Do You Love Me More Than These? (John 21:1-25)

 Sermon for Milledgeville & Whitestown UMC...

Do You Love Me More Than These? (John 21:1-25)

 

Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” 
John 21:12a

A guy tells his bartender, “You know I think my wife loves me more than any woman has ever loved a man!” The bartender asks, “What makes you say that?” The man answered, “Last week when I was on sick leave at home, every time a mail carrier or delivery man came by, she’d run down the driveway waving her arms shouting, “My husband’s home! My husband’s home!”

 

We are wrapping up our study of the Gospel of John today. The risen Lord Jesus meets his disciples for breakfast on the shore of the Sea of Galilee (aka Sea of Tiberius) and after the meal Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me more than these?”

 

There is a lot in life to love. Taking time to list our loves in life is a worthwhile endeavor. It reminds us that even when life is difficult, there is still much about life to love. We likely list our spouses, children, grandchildren and family at the top of our list. We follow that with favorite things and activities. Remember the song My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music?

 

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

 

Yes, reminding ourselves of our loves can help restore us, when we feel sad or upset.

 

This story is about the restoration of Simon Peter after his denial of Jesus. On the night Jesus was arrested and taken to the High Priest for questioning, Peter followed at a distance. He ended up in the high priest’s courtyard warming himself by the fire with others gathered there. Soon they began to probe with questions about his identity. “Aren’t you one of Jesus’ disciples?” Peter denied it.

“You’re a Galilean. You are one of his followers! I saw you with him at the temple.” Peter insisted. “I tell you I am not!” Again, they insisted, but Peter shouted, “I don’t know the man!” A rooster crowed. Just as Jesus predicted, Peter denied him three times.

 

Jesus appeared to Peter and the others on Easter Sunday; then again a week later with Doubting Thomas present. But as the glorious wonder of Easter faded, so did the disciples’ sense of purpose. Peter voiced his loss of purpose when he said, “I’m going fishing.” He went back to the life he knew before he met Jesus. He went back to comfortable routines.

 

Things had not turned out the way Peter envisioned. He wanted Jesus to rule in Jerusalem. He dreamed of standing at Jesus’ side in the palace. He wanted the Romans to be kicked out of Israel. But now, Peter felt lost. Perhaps he thought to himself, “Who am I now that Jesus is in heaven? What am I supposed to do now?”

 

The other disciples likely had the same struggle. What about you? When in life has your sense of purpose been shaken. When you’ve lost a job, or a loved one? When you’ve had to relocate but you didn’t want to? When the world has changed so much you hardly recognize it? Do you find yourself slipping into comfortable routines to cope?

 

There’s good news. Jesus calls you to breakfast. In other words, there is grace to renew your soul when you come to Jesus. Take and eat and drink, for Jesus is true food and true drink. Before Jesus restored Peter, He fed Peter. Jesus nurtured Peter to prepare him to rise again as His chosen apostle.

 

Jesus fed them a breakfast of fish and bread. These are staples in the area around the Sea of Galilee. But the fish in this story are more than something to eat. They represent the faith community, those caught in the gospel net. Peter and the others went fishing, but their efforts went unrewarded until Jesus got involved. That ought to be a hint to us all.

 

Our comfortable routines will leave us hungry for what truly sustains. Come to Jesus and eat. One wonderful way to come to Jesus is worshiping with others who love and follow Jesus. Consider the practice of the early Church.

 

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer…. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God… (Acts 2:42, 46-47a) 

 

The church community is meant to be a family beyond your relatives, a family in Christ.

 

An early Christian symbol is the ichthus, which is the Greek word for fish. It is an acrostic, where each Greek letter represents a word. Ichthus means Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. The fish symbol adorns cars, identifying the driver as Christian.

 

Jesus asked if the disciples had caught any fish. They hadn’t. He instructed them to cast the net on the right side of the boat. They caught more than they could haul into the boat. They drug the net of fish ashore and counted 153 fish.

