Sermon by Father Alex McAllister SDS         Index

Third Sunday of Easter

You will probably have noticed that I frequently point out instances in the gospels of Jesus’ sense of humour. Can you see it today?

The disciples are gathered in the Upper Room, the two followers who had rushed all the way back from Emmaus were there and they are still talking about how Jesus had been with them on the journey, how he explained the scriptures to them and then how they had recognised him in the breaking of the bread. The Jesus himself suddenly appears in the room.

To prove that he has really risen from the dead he asks, ‘Have you anything to eat?’ The piece of grilled fish was produced so quickly that they were surely in the middle of a meal. Jesus is joking again.

The disciples themselves were simply dumbfounded at his presence among them. Jesus, to break the mood asks the seemingly naive question, ‘Have you anything to eat?’ when food was the very reason they were gathered there.

He kids them on. And what better way to realise that it was really him than for Jesus to make a characteristic joke —gently teasing them as he had often done before.

So we are at a meal. He had just come from Emmaus where the two disciples had shared their meal with him. Two meals in one night, that’s got to mean something. Especially in relation to the Last Supper the night before he died.

I suppose the two who had come from Emmaus, who in their haste left without finishing their meal, were justifiably hungry. But that’s surely only an incidental point.

Meals seem to have been a big thing during Jesus’ public ministry. Remember the Pharisees complaining about the fact that John the Baptist’s disciples were fasting while Jesus’ disciples were eating and drinking.

So the stress is on meals, on the sharing of meals. And the Last Supper is the archetypal meal during which Jesus took the bread and wine, blessed it and said this is my body, this is my blood. Before this he lovingly washed their feet. Then here after his resurrection he appears to the disciples during two meals in one night—and on another occasion he cooks them a breakfast of fish on the shore.

In the incident we are focusing on today Jesus also takes and eats a piece of grilled fish. I wonder if there is an allusion to the fish symbol that was to be used as a secret sign by Christians during the persecutions.

It was a kind of mnemonic of the words Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour which when the initials were put together made up the Greek word for fish. We’ll never know, but it is interesting to notice that several of these resurrection appearances do involve fish.

In his explanation Jesus gives a brief résumé of all that has happened. He explains that the scriptures foretold the fact that he had to suffer and on the third day rise from the dead. Then he stresses that repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations. He adds beginning from Jerusalem.

Why those words beginning from Jerusalem? Why, because if you think about it the disciples certainly needed forgiveness—they, not only Peter, had denied and deserted him. They, of all people, did not understand when Jesus had repeatedly explained that he was to rise from the dead.

They surely felt in need of forgiveness. They surely felt guilty about deserting him, about going home to Emmaus or back to their fishing or wherever else they went. Then Jesus appears among them. And their guilt probably explains their attitude of dumfoundedness.

You notice that the text doesn’t say they were full of joy at meeting Jesus again. Yes, they had some preparation for this resurrection appearance—some of them already partly believed it. But their dumfoundedness, their speechlessness probably hints that they were full of so many mixed emotions—certainly joy at seeing him again but also, just as surely, guilt at having denied and deserted him.

With the appearance of the risen Jesus the disciples experience a profound moment of forgiveness. His opening words to them are Peace be with you. And he explains that this Gospel of forgiveness is to go out from Jerusalem to the whole world.

The peace that the risen Jesus brought was a release from the shame and failure of Jesus' first followers, and it was what transformed them into the greatest missionaries and most courageous martyrs.

If you look at the other readings today you will also see this theme of forgiveness. In the first reading Peter begins this preaching of forgiveness to the nations by speaking to the Israelites and invites them to repentance.

In the second reading John, in his powerful poetic words, speaks words of forgiveness to his readers and highlights the transformation effected in the life of all true believers—God’s love comes to perfection in them.

So let each one of us, from deep within our hearts acknowledge that we too have frequently denied and deserted Christ. But let us also appreciate the fact that we are also still here and that at a deep level in our hearts really do believe in Christ. In the words of Peter our denial and desertion of Jesus is because at the time we had no idea what we are really doing.

Let us open ourselves up to the Lord and experience the peace that only he can give. Let us recognise that the wounds on his hands and on his feet and in his side are also our wounds and that we carry them too. Let us share this meal, this Eucharist, with each other in a spirit of joy and with the oneness of the true disciples of Christ. And let us carry his message of reconciliation to all the nations just as he told us to do.

We begin, of course, in Jerusalem; that is in our own Jerusalem, in our own homes and workplaces.