Coffee With God

Reflection: Jn 21:1-14

Biblical scholars today suspect that this passage in the Gospel was not written by John himself. Many of the words and phrases used do not reflect the literary style of the previous chapters of John. They believe that probably a close disciple of John added this passage to the original text, to address the divisions that had arisen within the community. The letters of John had made it clear 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 the menu in an earlier occasion on the mountain side, 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 in 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 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 work out in the sea is in the dark and gets no results. But when they agree on the voice of the Lord, the catch was huge after a disappointing night. This is not the experience of Peter alone – rather Peter’s experience is the experience of the Community. 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. He returns kindness for evil, love and forgiveness for our doubts and denials. The disciples didn’t need to ask him, “Who are you?” Who else could bring them reconciliation around a meal?! They 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.