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Jesus has risen. He's appeared twice to his
disciples as a group. The second time he tells Thomas
that those who believe in Jesus without having seen him
are blessed, and John concludes chapter 20 with the
statement that the things he's written are here so that
we who read them later may believe and believing, may
have life in Jesus' name. But the story isn't quite
finished. There are still some loose ends; and there's
still the future ministry of the Church to come. And so
he lets us in to a brief incident that occurs in Galilee
while the disciples are awaiting Jesus return to the
Father. |
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The
disciples have returned to Galilee at Jesus command to
await him. There are 7 of them this night, and they're
obviously getting restless. Jesus has told them to wait
for him, but as we all know, waiting can be hard. In fact
it gets so hard for Peter that he finally jumps up and
says "I am going fishing." He's a man of
action. He's sick of sitting around doing nothing. It
can't hurt to do a bit of fishing while they're waiting.
They need to eat and they can use the money. Well, the
other 6 think this sounds like a great idea. "We'll
go with you," they say. So they go, but they catch
nothing. |
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Then,
just after daybreak, Jesus appears on the shore and says,
"Hey guys, not doing too well, huh? Try over there,
on the right side of the boat." And as they cast
their nets, they catch a huge haul of fish. Well, this
had happened before hadn't it? And John is the first to
realise it. He says to Peter, "It's the Lord."
As usual, Peter jumps into action. He ties his robe
around him and swims the hundred meters or so to land,
leaving the other disciples to pull the boats and their
catch into shore. There he finds a fire burning with fish
on it already. But Jesus wants to share what they've
caught as well, so he tells Peter to go and bring him
some of the fish from the net. This is going to be a meal
where they share together, in fellowship, the fruits of
their labour. |
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But first
the important job of counting the fish is completed. 153
fish! An impressive catch by any measure. Yet the nets
are not torn. In the previous incident in Luke 5, that
huge catch caused the nets to break and the boats to
sink, but here the nets hold firm. And so they sit down
to eat, realising that it's the Lord with whom they're
eating. |
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It seems
to me that John has included this incident to teach us
something important about following Jesus. About life
after the resurrection. So what is it? |
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Well,
first of all, I think we're meant to read this incident
in the light of other times that the disciples had
encountered Jesus on the edge of the lake. The first time
of course was when he first called them to follow him. In
Mark 1, Jesus comes up to Peter and Andrew and James and
John and calls them to follow him and he will make them
fish for people. In Luke 5, after he's finished teaching
the people, he tells them to put their boats out into
deep water and let down their nets and they pull in a
huge catch, just like this one. And again he calls them
to follow him and they'll begin to catch people rather
than fish. And in this passage at the end of his
conversation with Peter he again calls him to follow him. |
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But this
time there's something different. When John mentions
night you can't help but notice it. It's a recurrent
theme throughout the gospel. Several times Jesus has said
some variation of, "Work while you have the light.
The night is coming when no-one can work." So when
John tells us that that night they caught nothing, our
ears should prick up. What is he alluding to? Is it that
their efforts on their own initiative proved fruitless,
but when they fished at Jesus' direction their nets were
full of fish? Is he reminding us of Jesus words:
"Apart from me you can do nothing" (15:5) |
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Might
this be a warning for us as we try to bring people into
God's Kingdom? How often do we depend on programs, on
techniques, on psychological strategies to bring us
success, rather than depending on the leading and the
power of God. Why is it that the fastest growing churches
around are the unsophisticated churches of the third
world? Is it because they depend on the power of prayer
for their success? Is it because they rely on a simple
direct presentation of the gospel rather than
sophisticated techniques? Is it because they take Jesus
at his word and do what he commands rather than doing
their own thing? 'They got into the boat, but that night
they caught nothing.' When they cast their nets at Jesus'
command they were not able to haul them in because there
were so many fish. |
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There's
something else that's different in this account from that
other one in Luke 5. As I said, there when they pulled in
the nets they began to break, but here, even though there
were so many, the net was not torn. Again, there's a
parallel here with the preaching of the gospel, now that
Jesus has risen and has sent his disciples out into the
world. Previously when they went out to preach it was to
the lost sheep of the house of Israel. But now the net is
full of large fish. The focus of the preaching of the
gospel is now to be widened so that many more will hear
about Jesus. In fact the gospel net is now spread to the
ends of the earth. Yet no matter how many people it
catches it will never break. |
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This is
something that we've seen over the past century or so.
Christianity has now spread to ever corner of the globe.
