By Debbie Blue
Gospel Reading: John 21: 1-19
For Sunday, April 4, 2013: Year C—Easter 3
Personally, I'm relieved that the disciples decide to go fishing here in the epilogue of John's dense and sometimes difficult to read text.
Going Fishing
The Gospel for Easter 3C is a good story (whoever may have written it)—almost breezy and funny in comparison to some of the more arduous discourses the author takes us through.
Many good readers take this fishing trip to be an indication that the disciples have failed in their call to be disciples—they are going back to what they know (fishing), instead of moving forward as disciples. But the disciples aren't actually fisherman in the gospel of John, or at any rate the author doesn't mention this as their vocation. Maybe they aren't regressing—maybe they are relaxing.
Doing the Right Thing?
I'm thinking especially of Peter—he's been making frantic, misguided attempts to do the right thing throughout the gospel.
Jesus moves to wash the disciple’s feet. Peter says, "NEVER." Jesus says, sit down, brother man. Jesus tells the disciples they can't follow him where he's going. Peter says, "Why not, I'd die for you." Jesus says, not so, my friend. Peter rushes to protect Jesus in the garden—pulls out his sword, cuts off a man's ear. Jesus says "Put your sword back in your sheath, Peter." When Mary Magdalene tells the disciples she's been to the tomb and the body is gone, Peter starts out running, but the text notes that the other disciples beat him.
It is almost funny. He doesn't seem to know himself. He overestimates himself. It's like he keeps trying to outrun something, and Jesus keeps stilling him, quieting him, shutting him up (not in a bad way.)
Sounds Like Faith
Maybe it's the first sign of some blossoming faith/trust when finally, Peter is able to look around, breath in, and say, "I am going fishing." I might be crazy, but it sounds like faith to me. Something has allowed him to relax.
The other disciples say, "We will go with you." They aren't vying, arguing, proving anything—just getting into a boat to go out on the water. They are out all night and don't catch fish—maybe they are fine with that. They have a lot to talk about. Maybe they are making jokes and drinking beer. NOT catching fish, is not necessarily a bad thing.
“Breakfast, Children?”
When Jesus appears on the shore, he calls them "children." Some readers hear a sort of scolding in this. But, remember Jesus tells Nicodemus that you have to be "born again" "of water" before you can enter the kingdom. Maybe they are being born again of water. Maybe they are a little like children here, and maybe that's good.
It almost seems like Jesus blesses the fishing expedition by telling them to put their net down on the other side. Suddenly there are tons of abundant glorious fish. And then he makes them breakfast. It feels more gracious than reprimanding.
Song of Encouragment
Jesus' questions to Peter seem almost like poetry to me. Simon do you love me. Simon do you love me, Simon do you love me. Or maybe it's a song: Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep. At any rate there's rhythm and desire. Maybe he's telling Peter, don't worry if you don’t have everything down, figured out—maybe flagging, misguided belief is even okay in the end. Just do this: “Feed my sheep.”
Many readers think this narrative has been tacked onto the gospel in order to set Peter up as an authority. Or maybe, they say, it's tacked on so that the community formed by the beloved disciple can begin to get on with the community that follows Peter.
I like this story, but if it's really all about church politics, I like it less.
The Hardest Question
Does this beloved gospel end with what we might hope for from our scripture—not politics but something beautiful and true? Can we trust our texts to bear the good news? Or are they trying to manipulate, get people to submit to authority, smooth out tensions?
Does this book end with gospel or politics?
Debbie Blue is one of the founding pastors of House of Mercy in St. Paul, MN. Her lastest book, Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to the Birds of the Bible (Abingdon) will be released in August, 2013. She lives on a farm with her family, friends, and animals.
