14th December, 2009

BRUCE C. WEARNE

Read John 21:1-25

What is one to do after a person you confessed to be the Messiah, rises from the grave? What guidance is there to help us know what to think and to do in such circumstances? And how does a person deal with a resurrection if, at the point of the Messiah's arrest, before His execution, one has deserted Him? And what if one denies even knowing Him, after one has earlier stated a willingness to lay down one's life in His service? What if the opportunity came to die for the Messiah and one squibbed it, denying that one ever knew the person?

Put like that, such a scenario sounds abstract and theoretical, until one realises that that is precisely what the final chapter of John's Gospel is all about. The disciples of Jesus had witnessed their Rabbi's arrest. They had heard about the nails and the spear thrust into the side of the dead body. They had learned that the body had been laid nearby in a fresh grave. They would have already been traumatised by the events of the last weeks. But now? How does one deal with a resurrected Son of God, as well as all that. To top it off He comes and calls you His brother, His sister, His friend, when all you have done is to let Him down? And so, the apostle addresses the way in which the Risen Lord dealt with His disciples and these two men - Peter and John - in particular. They were to become leaders of the early church, and they knew just how feeble their allegiance had been.

QUESTIONS ASKED: Jesus tells Peter three times - "Feed my lambs". From a vintage engraving. PICTURE: Digital restoration © Steven Wynn (www.istockphoto.com) "Is Jesus asking whether Peter loves Jesus more than Peter loves the other disciples? Or is He asking whether Peter loves Jesus more than the others do? Or is it, a question about the work Peter is to do? Is it more than fishing and the fish?"

It is thus the account of a great transformation brought about by the gentle care of the Good Shepherd (John 10). There was some evident restlessness among Jesus' disciples, and here back by the Sea of Tiberius (21: 1), we are reminded that this trip to Galilee was to a province still under the Roman Emperor's jurisdiction. Peter had decided to go fishing and though they had fished all night without a catch, the voice from the shore 100 yards away, made a suggestion to change sides and an enormous catch was the result.

Peter realised who it was and off he went, swimming to shore to meet Jesus. When they need more fish for breakfast there he is back on the boat, hauling the net ashore with its catch of 153 full-size fish. This was a catch the seven disciples would never forget. It was enormous and without a single tear in the net. Amazing. Peter had gone fishing, but Peter's Lord had evidently blessed his labour. And they shared breakfast together, Jesus Himself serving the tired crew of fishermen.

Then the apostle records a conversation between Jesus and Peter, implicating John himself. Jesus persistently probed Peter. The first question seems somewhat ambiguous: "Simon, son of John, do you love (AGAPAS) me more than these?"

We might ask about the meaning of this question. Is Jesus asking whether Peter loves Jesus more than Peter loves the other disciples? Or is He asking whether Peter loves Jesus more than the others do? Or is it, a question about the work Peter is to do? Is it more than fishing and the fish? Whatever the meaning, Peter's answer is straight forward: "Yes, Lord, you know that I love (PHILOO) you!". To which Jesus replies by instructing Peter: "Feed my lambs!"

The same question is repeated and the same answer given, and Jesus instructs Peter: "Feed my young sheep!" A third time, Jesus asks again with a slightly different use of terms - "Simon, son of John, do you love (PHILEIS) me?" - and a grieved and pained Peter replies: "Yes, Lord, you know everything; you know that I love (PHILOO) you!" To which Jesus reiterates the previous instruction: "Feed my young sheep!"

Whatever the apostle was trying to convey of the discussion - originally spoken in Aramaic and this Gospel was written in popular Greek - the variant use of AGAPAS and PHILEIS suggests that Jesus was helping Peter to appreciate that He, the Lord, was not going to be persuaded that Peter couldn't be His under-shepherd. Peter would indeed be able to feed the Lord's sheep because he was indeed the recipient of the Lord's special love. At that time Peter may have not comprehended what Jesus was saying. But this was the beginning of a learning curve. Instructions in Peter's two letters relate to this: "Having purified your life by obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brethren (PHILADELPHIAN), earnestly from the heart love (AGAPESETE) one another" (1 Peter 1: 22), and "(A)nd to integrity add brotherly kindness (PHILADELPHIAN) and to brotherly kindness add love (AGAPE)" (2 Peter 1: 7).

So, it would seem that the apostle's source for this complex conversation is none other than Peter himself. It is as if John is recounting Peter's own account of his difficulty in appreciating the kindness of the Lord Jesus toward him. And this record includes Jesus' prophecy concerning the kind of death by which Peter was to glorify God (21: 19). Here Jesus confirmed to Peter, that yes, his previous willingness to lay down his life for Him (13: 37) was accepted; that indeed would come to pass. And so, in saying "Follow me!", Jesus was re-issuing the call He had made on that same shore some years back (Mark 1: 16-20). That was just after he had called John and James, the sons of Zebedee.

And now Peter turns and asks a question about John and that was when the Lord specifically addressed Peter's distraction from the profundity of what he had just been told. The important thing was re-specified: "You follow me!"

The record is set straight. The Lord's reply redirected Peter's distraction. This was no prophecy about John's longevity. How did the rumour come about? We can guess that, for a while, Peter may have been confused by Jesus' reply, but the long-term impact of what Jesus had said to him proved effective. Those words were also effective for John. Like all of Jesus' disciples, both stood in need of being assured by the One who has been resurrected.

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