Commentary on the Gospel of
They knew it was the Lord
Biblical scholars today suspect that this passage in the Gospel was not written by John. Many of the words and phrases used here do not reflect the literary style of the previous chapters of John. They believe that it was a close disciple of John who added this passage to the original text to address the divisions that had arisen within the community. John’s letters give us clear evidence that there had been deep division within the community, and some disciples had even left the community [1 John 2:19]. This raised the issue of how to decide who was right.
The references to the charcoal fires are provided twice in John’s Gospel. On the night before the Lord’s passion, it was at a fireplace that Peter denied Jesus by saying, “I don’t even know the man” (Matthew 26:72-74). Now in the second occasion, Jesus comes in search of Peter and his company for his reconciliation. It was for the possibility of such reconciliation between God and man that the Word was made flesh! Making connections is God’s work.
The Lord invites him to the banquet of mercy: “Come, have breakfast.” Fish and bread were on the menu on an earlier occasion on the mountainside, close by the Sea of Tiberias, when Jesus had fed the crowd and had later promised them the true bread from heaven. Now, decades later, the community wants to recall and cherish the simplicity and intimacy of the Risen Lord, who cooks fish on a charcoal fire and invites his friends to have some breakfast. The Risen Lord encounters us in our ordinary situations of daily life.
The frustrations in life lead the apostles to return to their former lifestyles for a while. The author must be referring to the frustrations in the Church and many of them leaving the community. But their workout in the sea is in the dark and gets no results. When tragedies or miseries struck us down, we may have doubted the presence of Jesus in our lives and may have run away from him. There might have been occasions when we left the community and the Church for a while. Despite our infidelity, Jesus extends his mercy, love and acceptance.
The disciples knew He was the Lord. The author wants to reiterate the invisible and continuous presence of Jesus amidst the disappointments and frustrations that the community experiences in its life in faith.
