Good morning, Friends! Thank you all so much for coming to worship this morning.
For the last few weeks, we’ve looked at the Easter story according to the gospel of John. We read about Jesus washing the disciples’ feet at the Last Supper, and Jesus calling Mary by name in the garden on Easter morning.
Last week we read the story of the first Sunday after Easter. The disciples were still terrified. And then Jesus came and stood in their midst, and showed them beyond all doubt that he was alive again.
There’s one loose end to the Easter story that we haven’t talked about yet.
Do you remember, at the Last Supper, how Jesus said that they would all abandon him, run away and leave him alone?
Peter spoke up, and he swore that he would never abandon Jesus, no matter what happened. Jesus looked over at Peter and said, “Before the rooster crows tomorrow morning, you will deny me three times.”
If you read the story, you know that’s just what happened. The soldiers came to arrest Jesus, and Peter pulled out his sword, and cut off the ear of one of the Jewish high priest’s servants.
Jesus scolded Peter and said, “Put your sword back in its sheath! I have to drink this cup that the Father has given me.”
Then they took Jesus away, to the palace of the high priest. Peter and one of the other disciples talked their way in. But the guard at the gate said, “You’re one of his disciples, aren’t you?”
And Peter said, “No, I’m not!”
The police and the high priest’s servants had a fire in the courtyard to try and keep warm, and Peter stood on the edge of the crowd. One of them said again, “You’re one of his disciples, aren’t you?”
And again Peter said, “No, I’m not!”
Finally a third person, a cousin of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Didn’t I see you in the garden with him?”
And Peter denied it again – and right at that moment, the rooster crowed.
That brings us up to today’s reading, on the other side of Easter. Peter wasn’t looking too good any more. Everybody knew, Peter knew, how sorry his bravery and boasting was now.
Peter had gone back from being an apostle, to being just a fisherman again, the job he had when Jesus first called him.
Simon Peter, Thomas the Twin, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, James and John the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.
“I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them. And they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.Jesus called back, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!”
As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.
The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish – 153 fish! – but even with so many the net wasn’t torn.
Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord.Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
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.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, 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.”
Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
John 21:1-19
There’s a lot of things going on in today’s story. At the start, no one is feeling very good about themselves.
They used to be special people. They were disciples! They were part of Jesus’ inner circle. They were his closest friends. But now? They were just a bunch of unlucky fishermen. They were back where they started, three years ago.
They’d worked all night, and didn’t catch a thing. Kind of a symbol for the way their lives had been going lately. All those miles, walking with Jesus. And now they couldn’t even get a nibble.
Remember, it was still early morning. The sun was just coming over the horizon. Probably the sun was in their eyes. And then they heard this voice, calling to them from the beach: “Hey, little boys – you haven’t caught anything, have you?”
Grrr! Who was that idiot? They squinted into the sunrise, but they couldn’t see them.
Then the voice shouted to them again: “The other side! Throw your net on the other side!”
They probably thought whoever it was, was crazy. What did this clown know about fishing? Had he been out there, all night? Had he ever caught anything?
But just to show the stranger, they did what he told them. They threw the net in a different direction. They threw it in a place they hadn’t tried, because darn it, they were fishermen! They knew everything about catching fish!
Then they started pulling in the net. And it felt a whole lot heavier than it ever felt, all night.
Somebody said, “Pull it in!”
Somebody else said, “The boat’s going to tip over!” The net was so full, they couldn’t get all the fish on board. It was almost kind of a comedy.
Finally, one disciple – the one who was leaning up against Jesus at the Last Supper – had a light bulb moment. “It’s the Lord!”, he said.
The guys had all been working so hard in the boat that it says they were all peeled down to their boxer shorts. When Peter heard that it was Jesus, it says that he pulled on his clothes and jumped into the water.
Typical Peter. He always thought with his gut, not with his head. A normal person might have waited. Or they might have jumped overboard, but they would have carried their clothes, so they wouldn’t get wet. Not Peter.
