John 21:1-19 Commentary

The new life that Easter represents finds its expression this week in a call to discipleship. So much about this pair of scenes calls back the original call to disciples.

The gospel writer tells us that this is the third time Jesus appears to the group, but even still, the awkwardness the disciples feel as they consider Jesus fills the air. They do not doubt that he is resurrected, and yet he is also not the Jesus they knew as their rabbi. They dare not ask Jesus who he is because they already know. We might say that they “knew it in their bones” but wouldn’t have been able to explain it. Commentators cling to Bultmann’s description: the disciples feel “peculiar” around Jesus because the resurrection has created a “peculiar wall” between them. Peculiar or awkward, whichever word you choose, the effect is the same: they do not feel completely themselves—something in them is also changing because Jesus has changed.

That feeling isn’t named when they were originally called by Jesus to be his disciples, but I wonder if it wasn’t something they felt at different junctures along the way. Even so, there are plenty of parallels to that first time they chose to follow Jesus. First, here they are, fishing again. And here they are, completely unlucky all night long when someone on the shore tells them to try again. (Last time, Jesus was in the boat with Peter when he gave that command.) Just like before, their catch is massive, too big to handle. And it’s the largeness of the catch that makes someone in the boat realize that the person who instructed them is the Lord of the universe.

The first time around, it was Peter who had the epiphany. This time it’s anonymous but the impact on Peter starts to show how being a disciple of a resurrected Lord transforms us. This time, instead of falling on his knees in feelings of unworthiness, Peter doesn’t bother to wait for the boat to head to shore; he cannot wait to be in Jesus’s presence so he jumps in and swims to Jesus. Peter’s eager to obey, perhaps because he knows his failures.

Most of us can’t help but connect Jesus’s three questions for Peter with Peter’s three denials. But it’s also worth noting that he is referred to as “Simon Peter” and Jesus calls him “Simon son of John”—just as Jesus did when he first called Peter to be his disciple. If we read their conversation in the same way that we read the miraculous catch of fish, we have to feel as though this is an affirmation of what is still true. In other words, Peter’s denials were not the end of his discipleship, but he is experiencing a new beginning and perhaps an expansion or deepening of his call.

Three times Jesus asks Peter about his love, and three times Jesus connects that love with feeding or tending his sheep. Knowing what we know about Peter, I find it quite compelling that Jesus is encouraging Peter to be bold in his love for God by loving others in word and deed. Jesus knows better than anyone how massively Peter can fail at this task, but Jesus does not let that be the end of the story. He knows where Peter’s earthly story will end, and it is one of faithfulness and martyrdom—far from the epic fail he had that fateful night by the fire.

Then there are the final words of our lectionary selection as Jesus says, “Follow me.” If there was any doubt in our mind that we were to remember their initial callings, it is all gone now. But these words take on a deeper meaning here. Jesus’s command to follow him is now characterized by showing love for others as an expression of love for him. Love is described as feeding and tending his sheep. Love also includes a prophecy of hardship and even of death. This prophecy reminds us that where we may end up is not where we would want to be, but it is where following Jesus and his call to love has led us.

I can’t help but think that in that process of following, even to places where we do not want to go, is where we will meet Jesus like the disciples did on that beach. That in these places where we are loving others in order to show our love for God we will know God with us, even if it feels awkward or peculiar or hard. Or maybe, knowing God is what will make it so.

Textual Point

The lectionary has given us one big story that could easily be broken into two separate preaching texts. That’s why if you’re preaching them together, you’ll notice the same theme of new beginnings.

Illustration Ideas

Have you ever learned something about someone and then felt awkward around them? Maybe you were talking about a skill in a group setting only to find out that one of the members of that group is an expert (who graciously didn’t mention this fact while you were talking). Or maybe you were complaining about something only to discover that your complaints sounded more like an insult to someone else’s passion. I think this is the sort of feeling the disciples have when they eat breakfast with Jesus.

I recently learned about a Ghanian Wedding Ceremony tradition that feels akin to the three questions Jesus asks Peter. During the ceremony the bride is asked three different times if she consents to the marriage. It is repeated so that there will be no doubt that she is getting married of her own free will. I don’t think this is related to Jesus and Peter’s beach conversation, but along with echoing the three times Peter denied Jesus, having him answer three times allows Peter the opportunity to realize what he himself is saying and committing to—just like a wedding ceremony.