Third Sunday of Easter 4/18/10 Text: John 21:1-14
Third Sunday of Easter
4/18/10
Text: John 21:1-14
Title: Restoration
This Sunday is the third Sunday of Easter. It is that time in which the Christian Church celebrates the 40 days which Christ spent with his disciples after his resurrection. It will end on Ascension Day May 13 which is a Thursday. Once again we will have the opportunity to come together in worship to celebrate the ascension of Jesus. There will be two services. One will be held at 2pm the other service at 7pm. If you have not attended an Ascension Day service I, as your pastor urge you to take the time out of your busy schedule to do so. You will be truly blessed by the experience.
Today in our Gospel reading we find the disciples fishing. Jesus had told them sometime before his death and resurrection that they were to go to Galilee where he would meet them. It appears that sometime within the 40 days that Jesus spent on this earth in his glorified body that at least some of the disciples left the city of Jerusalem and went to Galilee to the seashore. This was quite a distance.
We are not told why they went fishing, but I would imagine it was because they needed to make a living. And being that they were fishermen they probably arranged for a boat and one night went fishing, maybe they had gone fishing each night since they had arrived, for the custom of the time was that you went fishing at night when the lights from the torches would attract the fish and they could then catch them in the net. That way they could get them ready for the market in the morning.
All sorts of symbolism are found in this passage; things like they were in the dark and the light of Jesus came to them. Or that since the amount of fish equaled the known types of fish, at the time, that meant when they became fishers of men that they were to go to all people. Another symbolism is that the meal represented the Holy Supper of the Lord. Then there is the symbolism of Peter in his nakedness covering up representing the first Adam covering himself in his sinfulness before God. These are just a few of the symbolism and interpretations found on this particular Gospel reading. None of the things I have mentioned have any proof passages behind them. They are all just ways to take the story and put a spiritual meaning to it.
While there is not necessarily anything wrong in doing that I have found that most of the time it is best to just look at the passages as they are written in the context of the time. The disciples had gone back to familiar territory to do what they knew; that is fish. They may or may not have remembered that Jesus had told them he would meet them there. We just don’t know. Remember these are people who have seen the resurrected Jesus and still have not figured out just who he is and what their role is to be in his story.
It had been a stressful few weeks. Jesus the one man who they had rested their hopes on, as being the Messiah would free them from the Romans had been captured, tortured, and finally executed on a cross. It is true that they had seen and talked to him after he had come out of the grave, but he did not stay with them. He came mysteriously and went mysteriously. I have no doubt in my mind the disciples at this time were still trying to figure out if he, as God, was still going to overthrow the Romans. I am sure they had lots of discussions concerning Jesus.
Since we have read in the story that they did not recognize Jesus at first, it just might be that they really did not expect to see him again. When Jesus called out to them they threw their nets on the other side of the boat. Go figure why they did that. But they did and caught more fish than they ever had. Maybe it was because John the unnamed disciple remembered Jesus telling them how to fish before. They had listened to him and had caught so many fish that they almost swamped the boats.
Peter in his usual manner jumps in the water, probably without thinking, and heads for shore. The others in the boat was have been paddling like mad as they drug in the nets, for it appears according to the Gospel reading that they all got to Jesus at the same time. They all knew who he was and so at his invitation they sat down and ate breakfast with him. John closes off this section of the Gospel with the words, “This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.”
There is a lot going on here. This particular text has no clear meaning other than Jesus meeting with his disciples for the third time. That is why there is so much speculation among those who study such things concerning the deeper meaning of the text.
The question that I always ask of the text is, “What is it that God is telling us through this text today?” Well let’s see. The last verse provides the answer. “This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.” This particular story then is about proving that Jesus is alive. And that he is not some ghost or spirit. He is flesh and blood, truly human like he was before his resurrection with a twist; he is now glorified.
That is an important point, for it shows us that Jesus did not see that it was necessary for him to discard the body after his resurrection. This was completely opposite of the thinking of the time, actually it is still the thinking of today, for the body is still looked upon as something to be discarded, so that the soul can be set free. By his appearing in his body Jesus is showing us that the body is good, for he created it. It is true that our body is corrupted by sin and all that brings, but the body is good, for he did not just die and rise again so that your soul can live with him forever. He died and rose again so that your soul and body can live forever with him, as he created it to do.
You see my dear brothers and sisters in Christ just, as Jesus invited his disciples to believe and receive his forgiveness he invites us in our brokenness to be made well. We need that because we are all broken in some fashion, especially broken are those who don’t think of themselves as being broken, for they are the most broken of all.
There is not a single one of us including myself who follow the commands of Jesus, who love and forgive, as he tells us we should. There is not a single one of us who cares for the lost, as he tells us we should. There is not a single one of us who takes care of the needs of the poor, as he tells us to do.
No, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ we are broken and God wants to restore us. He wants us to experience the resurrection so that we will be better people. He wants us whole and that is why he comes to us each Sunday when I stand in front of you and tell you your sins are forgiven. That is why he comes to us in the Word of God telling us about himself and his will for us. That is why he comes to us in his Supper where we receive forgiveness, salvation, and life. It is in these things that we, as broken people are reassured time and time again of that which we first received in our baptismal waters when he first claimed us as his own.
That is what God does. He claims. He forgives. He protects. And he welcomes us over and over to follow him. So even though you might be like Peter up and down in your faith or like Paul doing the things you know God hates and not doing the things you know God wants you to do God is never ashamed of you or even embarrassed by you, for our God is in the business of restoration. Amen.
