Gesù, lo straniero

Why return to the Gospel episode of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, a passage already extensively examined by exegetes, theologians, and biblical scholars? Its enduring relevance stems not only from its remarkable influence on Western philosophical, cultural, and artistic traditions – as attested by its numerous reinterpretations in works by Rembrandt, Titian, Caravaggio, and Velázquez – but also from its capacity to disclose a subtle anthropological and existential threshold. The narrative delineates the fine line that separates and simultaneously binds familiarity and estrangement, intimacy and relationality. In this sense, the Emmaus pericope functions as a hermeneutical watermark: it allows one to trace certain constitutive features of the human and to investigate, within the interplay of proximity and distance, the elusive realm of otherness. This dimension, resistant to objectification, has been variously articulated in philosophical discourse through notions such as ἄπειρον περιέχον, Abgrund, and Umgreifende, each pointing to a horizon that exceeds representation while grounding human experience.