Reflecting on Easter and St. John's Gospel

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:30-31

As we approach Pentecost and close out the season of Easter. One of the things I love about Eastertide is that so many of the gospels are from the Gospel of St. John, which is my favorite among all the books of the Bible. The above passage (Second Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday) is worth reflecting upon and noting how John’s gospel differs from the other three (the synoptic gospels).

So what are some of the things we learned from St. John’s Gospel? In comparison, I started thinking about the contents of the synoptic gospels. They are filled with stories about events in Jesus’s life; his teaching, his relation to the Apostles (the Twelve) and the disciples, his allegories about the kingdom of heaven, and his admonition to repent. John’s gospel, however, is about Jesus himself; who he is (not who he was, either). Note the words John used above, “Jesus is the Christ.”

While the synoptics begin by talking about Jesus’s lineage and his birth, John gets right to the point of who Jesus is, the Word of God. “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.” (Jn 1:1.) Jesus is light and life (Jn 1:4). Then John immediately goes into the fulfilment of one of the prophecies of the Messiah, the “voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” (Jn 1:23; Is 40:3).

While much of the synoptic gospels go into the things Jesus said, John’s emphasis is more on what Jesus did and who he was. Thus, in John, we have many examples of Jesus using the phrase “I am,” tying him to Yahweh’s declaration to Moses on Mt. Sinai (Ex 3:6, 3:14). John also identifies Jesus in many other ways; the Word made flesh (1:14), the Son of God (1:34), the Lamb of God (1:29), the Light come into the World (3:19, 8:12, 9:5, et al.), the bridegroom (3:29), living water (4:10; 7:38), the just judge (5:30), the Bread of Life (come down from heaven - 6:35), the Good Shepherd (10:11, 14), the resurrection and the life (11:25), the way, the truth and the life (14:6), and the true vine (15:1-10). Even Pontius Pilate recognizes Jesus’s kingship, albeit inadvertently, when he posts on the cross in three languages, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” (the Latin initials for which are INRI). The other gospels also testify to the divinity of Jesus but, in my mind, not as directly as St. John does.

Jesus also refers to the Scriptures as bearing witness to him (Jn 5:39), similar to his discussion with Cleopas and the other disciple on their way to Emmaus (Lk 24:13-31).

The Gospel of John is also known as the Book of Signs (miracles) as John highlights 7 specific miracles of Jesus (some are also mentioned in the synoptic gospels). Dr. Peter Kreeft in his reflections on mass readings (Food for the Soul, Cycles A, B, & C) reminds us that a sign is not something we just look at, but something that points to something else; something we follow. “Jesus’ miracles are signs that point to his identity and his mission” (Food for the Soul, Cycle B, p. 337). So, for example, Jesus’s many healing miracles are not just examples of his divine power and ability to heal physical problems but also that he provides spiritual healing.

The first of these signs is the Wedding Feast at Cana where Mary, Jesus’s mother notifies him that the wine has run out. Brant Pitre in his book, Jesus the Bridegroom, notes that Mary’s comment and Jesus’s response are equivalent to Jesus assuming the role and responsibility of the bridegroom, not only in this instance but in the broader connotation of the Church. But even before this, John the Baptist identifies himself as “the friend of the bridegroom” (Jn 3:29) whose duty, in ancient Judaism, is to bring the bride to the bridegroom, as he is doing by preaching repentance and preparing the way of the Lord. Other passages (in other gospels as well) and, especially the letters of St. Paul, point to this concept of Jesus being the bridegroom wedded to his Church, the body of Christ.

Other signs testify to Jesus’s divinity and power, such as calming the storm, walking on water, healing the sick, restoring sight, raising the dead, multiplication of the loaves, and, especially, forgiving sins. Some of these are repeated in the other gospels but John focuses on them more specifically.

One theme that is constant throughout the gospels and the entire New Testament is the fundamental importance of faith. Again, John is upfront in the first chapter, “But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God.” (Jn 1:12) Eternal life depends on conversion and this belief (Jn 3:16, 36). After leaving the Samaritan woman John relates the story of the healing of the official’s son. When the man believed Jesus, he left, in faith, and learned from his servants that his son recovered at “the hour when Jesus had said to him, ‘your son will live’, and he himself believed.” (Jn 4:46-53)

John relates several major discourses of Jesus, the most significant of which is the Bread of Life discourse. This speech to the crowd that had been following him and witnessed the multiplication of the loaves, is a direct link to the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. While John’s description of Last Supper events includes things not found in the other gospels (and excludes the actual meal) it emphasizes the unity of Jesus with the Father and the unity expected of his followers. And afterwards, in the garden he further emphasizes to the pharisees and temple guards his divinity, identifying himself with the phrase, “I am he.” (Jn 18:5) This upset the guards such that they backed off and fell to the ground, recognizing the significance of the phrase, “I am.”

Recall the words of Pope Benedict XVI, “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.” Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est

As we have crossed the desert and climbed the mountain to Easter and now have seen the risen Christ it is incumbent on us to get to know him better. Even the Apostles, despite spending three years with him, had much more to learn during the next forty days leading up to his ascension (and still more on Pentecost). Take the time to encounter Jesus, become his friend, learn more about him and learn to love him as he loved us, to his death, death on a cross.

“He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25)