John 21:1-19
1 After these things Jesus showed
himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in
this way. 2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin,
Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his
disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They
said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the
boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on
the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to
them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him,
"No." 6 He said to them, "Cast the net to the right side of the
boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able
to haul it in because there were so many fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved
said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was
the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. 8
But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for
they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. 9 When they
had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10
Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just
caught." 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of
large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the
net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast."
Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because
they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to
them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus
appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. 15 When they had
finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you
love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I
love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my lambs." 16 A second time
he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" He said to him,
"Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Tend
my sheep." 17 He said to him the third time, "Simon son of John, do
you love me?" Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time,
"Do you love me?" And he said to him, "Lord, you know
everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my
sheep. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten
your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will
stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take
you where you do not wish to go." 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of
death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow
me."
I’m often fascinated by the notion
that our sense of smell has such a strong tie to our memories. With a passing
sniff of the stuff in the air, our minds can suddenly recall people, places,
and things we have otherwise forgotten. We might not be able to place a finger
on the source of such a scent, but our brain (specifically the part of our
brain called the hippocampus) has a fascinating way of manufacturing long-term
memories simply by our sense of smell. [1]
I know for me, any time I smell freshly cut
grass on a sun-filled, spring day, I immediately recall my first day of
baseball practice in the third grade. Or anytime I walk into someone’s home and
it is so cold that it makes the air smell wet with condensation from the coils
of a window air conditioner, my mind takes me back to those days when the
school bus would drop me off at Ma’s house, and we’d play blackjack for pennies
at the kitchen table while the air conditioner in the window loudly strained at
keeping up with the humidity of South Alabama. Even the smell of old oil and
grease on a worn cement floor calls my mind back to those first times I ever
saw the underbelly of a car, holding the droplight for my dad as he attempted
to keep whatever jalopy he was driving at the time held together. Even the
smell of whatever chemical it takes to create the temporary hairstyle that is
ironically called a permanent, recalls the memories of when my mother went
through a phase in her life where she was certain she had to have a perm.
Perhaps you’ve noticed such a connection in your own life. Maybe the
smell of the spray of the ocean as it crashes on the beach takes you back to
those first summer trips you made with your family when you were a child. Maybe
the smell of warm soil, mixed with the salty scent of sweat transports you back
to those days on a family farm or grandma’s garden. It really is amazing how
strongly our sense of smell is tied to memory. Of course, the way our sense of
smell recalls memories isn’t exactly under our control, and as such, we may
even find our noses triggering memories we had hoped were long lost, emotions
we had hoped would not resurface.
Like the smell of misting rain on one of those
awkward in-between days in September, when the earth is trying to decide if it’s
ready for autumn, my mind forces me to recall the day I had to do my first
funeral as a pastor—the funeral of my grandmother. Like the smell of hot wires
and metal can recall the trauma of losing one’s house or the way the smell of
whiskey brings to mind the loss of a loved one to addiction. Sometimes such a
scent can be apparent, one we experience every day, but our brains secretly
spring the trap of sentiment on us, and our minds are transported to another
time and place we had hoped to never visit again. It can be an aroma as obvious
and specific as aftershave, or it can be subtle and commonplace, like the smell
of breakfast in the morning, but that scent can trigger our minds to recall
something we had thought was buried deep within the mausoleum of our memories. It
can even be a smell as familiar as a charcoal fire.
It’s in chapter 18, verses 17 and 18 of John’s gospel where we first catch
a whiff of smoke. Jesus has been arrested in the garden of Gethsemane after
breaking bread with his disciples and washing their feet. It was during that
meal that Peter had vowed his allegiance to Jesus, his willingness to lay down
his life for Christ. In chapter 13,
verse 37, Peter says, “I will lay down my life for you,” but
Jesus replies to him in verse 38: “Will you lay down your life for me? Very
truly I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.”
