Peter is Reinstated

John 21:1-9

Last week, as you listened to the Gospel reading, how many of you thought, “That wraps things up nicely”?  If that crossed your mind, you were right on target.  Last Sunday’s reading was the conclusion of John’s Gospel, at least as far as the Beloved Disciple was concerned.  It wraps thigs up well.  All the faithful disciples see Jesus in the upper room – even Thomas is there, and he finally addresses Jesus by the title that, after rejecting many other titles, Jesus accepts.  Thomas says, “My Lord and my God”, and now we all know who Jesus truly is. And while the disciples are gathered in that upper room, Jesus imparts the Holy Spirit to them, and tells them they have the power to forgive or retain the sins of others. 

That’s where we usually wrap things up.  We celebrate Pentecost, and then after Pentecost season, we enter what the Church calls “ordinary time” – the season when we aren’t celebrating any other major season in the Church calendar.  There won’t be another season until we reach Advent, and the Church year begins again.  Last week’s Gospel sounds like the conclusion of John’s Gospel, and yet, today we heard a reading from the chapter that follows last week’s reading.  Why is this?  It is because something unexpected and unsettling occurred within the Johannine community, something that made today’s Gospel reading necessary.

The Johannine community, had some set beliefs.  As a whole, it was separate from the Church as established by Peter and Paul, and thus John’s teachings had, and have, a different “flavour” from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke – what we call the “Synoptic Gospels”.  John’s Gospel is more “mystical” than the other three.  Along with their slightly different take on the Good News, the community also firmly believed that John, their Apostle and leader, known as the Beloved Disciple, would still be alive when Jesus returned.  But then, John died, before Jesus second coming, and this threw the community into confusion and turmoil.

Many of you may know that our Bible, even our Gospels, has been edited – not in recent times, but long ago, when our faith was still taking shape.  Such editors are called redactors, and John’s Gospel had a redactor.  Because John had died, it was imperative that someone explain to the Johannine Church what had happened. The turmoil in the community that John’s death created had to be addressed.  Someone had to do something to hold that Christian community together.

We don’t know the name of the person or persons who took action, it may have been a group of elders, but we do know that the Johannine Church needed something or someone to explain that John’s death did not invalidate his teachings about Jesus. They needed leadership with authority to strengthen and confirm their faith.

Fortunately, there was a way out of this dilemma. The Churches established by Peter and Paul did not rely on John surviving until Jesus returned.  Thus, the best idea seemed to be to bring the Johannine community into a closer relationship with the congregations established by Peter and Paul, and to their beliefs and teachings.  With that in mind, what the redactor did was add a second ending to John’s Gospel – the ending we heard this morning.

Where did this story come from?  It was not something just made up to fill a need.  The story exists in the Synoptic Gospel of Luke, albeit in a slightly different form, but it is there. Thus, it is a story based on the authority of an apostle other than John, but nonetheless valid.

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."

It may seem at first that the fishermen figure they have nothing to lose by trying the advice of the Stranger on the shore. But casting nets wasn’t any easy job.  Not only did they need to be hauled up and thrown correctly out of the boat, if anything was caught, the nets had to be hauled back in. This could involve diving into the water to help retrieve them, after which, the catch, if there was one, had to be dealt with. There is a certain level of unspoken trust in the fishermen’s decision to do as the Stranger suggests – and lo and behold, the catch is enormous.

So, the Johannine community understands that Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee all have the authority to grow the Church.  See how many fish they have caught under Jesus’ guidance?  But there is still a problem.

The Johannine community knew about Peter – how he had denied Jesus three times before the cock crowed on the night when Jesus was taken by the Roman authorities. Why would they trust this man, this traitor?  And so, we have the story of Peter’s forgiveness and reinstatement by Jesus. 

Three times Jesus will ask Peter, “Do you love me?”  Twice, in the original Greek in which our Bible was written, Jesus asks Peter for agape, the self-giving love that sacrifices its own needs for the good of others – the kind of l,ove God has for us.  But all Peter can offer in response is philia: I have affection for you, Lord. I like you, well enough. That’s what philia is — more like, than love.

But the third time Jesus asks, something amazing happens.  He changes the question and uses philia instead of agape, the same word for love that Peter has been using all along. Jesus meets Peter where Peter is, as Jesus meets us where we are in our spiritual journeys.  And Peter is forgiven, which we know, because Jesus commissions him to, “Feed me sheep”. The Johannine Church would have heard this and understood. 

And then, to answer their most burning question, the redactor adds the bit we didn’t hear this morning.

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.”  Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”

Today’s Gospel reading, not including that last bit, is a story mostly about Peter and about Love – about responsibility and the uncertainty in being a true disciple. Jesus stands on the shore and looks out at the followers He loves so deeply.  It is after the resurrection - and God’s love, Jesus’ love, flows through Him as He looks at the men with whom He shared His earthly ministry.  Agape!  God so loved the world . . .

And Jesus speaks, to the fishermen - and to us:

“Children, have you caught anything?”  Where is your trust?  Do as you have been asked. Cast the net.  See what happens.  “Come, have breakfast.”  Eat.  “Do you love me?”  Feed my sheep. Tend my lambs. Feed my sheep. And then prepare to go where you don’t want to go following plans you did not make. Follow me.”

Let us pray:

Create in us pure hearts, O God, and renew steadfast spirits within us.  Do not cast us from Your Presence or take Your Holy Spirit from us.   Restore to us the joy of your salvation and grant us willing spirits, to sustain us.  Despite the troubles that may assail us, let the focus of our lives be always You. Help us to follow where You lead.  We ask all this for Your Love and mercy’s sake.  Amen.