The boat was 100 yards from shore, but the water was only about shoulder deep. Peter came splashing and thrashing to shore. When he got to the beach, Peter was soaked to the skin. But he couldn’t miss out. He was ashamed, because he denied Jesus. But he knew where he needed to be.
Early in Jesus’ ministry, Jesus asked his friends, “Do you want to go away? Do you want to leave me?”
And Peter said, “Lord, where else can we go to? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and we know that you are the Holy One of God!” (John 6:67-69)
So anyway, Peter made it to the beach, and pretty soon all the others came along in the boat, dragging along the biggest catch any of them had ever had in their entire lives.
There’s a parable in this first part of the story. If we try to do things on our own, and don’t succeed, maybe we need to listen to that crazy person calling to us out of the sunrise.
Maybe he’s not crazy. Maybe Jesus knows more about catching fish, than any of us will ever learn, in our entire lives.
And remember, this story isn’t just about catching fish. Remember the first thing that Jesus ever said to Peter? Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of people. . .” (Matthew 4:19)
Jesus went to Peter and the others. He went to them when they were tired and totally discouraged. Jesus went to them when they were afraid and had given up completely. They weren’t even good fishermen any more!
He met them at the beach – not the synagogue, not the temple, but at the beach. And Jesus dared them to make one more try, in the direction Jesus pointed out.
Maybe, when they heard Jesus’ voice, calling to them, even though they couldn’t see him clearly, the remembered some of the things he said.
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger; whoever believes in me shall not thirst. . .” (John 6:35)
Or they squinted into the sunrise, and remembered Jesus saying, “I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. . .” (John 8:12)
Or even though they knew Jesus had been killed, they remembered him saying, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even though they die, yet they shall live; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. . .” (John 11:25-26)
Whatever. Like Mary, they heard Jesus’ voice. And they knew it was him. And there he was, on the beach, inviting them all to breakfast. (See, this is the part where I know that Jesus loves Springfield. Because there’s nothing Jesus liked better, than a good fish fry!)
Anyway, after breakfast, everybody was cleaning up, And Jesus took Peter aside for a minute.
Or maybe Jesus didn’t take Peter aside. Maybe Jesus stood him up, in front of everyone else. Maybe Peter thought Jesus was going to ream him out, for boasting and bragging and then chickening out.
Or maybe Peter knelt down, in front of Jesus. Maybe Peter knew how badly he’d let Jesus down, and he couldn’t look Jesus in the face.
It could have been any of those.
And Jesus asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”
And he choked out, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”
And Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
Then Jesus asked him a second time, and third time – “Do you love me?”
And Peter felt hurt, because Jesus kept asking him the same thing. But I want you all to think about this.
Peter denied Jesus, three times. He said he didn’t even know Jesus. Peter had no right to any place, any more. Peter had forfeited any reason for Jesus to care for him.
But Jesus keeps asking, “Do you love me?”
Jesus keeps asking us, the same thing.
And each time, when Peter said yes, Jesus told Peter the way to prove it. “Feed my lambs. Watch over my flock. Feed my sheep. . .”
Each time Jesus asked the question, he was rolling back Peter’s failure. He was forgiving Peter for his unforgivable denial.
Peter totally blew it, three times, when Jesus needed his friend most. And now, Jesus was forgiving Peter, giving Peter his life back, time for time, failure for failure.
And Jesus does the same thing for every one of us.
Jesus doesn’t condemn people for failing. Jesus’ goal, as you’ve heard me say before, is to save everyone. Peter, and every one of us.
Jesus asks us, if we love him. And then Jesus shows us, the way back. “Feed my lambs. Watch over my flock. Feed my sheep. . .”
That was Jesus’ job, once. The job that the Father gave him. It’s our job, now. To do what Jesus did. To reach out, in his name. To go fishing, and to risk throwing our net, in a different direction. To go fishing for people, in new directions.
To live, as people who are completely forgiven, for our unforgivable failures.
And to feed everyone, in Jesus’ name.