This phrase is used here to mark where the action starts. It starts with Jesus approaching them. If your language has a way for doing this, you could consider using it here.
The word "himself" focuses on Jesus and the surprise of Jesus actually appearing to them. So far the women had seen the angels, but no one had seen Jesus.
## Their eyes were prevented from recognizing him ##
"Their eyes were kept from recognizing Jesus." The men's ability to recognize Jesus is spoken of as their eyes' ability to recognize him. It can also be translated as "They were kept from recognizing him" or "Something prevented them so they could not recognize him." (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-synecdoche]])