The Divine Lamp

John’s Eucharistic catechesis begins in 4:4 and extends to 12:11.  In the overall structure of John’s Gospel this consists of parts 2, 3, and 4 of his Gospel.  Parts 2 and 4 are structured according to the law of reverse parallelism.  This sort of structure is usually outlined in a A1, B1, C, B2, A2 format.  In such a structure A1 parallels A2, and B1 parallels B2; the parallels being built around the central section C.  For this reason the structure is often called “concentric circle presentation.”  Below I give an outline which give a very basic indication of the parallelism of parts 2 and 4.  Below the outline I will give more details concerning the parallels and focus on the Eucharistic elements.

Part 2:  4:4-6:15

A1. (4:4-38)    A half-JEWISH woman in SAMARIA BELIEVES.
B1. (4:39-45)  The half- JEWISH SAMARITANS from the TOWN  BELIEVE.
C.   (4:46-52)  The royal official believes (he is probably Pagan)
B2. (5:1-47)    Full JEWS from the CITY OF JERUSALEM  refuse to BELIEVE.
A2. (6:1-15)    JEWS from GALILEE refuse to BELIEVE

Part 3:  6:16-21  Walking on the water.

Part 4: 6:22-12:11

A1. ( 6:22-71)  EATING leads to being RAISED UP to eternal LIFE. JUDAS’ BETRAYAL.  Peter’s CONFESSIONOF FAITH.
B1. (7:1-8:59)  The FEAST of tabernacles (This feast celebrated God’s dwelling with the people in the temple)
C.   (9:1-10:21) Jesus heals a blind man, calls the jewish leaders blind and calls himself the good shepherd.
B2. (10:22-39)  The FEAST of Dedication (sometimes called “second Tabernacles”.  Like that feast it celebrate God’s dwelling in the temple)
A2. (10:40-12:11) Jesus says, “I am the RESURRECTION  and the LIFE.  He eats with Lazarus whom he RAISED.  JUDAS’ BETRAYAL.  Martha’s CONFESSION OF FAITH.

Notes on Part 2 (4:4-6:15).

In the A1 section (4:4-38) Jesus comes from Judea and enters the land of the half-pagan Samaritans and sits down  in a field (chorion) because he is worked out (kopiao=wearied).  The disciples go into the town to buy (agorazo= purchase in the marketplace) food (trophe=food, nourishment).  Jesus engages a Samaritan woman in conversation by asking her for a drink, and tells her he has water to give her to drink. He also talks about true worship when asked on which mountain (oros) God is worshipped.  The reference to buying and worship and mountain are not unimportant here, for earlier in the Gospel Jesus had chased the money-changers and sellers out of the temple (located on a mountain), telling them that they had made the temple market-place (emporion, synonymous with agora).   The disciples return and bid Jesus to eat the food they had with them.  Jesus responds by saying “I have food to eat of which you do not know” causing the disciples to wonder if someone had brought him food.  Jesus responds: My food is to do the work of the one who sent me, and accomplish His work…lift up your eyes and see the fields are already white ripe for the harvest.  The reaper is already receiving his payment (misthos=wages) and gathering crops for eternal life, so that the sower and reaper can rejoice together.  For here the saying holds true that ‘one sows and another reaps.’  I sent you to reap what you have not worked (kopiao) for; others have done the work (kopiao), and you are sharing in the fruit of their labor (kopos).”

Most of the highlighted words in the above passage re-appear in the A2 section (6:1-15) of part 2 of the Gospel (4:4-6:15).  There are also some conceptual and thematic parallels as well.

In 6:1-15 Jesus travels from Judea to Galilee, a territory with a heavy pagan population.  He goes up a mountain and sits down with his disciples.  Jesus lifts up his eyes and sees a large crowd coming to him (here I should note that in 4:35 when Jesus tells his disciples to lift up their eyes to see the ripe fields the samariatan townspeople are coming to him, verse 30).  He asks Philip: “Where can we buy enough food for these people to eat?“  John adds that Jesus “said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.”  All of this recalls to mind the events in Samaria.  The disciples did not know that he had food until he told them that his food  was to do God’s will and work.  Jesus clearly expects Philip to remember this, but Philip says “two hundred days workers pay (wages) would not be enough for each to get a little.”  Clearly he had not understood Jesus words in Samaria.  Andrew introduces a boy with some bread and fish and Jesus tells the disciples to have the people recline (sit back), for, John notes, there was a great deal of grass (chortos, related to chorian=field) in the place.  Jesus then takes the bread and gives thanks (eucharisteo=Eucharist), then gives it to the people.  He then commands his disciples to gather up the fragments lest anything perish (an allusion to the harvest for eternal life theme in Samaria).  The people misunderstand the sign and Jesus goes into the mountains alone.

These parallels are certainly impressive.  When seen in connection with the A1 (6:22-71) and A2 (10:40-12:11) sections of part 4 (6:22-12:11), the overall meaning of them becomes clear.  In my next post on this subject I will look at the bread of life discourse (6:22-71) where Jesus tells us we must eat his flesh and drink his blood, rather than work for food which perishes, so that we may be raised up on the last day. I will also look at the raising of Lazarus by Jesus (10:40-12:11), who is the resurrection and the life, and who reclined at table with Lazarus after he raised him from the dead.