Third Sunday of
Easter (C)
May 1, 2022
Text: John 21:1-19
Alleluia!
Christ is risen! He is risen,
indeed! Alleluia!
It
sounds familiar, doesn’t it, what happens in our Holy Gospel this morning? The fishing all night and catching
nothing? No, I’m not talking about your
unsuccessful excursions at the reservoir or on the Snake. The disciples. Professional fishermen. Frustrated at their profession. And now, a mysterious man with the
unsolicited advice to let down the nets once again (like He knows anything
about it!), and… a miraculous catch! Of
course, this very thing happened at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. It is reported in Luke, Chapter 5. On that occasion, after the miraculous catch,
our Lord told Peter and the Sons of Zebedee that from now on they would be
catching men (v. 10). And they left
everything… their boats, their business, the fish they’d just caught… and
followed Him (v. 11). So here they are
again, and the scene is repeating itself, and that is why John, the disciple
whom Jesus loved, recognized Him. By His
Word. He is a smart cookie, that John. “It is the Lord!” he says (John 21:7;
ESV). Whereupon Peter (and we love this)
gets dressed and jumps into the sea, while John and the others
row the boat ashore, considering they are not far off, and there is this net
full of fish to drag with them.
The
scene repeats itself. But there are
differences. Now, St. Augustine, in his
marvelous commentary on John’s Gospel,[1] points out that the
differences are instructive. They teach
us about Church and Ministry, first from our perspective here and now in
this fallen world, and then from the perspective of the risen Lord Jesus
Christ from the vantate point of the End.
And it is so important for us to keep both perspectives before
our eyes, because they are both true at one and the same time.
The
account from Luke at the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, is about the
Church as it appears to us here and now.
There is Jesus in the boat with His disciples. Likewise, Jesus is with us here in the
Church, the Ark in which we are saved from the demonic chaos and death of
the sea that is this world. And, in
fact, Jesus speaks His Word across the water, and the sea becomes the
very thing that saves us, the saving bath of Holy Baptism. He teaches His disciples and the crowds,
there, in the boat. So here in the
Church, Jesus teaches us, and all who will hear, His holy Word,
which is our very life. And then He
commands Peter and the others to let down the nets, and though they had
fished all night and caught nothing, now, though it is not the time for fishing
(as any professional fisherman knows), they bring in such a miraculous haul
that the nets are breaking, and they need help from their partners to
bring in the catch. And even then,
the boats begin to sink. So it is in the
Church. Though we do our very best,
employing every tactic we know, to catch men with the Gospel nets, it seems to
be fruitless. Then, all at once, at
Jesus’ Word, even when it seems like what He says couldn’t possibly work,
and we think we know better than Him, what happens, but a miraculous
catch. Sinners coming to faith in Christ
and receiving the gifts of His forgiveness, life, and salvation.
Now,
there are other challenges for the Church in this life, aren’t there? And these, too, are illustrated in the Lukan
account. Augustine says that the nets
breaking are prophetic of the schisms that rent the Church asunder
whenever we don’t agree on the Gospel and all the things God teaches in His
Word. Augustine saw it in the many
heresies that were prevalent in the Early Church. We see it in the denominations
of a divided Christendom. And the
boats beginning to sink, Augustine says, are prophetic of the great evils
under which the Church groans. She
does not actually sink. But there is
the peril. Fightings and fears
within. Persecutions and suffering from
without.
And
then, Jesus tells a parable in Matthew 13 (vv. 47-50) about the nature
of the fish caught by the Church in this fallen world. That is, they’re not all keepers. Now, they are all sinners. That is not the determining factor. The Church only fishes for sinners, to
bring them into the boat of Holy Church and give them the forgiveness of sins. And they are all kinds of fish, the
Lord says, reminding us that when the Church lets down the Gospel nets, she
will catch men from every nation, tribe, people, and language. So these are not the determining factors,
either. What is the determining
factor? Faith in Jesus Christ. The visible Church on earth has within its
walls both believers and unbelievers.
Augustine reminds us that in Luke, when Jesus commands Peter to let down
the nets, He doesn’t say which side, right or left. To mix the metaphor, the Church on earth not
only catches sheep, but goats as well.
And
we can’t tell the difference here and now.
We have to take our brothers and sisters at their word, at their
confession of faith. We can’t look into
anyone’s heart, to see whether they really believe, or whether they may just be
feigning. And frankly, we’re not very
good at knowing the difference between unbelief and a faith that is simply weak
or suffering. This is why we shouldn’t
judge. So it isn’t until the end
of the day that the fish are sorted, reminding us that at the close of the age,
“The angels will come out and separate the evil,” that is, unbelievers
who have forfeited the forgiveness of sins Jesus won for them, “from
the righteous,” that is, those forgiven their sins and justified
by faith in Christ, who died for them, and who is risen from the dead (v.
49). The evil, Jesus says, will be
thrown into the fiery furnace where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth (v.
