Third Sunday of Easter

One of my favorite painters is Hieronymos Bosch, a Dutch painter active from in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. And the works that I like the best are the big altar pieces he did, known as triptychs, big three-paneled pieces. There are two which are my favorites. One is a painting called The Last Judgment.

And the other is called The Garden of Earthly delights, which is easily his most famous work.

What I love about them is their out and out grotesquery. Their over-the-top imagery of demons and tortured souls and various bizarre looking creatures. But they’re also highly symbolic. And it’s that imagery, it’s that symbolism, it’s the detail and the mystery of it all that draws you in.

The gospel reading for today is kind of like one of those paintings for me. There’s just so much going on and so many references that we often miss. There’s symbolism, and some rather strange things, and, yes, mystery.

So, I thought what I would do today would be to take a deep dive into this story and see what it can tell us.

The first thing is the fact that this little story even exists. After all, chapter 20 of the Gospel of John ends with the following: “30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31) Now, I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds like a pretty solid ending, don’t you think? So, to what end then do we have Chapter 21? One theory is that it was a second ending which, at some point, got tacked onto the end of the Gospel of John. So, it was like, “Oh hey, we’ve got this other story here that’s been floating around out here for a while, and it’s a pretty good story so why don’t we just stick it here at the end.” But I recently came upon another explanation: that rather than being an extra story that was tacked onto the end of John, it was an intentional literary device, an epilogue of sorts, which was common in the Greek literature of the time. Like those little explainers about where the characters are now, while the credits for a movie role by. And it’s this second explanation that makes the most sense to me because of all the little details and the symbolism that this final story contains.

So, the story begins with the disciples just sort of sitting around. They’ve experienced Jesus’ crucifixion. They’ve heard the good news of the resurrection. They’ve seen the risen Christ for themselves. So, where they find themselves right now is in what we might call the “What now?” phase. Peter announces that he’s going to go fishing. Not really a big surprise, to be quite honest. They’ve just been through a traumatic, whiplash-inducing series of events. To say that it’s been an emotional rollercoaster for them is the understatements of the millennium. So is it any wonder that Peter’s first impulse is to go back to the safety and comfort of routine. But it’s also important to remember that in the early church, fishing was a metaphor for evangelism, for making disciples. The author of John would have been supremely aware of that.

So, Peter makes his announcement. The other disciples who are there, because remember it’s not all of them, respond with, “Yeah. Sure. Why not. We’ll come with you.” So, they spend the whole night fishing, and they come up with? Bupkis. Nada. Nothing. Zero fish!

But then, Jesus shows up! Well, this should get interesting now. And it does! Because evidently, they’ve simply been fishing on the wrong side of the boat this whole time! He tells them to put the net out on the right side of the boat. And suddenly it’s so heavy that they can’t even pull the net in. And it’s only then that the disciple Jesus loved recognizes him and announces it to Peter. It’s almost a parallel story to the one about the disciples on the road to Emmaus, who walk and talk with Jesus, but don’t recognize him until he breaks the bread for their meal. So, going out on their own, pursuing their own goals, the disciples were unable to do anything. No ministry, evangelism, no discipling. But following the command of Jesus, suddenly they’ve got so many fish they don’t know what to do with them all.

Peter, for whatever reason, had taken his clothes off to fish. Maybe he was getting warm? Maybe he wanted to keep his clothes dry? We don’t know. Whatever the case may be, Peter pulls his clothes on quick and jumps into the water, swimming back to shore, leaving the remaining disciples to bring their little boat in.

They get back onto shore. And there is a charcoal fire burning, with fish on it and bread. Guess what the only other occasion is, in which a charcoal fire is referenced in the Gospel of John. It’s during the trial of Jesus. Peter stands in the courtyard with others, as they warm themselves around a charcoal fire.

And where else have we seen a meal of fish and bread? All the way back in Chapter 6, at the feeding of the 5,000.

Jesus tells them to bring some of the fish that they had caught. Remember how when there were seven of them in the boat, that the load of fish was so heavy that they couldn’t even pull it in. What happens now? “1 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.” (John 21:11) Where does Peter suddenly get this super-strength? Was it like in “How The Grinch Stole Christmas?” Did his heart grow three sizes that day? Did he suddenly have the strength of 10 Grinches, plus two? Or, in this case, 10 Peters, plus two?

Again, let’s look at the chain of events. Jesus gives a command, and the command is fulfilled in a big way. Remember that just a bit earlier it took six of them simply to drag the net behind them when coming to the shore. Jesus gives a command. It’s filled in a big way. We see what it means to do the bidding of Jesus. We see what it means to do ministry with the power of Jesus. We see what happens when we align our goals and values with the goals and values of Jesus.

Jesus bids the disciples to come and eat. So, they have their little alfresco breakfast on the beach. And we come now, at last, to what is clearly a distressing exchange between Peter and Jesus. At least it’s distressing for 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.

This exchange starts with a very important reference, and it’s how Jesus refers to Peter: Simon, son of John. This is how Jesus refers to him waaaaay back in chapter one, when they first meet: 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). 42 He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter). (John 1:40-42) Jesus goes back to this original name, before he dubbed him Peter. It’s almost as though Jesus is doing a hard reset of the relationship. And then we realize that this is definitely what Jesus is doing, when we read this part of the story for today. “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.”

Three times Jesus asks Peter if Peter loves him. It’s easy to see why Peter gets upset about this. Why does Jesus do this? Is he just adding insult to injury? Is Jesus simply being a bit of jerk here? The answer, of course, is “no”. The relationship needs a reset because Peter broke the relationship. He violated the relationship between himself and Jesus. In fact, he did so how many times? Three times, when, just like now he was gathered with others around a charcoal fire. Three times, Peter repudiated his relationship with Jesus. 17 The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” (John 18:17)

And a bit later: 25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.” 26 One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?” 27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed. (John 18:25-2J) Peter denies his relationship with Jesus three times. And now Jesus asks him to affirm his relationship with him three times. It is the final act of reconciliation between Jesus and Peter. And after each affirmation of the relationship, Jesus issues Peter’s call to ministry: Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep. He also makes it clear to Peter, albeit somewhat cryptically, that he awaits a martyr’s death.

And then Jesus gives Peter one final command. “Follow me.” And, of course, the disciples now truly know what it means to follow Jesus.

So, what’s our takeaway from all of this for today. Far from being a simple add-on of a spare story, we can see that this story is very intentional in its placement and in its content. John has given us the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and with this final vignette he shows us what that means, to wit: Left to our own devices, we are not capable of much when it comes to the work of mission and making disciples. But being open to the spirit of Christ to speak to us, to lead us, and to direct us… Being open to the power of the Word made flesh, we can do some remarkable things. Maybe even some miraculous things.

It also shows us that the reconciliation we have with God, and therefore the reconciliation we have with others, available to us through the reconciliation that is ours in Christ is not a throwaway. It’s not necessarily simple or easy. It requires intentional, deliberate work. It must be deliberate and intentional. And it requires conversations which might well be painful and difficult. But they are also necessary, if that reconciliation is to be true and lasting.

Jesus also makes it clear that there is a cost to discipleship. It is not always easy. It is not always safe. There are times when our discipleship will lead to conflict. It may be conflict with friends. It may be conflict with family. In the case of the early disciples and many martyrs since then, it may even lead to conflict with the state. And we must be prepared for those costs. We must be prepared for that time when someone may “fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.”

And the final takeaway is the most profound. Laying all of this out for us, Jesus then issues one final and simple command. A command as challenging as it is simple. “Follow me.” So that following Jesus, we may have life and have it abundantly.  AMEN