Post Resurrection Appearances 3: Peter on the beach
This is the third in our series looking at those occasions when the risen Lord appeared to his disciples. Firstly we looked at the two appearances in the upper room, last week we were with Cleopas and his companion on the road to Emmaus. Today the scene shifts to the sea of Tiberias aka Galilee.
This is somewhere between one week and 40 days after that first Easter weekend. A group of disciples have returned to home territory, arguably on the instructions of Jesus (Matt.28:7). Peter James and John, Thomas formerly known as doubting, Nathanael and two others are mentioned. Not only do they return to home territory they also return to familiar activity, fishing. Whatever effect their prior encounters with the risen Christ has had it hasn’t yet resulted in the radical transformation which converts disciples into apostles.
One of the interesting features of these post resurrection appearances is the element of commissioning which we will be focusing on today. This is present for example in the upper room “As the Father sent me so I send you” John 20:21 and at the end of Matthew 28:19 and end of Luke/beginning of Acts Luke 24:48-49, Acts 1:8ff. However in today’s account we have the very personal and powerful commissioning of Peter.
Before this commissioning we have the encounter with the risen Lord. The disciples have gone fishing all night and caught nothing. As day breaks they see a figure on the shore who calls out to them. Again there is this uncertainty about who he is. This time it is the miracle which gives the game away – as they struggle to haul in the nets the double act of Peter and John realise who it is and respond appropriately.
When they arrive on land they have an impromptu breakfast. I love the bit that says none of the disciples dared to ask who he was because they knew it was Jesus. This is so true to life.
After breakfast Jesus and Peter take a walk along the beach – for once this is not just my imagination because if we read on into v.20 we have “Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them”. So with the intimacy of a one-to-one conversation Jesus asks Peter three times, do you love me? At first a fairly innocuous question but with each repetition hitting home to the man who so recently denied Jesus three times. Much has been made of different Greek words translated love here but they are essentially synonyms. Peter replies with greater degrees of exasperation, eventually entrusting himself to the fact that jesus does indeed know everything including the innermost thoughts and feelings of our hearts.
Each time Jesus replies with commission: “Feed my lambs…..take care of my sheep…….feed my sheep”. The fisher-man is called to be a shepherd. This is a powerful image of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus and discipler of others. The call is specific – Jesus calls Peter personally “Simon son of John…” the qualification is both simple and challenging: “do you love me?” and the commission is far reaching – tend the flock.
Let us ask ourselves who are the sheep / lambs? The Psalmist says: “We are the sheep of his pasture” (Psalm100:3). None of us like to think of ourselves as being sheep – dumb woolly animals, at the same time it is good to think of ourselves as being under the care of a loving, good shepherd. The calling of Peter was to continue to follow Jesus in particular with regard to His care for the flock. I often take as my model for this Psalm 23 which speaks of provision (pasture and water), protection (rod and staff) and promise – pointing people to heaven.
The whole point of these post-resurrection appearances, it seems to me, was to prepare the disciples for mission. It wasn’t simply a matter of consolation, making them feel better after his untimely and violent death but much more a preparation for the next phase of mission. How do we view our own encounters with the risen Lord? How often do we come to meet with Him anticipating words of consolation – how ready are we to hear Him re-commision us.