion on which Christ had solemnly broken bread and blessed it (see Luke 9:16). St Mark adds that some of the disciples received even this narrative with distrust (Luke 16:13), which once more proves that, so far from being heated enthusiasts ready to accept any hallucination, they shewed on the contrary a most cautious reluctance in accepting even the most circumstantial evidence.

The young reader should refer to the beautiful passage of Cowper on this scene in Conversation, beginning

“It happen’d on a solemn eventide,” &c.