Sermon manuscript:
Our Gospel reading today is most of the last chapter of
John’s Gospel. We are picking up today where the Gospel reading from last week
left off. Last week we heard how Jesus appeared to the disciples on Easter
evening. Then he appeared to Thomas a week later. So the events that we heard
about this morning would have had to have happened sometime between this week
after Easter and Jesus ascension, which is forty days after Easter. According
to last week’s reading the disciples were in Jerusalem. Now they have left
Jerusalem. They have gone back to Galilee, to the Sea of Galilee.
You heard Peter say, “I’m going fishing.” This does
not seem to be a leisurely fishing expedition. Peter and at least a few other
of the apostles fished for a living before Jesus called them to be apostles. The
text mentions that they were out fishing all night long. Kids might gladly stay
up all night long to catch fish for fun, but these grown-ups probably had other
plans. They wanted to sell the fish they caught. Their plans, however, came to
nothing. They were empty handed come dawn.
Then their fortunes turned. A fellow was there on the shore
in the gray misty morning. He’s about 100 yards away. He asks them if they have
any fish. No? “Well, then, throw your nets on the right side of the boat and
you will find some.” Lo and behold, that’s exactly what happened. Not only
did they find some fish, they caught a whole bunch of them. They had so many
fish that they couldn’t lift the net into the boat.
This almost certainly would have brought to these men’s mind
another bonanza that happened a few years before this. Perhaps almost like a
flashback. A few year before this Peter and his associates still fished for a
living. There was another night when they hadn’t caught anything. The next day
they were on the shore working on their nets when Jesus showed up with a large
crowd of people. In order that Jesus should be heard by them all Jesus got into
Peter’s boat and went out from shore a ways. As he spoke from the boat his
voice reflected off the water and all the people could hear.
When Jesus was done speaking he told Peter to go out where
it was deep and let down his nets for a catch. That didn’t seem like a good
idea to Peter, but since Jesus told him to, he agreed. As soon as the nets
plopped into the water so many fish came into his nets that they started to
strain and pop under the weight. His boat and James’ and John’s boat quickly
filled up so that they were starting to sink. Then Peter fell on his knees
before Jesus and said, “Depart from me Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Jesus said, “Do not be afraid. From now on
you will be catching men.” Then, when they got to shore, they left
everything behind and began to follow Jesus. This was the way that Peter was
called to be an apostle.
As you can see, something similar happened again on this
early morning after Jesus rose from the dead. The seven apostles had caught
nothing all night. Then, at Jesus’s word, the net was filled completely.
When Peter and the rest get to shore Jesus already has breakfast
prepared for them. There’s already a fire that has been burning so that it is
now hot coals. Fish has already been prepared as well as bread. Jesus, though,
tells Peter to also take from the fish that he had caught. So Peter goes and
hauls in the huge catch of fish that you would think would make the net burst. It
is not said whether or how this fish was added to the meal. The next thing that
Jesus says is, “Come and have breakfast.”
Then we have something, again, that might cause a flashback:
Jesus took bread and gave it to them as well as the fish. This might have
brought to the disciples’ minds yet another thing from the past. There were at
least two prior occasions when Jesus fed a great multitude with a few loaves of
bread and a few fish. I’m referring to the feeding of the 4,000 and the 5,000.
It seems to me that by this breakfast Jesus is communicating something to these
disciples. It’s true: Things had radically changed for them. Their day-to-day
activities were different than from before Jesus was crucified. It looks like
Peter and the rest were thinking about going back to their old livelihoods. But
Jesus is showing them that while they worked hard all night and caught nothing,
he has a meal already prepared. Jesus, who can feed multitudes, can also feed
them.
Then Jesus asks Peter if he loves him more than these, and
by “these,” he presumably is referring to the other disciples. Does Peter love
Jesus more than the other disciples? There are several things to point out
about this exchange, but let’s begin by noting how this also brings up
something from the past—the very recent past, in fact. On the night when Jesus
was betrayed a couple things happened.
The thing you can probably easily remember is that Jesus
instituted the Lord’s Supper. There was also on that night a discussion among
the disciples over which of them was the greatest. When Jesus put his 2 cents
in, he threw them altogether in the same pot. He said that they were all going
to forsake him as the Scriptures foretold. Peter disagreed with Jesus. He
didn’t know about the other disciples, but as for him, he would never forsake
Jesus. Even if he had to die he wouldn’t leave Jesus. He loved Jesus more than
all the rest of them.
Perhaps you recall Jesus’s response: “Before the rooster
crows, you, Peter, will betray me three times.” And so it came to pass.
While Jesus was being interrogated and abused in the chief priest’s house Peter
was outside by a charcoal fire. He was asked three times whether he was one of
Jesus’s disciples. All three times he said he wasn’t. The last time he said it
even with cursing and swearing. Then the rooster crowed.
So when Jesus asked Peter at this shore-side breakfast whether
he loved him more than the others I have to believe that this painful and embarrassing
episode was brought to Peter’s mind. Now there’s no bombast. You can see that
Peter is humbled. Peter no longer believed in himself and in the power of his
own faith like he did on the night Jesus was betrayed. He had learned by
experience how weak he was, how he failed to watch and pray, and how
susceptible to temptation he was. Jesus asks three times whether Peter loves
him, and there is no bragging on Peter’s part.
