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Feast of St. John,Apostle and Evangelist
1 John 1:1-4
Psalm 97:1-2, 5-6, 11-12
John 20:1A & 2-8
Summary
Mary Magdalene, after finding Jesus’ tomb empty, runs in alarm to tell Simon
Peter and “the other disciple whom Jesus’ loved”. In turn, they then rush to the
tomb.The “other” disciple gets there first, but waits for Simon Peter to arrive
and allows him to enter the tomb first. Peter sees the burial cloths there, includ-
ing the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head,“not with the burial cloths but rolled
up in a separate place.”The other disciple then enters,“the one who arrived
there first” and upon seeing the burial cloths in just this arrangement,“believes”.
Reflection
The first thing that struck me as I read today’s gospel was,“why is there an
‘Easter’ gospel right after Christmas?”My guess is that it is because today is the
Feast of Saint John,Apostle and Evangelist
. This particular gospel is not only
purportedly written by “John the Evangelist” but is self-referential to the writer
as “John the Apostle.” Biblical scholars argue about it, but the general consensus
is that John the Apostle and John the Evangelist (as well as the writer of Revela-
tions) are actually “different Johns.” And whether or not the ‘beloved disciple”
was actually the Apostle John, we do not know, as Holy Family Parishioners are
well aware. As I meditated on this, I was also struck by the
apparent
humility of
this disciple who reached the tomb of Christ first but waited deferentially for
Simon Peter to enter before he did. Some scholars have suggested that this was
important during the time this gospel was written to ensure that Peter be shown
as “the leader” in “discovering”Christ’s
resurrection just as he was chosen by
Jesus to “lead” his church. One might
argue however, that although this
Evangelist “allowed” Peter to be “the
first one in the tomb”, he already tells
us (his readers) that a woman and he
himself had already made the discov-
ery. He is
suggesting
that he is hum-
ble, but perhaps, actually feels rather
bitter about the pecking order; hu-
man nature is human nature, even