"Do you love me?" "Have some breakfast"
It's Wednesday, so I'm thinking about love and abundance.
On Wednesdays, I workshop the sermon. Today I’m thinking about how the shock of seeing the risen Lord has worn off. And now we have work to do!
Reading:
John 21:1-19
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."
Scripture: There is so much to love about this passage.
One thing that always makes me laugh is the description of Peter’s excitement when he realizes it’s Jesus with them - he puts on his clothes, then he jumps in the water!
You can feel his flustered jubilation.
Yet it also helps me notice that by this time - how long has it been? - the disciples are not petrified or in disbelief that the resurrected Jesus is paying them a visit.
They’re not locked in a room, afraid to go anywhere.
The Acts of the Apostles tells us that Jesus appeared for 40 days (Acts 1:3), but we don’t know where within that time frame we are, here in the Gospel of John. Also, 40 days - 6 weeks! - is a pretty good chunk of time.
At a certain point, they obviously got used to it. Peter and the others are excited he’s here - but they’re not shaking in terror over the very idea. The rest of the disciples just bring in the boat, loaded with fish.
And Jesus makes them breakfast.
(This is another thing I noticed for the first time in this passage - Jesus makes the meal here. Has that every happened before?)