Videos from Fr Claudio Doglio
Original voice in italian, with subtitles in English, Spanish, Portuguese & Cantonese
THE LAST SIGN
On the evening of the first day of the week, the same day as the resurrection, the risen Lord appears to the apostles. The evangelist John carefully shows the Risen Lord’s presenceamong his followers. A gesture of breathing characterizes this event. The risen Christ breathes on his disciples, giving them the Holy Spirit and sharing his life—the life of God—with them. Through this, Jesus entrusts them with the mission of forgiving sins, to fill the void that prevents humans from entering into communion with God’s life. Only one disciple, John, who noticed this detail, was not present on the day of the resurrection: Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin.
The tradition has kept the name Didymus, preserving its Greek origin. The usage may be unclear to readers, who might mistake it for a surname. In Greek, Didymus is equivalent to ‘Tomá’ in Aramaic, meaning ‘twin.’ When the evangelist translates a person’s proper name, it shows that he considers it important for the reader to know that Thomas means ‘the twin.’ This detail is significant. Thomas was not present. The others said, ‘We have seen the Lord,’ but he wants to see him personally. If he does not see the sign of the nails and does not put his hands into them, he is unwilling to believe.
Eight days later, when the disciples gathered again, Thomas was with them. Jesus affirms Thomas because his request was valid; a disciple, a witness, and the foundation of the apostolic testimony must have a personal experience of seeing the risen Lord to confirm others of the resurrection’s truth. The risen Lord does not convince Thomas in private, just for him alone. It is in the company of others that he has the opportunity to encounter the Risen Lord.
This event happened eight days later. The meeting is scheduled every eighth day: Sunday after Sunday. Remember that Sunday is the first day of the week, not the last. The Jews still call Sunday Arishon, meaning the first day. In Israel, the first workday is Saturday; the Sabbath is Saturday. Shabbat (Saturday) marks the end of the week. We have rearranged the weekly structure to celebrate the first day, which is the day of Christ’s resurrection. The theological perspective is reversed: there is a celebration at the beginning because it is God’s work first.
The resurrection of Christ is a crucial event in the work of salvation. We celebrate all that the Lord has achieved. Although the feast and rest at the end might lead us to think that since I worked all six days, I deserve a day off, the true theological message is that for us Christians, rest precedes work. God’s work is more significant than our actions.
Eight days after the resurrection, on the second Sunday, the disciples gather as a community in a eucharistic setting. Thomas is also present, and by being open to the possibility of an encounter with the Risen Lord, he can see the signs of his mortal wounds in his hands, feet, and side. Jesus invites the disciple to become a believer instead of an unbeliever. It is not stated that Thomas put his hands on his wounds, but rather that he proclaims his faith. The phrase that John puts on Thomas’s lips is the highest Christology: “My Lord and my God.” Thomas calls Jesus God. ‘Lord’ corresponds to the Hebrew ‘Adonai,’ the common term used to substitute the proper name of God—the sacred tetragrammaton, which is unpronounceable—’Kyrius’, meaning ‘Lord’ or ‘Master.’ Thomas recognizes Jesus as God himself. At the same time, he emphasizes this twice with a possessive adjective indicating a personal touch: ‘my Lord and my God.’ The disciple matures and becomes a believer. He experiences the Risen One, and here we can reflect on the meaning of the ‘twin,’
Twin refers to something that is doubled, and twins are two people who are very similar. There are both differences and similarities between them. The word ‘double’ is the same, with only a slight phonetic difference. ‘Doubt’ signifies a dual reality. I can be in doubt when I am at a road junction, facing two tracks and two possibilities, unsure of which path to choose. A twin is a person who is doubled, representing a split personality. It symbolizes a doubtful person who commits to Jesus. He once said, “Let’s go die with him,” and then ran away; he was not present on the day of the resurrection. He is divided within himself. However, a twin is also similar to his brother. We can think of him as the twin of Jesus; the disciple becomes like the Master. When fully recognized, he becomes the ‘alter ego’ of Christ.
John may also be suggesting to us, the readers of his Gospel, that we are the twins of Thomas. Or this person is our other part (double/twin). We are those disciples who, in our turn, can see the Logos by touching the Word. How is this possible? We have the book in our hands; we have the Gospel; we possess the written testimony of the disciple eyewitness. By reading this text, we can see the Risen One. What happened to Thomas can also happen to us—unbelievers and believers alike—those who struggle in our faith, are seeking, and are capable of fully professing the faith.
“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.” The Gospel narrative concludes with this beatitude for the readers. We were not eyewitnesses to all these events, yet we are able to believe. This is a great gift given to us through the Gospel text. At the end of chapter 20, he sums up his account by saying that Jesus performed many other signs but chose some to tell us so that we may believe, and by believing, we may have life in his name.
The two conclusions the author presents are that we believe and that we live. The final climax is life, not faith. Faith serves life. Our faith in Jesus gives us the fullness of life. At this point, the story seems to have reached its end. But there is one more chapter. Chapter 21 is an important addition, acting as a kind of crowning that synthesizes everything discussed. In a way, it is a powerful symbolic representation of the story of the mission after Christ.
