Feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist
Today's Feast is more suited to the Easter Season than to the Christmas season. However, today's feast shows the correct order of recognizing God's revelation. The fundamental experience and starting point of the Christian faith is the mystery of the Resurrection. It is only from Resurrection that the discovery of the truth of the whole message of the Lord Jesus begins. This is confirmed in the history of the formation of the written synoptic gospels, i.e., the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Mark and Luke. The first and most important part of them is the account of the Mystery of Christ's Passover (the Last Supper, judgment, torment and resurrection). Subsequently, reports on the activity and teaching of the Lord Jesus were written, and the last ones were the so-called "Gospels of childhood", i.e., the first two chapters of the Gospel of St. Matthew and Luke. Only after experiencing a saving work did a reflection appear on the person himself: Who is he who accomplished it? And consequently, a question arose about His birth.
In the first reading, St. John gives a testimony: [We announce this to you] Beloved: What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life — for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life (cf. 1 Jn 20:8). What does this seeing and touching life mean? Of course, it refers to the Person of Jesus Christ - but at what point? After arriving at the empty tomb: Then the other disciple also went in ….and he saw and believed (Jn 20: 8). Why did he only believe then? What did he see and what did he believe? Earlier, St. John believed that Jesus was the Messiah, as St. Peter on behalf of all disciples declared. His faith, however, shook as he saw the tragedy of judgment, torment, and death on the cross. When he entered the tomb, he believed, but not as he had previously believed, but he believed with a new faith, which he testifies in his First Letter, especially in the passage quoted above: what we saw ... what our hands touched (cf. 1 John 1:1)
So, what did St. John saw? He saw: the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place (cf. Jn 20: 6-7). The arrangement of the cloths was so eloquent that it aroused faith. It is supposed that they lay as when the body wrapped in them was placed in the grave, except that the body itself was not there. If, for example, someone wanted to get the body out of these canvases, he would have to unroll it and fold the cloth differently. It would be similar if the Lord Jesus woke up and tried to free himself from them. Instead, they were just as wrapped as on the body, but the body itself was missing, as if the body had evaporated from within.
This sight was, as it were, a tangible sign of the resurrection for anyone who thought a little. In all his activities and teaching, the Lord Jesus always asked his listeners to penetrate with their thoughts the content of the teaching and the sign given. Only those who thought a little, reflecting on the whole biblical message could recognize it. This was the case, for example, in the healing a person born blind. He, too, was able to see the "Son of Man" in Jesus standing before him only after he was healed.
This moment of believing was for St. John's breakthrough. Later, as we know from the Gospels, he had the least trouble recognizing the Lord Jesus when He appeared to the disciples at the Sea of Galilee. His visionchanged on the day of Jesus resurrection in the tomb. From then on, he saw and believed what he witnessed so vividly as an old man decade after that. This vision allowed him to see the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word that enlightens every person when he comes into the world (see John 1: 9).
It is also worth paying attention to the next fragment of the testimony of St. John, who speaks of the sense and purpose of this knowledge: what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Jn 1:3).
This fellowship is called koinonia, that is communion. Learning about the life about which St. John writes, leads to communion with those who have already achieved this knowledge, which is tantamount to communion with the Triune God. It is not the satisfaction of one's curiosity, ambition, or willingness to gain knowledge, but it is an introduction to life itself. All our cognitive efforts should serve this purpose - we express this in the Eucharist, which is communion with the Risen Jesus.
Until Tomorrow
fr. george