Cleopas the Apostle | |
|---|---|
 Cleopas from theSupper at Emmaus byCaravaggio, London, 1601 | |
| Apostle | |
| Born | 1st century BC |
| Died | 1st century |
| Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodox Church Catholic Church |
| Feast | 25 September (Roman Catholic) 30 October (Eastern Orthodox) 10 November (Coptic Orthodox) |
Cleopas (/ˈkliːoʊpəs/;[1]Greek: Κλεόπας,romanized:Kleopas), also spelledCleophas, was a figure of earlyChristianity, one of the two disciples who encountered Jesus during theRoad to Emmaus appearance inLuke 24:13–32.
Some writers claim that the nameClopas in John 19:25 ("Mary of Clopas", "Κλωπᾶς") is a Hellenized form of a claimedAramaic name "Qlopha" (קלופא), and that Cleopas' name ("Κλεόπας") is an abbreviated form of "Cleopatros" (Κλεόπατρος), a Greek name meaning "glory of the father" (best known in the feminine formCleopatra).[2]
Catholic andEastern Orthodox traditions hold thatClopas, believed to be the brother ofSaint Joseph, is the same person as Cleopas.[3] Others consider that Clophas, Cleophas andAlphaeus are all the same name.[4]
Cleopas appears inLuke 24:13–31 as one of two disciples walking fromJerusalem toEmmaus. Cleopas is named in verse 18, while his companion remains unnamed.[5]
This occurs three days after the crucifixion, on the same day as theResurrection of Jesus. The two travelers have heard the tomb of Jesus was found empty earlier that day, but have not yet believed the women's testimony. They are discussing the events of the past few days when a stranger asks them what they are discussing. "Their eyes were kept from recognizing him." He rebukes them for their unbelief and offers them an interpretation of scriptural prophecies concerning the Messiah. They ask the stranger to join them for the evening meal. When he breaks the bread "their eyes were opened" and they recognize him as the resurrected Jesus. Jesus immediately vanishes.
Cleopas and his friend hasten back to Jerusalem to carry the news to the other disciples, and learn Jesus has also appeared to [one of] them. The same event is recorded inMark 16:12–13.
TheGospel of Pseudo-Matthew, which was probably written in the seventh century, states thatMary of Clopas was daughter of Clopas andAnna:
Jesus met them, with Mary His mother, along with her sister Mary of Clopas, whom the Lord God had given to her father Clopas and her mother Anna, because they had offered Mary the mother of Jesus to the Lord. And she was called by the same name, Mary, for the consolation of her parents.[6]
The most common interpretation is that "of Clopas" indicates the husband of Mary of Clopas and subsequently the father of her children, but some see "of Clopas" as meaning this Mary's father. Medieval tradition saw Clopas as the second husband ofSaint Anne and thefather of "Mary of Clopas".[7]
Catholic andEastern Orthodox traditions believed that Clopas is a brother ofSaint Joseph, and that he is the same person with Cleophas.[8]
Cleopas has no further occurrence in the New Testament, but in tradition he has often been identified withClopas, another New Testament figure mentioned inJohn's Gospel.[9]
The historian, BishopEusebius of Caesarea, quotes the earlier chronicler,Hegesippus, who wrote, c. AD 180, that he had years before interviewed the grandsons ofJude the Apostle and learned that Clopas was the brother ofJoseph, husband of theVirgin Mary: "After the martyrdom of James, it was unanimously decided thatSimeon, son of Clopas, was worthy to occupy the see of Jerusalem. He was, it is said, a cousin of the Saviour." Hegesippus noted that Clopas was a brother of Joseph.[10]Epiphanius adds that Joseph and Cleopas were brothers, sons of "Jacob, surnamed Panther".[11]
According to the surviving fragments of the workExposition of the Sayings of the Lord of theApostolic FatherPapias of Hierapolis, who lived c. 70–163 AD, Cleophas and Alphaeus are the same person: "Mary the wife of Cleophas or Alphaeus, who was the mother ofJames the bishop and apostle, and ofSimon andThaddeus, and of oneJoseph".[12] The Anglican theologianJ.B. Lightfoot regarded the fragment quoted above as spurious.[13][14]
Cleopas is remembered on 30 October in theEastern Orthodox Church,[15] commemorated on 25 September in the latest official edition of theRoman Martyrology,[16] and on 10 November in theCoptic Orthodox Church.
The entry in the Roman Martyrology now summarizes in substance Luke's account of the Emmaus encounter with Jesus.
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