Jn 21:1-19
Introduction
As I mentioned on Easter Sunday, John records only four of the Post Resurrection appearances of Jesus.
I think his reason for doing so is that the aim of his book is to awaken faith – and not to be JUST a historical record of the times of Jesus.
This does not mean that the Gospel is fiction – far from it – it is historically accurate but it isn’t written to be a history of the beginnings of Christianity
In other words, history impinges on the Gospel but unlike St Luke’s Gospel and Acts which were written to give a historical account of the beginnings of Christianity , John’s Gospel has another aim.
John gives us a clue to his aim in the last two verses of the previous chapter.
St John writes
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Jn 20:30-31)
So how does this post Resurrection appearance fit the criteria of awaking faith?
So how does this post Resurrection appearance fit the criteria of awaking faith?
I would like to suggest that this post Resurrection appearance fulfils the criteria because it tells us something about the nature of Jesus and why we can trust following him.
And there are three attributes that this story tells us about Jesus
These are:
1. Jesus offers forgiveness
2. Jesus is realistic about our needs
3. Jesus commissions us from where we are and not from where we are not!
1. Jesus offers forgiveness
The Gospel is a gospel of forgiveness and this episode shows Jesus restoring Peter PUBLICALLY to fellowship.
On Good Friday Peter denied Jesus three times and wept bitterly. Now Jesus gives Peter the chance to make amends.
In our Gospel reading, Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him and Peter answers “Yes I love you.”
But in translation,we miss the nuances
Let me explain: There are four words in Greek that are translated by our word: Love
Agapao (ἀγάπη agápē):
This is divine, unconditioned love.
It is the unconditional love that we as Christians receive from God as agapao love.
Phileo (φιλία philía):
Phileo expresses love and friendship which is "platonic".
The city of Philadephia - the city of “brotherly love” is derived from the word for lobve – “phileo”
The other two words for love are not important to the story but - for completeness - they are:
Eros (ἔρως érōs):
This is best described as Romantic love. Often equated in ancient Greek, with desire. Sometimes this is also equated with "lust". And from which our word erotic comes
Storge (στοργή storgē)
This love is best translated as natural affection.
(my thanks to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_words_ for_love)
Now let’s look at the story again
Jesus first asks Simon Peter:
“Simon, do you have “agapao love “for me.”
Peter - by now the realist – replies:
“ I have “phileo love” for you.
Jesus asks Simon Peter again:
“ Do you have “agapao love“ for me,
And Peter replies: I have “phileo love” for you.
Jesus then asks a third time:
Do you have “phileo love” for me”
And Peter replies this time – and by the third time it is becoming a very painful experience
“Yes, Lord, you know I have “phileo love” for you.
And Jesus restores Peter.
1.1 Peter /Judas
Why you might ask was Peter given a chance to repent but Judas wasn’t.
I think the answer lies in the motivation of both men.
Peter was scared for his life when he denied Jesus, but Judas was under no such pressure.
In contrast Judas’ betrayal was cynical and calculating. He could have pulled out of it anytime up until betraying Jesus with a kiss.
And Judas had remorse for effect of his callous act whereas Peter had remorse for letting Jesus down.
Note how Peter cried bitterly at his weakness – whereas Judas simply went back to throw the blood money at the feet of the Jewish High Priest.
In effect Judas tried to make things right by his own conscience by saying “I am no longer responsible - as I am giving you back your blood money."
But the deed was done by then.
2. Jesus is realistic about how much we as humans can take
Some scholars have been harsh on the disciples. They argue that the disciples were disobedient because they went back to Galilee fishing.
They argue that as the disciples had just experienced Jesus dying and rising again – and because Jesus had given them a task to do “beginning in Jerusalem”, they had no right being in Galilee at al let lone fishing. Here is an example of disobedience and apostasy
As the Bible commentator Beasley-Murray reflects ” Never has a fishing trip been so severely judged”
You will recall, however that the first mention of “beginning in Jerusalem” comes in Acts 1:8 when Jesus said to the disciples:
8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
But the fishing episode predates the Act 1:8 commission and so I think the criticism is harsh.