And, with smoke-filled nostrils in chapter
18, verse 17, Peter denies Jesus the first time: “The woman said to Peter, ‘You
are not also one of this man’s disciples are you?’ [Peter] said, ‘I am not.’” In
verse 18 it says, “the
slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold…Peter also
was standing with them and warming himself.” With the smell of burning
charcoal in his nose, Peter denied knowing Jesus for the first of three times;
he would deny him twice more in verses
25 through 27 of chapter 18. In verse
27, after Peter’s third denial, he hears the cock crow, with the smell of
charcoal and smoke still fresh on his nostrils.
The events that followed Peter’s
denial happen with the kind of swiftness mostly associated with vacation days.
Jesus is tried, accused, and sentenced to crucifixion. He is executed on a
cross, and his body is placed inside a borrowed tomb. About three days later,
Peter hears the news that the tomb Jesus was placed in is now empty, so he runs
to check it out and finds it just as it was told to him. That afternoon, Jesus
appears to all of the disciples as they were hiding out in a locked room,
fearful that the same group who had Jesus arrested and executed might be after
them. The writer of John’s gospel relays the events following Jesus’ arrest and
Peter’s denial with a relative quickness, but to have lived in the midst of
that confusion, the heartbreak, and the panic must have surely made the days
feel like eons. It would have felt like enough time to forget.
After Jesus appears to the disciples
a second time and wipes away Thomas’ doubts, we come to the text we’ve heard
here today, an epilogue to the Fourth Gospel.[2]
It’s an interesting scene: Peter in verse
three simply declares that he is going fishing. Now, maybe Peter was one of
those people who can’t stand to be still, one of those people who would much
rather have something to do to keep them from going stir crazy than stand
around waiting for something to happen. Maybe Peter figured it was time to get
back to normal; perhaps he thought that life after Jesus’ resurrection was
supposed to be like it was before only with the added knowledge that Jesus had
overcome death. I’d like to think that Peter was a practical person, and he was
likely bored, hungry, or both, so he decided to do what he had done for most of
his life—fish.
Now, after Peter decides to go
fishing, the rest who were with him decide to join in. I imagine Peter’s lungs
filled with the cool night air as he and the others set the nets in the water.
The smell of the water, the boat, the smell of fish, likely brought all kinds
of memories to the forefront of Peter’s mind as he and the others repeatedly
threw their cast nets between the trap nets in the water, only to draw them up
empty.[3]
That night, according to verse 3,
they caught nothing; in fact, throughout all four of the gospels, the disciples
never catch any fish by themselves. No, they never catch any fish until…Jesus
shows up.
In verse 4 we find out that Jesus is standing on the shore of the lake
as the sun came over the horizon. He shouts out to the disciples on the water
in verse 5, “Children, you have no fish, have
you?” They shout back, “No.” So Jesus tells them to try the
right side of the boat, and “they were not able to haul it in because
there were so many fish.” I have to think that mixed with their
excitement and amazement was just a tad bit of frustration—after spending all
night fishing, a stranger shouts from the shore to try the other side of the
boat, and apparently that’s where the fish had been all along!
In the midst of all of the work and
excitement that goes into hauling in such a large catch of fish, “That
disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’” and at the
sound of such news, Peter tucks in his clothes[4]
and jumps in the sea. He’s off swimming to the shore, towards the one he’s been
told was the Lord. He’s excited; this is the risen Jesus, the one who triumphed
over the grave, the one who appeared to them even though the doors were locked.
Peter is swimming to Jesus—to the Lord, and he is so enthused, so motivated by
seeing Jesus, that when the others have rowed the boat in with the heavy net of
fish, Peter (in verse 11) “went
aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of
them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn.” It seems as
if Peter is infused with some source of divine strength![5]
Peter seems to be on top of his game. This is the Simon Peter Jesus
called from the shores of Galilee. This is the Simon Peter who stood out as the
leader among Jesus’ followers. This is Peter, Petros, Rock—the Rock on which Jesus said he would build his
church. This Peter, the one who jumps in the water, swims to Jesus, and hauls
in the large catch of fish—this post-resurrection Peter—is a far cry from the
shifty-eyed apostle who denied Jesus three times while warming himself by the
charcoal fire…
There it is again, in verse 9: “When they had gone ashore, they saw a
charcoal fire there…” Peter no doubt smelled that charcoal fire burning
there on the beach, cooking some fish and bread for a beachfront breakfast.
