Gospel 4/26 question

[Syr315]

Good evening! I have a question about yesterday’s Gospel. Jesus revealed himself for the third time to his disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, but the disciples didn’t recognize him…why didn’t he appear in the same body he had when he was alive? I’m confused. Wouldn’t they have recognized him otherwise?

 

[FOG]

The Lord did appear as he did when before his death. The key is, as you say, the disciples did not recognize him, at first, but then after the catch they did.

The story of lack of recognition when he first revealed himself, and then the recognition after he a great event is an analogy of how man often perceives the Lord.

Although he is always with us, in the every day moment we don’t recognize his presence, until we feel he has done something great for us.

The take away message of the Gospel is that Christ, just as he said in the closing verse of Matthew, is with us, and will be with us, until the end of time.

Peace and all Good!

 

[Syr315]

I hear what you’re saying. So maybe if it was his glorified body he didn’t look the same? That would make sense I guess. Still, the disciples spent every day with him. I’d think they’d recognize him right away!

 

[FOG]

Perhaps, but I would think his glorified body would have been recognizable…I think lack of physical recognition was a metaphor for not recognizing his glory (as opposed to his glorified body).

 

[Syr315]

Hmm. Maybe. But I feel like there’s more.

 

[FOG]

Hmm. Maybe. But I feel like there’s more.

That’s a good thing! With scripture, there is always more!

 

[Dan_Defender]

While I like FOG’s spiritual metaphor, it may be that the disciples did not recognize him because of the distance from sea to land and the darkness of the night.

 

[FOG]

While I like FOG’s spiritual metaphor, it may be that the disciples did not recognize him because of the distance from sea to land and the darkness of the night.

I agree…another take…this may very well be the literal sense of the scripture, while I highlighted the spiritual sense…neither, according to the Catechism should be in viewed in isolation (I thinks its CCC 110 thru about 117).

 

[PatK63]

They believed Him to be dead. I think we have all been fooled by preconceived notions. Any facts that show up we cast aside.
If they had greater faith they would have been expecting Him. We should try to see Jesus in every person we meet. Great question. Thanks!

 

[po18guy]

At the Transfiguration, Peter, James and John knew that Jesus was there - even though His appearance was that of glorification. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus did not recognize Him by voice or appearance. Mary at the tomb did not recognize Him by either characteristic. In the boat on the Sea of Galilee and in the upper room, they thought they were seeing a spirit.

There is just something which transcends our ability to recognize Him until and unless He reveals Himself to us. This is worrisome, depending upon how we address strangers who may frighten or annoy us.

 

[Vico]

…

He had the glorified body then. Jesus appeared differently (or prevented them from recognizing them), since Mary Magdalene mistook him for a gardener (John 20:11-18), two disciples on the road to Emmaus saw him as a fellow traveler (Luke 24:13-21), and to the disciples, as a stranger on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-13). Jesus appeared within a locked room among the believers (John 20:26-29) and disappeared before them (Luke 24:31).

1 Corinthians 15

45 So, too, it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living being,” the last Adam a life-giving spirit. 46 But the spiritual was not first; rather the natural and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven.

2 Corinthians 3

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 All of us, gazing with unveiled face on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit.

 

[Syr315]

Why would he prevent them from recognizing him?

 

[Syr315]

This scripture passage has caused me to reflect on how many times I must’ve missed seeing Jesus, too.

 

[po18guy]

It is one of the ways in which God in Christ tests us for faith, hope and charity. We know that “many have entertained angels, unawares” and after the Resurrection, it was angels or our Lord in their midst.

 

[JohnR77]

Good evening! I have a question about yesterday’s Gospel. Jesus revealed himself for the third time to his disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee,

This is the Gospel, that I understand you to be referring.

John 21:1-14

“Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” … Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. …
He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, for the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he … sprang into the sea. …
So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a
153 of them;
and although there were so many, the net was not torn. …
This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.” RSV

More on the Gospel below.

but the disciples didn’t recognize him…why didn’t he appear in the same body he had when he was alive? I’m confused. Wouldn’t they have recognized him otherwise?

I can only guess why God does what He does.

I think God is wanting from us something more than just intellectual recognition, and something more than just an intellectual act of faith.

If it was only that, I suppose that He would have settled for just a few magic tricks, catered to each person, to get them to “believe.”

God wants something much deeper from us.

Perhaps, he lets our journey to be harder than just an easy intellectual decision, because He wants to instill within us a heartfelt desire to search for Him and to truly love Him.

True faith is more than just intellectual assent.

It means to have my heart, and my whole being,

to love Him,

to desire Him above all else,

to be willing to die to every other desire and to accept every cross that comes to us, while still choosing to believe and to trust in His goodness.

The Gospel of John 21:1-14

The only time this Gospel is read on weekdays, is on Easter Friday.

The only time this Gospel is read on Sunday’s is only once every 3 years, that is Year C, on the 3rd Sunday of Easter. Notice the two 3’s.

Notice that John even though he states that he left out many things Jesus said and did, things we would love to read about, but he makes room to tell us that this is the 3rd time Jesus appeared.

St. Augustine says that the numbers used in the Gospels are not random. They mean something.

The number 3 is important to understanding all of what John intended.

I hope this helps,

BTW, this Sunday, May 5, 2019, is the 3rd Sunday of Easter in the 3rd year, Year C. We will have to wait 3 more years to hear it on Sunday again.

John