Year C Easter III John 21:1-9

Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias.

John’s Gospel ends with four appearances that the resurrected Jesus makes to different groups of disciples: four scenes of Christ revealed alive, four assurances that death could never contain the life that Jesus lived and lives.

The first appearance is, of course, on Easter Day. On Easter Sunday we heard how Mary encountered Jesus in the garden outside the tomb, and mistook Him for the gardener, before God’s light flooded in and she saw Him revealed as her teacher. Last Sunday’s Gospel told us about two encounters with Jesus: late on Easter Day, Jesus appears to the disciples in the house where they had been staying — only Thomas is missing and does not believe. So Jesus returns again the following week, and this time Thomas is there, and sees with his own eyes, and confesses his belief. And Jesus says to Thomas, “Have you believed me because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

These appearances take place in Jerusalem, in the days just after Jesus’ execution. The terror of the preceding week has somewhat dissipated, but Jesus’ disciples are still filled with fear, not quite sure how to go on. They don’t know what’s coming next.

John does a wonderful job of showing us that fear transforms into joy. First Mary stands outside the tomb, weeping because Jesus is dead. And in the next moment she stands there weeping because He is alive. This whole section, John chapter 20, is imbued with a heavenly light.

Think about how your memories of deep despair and deep joy seem more intense: your wedding day, or other joyful event in your life, or the funeral of a loved one. The picture you keep in your mind is brighter, more colorful, more deeply ingrained. You may have heard someone say how “every minute of that day is burned in my memory”. But then life goes on, and many ordinary days follow. So it is with Jesus’ fourth and final appearance which hear about in today’s Gospel reading from John chapter 21.

Some time has passed — John doesn’t say how much. But the disciples have left Jerusalem and returned to their home in Galilee, back to the safety of the countryside and away from those terrible forces that Jesus confronted in the city: the chief priests and Pharisees in the temple, and of course the Roman governor and his soldiers. Jesus’ loyal followers are home, but you get the sense that they don’t quite know what to do with themselves or what to make of those strange appearances that happened just after Jesus’ death.

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.

As the disciples are coming back to shore, they find a man standing there who tells them to cast the net again, to the right side of the boat this time — and of course, the man is Jesus, and of course, they haul in so many fish that the net is nearly torn. And Jesus invites them to sit down on the beach, around the fire He has made, to break bread with Him once more.

This is the last appearance of the risen Jesus that John records. But this is not Jesus’ last appearance. As Mother Teresa often said, “The poor are Jesus in a distressing disguise.” But His appearances are not limited to the poor alone. When we look with the eyes of faith, we begin to see Jesus in the oddest places: on the seashore, in the garden, on the street corner. Sometimes Jesus is hungry and cold and asking us for money. And other times he is inviting us to sit down for an unexpected meal. But always, always, Jesus is challenging us to live lives of kindness and compassion, of sharing and generosity, of justice-making and peace. In a word, the abundant life that Jesus has brought us is a life of love: it comes from love and is intended to bring more love into the world.

And there is that word – “Love”. Love is a word we hear and my use often, but there is a problem, because the English language has a poverty of words for love. We have to modify love with other words if we want to try and be precise about what we’re talking about: we talk about “romantic” love, “familial” love, “brotherly” love, and so on.

Greek, the language in which our New Testament was originally written, does a better job of this, as we can see in the conversation that Jesus has with Peter. 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." But Jesus doesn’t seem satisfied with this answer, so He asks Peter again, and Peter again gives the same answer. In fact, this exchange happens three times.

Now why would Jesus ask Peter this question three times? It turns out, in the original Greek, Jesus and Peter are using completely different words for love. What Jesus actually asks Peter is: do you “agape” me? And Peter answers: yes Lord, you know that I “philia” you.

Agape and philia. Jesus wants agape: the kind of love that is life-transforming, wholly consuming, that means commitment beyond feelings. Agape is the self-giving love that sacrifices its own needs for the good of others. It is., in other words, the kind of love that God has for us. This is the love Jesus showed us on the cross, and Jesus is asking for this kind of love in return.

But all Peter can offer is philia: I have affection for you, Lord. I like you, well enough. That’s what philia is — more like, than love. Think of Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly (or Sisterly) Love.

We shouldn’t be too hard on Peter though. Perhaps he was just trying to be honest about the kind of love he was capable of giving Jesus. Peter saw Jesus’ brutal execution with his own eyes, so he is well aware of what can result from too much agape love. Letting go of yourself for the good of the other is not an easy calling.

But then, a remarkable and beautiful thing happens at the end of this exchange. The first two times Jesus asks the question, He says, “Do you agape me?” And Peter answers, “Lord, I philia you.” But the third time Jesus asks, He changes the question and uses philia instead of agape, the same word for love that Peter had been using all along.

Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?"

Perhaps he feels this way because he is embarrassed by Jesus’ lowered expectations. But in reality, he has no need for embarrassment: the point is that Jesus loves Peter, and loves us, enough to meet us where we are. If all we can offer is philia, then Jesus will meet us there, and keep walking with us. Jesus knows that the agape love with which God holds together the universe is more than enough to go around: it can make up for our deficiencies in love.

As we walk with Jesus and our hearts grow more open, less full our wants and needs, less selfish, creating more room, God’s agape love will come pouring in, until we are so full that it begins to flow through us and out into the world. This is the abundant life that Jesus wants for us and calls us to, but He leaves the choice with us.

“Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep.” Jesus never promises us comfort or safety; in fact, He paints a picture of a painful future awaiting Peter indicating the kind of death by which Peter will glorify God. And then Jesus speaks those words with which we are so familiar, those words that call us to choose goodness or evil, life or death, the world, or Him. Jesus said to Peter, [as He says to us] "Follow me."

Let us pray (from Psalm 51):

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.