It may not be strong in every place but it is present in
most parts of the world, and where it's present it's
growing, particularly where it's been freed from the
constraints of western cultural perspectives and allowed
to stand in it's own strength. |
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The other
interesting feature of this early morning meal is the
graciousness with which Jesus invites them. These are
ordinary working men, with all the glory and failings of
human nature. There's Peter, the failure, there's Thomas
the doubter, there's the hotheads, the sons of Zebedee,
there's the faithful and loyal Nathaniel, and there's the
anonymous, faceless disciples, the 2 others who are not
named. |
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And
despite the fact that they're eating with the risen Lord,
he invites them to bring some of the fish they've caught
to add to the meal. He authenticates their work by adding
their fish to the meal. And so we're told that this is
the third time Jesus has appeared to the disciples. As if
we needed further proof that Jesus is truly risen, here
he is with them a third time, this time sharing a meal
with them, that perhaps acts as a symbol of the end time
meal, the marriage supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:9). |
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But
having finished eating, Jesus turns to Peter. There's
still one piece of unfinished business to deal with. You
may be able to imagine how Peter is feeling as all this
is happening. He hasn't forgotten what happened while
Jesus was being interrogated by the High Priest; how he
denied he even knew Jesus. 3 times! He bears a load of
guilt that will weigh him down forever if it isn't dealt
with. Have you ever felt like that? Like you have
something in your past that weighs you down. Something
that you've done that you're ashamed of or that causes
you great regret? In Peter's case it's even worse,
because he's the one who stood up in front of the other
disciples and said, "I'll even die for you".
And now they all know how he failed. |
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Yet he's
the one to whom Jesus said, "you are Peter and on
this rock I will build my Church." So he needs to be
restored, not only for his own sake, but for the sake of
the church. So Jesus confronts Peter publicly, just as
his failure had been in public. And notice he addresses
him, not as Peter, the rock, but as Simon, the ordinary
man who suffers from the same limitations as the rest of
us. He needs to know that Jesus loves him as ordinary
Simon. But he also needs to know that if he'll come to
Jesus in humility and trust then he can again be Peter,
whose leadership and witness will form a solid foundation
for the church to come. |
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So he
asks him, "Simon son of John, do you love me more
than these?" More than the other disciples? More
than the fish that he's just caught or the joy of
fishing? Or more than the other disciples love Jesus? It
isn't clear is it? But it may be that he's reminding him
of his boast that even if all the rest fall away, he'd
stand firm. And how that boast had failed the last time
he stood before an open fire warming himself. In fact
that sort of boast will always fail, because it depends
on the strength of the person making it. What Peter needs
to learn and what we need to learn, is that our success
will depend on the power that Jesus will give us. So
Peter is asked three times if he loves Jesus. And each
time he answers yes, Jesus commissions Peter for ministry
within the Church. And what is the nature of that
ministry? Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.
His ministry is one of service. He's to work as an
under-shepherd, tending Jesus' sheep. Jesus has already
asked his Father to protect the sheep, remember. Peter's
job is to feed them, to tend them. And it's not in his
own strength that he'll do that, but in the Father's. |
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So Jesus
first deals with Peter's sin, and then commissions him to
work on his behalf. And John finishes his gospel with the
same call with which the other gospels begin. With the
command "Follow me!" When Peter gets distracted
by what Jesus might have in mind for John, he's told in
no uncertain terms to forget the other disciples and
concentrate on this: on following Jesus. |
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It's all
too easy isn't it, for us to look around at how God might
be dealing with other Christians? You see this especially
in ministry circles. We get distracted so easily from
what we're supposed to be doing by the things that we see
other people doing, or not doing. We get put off by
others' successes. We waste time pointing the finger at
people who are doing what we think is the wrong thing.
But when we do that I can imagine Jesus looking at us
with a disappointed look on his face and saying, as he
did to Peter, "What is that to you? Your job is to
follow me." "Make sure you do your job properly
and don't worry about how I deal with others." |
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Jesus'
call is the same for us today as it was for Peter and the
other disciples back then. Follow me. Tend my sheep, feed
my lambs. The gospel is ours to proclaim. Jesus has
risen. Jesus has paid the penalty for sin. Jesus has
provided the cure for the worst disease known to
humanity, the disease of sin and death. And he provides
us with a net that will allow us to gather up all those
that he chooses, to bring them safely into his kingdom.
That net is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the power of God
for salvation to all who will believe. This gospel of
John was written so that people might come to believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by
believing they might have life in his name. |
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I pray
that we might be a Church that continues in that gospel
lifestyle, of fishing for people, of tending the sheep,
feeding them with the word of life. Let's pray that that
might be so. |
