May 4, 2025 Third Sunday of Easter The text is John 21:1-19.

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¹ 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. ² 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. ³ 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.  ⁴ Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵ Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” ⁶ 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. ⁷ 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. ⁸ 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.  ⁹ When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. ¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” ¹¹ 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. ¹² 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. ¹³ Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴ This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.  ¹⁵ 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.” ¹⁶ 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.” ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ 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.” ¹⁹ (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

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May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to You, El Adonai, my rock and my Redeemer.

Grace, mercy, and peace are yours from God the Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

This morning’s passage from John’s gospel serves as the appropriate bookend to an earlier event that Luke writes takes place at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry.  In Luke’s prior narrative we find Jesus getting into Simon Peter’s fishing boat, and from there he begins to teach the crowds assembled on the shore.  When he has finished preaching, he asks Peter to sail into deep water and let down his nets.  Even though Peter and his companions had spent the night fishing and had caught nothing, they nevertheless do as Jesus asks.  Luke writes that this resulted in a catch of fish so large that it caused their nets to tear.  This event marks the very beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry; he calls Peter and the others as his first disciples, declaring to them that they will accompany Jesus in his mission and that they will now “fish for people”.

And as we fast-forward to this morning’s post-resurrection story, we encounter Jesus, now risen, once again in a narrative that focuses on fishing.  Jesus’ presence on the beach has happened some time after his first two appearances among his disciples as they gathered in a room behind closed and locked doors.  Peter and six of the other disciples are again found fishing on the Galilee.  This, in spite of the fact that they have witnessed the resurrected Jesus come among them twice, bestowed on them his peace, and breathed the Holy Spirit upon them.  And on the second occasion, we read that Thomas, upon seeing Jesus proclaimed, My Lord and my God!”.  Jesus is thus acknowledged as the divine Son of God, the promised Messiah.  And the last thing Jesus did after this declaration of his divinity was to command the disciples to continue in his mission, saying, “As the Father has sent me, I now send you”.  And as we encounter the disciples this morning it appears that they haven’t taken Jesus’ commandment to heart.  Instead of marching forth proclaiming the Good News of the gospel, we find them reverting to their earlier career; they are back in their boats, casting their nets; not for people, but for fish.  What has caused them to seemingly abandon their prior belief, enthusiasm, and faith in the One who has now proven he has been resurrected, just as he foretold?

Perhaps they were disillusioned, since they had hoped that Jesus would fill the prophesied role of the Messiah, the One who would come to overthrow Israel’s oppressors and restore her to her former glory.  Or, maybe it was simply that, since Jesus was executed in his earthly form, that the mission had failed.  Or more likely, the disciples still held on to the fear they felt as they hid behind locked doors on that first Easter, and again the week later.  Maybe they thought better of publicly proclaiming the message of the gospel, lest they fall victim to the cross as Jesus did.

Yet, as he always does, Jesus meets people where they are; whether behind closed doors or on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.  So, even though they had not caught any fish overnight, once again Jesus urges Simon Peter and his companions to cast their nets, and in a repeat of what happened the first time they encountered Jesus, they haul in another abundance of fish.  When Jesus first met these fishermen at the beginning of his ministry, the overwhelming quantity of fish they brought into their boats was to symbolize the people Jesus anticipated they would bring to belief in him.  This post-resurrection abundance was the reminder that the mission remains even though Jesus has departed the earthly realm, and that it was still the disciples’ duty to continue Christ’s work.  It was time to once again abandon their boats and nets and be about the business of fishing for people.

And after sharing a meal of grilled fish and distributing bread to them, it was now obvious that the disciples would no longer be able to deny that their Lord had truly risen.  If they didn’t believe Mary when she announced to them that she had encountered Jesus beside the empty tomb; if the act of appearing twice in a room where the doors were locked; if Thomas’ declaration of Jesus as Lord and God; and if another abundant haul of fish into their boat; if all these weren’t enough to convince them, then the echo of the broken bread distributed at the Last Supper was surely what confirmed Christ’s rising to them.  And once all doubt was removed, it became clear that the disciples would now abide by Jesus’ command; the initial one he gave them when they first encountered him; “Follow me”.  And as Luke writes in the Book of Acts, the disciples did in fact, along with Paul go forth preaching the Good News of Christ as they were commanded to do.

But before Jesus sends the disciples forth, he has a heart-to-heart conversation with Simon Peter, entrusting him with the task of caring for Jesus’ sheep, for his lambs, for his followers.  And, during this affirmation of what Jesus has previously commanded the disciples to do, he asks Peter three times if he loves Jesus.  It seems that Jesus is giving Peter the opportunity to reflect on his three earlier denials of him.  We read in the gospels that Peter was warming himself near a charcoal fire when he three times denied even knowing Jesus, while in the courtyard of the high priest, as Jesus was being interrogated after his arrest.  This morning Jesus has prepared his disciples’ breakfast; once again a charcoal fire takes center stage.  It’s rather certain that Peter recognizes the significance of this.

During this conversation, when Jesus asks Peter if he loves him, two different Greek words for “love” are spoken.  The first two times Jesus uses “agape”; this is used to describe the love that God has for creation and that Jesus shares with the world.  Peter’s response to these first two times Jesus asks him if he loves him, is “philos”; this is the Greek for brotherly love.  The third time, Jesus asks Peter if he “philos” loves him, and Peter replies as he has done each time, with “philos”.  Jesus was likely attempting to compel Peter to answer; “are you capable of loving me (and my sheep) the way God the Father (and I) love you?”  And knowing that humans are not truly capable of loving as Jesus does, when Peter twice responds that he loves Jesus the only way he can, the only way humans are capable of, Jesus modifies his third question.  “Do you “philos” love me?  “Do you love me as humans are able to?”  “Do you love me enough to take care of my lambs, my sheep, my people? 

Jesus well knows that Peter (and the rest of us) aren’t able to love, tend to, or care for others in the same divine way Jesus is.  Yet Jesus commanded Peter to ensure that all of God’s children are provided for, and that in spite of his inability to love like Jesus, Peter is tasked with doing the best he can in continuing Jesus’ mission and ministry.  And this same question Jesus posed to Peter, “do you love me?”  is directed squarely at us, as well.  And if we declare that, “yes”, we love Jesus, we too are tasked with the same mission.  This ministry now falls to us, and we must now be the ones to tend Jesus’s lambs and to feed his sheep.

This day Taye will affirm the promises that were made on his behalf at his baptism, as he is confirmed into adult membership into this church.  And as he progresses through the many phases of his life to come, his relationship with God and Christ will likely evolve.  Let us pray that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, that he never wavers in his belief in the Word, the truth, and salvation promised by Christ Jesus, his Savior.  We pray that he will always be willing to answer Jesus as Peter did, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”  And that he will remain always ready to love and care for Jesus’ beloved flock.        

Will you pray with me?  Good, and gracious, and Holy God, we know that we are not called to hide our faith and trust behind closed, locked doors.  Nor are we to timidly revert to behaviors that ignore the needs of our neighbors.  Guide us as we strive to continue the mission that Jesus has set before us.  And we pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, the One who asks us if we love him, and who sends us to provide for his lambs, his sheep who he has left in our care.  Amen.

God is Good, all the time.  All the time, God is Good.  Amen.