Easter 3 – 10 April 2016 – Year C

Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

The text for this meditation is written in the 21^st Chapter of the Gospel according to St John: Verses 1 – 19:

Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: ² Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³ “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.⁴ Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. ⁵ He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” - “No,” they answered.

⁶ He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

⁷ Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. ⁸ The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. ⁹ When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. ¹² Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴ This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

¹⁵ When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

¹⁶ Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

¹⁷ The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

Last week, we read about Thomas, who after three years of personal witness of the ministry of Jesus Christ, denied His existence and promise to rise from the grave. Thomas’ faith was reliant on his own personal witness and judgement.  Nevertheless we saw Jesus’ friendly nature toward him as He patiently allowed Thomas to examine His holy wounds.  In essence Jesus re-instated Thomas.  This week, we read the account of Jesus re-instating more of the disciples especially Peter.

Many of the things in today’s Gospel are the same as they were when Jesus first called Peter, Andrew, James, and John, and told them that they would catch men instead of fish.  Peter has decided to work off his grief and frustration by doing some fishing.  Once again, they caught nothing.  Then Jesus appeared and just as the last time, Peter and his fellow fisherman found them selves with almost more fish than they could handle.

Jesus and Peter had a little over three years of history between them since that last great catch of fish.  Peter had learned a lot about himself.  Some of it was pretty good and some of it was terrible.  Peter learned that he had a bad habit of talking before thinking.

Peter had given one of the best confessions of the nature of Jesus Christ.  He had said, ^{[Matthew 16:16–17]} “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 

But before the day was out, he would mess up big time.  ^{[Matthew 16:21–23]} Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. ²² And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” ²³ But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”  It took Peter about six verses to go from being blessed to being called Satan.

Then, of course, there is Peter’s great promise of loyalty.  Peter said, ^{[Matthew 26:33–35]} “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”  Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.”  Peter said to him, “Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you!”

It didn’t take long for Peter to fail.  ^{[Matthew 26:69–75]} A servant girl came up to him and said, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.”  But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you mean.”  And when he went out to the entrance, another servant girl saw him, and she said to the bystanders, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”  And again he denied it with an oath: “I do not know the man.”  After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.”  Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know the man.” And immediately the rooster crowed.  And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

Peter’s track record is none too good.  Way back at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, Peter had confessed his sin to Jesus, ^{[Luke 5:8]} saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”   Now, after a little more than three years, Peter had no reason to change his assessment of himself.

In spite of this track record, Jesus still wanted Peter to become an Apostle.  Three times, Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?”  Three times, Jesus told Peter to care for His sheep.  Peter had denied Jesus three times.  Now he heard Jesus restore him three times.  Jesus not only wanted Peter in His family, He wanted Peter to serve the rest of His flock.

Jesus knew that Peter was carrying the painful guilt of his denial around inside of him.  He knew that Peter had to confess his guilt and get rid of it.  Jesus asked one question for each time that Peter denied Him.  Jesus brought Peter to the grief that He felt that night when Peter went out and wept bitterly.

Jesus didn’t leave Peter in that guilty grief.  He comforted Peter by restoring him.  As He worked with Peter, He called Peter to be the under shepherd of His flock.  This is a great restoration to grace.

Jesus is able to give this grace because of His great and perfect love – His perfect life that fulfilled all the law – His innocent suffering and death on the cross that made the payment we owed for our sins – His resurrection that opens the way to heaven for all believers.  All these things make up Christ’s great work of unconditional love that freely offered grace to Peter.  This grace is so great that Peter, who denied he even knew Jesus, eventually became the leader of the church.

This grace is not for Peter only.  In Acts 9: 1-20, we encountered Saul on the road to Damascus so that he could arrest the Christians that he found there.  Jesus came to him in a great light and a great voice.  Jesus said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”  And, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”  Saul also had to go through grief over his sins.  Saul had to come to grips with the fact that when he persecuted the church, he was persecuting Jesus the Son of God.  The grace that Jesus earned with His life, suffering, death, and resurrection was for Saul as well.  This time Jesus administered His grace to Saul through His disciple Ananias.  Ananias came to Saul and laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”  “And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptised; and taking food, he was strengthened”.  Jesus Christ’s grace is so great that Saul, who persecuted the church, eventually became Paul the evangelist to the gentiles and author of almost half of the books of the New Testament.

Friends in Christ, there is incredible comfort in this, for God does not change.  The grace that Jesus earned for us on the cross is not just for people long ago.  It is for people of all times and places.  The same Holy Spirit who brought Peter to bitter tears also brings us to grief over our sins.  In this way He makes us aware of our need for a saviour.  Then the Holy Spirit works to show that saviour to us.  The grace that Jesus earned with His life, suffering, death, and resurrection comes to us just as it came to Peter and Saul.  Just as the Holy Spirit worked through Ananias to bring grace and forgiveness to Saul, so also the Holy Spirit works through the confession and absolution, both public and private,  to bring grace and forgiveness to us.

The grace of Jesus Christ is beyond bounds.  It will not leave us unchanged.  All people who believe in Jesus Christ have their sins forgiven and their relationship with God restored.  All believers become heirs of eternal life in heaven.  The grace that Jesus Christ earned offers us forgiveness, life, and salvation.

We have all fallen as the apostles fell.  There have been times that we, like Peter, were afraid to confess our faith.  We have wanted to fit in and so denied that we knew Jesus.  We’ve all made promises to God that we haven’t kept.  Like the disciples, we often focus on ourselves instead of God.  We know that our sin has earned the eternal wrath of God.

Regardless of this, Jesus works in us through the Holy Spirit to re-instate us – to bring us back into the family.  In His love, He suffered and died for you and for me.  He took our sin onto Himself and gave us His righteousness instead.  His resurrection tells us that His loving sacrifice was successful.  He has opened heaven for all people.  All those who have the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith will live in the presence of God forever.

Jesus re-instated Peter, a fisherman who couldn’t seem to get his foot out of his mouth.  Jesus went out of His way to meet a man who arrested Christians and brought them back to be punished for their faith in the true God.  In the same way, Jesus is here … now … to patiently announce that He has dealt with our sins forever and to lovingly reinstate us into eternal fellowship with him.  Amen

The peace, love and grace of our great Triune God that is beyond all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen