I.Theme – Considering Jesus’ presence with us.
"Christ’s Appearance on Lake Tiberias" – Duccio di Buoninsegna 1308-11)
The lectionary readings are here or individually:
Old Testament – Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)
Psalm – Psalm 30
Epistle –Revelation 5:11-14
Gospel – John 21:1-19
Today’s readings invite us to consider the meaning of Jesus’ presence with us. In the story from Acts, the apostles, empowered by the Spirit of Jesus, preach the gospel despite persecution. John, in his Revelation, describes how being in the presence of Jesus, the enthroned Lamb of God, moves all of creation to bless and praise. In today’s gospel story, Jesus, in another pos t resurrection appearance, provides an abundant catch of fish for his disciples.
In Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, the White Queen tells Alice that in her youth, she believed six impossible things every morning before breakfast and counsels Alice to believe in impossibilities as well. The Easter season is a season for mystics and “impossibility” thinkers. We are challenged to believe “more” rather than “less” about the world and its resources. Tempted to think small, we may discover that God is at work in our lives – in the causal events of life – to give us more than we can ask than imagine. Possibilities abound that appear to be “impossibilities” for unimaginative realists. Persecutor Paul encounters the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus; the Resurrected Christ cooks breakfast for the disciples and invites Peter to claim a global vocation; the author of Revelation envisages an enchanted and lively universe, in which all creation praises God; and Psalmist experiences ecstasy and joy amid the maelstrom of external challenges.
The call of the readings is to go out and act on them. There are people who are hungry—we must go and feed them, we can’t be only worried about our own needs. There are people who are mourning, who are sad—we must go and be with them, to help bear their burdens. We must remember that the picture is greater than ourselves. Messages of personal salvation only go so far, to help us feel good about ourselves. Remembering that God’s purpose as Creator is new life, we must do our part to help in all of creation to nurture that new life. "Feed my sheep", "Follow me’
II. Summary
First Reading – Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)
During the Sundays of Easter, the first reading is devoted to a series of readings from the Acts of the Apostles,
Acts 9 contains Luke’s account of the conversion of Saul (There are comparisons elsewhere Acts 22:1-21 Acts 26:2-23, and Paul’s own mention of his conversion in Galatians 1). The account not only serves to authenticate Paul’s apostleship, but also shows that the mission to the Gentiles was divinely ordained. This Lucan reconstruction of this seminal event in the life of Paul establishes as a Christian. Later he will be established as an apostle as well. Paul’s persecution of the community is persecution of Jesus himself. Blinded by the light, Paul is led helpless to Damascus and revealed to the community as God’s “chosen instrument” or vessel.
The actions of Ananias seem to mirror the actions of the healing Jesus. He lays his hands on Saul – an action that is not taken from healing stories in the Hebrew Scriptures, but rather an action that comes from the Christian tradition about Jesus. The Christian nature of the laying on of hands is especially noted in the gift of the Holy Spirit that results. What follows is baptism (interestingly, it is Peter who later in the Acts relates that the act of Baptism must be completed by the gift of the Holy Spirit).
As we celebrate the Resurrection, we also recall the early church and how the Gospel spread throughout the land. The Gospel was life-changing, transformative. The Good News was shared among the Jews but many Gentiles also came to the faith along the way. The message of Jesus did not end at his death but was glorified at his resurrection, and this Gospel was not only life-changing for those who heard it the first time, but for those like Ananias who became early believers, they continued to witness miracles and life-changing events that shaped their own experience.
Luke uses a number of terms to describe Christians: here they are called “disciples,” those “who belonged to the Way” (an Old Testament way to describe the moral demands of the covenant), “saints,” and those “who invoke your name.”
Psalm – Psalm 30
Psalm 30 is a song of praise for God’s deliverance—specifically for recovery after an illness. The psalmist sings of turning from mourning to dancing, from weeping to rejoicing. When we go through the darkest of times, God is with us, and though it is hard for us to see, we know that in God all things are made new. What is experienced is only temporary, and we know there will be good news—there will be rejoicing, there will be deliverance, for God is faithful
Both sickness and health are regarded as coming from the lord–illness as a probable sign of sin while restoration to health would show innocence. Sickness brings the psalmist closer to the realm of Sheol, the grave, from which the lord rescues him.
The image embedded in the verb is of drawing water out of a well, and thus the psalmist sees himself being drawn up out of the water (death) and returned to life. The dependence of the psalmist on God for all the realities of life is then explored in the verses of the psalm. The following verses repeat the themes of death and then health – “Dead"," Grave" and “the Pit”. It is as if we were seeing a double-sided coin, and it is perfectly stated in verse 5, “For his wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye,* his favor for a lifetime.” The strong contrasts of the poem seem to comment on the strong contrasts of life and death, of humankind and God.
