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April 18, 2010
“Recalled!”
John 21: 1 - 19
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Today is the third Sunday of Easter or Eastertide of the year 2010. This will be our last look at the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus for a while. Next Sunday will be youth Sunday, and the Seniors in our Youth Group will be selecting Scriptures and presenting brief homilies on them. The following Sunday will be a communion Sunday and we will not be looking at a post resurrection appearance of Jesus.
Anyway, today we are looking at the appearance of the resurrected Jesus to seven of his apostles on the shore of the sea of Galilee. John always liked to refer to this body of water by its Roman name, the Sea of Tiberius, but it is the sea of Galilee just the same.
As the narrative begins, we find Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John, and two others gathered on the shore of the sea of Galilee. They had returned to Galilee to meet the resurrected Jesus there as they had been directed. John informs us that this would be the third time Jesus had appeared to his Apostles after his resurrection. He had written about two appearances to them in Jerusalem: the first afternoon of the day of his resurrection and the second in that same room one week later. But we also know that Peter had met the resurrected Jesus one other time before he appeared to the rest of the apostels. Thomas had met the resurrected Jesus only once before this time.
On this occasion, we don’t know if they were waiting for Jesus at the shore of the Sea of Galilee but it seems likely. As evening came on and Jesus did not arrive, Peter decided to go fishing. He and two of the others had been professional fishermen before they became full time followers of Jesus. A boat was nearby, so Peter and the others used it and its nets and other equipment to fish all night.
See, ladies, it is biblical that when men are near water and have nothing else to do, they fish.
But in this instance I think we have more going on than the propensity of men near water to fish. I think Peter and maybe some of the others were beginning to think about what life would be like for them from then on. Peter, Andrew, James and John had been fishermen until Jesus had called them to follow him full time. The rest of the men in that boat had been involved in other full time professions before they followed Jesus for about three years.
But now Jesus was not with them full-time. During those 40 days before his ascension Jesus just visited them occasionally. So what were they to do now? For three years they had been supported by the money well to do women had given to Jesus. With no full-time Jesus, how would they live? Peter’s idea to go fishing may have been a part of a larger but as yet indefinite plan to resume his fishing career.
So they went fishing and as sometimes happens, they caught nothing. As the sun came up, there was an unidentifiable person on the shore, about a hundred yards off, and he yelled to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They responded in the negative and the person on the shore shouted “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” They did, and they did. The net was so full of large fish that they could not haul it into the boat, they would have to row or sail the boat to shore and drag the net from the water onto the shore.
But before they did that I think John remembered a similar event. About 3 years before, he and Peter had been fishing all night on this same lake and had caught nothing. In the morning, Jesus had come along and climbed into the boat and preached to the crowed that had followed him. Then he had told them to let down the nets, and they caught so many fish that they almost sunk the boats. I think John remembered that event and compared it with what had just happened. If John had been Yogi Berra he would have said “its déjà vu all over again!” but instead he said “That is the Lord!”
Peter obviously agreed because he left the fish and the boat and jumped in the lake and swam and waded to Jesus. Jesus had a fire with some bread and fish on it and he asked them to add some of their fish to them. Jesus served them breakfast. By now, they all knew that the stranger on the shore was Jesus.
In repeating the miracle of the great catch of fish Jesus was recalling them to serve him. He was about to make that very clear to Peter, but before I talk about that, I want you to notice that in both cases of the miraculous catches of fish, they had fished all night and caught nothing. Sometimes frustrating and fruitless labors are preludes to a miracle or something great. Sometimes the long dry spell leads to an oasis or a delightful rain. Thomas Edison made many inventions because of his stubbornness and his optimism. After trying a few hundred things that failed he felt he was closing in on the answer. After all, he knew hundreds of things that didn’t work, he only need to find the one thing that did.
When you labor on for nothing, remember, in similar circumstances that was the prelude for a wonderful work of Jesus.
After breakfast, Jesus said to Peter, in front of the other 6, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? This question is not specific in the English or the Greek.
Who or what are the “these” Jesus is referring to? The fish and the boats and the lake? Was Jesus asking Peter if he loved his old way of life more than he loved Jesus? That is a good thing to ask ourselves as we go through life acquiring skills and wealth and property and experiences. Do we love Jesus more than we love these things?
Or were the “these” the other apostles who were gathered there. I think that is more likely, but if so, was he asking Peter if Peter loved Him more than Peter loved those six men?
You know, it is a really special thing to be a part of a church in which the members love and care for each other. But sometimes when that happens, it is a little too easy to be closer to our friends in church than we are to God. If you notice that tensions with or emotional distance from other church members affects your relationship with God, maybe you are closer to those friends and church members than you are to God. Your relationship with God should come first.
I think Jesus may have been asking these two questions of Jesus but I think his main concern was to ask Peter if Peter loved Jesus more than he thought the other apostles loved Jesus. Because on the night before Jesus was killed that was what Peter thought. He had told Jesus that even if all others would abandon Jesus, he would not. So I think Jesus was asking Peter if he still thought he loved Jesus more than others did.
Peter answered a part of the question. He said, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He did not answer the part of the question about the “more than these”.
Jesus replied “Feed my lambs”, meaning, “If you love me, your task is to feed my lambs”. Jesus asked the same question two more times. In the Greek there are two different words used for love in this passage, but scholars are not sure if in this case it makes any substantial difference, especially since this conversation originally took place in Aramaic, not Greek.
The second and third times Jesus asked the question he left off the “more than these” He just asked if Peter loved him. The second time Peter affirmed his love for Jesus, Jesus responded with “Tend my sheep”. The third time Peter was hurt because Jesus kept asking. And the third time, Jesus responded by saying. Feed my sheep.
Then Jesus said to Peter “Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and 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.” John then added an editorial comment “He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.”
Now what is this all about, the three-fold question and the reference to Peter’s death? Let’s think about that for a few minutes. When Jesus asked these questions on that morning, Jesus and Peter were standing near a fire. A few weeks before, on the night before Jesus was killed, in the small hours of the morning, Peter had stood warming himself by a fire and had denied three times that he knew Jesus. He had disgraced himself and his faith in Jesus. Now by a fire on a morning, Jesus asked Peter to proclaim his love for Jesus 3 times. Peter was being recalled.
We know a lot about recalls. They happen when some automobile or other product is found to be faulty. The automobile manufacturer has been in the news with a major recall lately. Some news reporters have informed us that many other items are recalled and the list grows weekly. That made me feel much better!
But the products we buy are not the only things that need to be recalled. Sometimes we are found to be faulty. Sometimes we betray or abandon our faith and our savior. Sometimes we need to reaffirm our faith in Jesus. But please notice that what Jesus asked was not if Peter believed in Jesus. He asked if Peter loved him. Do you love Jesus, or is he just your ticket out of hell?
Do you really love the son of God who died to give you eternal life. If so, in this passage you are told what to do. Feed or tend those who are Jesus’ sheep and lambs. Care for those whom Jesus loves. Watch out for them. See that they get all that they need in the way of spirtual help and material help. Pray for them. Help them. Comfort them. Encourage them.
After Jesus recalled Peter he reassured him that he would eventually live up to his promise to die for Jesus.
But when he was recalled, Jesus asked Peter to tend or feed his sheep or lambs. Those of us who proclaim to love Jesus have been given the same command. If we love Him, we are to care for those who are His.
This morning, after Worship, we are having our Mission Fair. Representatives of the Missions we support will be here or have sent materials describing their work. So after Worship this morning you will be able to see how our missionaries and we by our support of their work have been taking care of Christ’s sheep and lambs.
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at April 18, 2010 01:46 PM