By Fr Francis Gonsalves, SJ –
Third Sunday of Easter – April 18, 2021
Readings: Acts 3:13-15, 17-19; 1 Jn 2:1-5; Lk 24:35-48.
“They gave him a piece of broiled fish; he took it and ate in their presence” (Lk 24:42,43)
Hint for Homily: From being fishermen to being “fishers for people” (Mt 4:19) was a long haul for the seven fishermen-apostles called by Jesus. Post-Pentecost, the Risen Lord invites them to haul in a catch of believers who will be the witnesses to his death-and-rising. The boldness of former fisherman, Peter, and the broiled fish which the Risen Christ ate could provide a link to connect the readings and develop a theme.
Three Scriptural Signposts:
- The Gospel of Luke, which portrays Jesus as God’s Anointed One—full of the Holy Spirit—come to proclaim Good Newsto the poor, continues and culminatesin the ‘Acts of the Apostles’. The Acts concretely describe how that message is actually proclaimed.
It was certainly very difficult for the apostles to come to terms with Jesus’ resurrection and their abandonment of him when he perhaps needed them most: during his passion and death. However, as the fruit of each of his apparitions to them, they experience peace, joy and forgiveness of their sins and failures. These encounters are the steppingstones for their pilgrimage from doubt to faith, and from dread to fearlessness.
This process is marked by a movement from the disciples’ sensory perception—seeing, hearing, touching, tasting—to an unshakable trust and belief in the Risen Lord. In John’s Gospel, Thomas seeks to touch Jesus’ wounds, while in today’s gospel passage, Jesus seeks to dispel his disciples’ doubts by eating a piece of broiled fish to indicate that he is not a ghost (v.39) and that he is, indeed, the crucified one risen from the dead.
Strangely, theologians of yesteryears spent much time trying to explain what happened to the fish that Jesus ate! Was Jesus’ resurrected body capable of eating and digesting fish? Obviously, instead of inquiring into the ‘what’ and ‘how’, one ought to ask ‘why’ did Jesus eat the fish? Four reasons seem probable: (a) Jesus wanted the disciples to realize that the risen Christ was that same crucified Jesus, and thus there was need for bodily identification; (b) to be a true ‘witness’ one had to visibly and tangibly get firsthand experience, and Jesus wanted his disciples to be bold witnesses, (c) the presence of fish suggests that this encounter was transporting their thoughts back to Galilee, from where Jesus first called them; and (d) the act of ‘eating’ has a eucharistic flavour, dealing with fellowship and forgiveness. A brief comment on each of these four aspects could provide deeper insights into this gospel passage.
- First, in most of the post-resurrection apparitions—including this one—the disciples fail to recognize Jesus until he speaks to them or gives them some sign of his physical presence since there is a continuity-in-discontinuity element, meaning, he is the same Jesus, yet totally transformed. His resurrection is not a return to earthly life but a new life beyond death. Second, witnesses to any event had to ‘experientially’ give evidence of its veracity and the disciples would do precisely that (see, for e.g., 1 Jn 1:1 – “We declare to you … what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes … and touched with our hands”). Third, the eating of fish in this narrative—as well as in the final chapter of the gospel of John (21)—establishes a link between Jesus’ first call to the fishermen-disciples in Galilee and now their messianic, missionary harvest of his disciples, worldwide. Note that, in Mt 13:47-50, the kingdom of God is likened to a dragnet in which all kinds of fish are swept up together. Moreover, in the early church, the Greek capitals ‘IXTUS’ (fish) represented, “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Saviour”.
Fourth, in the Luke-Acts scriptural tradition, the actions of eating at table, breaking of bread, sharing and forgiveness at meals is important (as in Lk 7:36-50; 10:38-42; 22:19,30; 24:30,43; Acts 2:46). The Risen Jesus wanted his friends to know that he had forgiven them and they would be his witnesses proclaiming “repentance and forgiveness of sins … in his name to all nations” (v.47).
- As much as post-resurrection encounters with the crucified-Risen Christ fortify the faith of his disciples, so do we see in the first reading a model of such faith, fortitude and fearlessness: Peter. Scholars would be hesitant to attest that these were Peter’s exact words. However, as Jesus’ handpicked leader of his newborn movement, Peter is shown as fearlessly preaching to the very people he was afraid of: “You killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses” (v.15). Note how Peter declares, “We are witnesses,” just as the gospel ends with Jesus saying: “You are witnesses to this.” Early Christological titles are expressed in this passage: God’s “servant Jesus” (v.13), “the Holy and Righteous One” (v.14) and “the Author of life” (v.15) with the same message: God’s “Messiah would suffer” (v.18) and same advice: “Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out” (v.19). At the heart of the Easter message is repentance and reconciliation with God and neighbour.
Peter is an exemplary witness of repentance and reconciliation. From a position of fear, abandonment and denial he is touched and transformed by the Risen Lord. He turns fearless and faithful: finally suffering the same fate of his Lord, crucified, upside down!
Linking the Psalm and the Second Reading to the Theme:
• The psalm (4) is a lament of a believer crying out to God for deliverance from his enemies. God responds to his cry and delivers him; thus, he can lie down to rest peacefully. Applied to Jesus, he can be seen as the “Holy and Righteous One” whose passion and death are vindicated by God. He now sits at the right hand of God.
• The second reading from John’s second letter speaks about Jesus “our advocate” (v.1) who is ever “the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (v.2). Jesus’ sacrifice is the outcome of his love for us. Thus, John proposes love as the criterion by which one shows that one is a true follower of Christ. One who “obeys God’s word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection” (v.5). Love is the sign of true knowing and serving of God and others.
In Lighter Vein: To sell fish, a fisherman painted a signboard reading, “Fresh Fish is Sold Here.” To ruin his business, his foe said, “You don’t sell stale fish, do you? So, why write ‘fresh’?” Agreeing, the fisherman painted a new signboard with just: “Fish is Sold Here.” Once again, his foe suggested, “Obviously, you’re selling fish here, not there!” Nodding his agreement, the fisherman went back and returned with a new signboard – “Fish is Sold.” Now, the foe appeared a third time and said, “Anybody with eyes will see that you’re selling fish, not meat! Wipe off the word ‘fish’!” The gullible fisherman was so confused that he wanted to make still another signboard, forgetting that he should focus on selling fish! Jesus’ fishermen’ disciples might have been as confused as this fish-trader was upon receiving so many incredible messages about the Risen Lord. However, aided by the Holy Spirit, they cast aside all doubts and fearlessly preached: “Jesus Christ is Risen, here-and-now! He is the Saviour of the World.”
Fr. Francis Gonsalves, SJ is the Executive Secretary, CCBI Comm. of Theology & Doctrine and President, Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune and former Principal of Vidyajyoti College, Delhi. He is also the Executive Secretary of the CCBI Commission for Theology and Doctrine. He has authored many books and articles and is a columnist with The Asian Age and The Deccan Chronicle national dailies