A homily on John 21:1-19. The miraculous draft of fishes.
In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
Our Lectionary for tonight and tomorrow, the Third Sunday of Easter, has assembled an impressive set of readings, each of which provides more than enough material for several sermons. The Hymn to the Lamb in Revelation 5, the story in Acts of the Damascus Road experience and the conversion of St Paul, and of course, the Gospel, containing as it does two stories: the Miraculous Draft of Fishes, and the three commands to Peter. Since the rather long Gospel reading affords so much material, I will concentrate on that, and bring out only a few features which caught my attention.
First, a reminiscence. I believe that I last preached on this text, at the induction service for a rector in Newfoundland, some thirty years ago. I was rather nervous about it, for two reasons. Firstly, the Bishop had asked me to preach because he wanted to hear me for himself. People had evidently been grumbling about my preaching, and he wanted to know what the fuss was about. Secondly, I would be talking to people (outport Newfoundlanders who lived by fishing) who knew a lot more about fishing than I did. Our story begins with seven disciples fishing unsuccessfully. I was sure that my congregation could have given the disciples good advice, and that anything I said about fishing would be foolish.
I remember, in fact, one afternoon riding in a pickup with a priest who was also a fisherman, along a still stretch of water which looked quite ordinary and featureless to me. He stopped the truck, gestured over the water, and pointed to some ripples which indicated, apparently, the presence of a school of fish, evidently quite large. He even told me what kind of fish they were, although I've forgotten that detail. He regretted that he wasn't able to hop aboard a boat, and haul in the fish, right that minute! It's an incident like that, indicating intimate knowledge of the fishery, to which tonight's Gospel points.
In any event, the Bishop was happy with what he heard, and the congregation were generous to their young preacher, who was, as the Bishop said, "right green out of college!" I think I remember one or two remarks I made in that sermon all those years ago. I appreciate the present opportunity possibly to quote myself!
Tonight's Gospel begins with seven disciples, only three of whom are named (note that number: three), fishing, or at least attempting to fish, on the Sea of Tiberias. The three named disciples are Simon Peter, Thomas the Twin, and Nathanael of Cana. Peter and Nathanael are among the first disciples of Jesus, whose names appear in the first chapter of John's Gospel. The parallelism is intentional, and reinforces the importance of the disciples, especially Peter, for understanding what tonight's reading is about. And that number, three, will come up again.
Here we have another, post-Resurrection appearance (the third appearance, that is) of Jesus, in which his disciples don't recognize him. The first to realize who he is, is the "disciple whom Jesus loved," when Jesus directs them to where fish may be found. But Peter, when he hears this, jumps into the sea. The story doesn't actually say why he does this. Is he trying to get to Jesus, to get away, or to get to shore? But we hear shortly that he made it to shore, and boarded the boat again, to haul in the net.
Notice what is happening here. Peter announces that he is going fishing, he leaps off the boat when he sees Jesus, and he goes back aboard the boat to unload it. The Scripture says Peter "hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them." The appearance of this number in the story is very striking. Have you ever stopped to wonder why this unusual number appears in our story?
One hundred fifty-three is the product of three times fifty-one. Fifty-one is the product of three times seventeen. Three, like seventeen, is a prime number. It is not accidental that the number three appears in this story several times. It emphasizes the importance of three persons: Jesus, Peter, and the disciple whom Jesus loved, that is, John. We recall the back-and-forth in chapter 20 between Peter and John at the tomb of Jesus. John outruns Peter and looks in the tomb, Peter actually goes in first, then John goes in. The twenty-first chapter also develops the importance of this pair.
The number three comes up again, in the three questions, and the three commands, to Peter. The three questions and the three commands tell the disciples, and us, that Peter is very important to Jesus and his disciples, in a special way, as is John.
Had I been sorting out the Gospel readings for the current lectionary, I would have laid out this chapter, John 21, a little differently. I would have had two readings, the first to be the story of the miraculous draft of fishes, and the second to include the three questions to Peter, and the concluding verses about John. Such a selection would make it easier to bring out the contrast between the two, as well as their mutual importance in the earliest Christian community. As it is, the current arrangement emphasizes Peter more.
Since tonight's Gospel points so clearly to Peter, we need to find out what qualities he had that make him important to Jesus, to the other disciples, to the writer of the Gospel, and to us.
Firstly, he is willing to go fishing in the dark. The others trust him enough to follow him, even though they have no success at first. That kind of courage is essential; the other disciples have it too, and it is a quality that every Christian needs.
Secondly, not only is Peter willing to go fishing in the dark, he is willing to jump into the sea, with clothes on, no less. His faith that he will reach the shore regardless, shows us another facet of the courage that is essential to faith.
Thirdly, Peter is willing, and able, to haul the net ashore. Although the outcome had not seemed likely through the dark night, at dawn came the fulfilment. Peter was ready for that too. Success and discouragement, darkness and light, are the same to Peter. He is there to do what needs to be done, whatever the outcome.