Epistle – Revelation 5:11-14
The Book of Revelation was written to bolster the perseverance of persecuted Christians, and to settle some doctrinal disputes. It’s told in the form of a vision. Much of the language is symbolic, to hide its meanings from the persecutors.
Today’s reading comes from the beginning of the major section of Revelation, that of the scroll with seven seals (4:1–19:10). The scene continues John’s vision of God enthroned in the heavenly court. To God as the Creator, the four creatures and the elders sing praise. God is holding a scroll with seven seals, which contains the whole of God’s redemptive plan, not only revealed but made effective by the Lamb. The Lamb, as the divine/human agent, is the only one who can open it.
Revelation 5:11-14 celebrates the diversity of God’s creation which rejoices in Christ Jesus, our salvation: “Worthy is the Lamb!” All of creation participates in the fullness of what God has promised. God’s good news is not just for us, though we are the ones who are receiving it; but God’s good news is for all the earth, and all the earth is participating in this rejoicing.
This song describes the complete dimensions of the Lamb’s power and glory: power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing. Seven distinct qualities that express the fullness of the Lamb’s qualities are multi-dimensional with the first four describing the dominion of the Lamb, and the final three the response of the angels. All of creation is included in this praise, including the sea, the ancient dominion of chaos, destruction, and death (see the Psalm). The recipients of this praise are the Ancient of Days (seated on the throne) and the Lamb (the Christ) who together are enthroned on (cf. Psalm 22) the praises of the angels, the creatures, and creation
All creation joins in the hymn of praise, for the whole universe is already reconciled to God. The royal and priestly task of the Church is to make known that fact, and its success is already anticipated in the final “Amen.”
Gospel – John 21:1-19
Today’s reading is from chapter 21, which is regarded by most scholars as an epilogue to the gospel, added either by the evangelist himself or by an editor-disciple.
For Luke, and the remainder of John, the resurrection appearances are limited to Jerusalem, but here in the Gospel of John we are in Galilee, where it all began. What is present here is life as it was lived in Galilee. Here the appearance is limited to seven of the disciples, who all are named, excepting two. Perhaps the number is used to indicate the perfection of the vision
After the Resurrection, after Jesus has already appeared to the disciples, some of the disciples, especially Peter, seem to not know what to do next. “Now what? One of John’s purposes in writing his gospel is to provoke a firm decision for Christ among early converts who were backsliding. Peter decides to go fishing. Fishing is what he used to do, part of who he used to be. Some of the others go with him. It is as if they are trying to go back to their old life. Peter is depicted here, however, not so much as a prince and leader but rather as the impulsive character that he was.
They catch nothing until a stranger calls to them from the shore. Once they bring in the load of the miraculous catch, Peter proclaims, “It is the Lord!” The helplessness of the disciples on their own is transformed by the power of the risen lord and their obedience to him. They are scarcely able to “haul in” the net (the same word is used for drawing persons to Jesus in 6:44 and 12:32) because of the size of the catch. (The precise symbolic meaning of the number 153 is unclear; it probably indicates in some way the breadth or universality of the Christian mission.)
Peter swims to shore, and Jesus cooks them breakfast—fish and bread. After this nourishing meal, it seems that the disciples realize that they cannot go back to who they used to be—because that life is empty. Rather, they need to go forward with the message of Christ’s love and salvation.
Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?” three times. The three denials are met with three confessions of love and belief. Peter’s primacy here is unquestioned. He seems to be the fulcrum that will guide the power of the message. The journey that is described for Peter, cleverly couched in the verse that describes the loss of power in life, will lead to a place “where you do not want to go.” Like Jesus before him, death is the culmination of Peter’s ministry. Nonetheless, the call is still given, “Follow me.” The point is that rhat if we love Jesus, we cannot go back to the way we used to be. We must go out and seek the sheep and feed them. We cannot go back to only feeding ourselves.
The meal is described in terms harking back to the multiplication of loaves (6:11). The standard early pictorial symbol for the Eucharist was bread and fish, rather than bread and wine. Nourished by the Eucharist, Christians are to become missionary fishers of people.
The theme of abundance is prevalent, not only in fish (which recalls the multiplication of the loaves) but in the meal set by Jesus. A Eucharistic note is struck here, and the tradition notes that this is the “third” revelation of Jesus to the disciples. Similar notions to the scene in Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) where there is little resurrection of the risen Christ until the breaking of the bread seem to sound here as well.
Today’s gospel is rich in homey detail: smell the fresh dawn wind across the lake, the scent of the charcoal fire. Hear the thump of waves against a wooden boat, the shouts of old friends across the waters. Feel the warmth of bread, the sinewy rope of the fishing nets. These details help set a scene so vivid we can imagine ourselves in it. The setting is important: Jesus returns to his friends by a shore, where he feeds them. He does not appear in the temple precincts and lecture them on law. Instead he meets them in a place of abundance, beauty, nurture.