On the Beach John 21:1-14, John 21:15-25
On this third Sunday in the season of Easter, we look at yet another resurrection appearance, this one from the Gospel of John.
The disciples are despondent. Their Lord has been crucified. I suppose that by the time this encounters takes they have heard of the Resurrection. But obviously they do not yet know the significance of the Resurrection for their own lives. They are still confused and bewildered. The text says, Peter announced to the other disciples, "I'm going fishing." They responded, saying, "We'll go with you." They went out on a boat on the Sea of Galilee. But that night, it says, they caught nothing.
The disciples went fishing and they caught nothing. But here comes the first lesson in this amazing, rich story. The disciples, some of them, were recruited by Jesus to be "fishers of men." You remember, Jesus said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." They are not doing what they were called to do and what they once did they failed at. They needed Jesus.
Coming to the shore they notice a stranger standing there. He asks, "Catch anything?" Which is the question everybody asks a fisherman. Their answer is typical of fishermen. They say, "Not much happening out there." They really meant it. They caught nothing. The stranger then says, "Cast your net on the right side of the boat." They do it,and catch a whole mess of fish. The disciple named John says to Peter, "It's the Lord! It's gotta be the Lord! There's only one person who can fish like that!"
The text says there are a hundred and fifty-three fish in that net. Which corresponds, incidentally, to the number of species of fish that the ancient world believed existed in the seas. Now I like to take that literally and say that Jesus was the only person in history to catch one of each species of fish with one cast. But I am sure we are not supposed to take it literally, but allegorically. When numbers appear like that in the Bible, you can be sure that you are supposed to interpret it allegorically.
So what this is saying is that without Jesus empowering and guiding us, we, as disciples, are ineffective. We are impotent without Jesus' presence with us. With Jesus present with us, which is what the Resurrection makes possible, disciples can bring all humankind into the Kingdom. A hundred and fifty-three species equals, allegorically, all the races, all the nations of the world. So with Jesus' empowerment, everyone will be captured by the preaching of the Gospel. Jesus is with us to empower us and to guide us in doing what he has called us to do. Without him, we can't do it. That is the first part of this story. You could call the first part of the story, "the kettle of fish." The second part of this story could be called, "the charcoal fire." This is the part of the story that I want us to focus on.
The disciples get off the boat and join Jesus on the beach. Jesus is standing by a charcoal fire. This is a charcoal fire. The last time we read about a charcoal fire in the Gospel of John, it was outside the palace of Caiaphas, the high priest of Jerusalem. Peter was lurking a little ways off. The soldiers see Peter standing in the shadows. The light from the fire illumines his face. They think they recognize him. They ask him, "Aren't you a disciple of Jesus?" Peter said, "No." They asked him three times, beside a charcoal fire, "Are you a disciple of Jesus?" And three times Peter said, "No."
I tell you, for Peter, the sight of a charcoal fire would bring back that dreadful memory. Jesus is standing on the shore beside a charcoal fire. Peter, who impulsively jumped out of that boat when he saw that it was Jesus, and ran through the shallow water to the shore, must have stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Jesus standing beside a charcoal fire. Jesus said nothing to him. He took the fish and cooked them breakfast.
Then he took the bread, broke it, and gave it to them. Now they know. This is the Lord! They are having communion, as he promised.
Now look what happened. The meal is over. Jesus turns to Peter, and asks, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter said, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." "Then feed my lambs."
A second time he says, "Simon, do you love me?" "Yes, Lord; I love you." "Then tend my sheep."
A third time he asks, "Do you love me?" "Yes, Lord." "Then feed my sheep."
Three times Peter denied Jesus around a charcoal fire. Three times Jesus forgives Peter around a charcoal fire. That's what is happening here. Forgiveness is happening here. "Feed my sheep" means, you've got your old job back. You are restored. Forgiveness means forgetting the past and starting over again.
Forgiveness means that it no longer weighs you down. "He breaks the power of canceled sin, he sets the prisoner free." "Feed my sheep" means, you've got your future now. That is the meaning of the charcoal fire. It is a scene for forgiveness.
Then the account ends with a riddle. It is about the only time that Jesus uses a riddle. Jesus says to Peter,
When you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go.
What does that mean? The author of the Gospel of John says it is a prediction of Peter's crucifixion. Peter will die, like Jesus, on a cross in Rome. But Peter will tell the Romans, "I am not worthy to die as my Lord died." So this terrible irony, the executioner simply turns Peter's cross upside down, so he does not die the way his Lord dies, he dies upside down. But he was still hanged on a cross, so John says it is a prophesy, a prediction of the way Peter will die. "When you are old, you will stretch out your hands..." as in the crucifixion. But there is something else here. Look at the riddle again.
When you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and another will gird [help] you.
When you are young you are like Peter was. You are confident, brash, and boastful, confident of your powers, sure that you can do anything in this life. You remember, Peter said to Jesus, "I will never leave you. Others will betray you, I am sure, but I will never leave you." And he left him.
There is a time in your life when you think you can do anything. Then comes the time you learn you cannot do it all. You need someone else. You need someone's forgiveness, maybe. You need somebody's patience. You need someone's grace.
It was exactly that way with the disciples. Days before the crucifixion, in fact days before this scene takes place, the disciples were walking with Jesus toward Jerusalem. Jesus was going to be crucified. And what are the disciples doing? Boasting, bragging, competing with one another as to which one of them is the greatest.
Now look at them. Look at what happened to them just a few days later. Every one of them failed to deliver on their boasting. Every one of them failed. Peter is just the representative disciple. He is the most likable of all the bumblers, but he is still a bumbler, just like us.
I believe what this means--this fishing and catching nothing, and then Jesus showing up to show them how to do it--it means we need grace to do what we are called to do. And at some point in our life, when we are able to say, "I am a sinner, and I cannot do this on my own; come Lord Jesus, help me." That's when we grow up. For a while we think we are successful in doing this, because nobody says anything. Or if they do, our denials cause them to back off, and pretty soon we are spending an awful lot of time and energy in our life pretending. There are some who just run their mouths and cannot or will not help themselves by stopping until they drive all their friends and acquaintances away. But one day, when you grow old, you realize, "I didn't do this on my own." You may take the credit for it, you may brag on it a little bit, but you didn't do it alone.
From time to time, this applies to all of us. We've had to put out our hand, and someone else has girded us. This text says that's what happens when you grow old. I say that is what happens to you when you grow up, not when you grow old. It is a sign of maturity. It is the realization that I cannot live my life alone.
When you are young, you gird yourself. But when you are old someone else strengthens you. When you grow old, you fall down a few times. When you mature, you discover the limits of your life, and discover that you haven't got this far by yourself.
The disciples in their boat, fishing. A stranger on the shore tells them where to find the fish. They couldn't do it on their own. Then he renews the life that he gave them years before. He gives it back to them. He just appears from nowhere and gives their life back to them. A life they thought they had thrown away. They know now they could not have done it by themselves. But because he started with them, he finished with them.
When you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you mature, you will stretch out your hand, and someone else will gird you.