“Come and have breakfast.” Jesus in John 21:1-19.
“Let minnow.” Fishing humour for let me know.
Today’s Gospel reading is the first resurrection appearance of Jesus away from Jerusalem. When they last saw him in the upper room, having found it hard to believe the good news they had been told about his resurrection, Jesus told his disciples to go to Galilee (Matthew 28:10) and this they have done, awaiting him there. However, only seven of them are present and, as they gather at the Sea of Tiberias, Simon Peter decides to go fishing and the others go with him. This is what they were doing when Jesus first called them three years earlier and perhaps returning to their previous work is reassuring after all the disciples have been through.
Having caught nothing all night, the disciples must have been tired and disappointed so perhaps it’s understandable that they don’t realise that it’s Jesus who calls to them from the shore. He speaks kindly to them, calling them children as an endearment rather than criticism, and tells them to cast their net on the other side of the boat even though they may have found that hard to do after a fruitless night. Their co-operation leads to the net being filled with many fish as John then recognises Jesus and Simon Peter jumps out of the boat to go to him, leaving the other disciples to deal with the heavy net.
When he reaches Jesus, a charcoal fire has been made with fish on it and bread. Given that the final meal they had with Jesus was at the Last Supper, where their betrayals, denials and failures had begun, Jesus does not chide the disciples but simply invites them to come and have breakfast, the first meal of the day. This is a new beginning – and even though Jesus has provided food for them, he invites them to bring some of their own catch to the meal. Their labour is used and valued, a way perhaps of enabling them to make a contribution that is honoured at a time when those disciples may have had very mixed emotions after the bewildering events of Holy Week.
The fire around which they met may have reminded Simon Peter of the brazier at which he denied Jesus thrice – yet the man who failed him is now commissioned three times by Jesus and, empowered with the fire of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Peter responds to the hard challenge ahead of him and will remain faithful to what is asked of him.
Perhaps we or those around us have very mixed emotions as both the courage and sacrifice of those who enabled the end of war in Europe and VE Day to happen eighty years ago is acknowledged? Perhaps there are doubts about the freedom won at such cost or the warfare that still persists today? Perhaps we have sometimes denied God’s call in our lives for all sorts of reasons or struggle with some aspects of faith today in the face of such profound change? If so, perhaps the joyful response of Simon Peter, the fisherman who became the rock on which the Church was built, will hearten us and enable us to be forgiven and forgiving, knowing that a new beginning after failure or denial is possible and our contribution to God’s purposes is not only accepted but requested. What fintastic news to share as Eastertide continues!
With my prayers; pob bendith,
Christine, Priest Guardian.