Perhaps his sense of smell hadn’t triggered the memory yet, but the author of
this gospel wants to trigger ours. Peter is surging, he almost seems
superhuman. In the smoky smell of burning charcoal, however, Peter and Jesus
have a private conversation—a conversation that would bring memories rushing to
the forefront of Peter’s mind, memories that would deflate this disciple.
In verses 15-19, Jesus asks
Peter the same question three different times: “Do you love me?” Peter
replies each time, “yes.” Then Jesus tells Peter “feed my lambs…tend my sheep…”
Three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves him. Three times Jesus tells Peter to
look after his flock. Three times…Once by a charcoal fire, Peter denied Jesus
three times. Once by a charcoal fire, Peter told Jesus how much he loved
him—three times. Once, with the smell of smoke wafting in the air, Jesus
commands Peter to tend to his sheep; it’s as if Jesus said to Peter once again,
“You are the rock on which I will build my church.”
I don’t doubt the smell of charcoal and the three-fold formula of Jesus’
questions brought to Peter’s mind how he had denied Jesus—not once, but three
times—before. And I don’t doubt that it must have troubled Peter to know that
he was eating and talking with the same Jesus (now resurrected) he had denied
just a few days before. But despite Peter’s previous denial, despite how it
must have weighed on his heart and mind, Jesus still calls him to “Follow
me.”
In our journey with Jesus, there will come times when we will stumble,
times when we’ll let our guards down, times when sin will get the better of us.
There will also come times in our journey with Jesus where a photograph, a
song, a tattoo, or maybe a scent will remind us of who we once were, something
in our past of which we are not proud. There will be times when we will all be
in Peter’s place—having denied Jesus, either by our words or deeds and forced
to remember such denial. It will be easy to let those memories overtake us, to
give in to who we once were, to let our past flaws and failures keep us from
becoming the people Jesus calls us to be. But Jesus, just as he did to Peter,
asks us a simple question, “Do you love me?”
No matter what mistakes we have in our past, no matter what shameful
memories may be conjured up by the fragrance of our past failures, Jesus asks
one simple question, and he asks it in the present
tense: “Do you love me?” Despite where we’ve been, or what we’ve done
Jesus still calls us to “Follow me.”
Whether you can look back on your life and see a legacy of which you can
be proud, or whether you look back and see a life filled with trouble, Jesus
still asks, “Do you love me?” Whether you came here today bearing the
weight of memories filled with sorrow and sin, or whether you came into this
room with a spirit of wholeness and joy, Jesus still sends the call, “Follow
me.” And whether you’re here today sure of where you’re going, or if
you haven’t got a clue, Jesus still calls his followers to “feed my lambs…tend my sheep.”
Do you love Jesus today? Will you follow him? Will you join with us as we seek
to feed his lambs and tend his sheep?
Let us pray…
Lord Jesus
Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us, for we are sinners. Help us not to be
weighed down by the memories of past sins and denial. Show us the way to
restoration in your love for us and our love for you. Eternal God, call us to
Yourself. Help us to let go of our sins and trust in your redemption and
resurrection. Move in our presence that we may respond to your word as we have
heard it in this place today. In the name of the living Lord Jesus we pray.
Amen.
[2] George
R. Beasley-Murray, Word Biblical
Commentary, Vol. 36 “John.” Word Books: Waco, TX (1987). p.395
[3] Gary
M. Burge, The NIV Application Commentary,
“John.” Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI (2000). p.582-3
[4] Andreas
J. Köstenberger, Baker Exegetical
Commentary on the New Testament, “John.” Baker Academic: Grand Rapids, MI (2004).
p.591
[5] Ibid.
p.592
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