Let me say something about the different words that Jesus
and Peter use in these questions and responses. Perhaps you noticed how the
translation had Jesus say, “Peter, do you love me?” and Peter responded,
“Yes, Lord, you know I care for you.” Most translations do not do it
this way because this sounds kind of harsh in English. Most translations have
Jesus say, “Peter, do you love me?” and Peter responds, “Yes, Lord,
you know that I love you.” In English, when one says, “love,” and the other
responds, “Yes, I care for you.” This sounds like a much bigger difference than
how it sounds with the Greek.
The advantage, however, of the way our translation did this
is that it points out that there are two different words that are being used.
Jesus asks if Peter has agape love for him. Peter responds that he has filial
love for him. The difference between agape love and filial love is not so huge.
They can almost be used interchangeably. But notice how Jesus changes the word
he uses.
Jesus asks Peter, “Do you have agape love for me?”
Peter says, “Yes, I have filial love for you.” This happens two times. Then,
after Peter has said that he has filial love for Jesus two times, Jesus changes
his word to the word that Peter has been using: “Do you have filial love for
me?” Peter is hurt. He has said he cares for Jesus two times. Then Jesus
asks him, “Do you care for me?”
There’s one more part of this exchange that we need to
consider. After Jesus asks and Peter responds Jesus follows that up with three
very similar sayings. Jesus: “Do you love me?” Peter: “Yes, Lord.” Jesus: “Feed
my lambs.” Again, “Do you love me?” “Yes, Lord.” “Be a shepherd for my
sheep.” Finally, “Do you care for me?” “You know all things. You know that
I care about you.” Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.” So if we put all these
together Jesus says, “Feed my lambs,” “Be a shepherd for my sheep,”
and “Feed my sheep.”
The lambs or sheep that Jesus is referring to is those who
would believe the apostles’ testimony about Jesus. The way that these lambs or
sheep are fed is with the Word of God. Jesus is telling Peter to care for the Jesus’s
sheep by feeding them Jesus’s word.
As you know, this is what Peter would go on to do. Beginning
at Pentecost Peter would preach fearlessly and with great boldness that Jesus
is the Christ, the Son of God, even to those who put Jesus to death and had the
authority to do the same to Peter too.
So what are we to make of this whole exchange? Let me just
say that I do not think I understand everything going on here as well as I’d
like. There are other details that we haven’t even gotten into. But I’d like to
point out one thing: Note how different this morning has been compared to the
night when Jesus was betrayed.
Peter is low here whereas before he was very confident.
Peter, it seems, is thinking about going back to his old profession. Jesus
encourages him with friendly reminders of Jesus’s faithfulness. When Jesus asks
him if he loves him, Peter doesn’t charge ahead with great boldness like he did
on the night when Jesus was betrayed. He doesn’t say that even if he needs to
die for Jesus that he will always be faithful and true. How could he? Peter has
been humbled; his responses are humble. Nevertheless, note where Jesus directs
his attention: “Feed my lambs, shepherd my sheep, feed my sheep.”
Peter is to go about doing what Jesus has always intended
for him to do. Peter will preach and teach Jesus to the salvation of those who
will believe. The way that this will be carried out, however, is not how Peter
was thinking previously. It will be carried out humbly and with great weakness.
On the night Jesus was betrayed Peter felt great. He had never felt more powerful
spiritually. He felt that he could take on a whole army single-handedly with
his trusty sword. This was a false faith. What ended up happening is that he
was afraid of even a little servant girl.
Peter does not feel nearly so good about himself on this
early morning sometime after Easter but before Christ’s ascension. It never
feels good to anyone to be humbled. But throughout Peter’s faith is being
directed to things that will not let him down. Jesus gently encouraged him by
bringing to mind Jesus’s faithfulness. Jesus sets him on his way. He will feed
the sheep of the Good Shepherd. However, it won’t be with bravado and
harshness. One sinner will be telling another sinner where they can have forgiveness,
life, and peace—in Jesus.
This will turn out much better than what Peter was thinking
previously. The Gospel and the Sacraments are Jesus’s Gospel and Sacraments. It
is his ministry. Whenever any Christian starts to rely upon his or her own
gifts like Peter did, then he or she is getting ready to fall. The Christian
who relies on his or her own gifts isn’t very effective either. Such a one looks
out at the world and wonders why everyone else can’t be as spectacular as he or
she is. Christians are not in the business of making other people to be just like
them. Christians are in the business of urging others to believe in the same
Jesus that the one speaking believes in. That is the true and saving message.
One last thing from our reading: Jesus tells Peter that one
day what he so feared on the night when Jesus was betrayed is actually going to
happen. Peter had been afraid to suffer and die for Jesus. That’s why he denied
him. Another opportunity to confess Jesus’s name was going to come, but this
time Peter wasn’t going to fail. Peter wasn’t going to deny his Lord. He would
be faithful unto death and receive the crown of glory.
We are cut from the same cloth as Peter. We need to learn
the same lessons. We also have the same Jesus upon whom we can learn to rely.
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