Third Sunday of Easter

Third Sunday of Easter (C)

May 4, 2025

Text: John 21:1-19

Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!

            “(Y)et the disciples did not know that it was Jesus” (John 21:4; ESV). 

            There is something about the risen Jesus.  He is hard to recognize.  We think of Mary Magdalene at the tomb on Easter morning.  She thinks Jesus is the Gardener.  Well, she’s not wrong.  In His resurrection, He is restoring Eden.  “Mary,” He says to her.  One Word.  Her name.  And she knows.  “Rabboni!”

            We think of the disciples on the road to Emmaus.  A stranger joins them on the way, but their eyes are kept from recognizing Him.  They tell Him of the events of Holy Week, and the wreckage of all their hopes.  But He shows them from Moses and all the Scriptures that these things had to take place; that all the Scriptures are about this… about Him!  And their hearts burn within them, and they invite Him in to eat with them and stay with them (for it is toward evening), and He takes bread, blesses it, breaks it, and… they know!  It is Jesus.  And all at once He is gone from their sight.

            Paul (Saul), too, has trouble recognizing Him in our first reading (Acts 9:1-22).  Knocked on his keester by the voice and the light.  “Who are you, Lord?”  Well, who do you think it is?  “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”  It should be obvious.  But there is something about the risen Jesus, our eyes just can’t register.

            And so, in our text… Peter and the Apostles know, now, that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.  He pops up here and there.  But they have such a hard time focusing on the truth of it.  So they go fishing.  Comfort in the familiar.  It’s what they know.  Or, so they think.  They fish all night and catch nothing.  Then, this Stranger calls out from the shore.  “Children, do you have any fish?” (John 21:5).  “No, but thanks for noticing.”  “Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.”  “Sure, Buddy, whatever you say.”  But they do.  And you know what happens next.  They should have known, though.  They should have been looking for Him.  I mean, they're Christians!  They should have been asking Him (prayer!).  But they just don’t see it.  They just don’t see Him.  And because they don’t see Him, they act like He’s not even there.

            What things does the risen Jesus do for His disciples in our text?  1. He guides them, gives them instruction (“Cast the net on the right side”).  2. He blesses their endeavors.  At His Word, 153 large fish.  They’re not able to haul it in for quantity and size.  3. He feeds them.  There is the charcoal fire.  “Come and have breakfast.”  Fish… NOT the fish the disciples just caught.  Fish Jesus provides.  And bread.  We should also note that, along with the food, He gives them fellowship, communion, with Himself, and with one another.  4. And then, of course, there is forgiveness and restoration for Peter.  A three-fold restoration for Peter’s three-fold denial.  And in this way, Jesus is providing, not only for Peter, but for His whole Church, the Office of the Holy Ministry.  “Feed My Lambs… Tend My Sheep.”

            What the risen Jesus does for His disciples in our text, He does for us.  Right?  1. He guides and instructs us.  That’s what He’s doing now in Scripture and sermon, in Sunday School and Bible study.  It’s also what He does for us behind the vocations of parents, teachers, the government, etc.  2. He blesses our endeavors.  Sometimes even fishing.  Our work.  Our families.  Our relationships.  The Church… That is an important one, because that is really what this net business is about.  Success comes at our Lord’s Word and Command.  When He says.  In the way He says.  Not by our Church growth expertise or clever evangelism techniques.  3. He feeds us.  The Lord’s Supper.  His true body and blood.  The eternal wedding Feast to come.  And, of course, in this way, with this food, fellowship, Communion, with Himself, and with one another.  AND our daily bread.  Why does God give us what we need for this body and life, and so much more besides?  Because Jesus died for our sins, and is risen from the dead.  That’s why!  We should know that.  4. And so that we know that, He provides the Office of the Ministry.  The Preaching Office.  Word and Sacrament.  The feeding and tending of the flock. 

            Do we recognize Him in these things?  The risen Jesus?  We know in our hearts and minds that He is risen, and with us, and that He feeds us, tends us, cares for us, loves us.  But our eyes are all out of focus, aren’t they?  We just don’t see Him.  And because we don’t see Him, we act like He’s not even there. 

            In one way, I suppose this isn’t all bad.  It is an exercise of our faith.  Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, our eyes are kept from recognizing Him, because we’re given to hear Him in His Word, and look for Him in the Breaking of the Bread.  And there is a sense in which we just don’t think about it, because we’re at rest in the safety and security of His care.  “Of course I received my daily bread today.  I’m not surprised.  God has it handled.” 

            But in another sense, it’s these fallen eyes.  They can’t focus.  They can’t see clearly.  We forget.  We forget that God loves us and provides for us because of what Jesus has done for us.  Because of our Lord’s sin atoning death and victorious resurrection.  We think it’s up to us to provide these things for ourselves.  It becomes an occasion, either for pride (“I take care of myself.  Look how hard I work.  I’ve earned all of this.  I’m self-sufficient.”), or despair (“Where are You, Lord?  I need help.  I don’t have the things I need, and I’ll never have them.  Where are You?  I can’t see You!”)

            Where is He?  There the whole time.  Like our text last week, when Jesus appeared in the midst of His disciples the evening of Easter.  He didn’t climb through the window, or sneak in the back.  He didn’t even walk through the wall.  He was there the whole time!  That is the point.  He is with us always, to the end of the age.  Bodily.  Crucified, yet risen.  Where is He in our text today?  Right there.  The whole time.  The problem isn’t Him.  Or His care for us, His providing for us.  It’s us.  It’s our eyes.  God, give us eyes to see!...

            He does.  John spots Him.  “It is the Lord.”  What makes the difference?  What opens His eyes?  Jesus speaks.  And He blesses.  And prepares a meal.  And then, we can’t believe we missed it.  We should have known!  And once we do know… once we remember… then, no one dare ask Him, “Who are You?”  We know it is the Lord.  My lunch before Church today?  It is the Lord.  The fact that I didn’t die a horrendous death last night?  It is the Lord.  That I am here, now, gathered with you around the Word and Supper?  It is the Lord.  That there is a Church here for us?  You know it.  It is the Lord. 

            It is Jesus.  God-with-us in the flesh.  Guiding.  Instructing.  Blessing.  Feeding.  Forgiving.  Restoring.  … Raising from death!...  Ever present in His Church.  Ever present in our life.  Still displaying the mortal wounds (He died for your sins!).  But living.  Reigning.  Speaking.  Providing. 

            Okay, you know this about your eyes: They don’t see so well.  /But now you’ve heard it once again.  Hear it daily.  Read it daily.  Speak it aloud daily.  What?  It is Jesus.  You know it.  And you also know this: Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!  Live like it.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.