4/18/10
Text: John 21:1-14
Title: Restoration
This Sunday is the third Sunday of Easter. It is that time in which the Christian Church celebrates the 40 days which Christ spent with his disciples after his resurrection. It will end on Ascension Day May 13 which is a Thursday. Once again we will have the opportunity to come together in worship to celebrate the ascension of Jesus. There will be two services. One will be held at 2pm the other service at 7pm. If you have not attended an Ascension Day service I, as your pastor urge you to take the time out of your busy schedule to do so. You will be truly blessed by the experience.
Today in our Gospel reading we find the disciples fishing. Jesus had told them sometime before his death and resurrection that they were to go to Galilee where he would meet them. It appears that sometime within the 40 days that Jesus spent on this earth in his glorified body that at least some of the disciples left the city of Jerusalem and went to Galilee to the seashore. This was quite a distance.
We are not told why they went fishing, but I would imagine it was because they needed to make a living. And being that they were fishermen they probably arranged for a boat and one night went fishing, maybe they had gone fishing each night since they had arrived, for the custom of the time was that you went fishing at night when the lights from the torches would attract the fish and they could then catch them in the net. That way they could get them ready for the market in the morning.
All sorts of symbolism are found in this passage; things like they were in the dark and the light of Jesus came to them. Or that since the amount of fish equaled the known types of fish, at the time, that meant when they became fishers of men that they were to go to all people. Another symbolism is that the meal represented the Holy Supper of the Lord. Then there is the symbolism of Peter in his nakedness covering up representing the first Adam covering himself in his sinfulness before God. These are just a few of the symbolism and interpretations found on this particular Gospel reading. None of the things I have mentioned have any proof passages behind them. They are all just ways to take the story and put a spiritual meaning to it.
While there is not necessarily anything wrong in doing that I have found that most of the time it is best to just look at the passages as they are written in the context of the time. The disciples had gone back to familiar territory to do what they knew; that is fish. They may or may not have remembered that Jesus had told them he would meet them there. We just don’t know. Remember these are people who have seen the resurrected Jesus and still have not figured out just who he is and what their role is to be in his story.
It had been a stressful few weeks. Jesus the one man who they had rested their hopes on, as being the Messiah would free them from the Romans had been captured, tortured, and finally executed on a cross. It is true that they had seen and talked to him after he had come out of the grave, but he did not stay with them. He came mysteriously and went mysteriously. I have no doubt in my mind the disciples at this time were still trying to figure out if he, as God, was still going to overthrow the Romans. I am sure they had lots of discussions concerning Jesus.
Since we have read in the story that they did not recognize Jesus at first, it just might be that they really did not expect to see him again. When Jesus called out to them they threw their nets on the other side of the boat. Go figure why they did that. But they did and caught more fish than they ever had. Maybe it was because John the unnamed disciple remembered Jesus telling them how to fish before. They had listened to him and had caught so many fish that they almost swamped the boats.
Peter in his usual manner jumps in the water, probably without thinking, and heads for shore. The others in the boat was have been paddling like mad as they drug in the nets, for it appears according to the Gospel reading that they all got to Jesus at the same time. They all knew who he was and so at his invitation they sat down and ate breakfast with him. John closes off this section of the Gospel with the words, “This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.”
There is a lot going on here. This particular text has no clear meaning other than Jesus meeting with his disciples for the third time. That is why there is so much speculation among those who study such things concerning the deeper meaning of the text.
The question that I always ask of the text is, “What is it that God is telling us through this text today?” Well let’s see. The last verse provides the answer. “This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.” This particular story then is about proving that Jesus is alive. And that he is not some ghost or spirit. He is flesh and blood, truly human like he was before his resurrection with a twist; he is now glorified.
That is an important point, for it shows us that Jesus did not see that it was necessary for him to discard the body after his resurrection. This was completely opposite of the thinking of the time, actually it is still the thinking of today, for the body is still looked upon as something to be discarded, so that the soul can be set free. By his appearing in his body Jesus is showing us that the body is good, for he created it. It is true that our body is corrupted by sin and all that brings, but the body is good, for he did not just die and rise again so that your soul can live with him forever. He died and rose again so that your soul and body can live forever with him, as he created it to do.
You see my dear brothers and sisters in Christ just, as Jesus invited his disciples to believe and receive his forgiveness he invites us in our brokenness to be made well. We need that because we are all broken in some fashion, especially broken are those who don’t think of themselves as being broken, for they are the most broken of all.
There is not a single one of us including myself who follow the commands of Jesus, who love and forgive, as he tells us we should. There is not a single one of us who cares for the lost, as he tells us we should. There is not a single one of us who takes care of the needs of the poor, as he tells us to do.
No, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ we are broken and God wants to restore us. He wants us to experience the resurrection so that we will be better people. He wants us whole and that is why he comes to us each Sunday when I stand in front of you and tell you your sins are forgiven. That is why he comes to us in the Word of God telling us about himself and his will for us. That is why he comes to us in his Supper where we receive forgiveness, salvation, and life. It is in these things that we, as broken people are reassured time and time again of that which we first received in our baptismal waters when he first claimed us as his own.
That is what God does. He claims. He forgives. He protects. And he welcomes us over and over to follow him. So even though you might be like Peter up and down in your faith or like Paul doing the things you know God hates and not doing the things you know God wants you to do God is never ashamed of you or even embarrassed by you, for our God is in the business of restoration. Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 2:30 PM
|
0 comments
