Christ’s Resurrection calls us to share his love and feed his sheep

Third Sunday of Easter (C) 

This Sunday’s second reading, taken from the Book of Revelation, presents the great canticle of heavenly praise: “to the One seated on the throne, and to the Lamb, be praise and honor, glory and might, for ever and ever!” (Revelation 5:13). Our Gospel reading this Third Sunday of Easter then emphasizes that the chief way we can offer God such fitting praise is through genuine, heartfelt love. This passage is taken from the Epilogue to St. John’s Gospel; written in a style closely tied to the main body of the text, it is likely an almost immediate supplement presenting an alternate tradition of a post-Resurrection appearance of Jesus set in Galilee rather than Jerusalem. 

This Gospel reading is best understood as comprised of three distinct moments – the miraculous catch of fish, the meal on the shore, and the commissioning of Peter. The account of the miraculous catch of fish began on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias after the disciples had gone back to their original positions as fishermen. Peter and the others decided to go fishing one evening; they fished through the night and caught nothing. Just after daybreak, they saw a man walking along the shore. (Notice St. John’s contrast of light and darkness here – at night, in the darkness without Christ, the disciples had no success – only in the light, with Jesus, could they achieve their full potential.) 

They did not recognize that this man was Jesus. He spoke with them and then suggested that they cast their nets one more time. The Gospel recounts that they caught so many fish that they could hardly haul in the nets – just like the wine at Cana and the loaves and fishes, God provides for his people not frugally, but in abundance! The Beloved Disciple then recognized the man, crying out, “It is the Lord!” (John 21:7); because this disciple loved Jesus the most, he was the quickest to recognize him. On hearing it was Jesus, Peter reacted with his usual bravado – he put on his clothes and then jumped out of the boat, racing to shore to greet Jesus once again.

The second scene of this Gospel occurred when the disciples reached the shore. Jesus had already begun a charcoal fire and prepared a breakfast of bread and fish for them. Scripture scholars understand this meal as referring to the Eucharist. Significantly then, Jesus asks the disciples to bring some of the fish they themselves had caught to the meal. 

Harkening back to the earlier call of the disciples not be to fishermen but fishers OF MEN, this scene suggests that Jesus was calling upon his disciples to bring the new Christians they had “caught” to share the Eucharist with them – a beautiful commissioning ceremony on the lakeshore. Many scholars have understood the number of fish – 153 – to be a sign of universality (St. Jerome, for example, relied on an ancient Greek zoology text and thought that 153 represented all the possible types of fish in the world) – the disciples were being called upon to bring all people to Christ’s love in the Eucharist.
 
The third scene of this Gospel began when Jesus turned his attention to Peter. Jesus asked Peter three times, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” (John 21:15-17). Seated once again around a charcoal fire (just like the night when he denied even knowing Jesus) Peter had to respond three times, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you” (John 21:15-17) – his triple confession atoning for his triple denial. Each time Peter responded, the Lord gave him a commission, “Feed my sheep.” 

The role of shepherding God’s people was assumed by God himself in the Old Testament (see Ezekiel 34), and that role had been taken over by Jesus during the course of his public ministry (see John 10:11); Jesus was now further delegating Peter to share in his role as Chief Shepherd of the People of God, an office requiring Peter to both love Jesus intensely and to show that love by caring intensely for Jesus’ people. Jesus closed this scene with a warning to Peter that the demands of his office would be great, leading eventually even to Peter’s own death on a cross – a triumph of love rendering to God the praise that is his due.

The three scenes of this Gospel text come together then as first, further testimony to the reality of Christ’s Resurrection; second, the commissioning of Jesus’ followers to continually testify to the supreme goodness and eternal significance of this Resurrection; and third, the setting of this commission within the context of the deep and abiding love between God and his people. As we move further into this Easter season, may we more fully realize that the “power and riches, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing” (Revelation 5:12) so due to the eternal Lamb of God is rendered most fittingly in this life by the sharing of this love with the Lord and among his people.

Msgr. John N. Fell serves as Episcopal Vicar for the Vicariate for Clergy.