211 ON JESUS’ LAST WEEK(S) (v. 19-23). The last section is introduced with a chronological indi- cation : “So (oyn) on the evening of that day, the first day of the ® week. ” It has been supposed that this is an editorial reworking 12, whose purpose was to show that a private apparition was followed by another to the disciples, as we read in 1 Cor 15,5 ; this is similar to the presentation in the Synoptics (women, the disciples). In the same way, Luke 24,36 describes an apparition to the disciples with a word of peace. Indeed, the introductory sentence of John is cum- bersome, and the particle oyn indicates that the main narrative re- ® sumes after a digression . Now, if we introduce the lunar calendar 13 of that Gospel, we obtain the reverse order: the “evening of the first day of the week” falls on Saturday evening after sunset, be- fore the events that occurred by daylight. Some aspects of the story suggest a liturgical meeting, especially the presence of the Risen One, and all the more because it is repeated the following week 14. All this is very close to the rite of the Troas episode. Thus, John 20,1-29 has compiled together traditional materials and sought to reduce inconsistencies, one of them being the mention of a definite interval of “three days” (John 2,19). A similar reasoning applies to the Eucharist at Emmaus, which took place “toward evening”. The story begins with “that very day ” (Luke 24,13), which is the first day of the week. In the solar calendar lying in the background of this Gospel, as we have seen, all the events occur on Sunday afternoon and evening. But if we translate this into the lunar chronology, we again find the rite on Saturday evening, after sunset. So the original event, which certainly happened on a Saturday, has been reworked. Incidentally, the short parallel account of Mark 16,12 does not suggest that it took place immediately after Jesus’ death. In conclusion, all the clues converge towards a weekly rite of bread and wine taken in small quantity between Saturday evening See R. BULTMANN, The Gospel of John. A Commentary (Philadelphia, 12 PA 1971) 689. See R. BROWN, The Gospel According to John (XIII-XXI) (AB 29A; New 13 York 1970) 1019-1020. See J. ZUMSTEIN, L’Évangile selon Saint Jean (13-21) (Genève 2007) 14 283.