Eucharist

Welcome to this shared reflection on the Eucharist in the Fourth Gospel. The particular focus of the reflection will be on a surprising feature of that Gospel: the absence of the Lord’s Supper. By the Lord’s Supper, we mean the special words and actions of Jesus over the bread and wine, on the night before his death. As often observed, John’s Gospel does have the Last Supper—even an extended version of it from Jn 13 to 17—but the Lord’s Supper is missing. Nevertheless, the theme of the Lord’s Supper is present in this Gospel but not where we would expect it. Even a cursory reading of Jn 6 tells the reader that the Eucharist is indeed an important part of the life of the community. However, the author substitutes the Lord’s Supper at the Last Supper with Washing of the Feet in chapter 13. The purpose of this paper is to explore why the writer has taken such a radical editorial option.
Dr. Kieran O’Mahony, Orlagh
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