RBWords

 

  

     There are a lot of "Wait a minute..!" moments in this gospel passage!  Perhaps another way of putting it would be "echoes."  There is the characteristic "development" from non-recognition to recognition that I often note for you in John's gospel.  There is the story of the great catch of fish that we might recall happening at the beginning of Jesus' ministry in the Gospel of Luke.  And there is a meal of bread and fish, which echoes the 'multiplication of the loaves and fishes' that occurs in all four gospels!  In short, this scene appears to be a collage of themes and incidents that took place earlier!  Scripture scholars call this chapter the "johannine appendix" because it doesn't appear to have been part of the "original" composition.  But since it has been "part" of that gospel from earliest days, the church has accepted it as "canonical."

 

     An additional "echo" that might be noted is the meal scene that could recall the Disciples on the road to Emmaus.  In John,  Jesus is the "bread of life" [ch. 6] and his presence to us in a meal is a kind of "Eucharistic" theme.  Although we have to be careful about reading back into the gospels thoughts that were not originally there, we can recognize how this scene has the power to evoke memories as well as inspire practices and thoughts about the Risen Christ.  It is quite a breakfast invitation! [Read the whole thing!]  AMEN