It seems the apostles went back to their old jobs at the Sea of Tiberias. We know they stayed in Jerusalem after the resurrection, and by Pentecost, 50 days later, they were still there. From that point on, they began a new life as preachers instead of fishermen. Therefore, during the resurrection, the disciples did not return to Galilee to fish in the Sea of Galilee.
This narration uses the metaphor of a great catch to describe the apostolic mission. The apostles are portrayed as fishers of people. However, this approach seems quite limited. One typical example shows what usually happens: seven disciples are together, and the evangelist highlights that there are not 12, but only seven.
Here is an allusion to universalism. If 12 symbolizes the number of Israel, then 7 represents the nation’s total. Simon Peter, Thomas (the one who means ‘twin’), Nathanael (the one who came from Cana in Galilee), the sons of Zebedee (John and James), and the other two disciples reach the symbolic number 7, a perfect number. They go fishing and catch nothing that night. In the morning, Jesus appears on the shore and asks for something to eat. When they say they have nothing, Jesus suggests they throw the net on the right side, and they will catch some.
All the details of this narration should be interpreted symbolically. The right side refers to the temple’s right side. This is a powerful image in Ezekiel, where the spring of water flows, transforming the desert into fertile land and causing the Dead Sea to teem with fish. The reference to the Dead Sea at the end of Ezekiel chapter 47 mentions that it will be full of fish, and there will be fishers spreading their nets along the shore.
This miraculous catch should remind us of the ancient prophecy where the temple flows with miraculous streams from the right side. The Holy Spirit is this stream. The right side represents Christ, the new temple, and the Spirit of God, which makes the catch possible—namely, the salvation of people. Fishing for people is different from fishing for fish. While fish die when caught, the people who are caught are saved.
The beloved disciple is the first to recognize Jesus. This is the fourth time he appears in the story. We have seen him at the Last Supper, at the foot of the cross, at the empty tomb on the morning of the resurrection, and now at the church’s universal mission. He always arrives first. He reached the tomb before anyone else; he was the first to identify Jesus.
Hearing that it is the Lord, Peter puts on a cloth and jumps into the sea. He is naked and clothes himself before jumping into the water. This situation presents a contradiction; it is symbolic. Peter’s act of being naked and then putting on clothes serves as a reminder of Adam’s nakedness as the sinner, and of Jesus at the Last Supper, who puts on a waistcloth to wash the disciples’ feet. Peter, who denied Jesus and is a sinner, recognizes his nakedness, adopts an attitude of service to the Master, jumps into the water, and reaches the shore through the water. He then emerges from the water.
The text says, “Peter climbed back into the boat.” It reveals the translator’s lack of understanding about fishing or how nets are pulled in. The fishermen leave the boat… and stay with one foot on it, so they can’t push; the net can’t be pulled. But with little practical experience, the translator saw the phrase ‘got out’ and translated it as ‘climbed back into the boat.’ He climbed to the shore; those who swim in the sea know what it means to come out of the water.
Peter emerges from the water and becomes a new man, symbolizing a baptism. He enters the water, jumps in, comes out, and is invited by Jesus to share a meal. They had caught many fish, but the fish were already prepared—Jesus had cooked them and invited everyone to eat. This scene represents a eucharistic image. The disciples follow the Master, and their efforts will be successful if they follow his instructions. He is the one who fills their nets and provides their food, which is his word and his body.
At this moment, while at the table of the risen Lord, Peter has the opportunity to make amends for his three denials. Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him. Peter repeatedly insists that he loves Jesus, and each time, Jesus entrusts him with the care of his sheep. As if to say: ‘If you love me, show interest in them.’ This is the task given to Peter as a sign of love’s primacy. For the leader of the apostolic community, loving Jesus becomes a commitment to love those who belong to Jesus.
The final prophetic message concerns Peter’s end. When he was young, he traveled wherever he wanted. When he’s old, others will lead him where he wouldn’t choose to go. You will be taken to the cross. This announces the fulfillment where the head allows itself to be led. ‘Follow me, come after me, imitate my life in concrete ways.’
There is also the other disciple, the beloved disciple. Peter turns and asks Jesus, ‘What about him?’ Jesus answers, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”The narrator then says that there was a saying among the disciples that he wouldn’t die, or that the Lord would come in his glory before this disciple died. If it says something like that, it means that when this chapter was written, the disciple Jesus loved was already dead, and the writer corrects this false impression and clarifies: “He did not say that he would not die; he said: if I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You follow me.”
Now John, the beloved disciple, remains in his writing; his testimony endures until its fulfillment. The eyewitness who was seen gave testimony, and the community recognized him and recorded his testimony until the end. The text concludes with a second epilogue. “This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.“ The Gospel ends with one ‘we.’ ‘We know’ that the disciple’s testimony is true.
Note the change in tense — the disciple testifies to the present, but ‘and who wrote them’ refers to the past. The Gospel was written centuries ago, but the witness still holds today, and we are that community built on the testimony of the beloved disciple.
Thus ends the fourth Gospel. But we still have one crucial section—the prologue, the opening symphony written at the end. The prologue begins with ‘we.’ We have seen his glory. This is a perfect inclusion. In the next encounter, we will go back to the beginning to read the Prologue of the Fourth Gospel.