Indeed Jesus himself doesn’t criticise them for fishing so why should we?
After all, Jesus himself had left instructions through an angel for the disciples to meet him in Galilee, as recorded in both Matthew’s and Mark’s Gospel (Mt 28:7 and Mk 16:7).
Story: Before going further, I’d like to get you to try and imagine yourself in the disciples’ position.
It had been an incredible week between Palm Sunday and Easter – from the emotional high of “Blessed is he who comes in the Name of the Lord” to the horrific low of Good Friday when Jesus was crucified.
And then to crown it all they were confronted with something that was totally foreign to their experience - on Easter Sunday Jesus had risen and had appeared to them.
I think they must have been emotionally tired.
They needed a break from it all.
They found themselves back in Galilee with time
on their hands - waiting around for the Lord.
So naturally Peter says – “I’m off fishing.” and the others think that is a great idea
A fishing expedition - in their old stamping ground would have been - “just the therapeutic break that the doctor would have ordered” (to quote Bruce Milne- The Message of John) .
3. Jesus commissions his disciples from where they are
My final point is that Jesus uses what they are doing in the natural – fishing to show them what he is calling for them to do in the spiritual.
You will recall that earlier in his ministry, Jesus had called the disciples to become “fishers of men” (Mk 1:16-17and Lk 5:10).
In the story, the disciples had been out all night fishing – and how many fish had they caught – using their natural powers – ZERO.
And as they come to shore, they see this stranger standing on the shore who calls them and says colloquially
“Hey lads…..haven’t caught any fish have you – try on the right side of the boat and you’ll catch some” (vv5-6).
Now experienced fishermen are not noted for their ready appreciation of advice from landlubbers!!
So there must have been something special in the way that Jesus spoke to them that day that inspired them to cast the nets out again.
And they caught 153 fish
3.1 153 Fish
So what is significant about 153 fish?
Theologians over the centuries have suggested that 153 has some deeper significance.
1. Jerome, the third Century theologian for example, claimed that the Greeks had identified that there were exactly 153 species of fish in the sea. Therefore this number suggests that the Gospel is to go to all nations
The only flaw in this hypothesiss is that modern marine biology puts the figure for the number of species in the sea at something over 29,000.
2. Others have pointed out that mathematically, 153 is a triangular number. More precisely it is the sum of the integer numbers from 1 to 17 inclusive.
3. Others point out that 153 also has the rare property that it is the sum of the cubes of its own digits (i.e. 153 = 1x1x1 + 5x5x5 + 3x3x3).
Interesting though these ideas are - personally I don’t think 153 has any “spiritual” significance.
It was a large number of fish – certainly in comparison to what they had caught the night earlier!
And fishermen, being fishermen counted them!
A bit like our sidemen in church today count the number of folk attending in church this morning!
I’d caution against reading too much into some of the details of the story.
3.2 But what about fish
It is interesting to note that Ichthys is the Greek word for fish. And Ichthys is an acronym for the phrase in the original greek that is translated "Jesus Christ, Son Of God, Saviour (Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ).
In English, Ichthys refers to a symbol consisting of two intersecting arcs resembling the profile of a fish, used by early Christians as a secret symbol and now known colloquially as the "Jesus fish."
Again that is all interesting, but I don’t think we need to read anything special into the fish either.
We must be careful not to look for hidden meanings when there are none - That’s how the old Gnostic heresies started
What I would draw from the fish is that Jesus calls us from where we are and not from where we are NOT.
The disciples were fishermen and Jesus called them as fishermen – and spoke to them in terms that they could understand.
And Jesus calls us where we are and not where we are not.
If you are a housewife, he will call you in terms a housewife can understand
If you are a car meachanic he will call you in terms a a car mechanic can understand
If you are a patent attorney, he’ll call you in terms a patent attorney can understand
And he did just that with me too -Amen
