Word to the Wise
Friday, April 10, 2015 - Octave of Easter - Fri
[Acts 4:1-12 and John 21:1-14]"Come, have breakfast." And none of the disciples dare to ask him, "Who are you?" because they realized it was the Lord. Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in a like manner the fish. This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead. [John]
When I was a student in theology, the Dominican scripture scholar who taught me the Gospel of John told me that this scene contained the most important breakfast ever served. This scene appears in what scripture scholars call the "Johannine appendix" because the language and grammar do not appear to match the earlier chapters. There is also an "echo" of the incident in Luke when Peter is called to be on the the Twelve after a miraculous catch of fish. [Luke 5] At any rate, if this was "appended," it was early on and the church accepted it as part of the gospel. Like all the events in the Gospel of John, it is calculated to reveal Jesus. There are echoes of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes earlier in the gospel as well. [John 6:11]
Although we must be careful not to read later theology of the eucharist into the text itself, this scene can remind us of the experience of the disciples on the road to Emmaus [Luke 24]. Jesus reveals himself to the disciples at a meal.
Can we see "going to communion" as more than an important ritual gesture and see it as a revelation to us of the risen Lord? That kind of intentional focus on something we can easily take for granted requires effort. The Easter season offers us the opportunity to join with the first Christians to make sense of the Lord's commands to "do this in remembrance of me," both in breaking bread and in washing one another's feet. AMEN