John 21:1-19
After [he appeared to his followers in Jerusalem,] Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No." He said to them, "Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught." So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs."
A second time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend my sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go." (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow me."
Imagine how uncomfortable Peter must have been.
Maybe some of you have heard this story.
One night I was reading to my son, and our dog, Bingo was lying there.
He reached out to pet the dog, and the dog growled.
I scolded him, (NOT THE DOG!) and said “What have you done to cause Bingo to growl like that?”
“Nothing!”
“Oh yes, you did something, Bingo never growls.”
“I didn’t do anything!”
“Well, I have to say, I’m disappointed in this.”
We read for a few minutes, then he said, “Dad, let’s not tell mom that this happened.”
He reached out to pet the dog, and the dog growled.
I scolded him, (NOT THE DOG!) and said “What have you done to cause Bingo to growl like that?”
“Nothing!”
“Oh yes, you did something, Bingo never growls.”
“I didn’t do anything!”
“Well, I have to say, I’m disappointed in this.”
We read for a few minutes, then he said, “Dad, let’s not tell mom that this happened.”
Makes sense.
Peter probably would have concurred. “I won’t tell if you won’t.”
There is so very much in this story.
It seems to me to really brings us up against the fact that sometimes forgiveness is a difficult thing.
Willimon tells a great story. (As with many of his stories, one wonders if it actually happened that way.) (and, as with many things I write or say, this is how I remember it. . . )
One Sunday, after preaching on the forgive 70 times 70 text, a woman walked out of Church and accosted him. She said; “Are you telling me that I am supposed to forgive my ex-husband who abused me for years until I was able to leave him? Are you telling me I am supposed to forgive HIM?”
Willimon then stutters that, having only fifteen minutes, it is hard to cover every possibility, but in the end, the answer is “Yes, it seems that Jesus is saying you are to forgive him.”
Then, Willimon says, the woman hiked herself up to her full height, looked him in the eye and said; “Thanks, just checking.”
Willimon’s point, in part, is that we should not protect people from Jesus, that where he saw a victim, Jesus saw someone with whom he is going to change the world.
Some questions.
In what ways does this speak to the fact that love hurts?
That to live in community is to be in need of forgiveness? (I think of Bonhoeffer in Life Together, saying that the key to Christian community is disappointment.)
In what ways does forgiveness give rise to mission?
In what ways might forgiveness be about more than relieving my own sense of guilt and shame?
Does the encounter with the risen Jesus go hand in hand with a sending to share and tell, to live and love?
2 comments:
Thinking a bit further on Bonhoeffer - the key to Christian community is disappointment. I liked the line, I believe by Barth, that the first Church was Jesus on the cross with the criminal, telling him “today you will be with me in paradise.”
Sinners forgiven, with the cross in view.
Or, could this have been the first Church. Heck, Jesus and the criminal hadn't known each other long enough to find themselves in disagreement. They hadn't been able to disappoint one another yet. Peter and Jesus? Plenty of disappointment to go around there.
Could this be the first pastoral counseling session?
. . . heck, never mind. . . that really doesn’t have much to offer, does it?
William Loader has lots of good stuff this week
http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/LkEaster3.htm
Might John have remembered Jesus’ words to Peter in Mark that he was to be a fisher of people? Harvests at sea or on land were symbolic of the promise of fruitful mission. Perhaps one day we will fathom the numerical symbolism of the fish - one fish for each interpretation, so far!
Meeting the risen Jesus in the context of the meal meant facing fundamental questions. That, too, has not changed. But Peter’s story is larger than an account of calling. It is a recycling of denial into affirmation. . . .
Resurrection celebrates the risenness of Jesus. The appearance to Peter celebrates divine grace. The world and the church (across its history) are littered with smashed lives and vessels ground beneath vengeful, judging feet. Thus far and no further: cross the line of shame and there is no way back; . . . . Not so the divine initiative at Easter. The veil of death is parted; through it a hand reaches out to a Peter, shamed and probably resigned to former routines. Wherever and however it happened, Peter was turned from death to life. The God who had not abandoned Christ in death would not abandon Peter in his. Against all odds and against the prevailing values which would later ascend to rule in much theology, God proposed love to Peter again. Almost irritated by the persistence of divine grace, Peter opens himself to life and leadership. Peter will feed the sheep. Peter will follow Jesus, as he had said. . . . . Yes, he would follow, as once he declared he would and as Jesus challenges him to do in 21:19.
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