 

Now that seems an odd detail. Why is it included in John’s gospel? The safe interpretation is don’t make too much out of it. If the Bible says it was 153 fish, it’s 153 fish.

 

But there is a rich history of interpretation as to what 153 fish might mean. 153 might be the size of John’s congregation. Saint Augustine thought it was related to the number 17, a triangular number. If you add each successive integer in 17; 1 + 2+ 3 + 4… +17 = 153.

 

Augustine suggested that 17 pointed to the 10 commandments and the 7 gifts of the Holy Spirit, as listed in Isaiah 11:1-2: Wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, faithfulness, and the fear of the Lord.

 

For Augustine, 17 represents the old and new testaments, Law and Grace. If Augustine is correct, then 153 fish point to the word of God. The Bible is a major source of spiritual nourishment.

 

Biblical numerologists use a technique called gematria, assigning a numerical value to each letter in the alphabet. An example of gematria is in the Apocalypse of John.

 

This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666. (Revelation 13:18)

 

The number 666 represents Caesar Nero. The beast is the cruel emperor of the Roman empire who persecuted the Church. If gematria is in use with the number 153, what does it represent? A Hebrew phrase Ani Elohim, “I Am God” equates to 153. The 153 fish may point to the divinity of Jesus who by divine power gave the disciples this miraculous catch.

 

Other interpretations suggest a connection to Ezekiel’s vision of a river of life flowing from the altar of the new temple. All kinds of fish are teeming in the river. (Ezk 47:1-12) And Jesus spoke of the Holy Spirit as rivers of life welling up inside believers. (John 7:37-39)

 

After the breakfast, Jesus speaks to Peter. Can you imagine how Peter felt? Eating by the fire surely reminded him of standing by the fire in the courtyard of the high priest when he denied Jesus. Jesus addressed Peter as Simon, Son of John. This is significant. The only other time Peter is addressed by Jesus as Simon, son of John is when they first meet. It was then Jesus gave him the name Peter, the Rock.

 

The new name represents the new life Simon would gain by following Jesus. But now, Jesus addresses him by his old name. Peter has fallen back into his old life. He’s no longer following Jesus. Jesus means to restore his fallen apostle.

 

He asks Peter, “Do you love me more than these?” Does he mean more than the other disciples love Jesus? Does Jesus mean the fish? Or the life of a fisherman? Does Peter love Jesus more than hiding in comfortable old ways that fail to feed his soul? It’s a question every follower of Jesus must ask themselves. “Do I love Jesus more?”

 

If you read the Greek Jesus uses the word agape for love, a self-giving other-seeking love. But Peter uses the word phileo, what we call brotherly love or familial affection. “Yes, Lord, You know I love you like a brother.” Jesus asks again, “Do you love me? Do you love me with a selfless sacrificial love?” Peter answers again, “Lord, I love you like family.” With each answer Jesus instructs Peter to prove his love. “Feed my sheep.” Shepherd my sheep.” Of course, Jesus is talking about His Church. We are Christ’s sheep.

 

If Peter loves Jesus, he needs to put that love into action, not by going back to his old life as a fisherman, but by continuing the ministry for which Jesus called him. Peter is to be a fisher of men. Peter is to lead the other disciples in casting the gospel net to catch new believers for Christ.

 

 

 

Peter will one day give his life for his faith. Tradition says that Peter was crucified upside down because he didn’t feel worthy to die in the same manner as Jesus. John lived a long full life, the last of Jesus’ 12 apostles. John wrote his gospel so that we might believe and have life.

 

This afternoon make a list of everything and everyone you love. The first commandment is to have no other gods before The Lord. Another way to say it: You shall not have any other loves ahead of Jesus. Ask yourself, “Do I love Jesus more than these?” If Jesus is truly your greatest love, prove it by caring for others, giving them hope in the gospel, sharing their burdens, and feeding their souls.

 

The world is filled with lost sheep. Jesus has compassion for those who live like they have no shepherd.

 

Do you love me more than these?

 

Feed my sheep. Care for my lambs. Follow me.