Well, now what?

 

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.”

John 21: 15

The final chapter of John’s gospel is a text I occasionally seek out when I sense that I have failed to live faithfully among my neighbors. It is a rather unique piece of scripture, often described as an epilogue to the rest of the gospel. These last words of the gospel narrative seek to answer a very straightforward question in the aftermath of Easter Sunday, which is, “Well, now what?”

It is here that Jesus appears to his disciples as they are fishing back home in Galilee following the resurrection. They have fished all night without catching any walleyes.* Jesus invites them to try again, pointing out that they should try fishing from the other side of the boat. When they have caught their limit, they come ashore and share a meal of fish and bread.

As they eat, Jesus enters into a conversation with Simon Peter. It is the first time they have spoken at length since Peter’s denial of Jesus when accused of being a follower on the night before Jesus’ execution. Peter’s failure in this moment of weakness has to be eating him up inside. Will he be cast out of the community because of his lack of courage, or will Jesus allow him to remain in the fellowship of his disciples?

I suspect that Peter is terrified of being confronted by Jesus. Perhaps he has been practicing what he will say to explain his denial. Now that they are together, though, Jesus disarms whatever contrite speech he may have prepared by simply asking if he loves him. He then asks it a second and even a third time. Three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves him, once for each of his denials. Within this brief conversation is the truth of what Jesus is trying to get Peter to understand, which is, “Hey, I forgive you! I have work for you to do!”

Jesus invites Peter into a future that is rooted in a spirit of love and forgiveness. In spite of what Peter has done, he is forgiven. Awash in this forgiveness, he is given a sense of belonging and purpose. Perhaps it is here that we find a lifeline to grasp onto in this resurrection story as well.

We all long to be accepted within our community. We pray that we might be accepted for who we are, even with all of our obvious flaws, blemishes and failures. We want to belong to something bigger than ourselves. In giving Peter the opportunity to confess that he loves him, Jesus draws him back into the community to which he belongs. And beyond acceptance, of course, we also desire a sense of purpose. We want to believe that our lives make a difference in our community. We pray that our acts of love and commitment might change the lives of those around us for the better.

In response to each of Peter’s confessions, Jesus shares with him what it means to be a disciple. “Feed my lambs … tend my sheep.” Peter is given both a sense of belonging and the expectation of discipleship. What happens in this conversation is the answer to that question, “Well, now what?”

Living as resurrection people means accepting that we are loved and forgiven unconditionally, even as Peter was. We are forgiven for those moments when we have denied that we even know Christ. We are forgiven for not feeding others in their hunger, for not clothing others in their nakedness, for not visiting others when they are imprisoned, for not stepping into the lives of those on the outside, whether they are lonely, addicted or persecuted. We are forgiven for all of the betrayals that slowly eat away at us, those secrets that keep us from living an abundant resurrection life.

When we examine our lives through the lens of resurrection we discover that we are loved and forgiven without condition, no matter how far from God we may think we have fallen. It is out of this love and in the midst of this amazing forgiveness that we discover that we still belong to God, and that God has a purpose for our lives. *While there is no scriptural evidence for this, I stubbornly proclaim my firm belief that the disciples were walleye fishermen.

Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month’s contributor is Tom Murray of the Lutsen Lutheran Church and Baptism River Community Church of Finland.