By Father Paul Nord, O.S.B.
Sunday Scripture
First Reading: Acts 5:27-32, 40b-41; Response: Psalm 30:2, 4-6, 11-13; Second Reading: Revelation 5:11-14; Gospel: John 21:1-19
In the first reading, the apostles are questioned by the Sanhedrin — a Jewish council with religious and political authority, subservient to Roman governance of Jerusalem. The high priest was the Sanhedrin’s leader, and its members included priests, elders and scribes. Before Jesus’ crucifixion, the Sanhedrin had Jesus arrested, aggressively questioned him, and then turned him over to Pontius Pilate, requesting the death penalty (see Matthew 26–27, Mark 14–15, Luke 22–23).
After Jesus’ death and resurrection, he promised his disciples: “you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). When the apostles received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2), they began boldly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Peter and John were especially active. They proclaimed that Jesus had risen from the dead, and they healed the sick by the name of Jesus (Acts 3). Consequently, Peter and John were arrested. They were taken for questioning before the Sanhedrin, who ordered them to stop teaching in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John refused to stop. The Sanhedrin released them after threatening them (Acts 4). The apostles continued performing signs and healings in Jesus’ name. So, the high priest had the apostles arrested again. Now he put them in prison. But an angel of the Lord released the apostles from prison during the night. The apostles promptly returned to the Temple and continued proclaiming Jesus as savior.
This is the context for today’s reading. The Sanhedrin arrests the apostles for a third time, and again the Sanhedrin aggressively questions them, demanding anew that they stop teaching in the name of Jesus. But Peter and the apostles reply: “We must obey God rather than men.” The apostles bear witness to Jesus’ resurrection, but the Sanhedrin refuses to accept their message of salvation in Jesus. The Sanhedrin again releases the apostles (after flogging them!) because of the advice of Gamaliel, a respected teacher of the law. Gamaliel’s words are recounted in Acts 5:33-40 (omitted from today’s reading).
The second reading is from Revelation 5. Already in Revelation 4, John was brought into heaven to see the Throne of God, who is being praised and worshiped by the angels, 24 elders, and four living creatures. This vision continues with the appearance of the Lamb of God (Jesus), who receives a scroll from God the Father. All of heaven likewise worships the Lamb.
Today’s reading continues John’s vision. The angels, elders and living creatures praise Jesus, saying: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive … honor and glory and blessing.” This heavenly praise continues — for both God the Father (“the one who sits on the throne”) and for Jesus (“the Lamb”). Finally, the elders fall down and worship the Lamb and God the Father on his throne.
Today’s Gospel describes “the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead” (John 21:14). The previous chapter describes Jesus appearing twice to his disciples “on the evening of the first day of the week” (20:19) with Thomas absent, and again “a week later” (20:26) with Thomas present. Jesus also had appeared to Mary Magdalene outside the tomb (20:11-17), but perhaps the narrator does not count this appearance (to Mary alone) as one of the three appearances of Jesus “to his disciples.”
“Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias” (21:1). This is in the Galilee region, and about 90 miles north of Jerusalem, where Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection occurred (see John 12–20).
The apostles are fishing in a boat on the Sea of Tiberias. They stay out all night but catch nothing. At dawn, they see Jesus standing on the shore, but they do not recognize him. Jesus commands them to cast the net. They obey and catch a huge number of fish. This miraculous catch enables “the disciple whom Jesus loved” to recognize Jesus. The disciples then come ashore, where Jesus feeds them bread and fish.
This account comes from the last chapter of John’s Gospel. Commentaries generally agree that John’s Gospel originally ended with John 20:30-31. This would make John 21 an “epilogue” that was added very soon thereafter. Indeed, John 21 continues at least three themes found earlier in John’s Gospel.
First, in John 21, Jesus asks Peter three times: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” This is clearly connected to Peter’s three-fold denial of Jesus in John 18, which Jesus had foretold in John 13:38. This connection is verified by the fact that Jesus fed his disciples bread and fish warmed by “a charcoal fire” (21:9). Recall that when Peter denied Jesus three times, he was warming himself at “a charcoal fire” (18:18) in the courtyard of the high priest, whose servants and guards also were gathered around the charcoal fire.
Second, John 21 continues the theme of “a shepherd’s care for his sheep.” Recall Jesus’ Good Shepherd Parable (and explanation) in John 10:1-18. When Peter affirms his love for Jesus three times in John 21, each time Jesus commands Peter: “Feed/tend my sheep/lambs.” Jesus, the Good Shepherd, entrusts Peter with the care of his sheep.
Third, John 21 continues the theme of “the disciple whom Jesus loved” and his relationship with Peter. This disciple is mentioned in John 13:23, when the disciples were eating supper with Jesus shortly before the Passover feast. When Jesus predicts that one of his disciples would betray him, Peter nods to the “beloved disciple” to ask Jesus whom he meant. This “beloved disciple” appears again with Peter in John 20, when the two of them race to Jesus’ tomb after Mary Magdalene brought urgent news that the large stone had been removed from the tomb’s entrance. “The disciple whom Jesus loved” and Peter enter Jesus’ tomb and see Jesus’ burial cloths left behind, with the head cloth carefully rolled up. The beloved disciple saw this and believed.