An Ending and a Beginning

My class finished its long study of the Gospel of John yesterday morning and will begin another epic study -- this time the Revelation of John -- on September 13. (September 6, our church is holding a brunch in which all of the SS classes present their upcoming curricula.)

As we looked at the final chapter of John, the class was struck by the manner in which Peter was allowed a chance to "redo" pivotal moments in his life here. Peter and a small group of disciples with him are in Galilee, and they decide to return to fishing. Was it a way to take a few hours and focus on a task, thus putting out of their minds the confusion facing them in light of recent events? Was Peter concerned about supporting his family? (We know he was married, because Jesus healed his mother-in-law.) At any rate, after a fruitless night of fishing, Jesus appeared on the shore of Lake Galilee as the sun rose and directed Peter and the others to lower the net on the starboard side of the boat. This reminds one of the story from Luke's gospel (Luke 5:1-11), when Jesus first encountered Peter and the other fishermen. In the Luke story, Jesus uses Peter's boat as a makeshift pulpit and then directs the men to lower their nets in deeper water. Simon (as he is called here) responds in a typically "Peterian" manner: "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so,I will let down the nets." Their little boat cannot hold all the fish they caught.

In John's post-resurrection story, neither Peter nor the others is recorded as protesting at all. This time, the size of the catch is specifically recorded. (The total is 153 fish -- an odd number [no pun intended] that may simply be a detail remembered by an eyewitness.) When Peter realizes (because John tells him) that the "stranger on the shore" is Jesus, he dives into the water and swims to the beach. The class thought of how Peter had attempted to walk on water and had sunk into the sea in an earlier account. Here the point seems to be speed: Peter wants to be near Jesus as quickly as possible.

The disciples share a simple breakfast with Jesus, in which he "took the bread and gave it to them." In the one gospel which has no account of an upper room meal, here is yet another instance with clear Eucharistic implications. As with the disciples in Luke 24, Jesus was "made known to them in the breaking of the bread." I am reminded of the beautiful James Montgomery poem:

Shepherd of souls, refresh and bless
thy chosen pilgrim flock
with manna in the wilderness,
with water from the rock.

We would not live by bread alone,
but by thy word of grace,
in strength of which we travel on
to our abiding place.

Be known to us in breaking bread,
and do not then depart;
Savior, abide with us, and spread
thy table in our heart.

Lord, sup with us in love divine,
thy Body and thy Blood,
that living bread, that heavenly wine,
be our immortal food.

***

And then, after breakfast, Jesus asks Peter the famous question. As in John 1:42, Jesus calls Peter by his birth name, Simon, son of John, and he asks him, "Do you love me more than these?" I have heard many bible teachers attempting to make much of the different Greek words used here, but I confess I can't make sense of this. (The same goes for the slight variations in Jesus' commands to Peter.) As I see it, the main thrust is to give Peter a chance to go back. He isn't Peter here, he is Simon, and he has a chance to tell Jesus three times that his love is real, thus canceling the three times he denied even knowing him. It is the ultimate gesture of forgiveness.

Then comes yet another instance of Peter's pride. He wants to know what will become of the "disciple whom Jesus loved." After the resurrection, in this gospel, Peter and John seem to be competing. They run a foot race to get to the tomb first; John wins the race, but Peter is the first in the tomb. In the boat, it is John who first says, "It is the Lord," but Peter swims to shore ahead of John and the others. And now Peter, walking with Jesus, notices John and asks Jesus what will become of him. The Master says, in effect, "That is none of your business."

The final sentence in the Gospel of John is both brilliant and succinct: "There are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written."