50), but the righteous?... Well, now we
have a new picture of what will happen, and that is the occasion of our Holy
Gospel this morning.
This
is Church and Ministry from the perspective of the risen Lord Jesus Christ,
from the vantage point of the End. This
time, He is on the shore. Which is not
to say He isn’t with us on the boat, but remember, this is a matter of perspective,
and we are talking about Jesus Christ, God in human flesh, who is
ever and always at once in all places, right? The disciples are in the boat, having caught
nothing, and the risen Jesus is on the shore, and though they see Him while
they are still on the sea, they don’t recognize Him. And so He calls out to them. He speaks to them, His Word. “Children,” a term of endearment and
affection, “do you have any fish?” (John 21:5). The word is actually not fish, but “do you
have a little side dish?” Or in context,
the sense might be, “do you have even a little fish to go on the side of a meal?” A side of sardines, you know, like a side of
fries? No, not even that. “Cast the net on the right side of
the boat, and you will catch some” (v. 6).
See, these now, from this perspective, are only going to be good fish,
large fish (sheep, from the right side, to mix the metaphor), keepers. And so it is.
A miraculous catch. Nearly
impossible to haul it in.
John
recognizes Jesus, and says so. Peter
puts on his clothes to jump into the water, and we laugh, but then, this is
baptismal imagery. In the water, Peter’s
shameful nakedness is clothed with the righteousness of Christ. And we know that, even as he denied the Lord
three times around a charcoal fire, He is about to receive a three-fold
restoration and confess His Lord around a charcoal fire.
The
Apostles come, piloting the boat, the Church, dragging the net full of fish. And this time, the net is not
torn. There will be no schism here, when
the Church comes to Jesus on the shore.
And each fish will be numbered.
Each one is special. Each one is
important. It is not that they catch about
150 fish, or 155ish. 153. An exact number. Each one known to Jesus. Caught by the Gospel net, the Apostles drag
them through the water to the shore, where Jesus is, to greet them. Just as we are each one numbered and known to
Jesus, special to Him, purchased for God by His blood and death, caught by the
Gospel net, drug through the baptismal water of our own death and resurrection
in Christ, to Jesus on the shore where He is waiting for us. And that is heaven. That is the New Creation.
Now,
there is so much more to say about our Holy Gospel, and all the readings we’ve
heard from Holy Scripture this morning.
But I suppose that will have to wait for another time. Suffice it to say, Jesus feeds His
Church. There is bread, reminding us
that He feeds us here in the Supper with His own body and blood, and that this
is but a foretaste of the Feast to come when we reach the shore where Jesus is
waiting for us. And there are fish
already on the fire. Jesus didn’t have
to wait for the disciples to bring in the net.
He who multiplied loaves and fishes in His earthly ministry here creates
them out of nothing, for He is the God who created all things out of nothing.
And
He provides for the preaching of the Gospel and the tending of His sheep. Peter is restored and called to shepherd the
Church. Saul is knocked on his hateful
keister and transformed by the Lord’s call and by Holy Baptism to fish
especially among the Gentiles and bring in a great catch. Augustine says that the two boats at the
beginning of Jesus ministry are a sign of Peter and Paul and the coming
together of Jews and Gentiles in one holy Church. And in some sense, we are all caught in the
Apostolic net of the Gospel preached by Peter and Paul and James and John and
the rest, for the Church is built on the foundation of the Apostles and
Prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the Cornerstone (Eph. 2:20), again, to mix
the metaphor.
Now,
Church and Ministry from both perspectives, can be summed up in this
way: Jesus provides all that is necessary to bring every single fish,
every last on of us, to Himself on the shore of His Kingdom, where He gathers
us for the Feast. We must repent of
relying on our own expertise and fishing methods, our clever evangelism
programs of bait and switch, thinking we know better than Jesus. We must repent of our worrying about bad fish
and the challenges that confront the Church.
We must repent of pre-judging who does and does not have
faith. Jesus speaks His Word. That is what fills the boat. He catches men alive. He caught us. He brings us in. He gives Apostles and Prophets, Gospel
Writers, Pastors, and Teachers (Eph. 4:11), as well as our fellow saints,
parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors, to cast
the net of the Gospel, to bring us through the water of the font, in the
boat of the Church, to the place where Jesus feeds us.
And
whichever way we look at it, from the perspective of our own fallen line of
sight in this world, or from the perspective of the risen Jesus, one thing is
certain. It is Jesus who really
does the fishing. It is Jesus who
bring us into the boat. It is Jesus
who reals us onto the shore. The Church
will not sink. She cannot. Jesus is bringing her in. And the harvest of fish will be plentiful. So trust Him.
And hear Him now, as He says to you, the same thing He said to the
Apostles at the Sea of Tiberius: “Come and eat!”
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[1] Tractates on the Gospel of John, https://sites.google.com/site/aquinasstudybible/home/gospel-of-john-commentary/st-augustine-on-john/augustine-on-john-21 .
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