Fourthly, Peter is willing to be questioned closely by Jesus, repeatedly, about the nature of his attitude to Jesus. Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you really love me? When Jesus is sure of Peter's response, he tells Peter what this means: caring for his flock, and, in the end, being willing to give up everything, to return to that uncertainty with which our story begins. So it is for us, to be willing to be questioned and known by Jesus, to do the work he gives us to do, and, in the end, to have let it go, all for the glory of God.
I remember, in fact, one afternoon riding in a pickup with a priest who was also a fisherman, along a still stretch of water which looked quite ordinary and featureless to me. He stopped the truck, gestured over the water, and pointed to some ripples which indicated, apparently, the presence of a school of fish, evidently quite large. He even told me what kind of fish they were, although I've forgotten that detail. He regretted that he wasn't able to hop aboard a boat, and haul in the fish, right that minute! It's an incident like that, indicating intimate knowledge of the fishery, to which tonight's Gospel points.
In any event, the Bishop was happy with what he heard, and the congregation were generous to their young preacher, who was, as the Bishop said, "right green out of college!" I think I remember one or two remarks I made in that sermon all those years ago. I appreciate the present opportunity possibly to quote myself!
Tonight's Gospel begins with seven disciples, only three of whom are named (note that number: three), fishing, or at least attempting to fish, on the Sea of Tiberias. The three named disciples are Simon Peter, Thomas the Twin, and Nathanael of Cana. Peter and Nathanael are among the first disciples of Jesus, whose names appear in the first chapter of John's Gospel. The parallelism is intentional, and reinforces the importance of the disciples, especially Peter, for understanding what tonight's reading is about. And that number, three, will come up again.
Here we have another, post-Resurrection appearance (the third appearance, that is) of Jesus, in which his disciples don't recognize him. The first to realize who he is, is the "disciple whom Jesus loved," when Jesus directs them to where fish may be found. But Peter, when he hears this, jumps into the sea. The story doesn't actually say why he does this. Is he trying to get to Jesus, to get away, or to get to shore? But we hear shortly that he made it to shore, and boarded the boat again, to haul in the net.
Notice what is happening here. Peter announces that he is going fishing, he leaps off the boat when he sees Jesus, and he goes back aboard the boat to unload it. The Scripture says Peter "hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them." The appearance of this number in the story is very striking. Have you ever stopped to wonder why this unusual number appears in our story?
One hundred fifty-three is the product of three times fifty-one. Fifty-one is the product of three times seventeen. Three, like seventeen, is a prime number. It is not accidental that the number three appears in this story several times. It emphasizes the importance of three persons: Jesus, Peter, and the disciple whom Jesus loved, that is, John. We recall the back-and-forth in chapter 20 between Peter and John at the tomb of Jesus. John outruns Peter and looks in the tomb, Peter actually goes in first, then John goes in. The twenty-first chapter also develops the importance of this pair.
The number three comes up again, in the three questions, and the three commands, to Peter. The three questions and the three commands tell the disciples, and us, that Peter is very important to Jesus and his disciples, in a special way, as is John.
Had I been sorting out the Gospel readings for the current lectionary, I would have laid out this chapter, John 21, a little differently. I would have had two readings, the first to be the story of the miraculous draft of fishes, and the second to include the three questions to Peter, and the concluding verses about John. Such a selection would make it easier to bring out the contrast between the two, as well as their mutual importance in the earliest Christian community. As it is, the current arrangement emphasizes Peter more.
Since tonight's Gospel points so clearly to Peter, we need to find out what qualities he had that make him important to Jesus, to the other disciples, to the writer of the Gospel, and to us.
Firstly, he is willing to go fishing in the dark. The others trust him enough to follow him, even though they have no success at first. That kind of courage is essential; the other disciples have it too, and it is a quality that every Christian needs.
Secondly, not only is Peter willing to go fishing in the dark, he is willing to jump into the sea, with clothes on, no less. His faith that he will reach the shore regardless, shows us another facet of the courage that is essential to faith.
Thirdly, Peter is willing, and able, to haul the net ashore. Although the outcome had not seemed likely through the dark night, at dawn came the fulfilment. Peter was ready for that too. Success and discouragement, darkness and light, are the same to Peter. He is there to do what needs to be done, whatever the outcome.
Fourthly, Peter is willing to be questioned closely by Jesus, repeatedly, about the nature of his attitude to Jesus. Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you really love me? When Jesus is sure of Peter's response, he tells Peter what this means: caring for his flock, and, in the end, being willing to give up everything, to return to that uncertainty with which our story begins. So it is for us, to be willing to be questioned and known by Jesus, to do the work he gives us to do, and, in the end, to have let it go, all for the glory of God.
In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment