Encounters with the Risen Jesus: On the Beach

A “return to normal”

These fishermen turned disciples are back fishing… In the synoptics, the call from fishing is clear. In John, the call comes now… and just as we’ve known the bigger story all the way through, we now know that just around the corner is the ascension of Jesus and the birth of the church in Acts 2. But John, as usual, doesn’t always stick with the conventional chronology.

For instance, we’ve seen the Spirit already breathed into the frightened disciples huddled behind locked doors. No tongues of fire. And before Jesus’ ascension. Out of order, John! What are you up to?

Can’t things just “go back to normal”?

What does an encounter with Jesus look like?

Or, for John, what does belief in Jesus - being in relationship with Jesus - mean for our everyday, ordinary lives?

And how do we read this last chapter of John’s gospel? What do we need to keep in mind?

Well, we read the entire gospel of John through the filter of the Prologue (1:1-18) … this is an account of the Word made flesh. (read? highlights? slide?)

There are a few things I want to remind us of before we read this chapter…

Come & see (now turned to “Come & eat”)

Cana

Abundance - 1:16 grace upon grace, Cana, 21:25 fish!

charcoal fire

sheep/shepherd

There is so much in this chapter. Watch for…

Jesus’ appearance/revelation

Jesus’ invitation

Jesus’ question

Jesus’ response

READING: John 21

John 21 (CEB)

1 Later, Jesus himself appeared again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. This is how it happened: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two other disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter told them, “I’m going fishing.”

They said, “We’ll go with you.” They set out in a boat, but throughout the night they caught nothing. 4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples didn’t realize it was Jesus.

5 Jesus called to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?”

They answered him, “No.”

6 He said, “Cast your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.”

So they did, and there were so many fish that they couldn’t haul in the net. 7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard it was the Lord, he wrapped his coat around himself (for he was naked) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they weren’t far from shore, only about one hundred yards.

(Jesus’ appearance and revelation)

9 When they landed, they saw a fire there, with fish on it, and some bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you’ve just caught.” 11 Simon Peter got up and pulled the net to shore. It was full of large fish, one hundred fifty-three of them. Yet the net hadn’t torn, even with so many fish. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples could bring themselves to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

(Jesus’ invitation)

15 When they finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

Simon replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Simon replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 He asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was sad that Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” He replied, “Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 I assure you that when you were younger you tied your own belt and walked around wherever you wanted. When you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and another will tie your belt and lead you where you don’t want to go.” 19 He said this to show the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. After saying this, Jesus said to Peter, “Follow me.”

(Jesus’ question & commission)

20 Peter turned around and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. This was the one who had leaned against Jesus at the meal and asked him, “Lord, who is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw this disciple, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”

22 Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain until I come, what difference does that make to you? You must follow me.”

(Jesus’ response)

23 Therefore, the word spread among the brothers and sisters that this disciple wouldn’t die. However, Jesus didn’t say he wouldn’t die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what difference does that make to you?” 24 This is the disciple who testifies concerning these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. 25 Jesus did many other things as well. If all of them were recorded, I imagine the world itself wouldn’t have enough room for the scrolls that would be written.

There is so much in this chapter.

Jesus’ appearance/revelation

Jesus’ invitation

Jesus’ question & commission

Jesus’ response

Jesus’ appearance/revelation Known in the everyday. Known in the abundance that His presence brings. (Not in the prosperity gospel kind of way… no formula. And abundance is not for hoarding or to ensconce disciples in comfort and luxury. It’s for provision.)

Jesus’ invitation “Come and have breakfast.”

Come & have breakfast. It’s morning. You’ve had a long night. Full of disappointment and now abundance.

Come & have breakfast… echoes of “Come & see.” (from the early “call” stories of the disciples)

Notice that it’s an embodied invitation. (Not “come and give intellectual assent to an idea.” Not “go ahead and go back to life as it was…back to normal.” But “you have seen things now that will not allow you to go back.)

Jesus’ invitation is to come and reimagine what discipleship might actually be. Not sustaining the status quo.

Karoline Lewis:

“Peter and the disciples want to go back to being “regular” disciples, but the ascension of Jesus will necessitate a reevaluation of what discipleship means.”

Jesus’ question “Do you love Me?”

Has anyone ever questioned you about your “status” as a Christian? Has anyone ever wondered aloud to you about whether you are a card-carrying member of a Christian group of some kind? “Are you born again?” “Are you Spirit filled?” Or, maybe it’s more like Peter’s first experience around a charcoal fire… not Jesus’ question of Do you love Me? but people’s jabs of “Are you one of those Jesus followers?” “Are you with Him?”

And, I don’t know how you handle those questions…

But I love that Jesus asks Peter a question that gets to the heart of things. And, of course, this event is often talked about as the “reinstatement” of Peter. Three denials…now three affirmations and invitations to demonstrate his love for Jesus.

And we should note that Jesus returns to the sheep and shepherd language from John 10. Here the Good Shepherd is inviting Peter to be His under-shepherd. This is a metaphor for leadership - used of kings and priests throughout Scripture.

We’re all potentially overly familiar with Psalm 23 and it’s Shepherd imagery. But it shows up in many other places, too.

Ezekiel 34:11–16 CEB

11 The Lord God proclaims: I myself will search for my flock and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out the flock when some in the flock have been scattered, so will I seek out my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered during the time of clouds and thick darkness. 13 I will gather and lead them out from the countries and peoples, and I will bring them to their own fertile land. I will feed them on Israel’s highlands, along the riverbeds, and in all the inhabited places. 14 I will feed them in good pasture, and their sheepfold will be there, on Israel’s lofty highlands. On Israel’s highlands, they will lie down in a secure fold and feed on green pastures. 15 I myself will feed my flock and make them lie down. This is what the Lord God says. 16 I will seek out the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the wounded, and strengthen the weak. But the fat and the strong I will destroy, because I will tend my sheep with justice.

So when Jesus invites Peter to feed and take care of lambs and sheep, it is an invitation to participate in work that God has been doing all along. To join in on a divine project of taking care of and rescuing and protecting the vulnerable. It crosses borders and boundaries and it offers priority to the lost, the stray, the wounded and the weak. It requires a heart for justice… because that is God’s heart.

Jesus’ question - do you love Me? and Jesus’ commission - be a shepherd…feed sheep, tend lambs, take care of the flock.

Jesus’ response “Follow Me.” “What does it matter to you what I do with ‘him’… follow Me.”

Peter is being called to a cruciform ministry. What Karoline Lewis calls “an embodied sense of God’s ongoing presence in the world.”

“It is a moment of truth-telling from Truth itself. but it is also a candor that is told by the crucified and resurrected Jesus. The disciples can only hear that they will go where they do not wish on this side of the cross and from the promise of resurrection.”

Conclusion (in reverse order):

Jesus’ response “Follow Me.”

Jesus responds to our questions…even when they’re misguided or off-base.

Peter. Focus. Follow Me. You can’t follow Me if you’re obsessing over what is happening with that guy and that one. And that woman over there.

Jesus’ question “Do you love Me?” and commission “join the Good Shepherd in tending the flock. Not just a call for pastors.

Your love for Jesus, my love for Jesus, our love for Jesus will be expressed through our actions. Through seeking out the lost, bringing back the strays, binding up the wounded, strengthening the weak.

Jesus’ invitation “Come and have breakfast.”

Jesus prepares a meal - but invites the disciples to contribute to it. He has fish, but he asks for some of their 153 fish. When we are welcomed to Jesus’ table, we are not passive recipients but participants.