Feast of Saint John, apostle
and evangelist
(I John 1:1-4; John 20:1a.2-8)
Some may be taken aback by the appearance of a
resurrection account so near to Christmas.
But the resurrection is as much part of Christ’s story as his death forecasted
yesterday on the Feast of St. Stephen.
It could be said “even more so” for Jesus was not born to die like other
humans. Rather from all eternity he was
to rise from the dead as the Son of God.
Of course, it is the Beloved Disciple who takes center
stage in today’s passage. More than
likely he did not actually write the Gospel according to John. But he evidently provided many of the
traditions on which it is based. The reading
testifies to how he believes without seeing the risen Christ. In this he differs from the other
disciples. Later in the gospel Jesus
will say to Thomas, “You have believed because you have seen me. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet
have believed.” The Beloved Disciple is
the first person to believe in Christ’s resurrection without seeing him risen.
We follow the Beloved Disciple in due course. Christmas could not ultimately be joyous with
our belief in Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. It accomplished the victory over sin for
which Christ was born. Because of it we live
in true freedom. More wonderfully, Jesus’
resurrection has assured us of eternal life when we follow him.
