Jn 21:1-19
Introduction
As I mentioned last Sunday and also 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 another historical record of the times of Jesus.
But this does not mean that the Gospel is fiction – far from it – it is historically accurate. The events happened
But it isn’t written to be a history of the beginnings of Christianity
In other words, history impinges on the Gospel of John 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
30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 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.
Over the last few weeks we have been looking at barriers to faith
1st Barrier to Faith – Grief
On Easter Sunday, we looked at Mary Magdalene meeting the risen Lord and how a word from the risen Jesus dealt with the barrier she had of grief
2nd and 3rd Barriers to faith – Fear and Doubt
Last Sunday we looked at the other two barriers to faith, fear and doubt.
It was a word from the Risen Lord that broke the barrier of fear for the disciples and a word from Jesus that dealt with the barrier to faith of doubt with Thomas
So how does this post Resurrection appearance fit the criteria of awaking faith?
To answer this I would like to focus on just a few verses of this passage
15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
"Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
16 Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
17 The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
18 Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go."
19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"
Jesus reinstates Peter.
And it is this encounter that for me fulfills the criteria of awakening faith.
I would like to suggest three reasons why this post Resurrection appearance fulfills the criteria – and it is to do with the nature of Jesus
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!
If Peter can fall so far and be reinstated so can we.
The only sin that is unforgivable is the unforgivable sin. Every other sin is forgivable
Story: As a wise old Pastor once said to me:
“If you are worried about committing the unforgivable sin, then you haven’t committed it.”
The first reason this post Resurrection appearance fits the criteria of awaking faith is that
1. Jesus offers forgiveness
The Gospel is a gospel of forgiveness and this episode shows Jesus restoring Peter 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
Agape (???p? agápe):
This is divine, unconditioned love.
It is the unconditional love that we as Christians receive from God as agape love.
Philia (f???a philía):
Philia expresses love and friendship which is "platonic".
The city of Philadelphia - the city of “brotherly love” is derived from the word for love – “philia”
The other two words for love are not important to the story but - for completeness - they are:
Eros (???? éros):
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 (st???? storge)
This love is best translated as natural affection (my thanks to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_words_ for_love)
Or as Simon Ponsonby in the ICS Conference last week put it Parental love.
Now let’s look at the story again
Jesus first asks Simon Peter: “Simon, do you have “agape love “for me.”
Peter - by now the realist – replies: “ I have “philia love” for you.
Jesus asks Simon Peter again: “ Do you have “agape love“ for me,
And Peter replies: I have “philia love” for you.
Jesus then asks a third time: Do you have “philia 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 “philia love” for you.
And Jesus restores Peter.
The Peter /Judas conundrum
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 wanted to drive Jesus to do what Judas wanted
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 for his own conscience by saying “I am no longer accepting your blood money.
But the deed was done by then.
The second reason that this post Resurrection appearance fit the criteria of awaking faith is that
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, they say.
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:
8 But 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).
And note, Jesus doesn’t condemn them for going fishing at all – so why should we?
The third reason that this post Resurrection appearance fit the criteria of awaking faith is that
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 1:16-17 and 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
Is there anything significant in the number of fish caught - 153
Theologians over the centuries have suggested that 153 has some deeper significance.
1. Jerome, the third Century theologian 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 hypothesis is that modern marine biology puts the figure for the number of species of fish 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 simply a large number of fish – certainly in comparison to what they had caught the night earlier!
And fishermen, being fishermen - counted them!
And fishermen are not unknown to brag.
3.2 But is there anything “spiritually significant” about fish
After all it is interesting to note that Ichthys - the Greek word for fish - is also an acronym for the phrase in the original Greek that is translated "Jesus Christ, Son Of God, Saviour (??s??? ???st??, Te?? ????, S?t??).
Also the early Church used it as an identifying symbol consisting of two intersecting arcs resembling the profile of a fish.
In the times when it was dangerous to be a Christian, Christians needed a safe way to identify if strangers were believers of not.
Therefore, one person would draw an arc of the fish in the sand – and if the other was a believer he would respond by drawing the other arc of the fish symbol on the sand to complete the fish
Again, that is all interesting, but I don’t think we need to read anything special into the fish either.
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.
Conclusion
There is a lot in this final Johannine post-resurrection story.
I have just touched the tip of an iceberg
But what I draw out from it is this
1. Jesus offers us forgiveness for our failings and weaknesses.
2. Jesus is realistic about our needs.
3. Jesus commissions us from where we are and NOT from where we are NOT!
In other words, he calls us warts and all.
Are you up for his call on you TODAY?
