Sermon: The Shepherd and His Sheep (2022)

Delivered at St. John United Methodist Church in Greenville, South Carolina on May 8, 2022, the Fourth Sunday in Eastertide and Mother's Day

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The Shepherd and His Sheep

Audio Version

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem.  It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon.  So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense?  If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”  Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.  My sheep hear my voice.  I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.  No one will snatch them out of my hand.  What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand.  The Father and I are one.”

John 10:22-30 (NRSV)

All your ways are good
All your ways are sure
I will trust in you alone
Higher than my sight
High above my life
I will trust in you alone

From “I Will Follow” by Chris Tomlin

Sheep have a reputation for being especially dumb animals.  Nowadays, to refer to other people as “sheep” or “sheeple” is to suggest that they don't think for themselves.  Sheep are actually not as dumb as people think.  In fact, they have been found to be almost as trainable as dogs.  The fallacy that sheep are lacking in intelligence originated with cowboys who unsuccessfully tried to drive them like cattle.  It turns out that the problem was not that the sheep were dumb but that the cowboys did not understand the sheep.  In other words, the cowboys were not shepherds.  What they failed to realize is that sheep cannot be driven forcefully from the rear like cattle.  Sheep must be led gently from the front.¹

All that said, when we encounter a passage of Scripture in which we are compared to sheep, like today's Gospel reading, we do not have to read it as an assault on our intelligence.²  Such passages are actually about the relationship between the sheep and the shepherd, which, of course, is symbolic of the relationship between humanity and God.

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In the Gospel of John, we read that controversy ensues when Jesus gives the gift of sight to a man who has been blind his whole life.  It has been said that “no good deed goes unpunished.”  The townspeople have trouble believing that the newly sighted man is the same man they previously saw begging on the side of the road.  They take him to the religious leaders, and the religious leaders, many of whom have been highly critical of Jesus, begin to argue about whether Jesus is a prophet of God or a sinner.  Some argue that He must be a sinner because He did the work of healing on the Sabbath day, which is meant solely for rest, according to the Fourth Commandment.³  Others argue that, if He was a sinner, He could not possibly have given sight to a blind man.  The religious leaders grill the formerly blind man, becoming angrier and angrier with him, until they finally throw him out.⁴

Jesus meets up with the formerly blind man again, and the man professes his belief in Him.  Jesus says, “I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.”  Some of the religious leaders overhear what Jesus says and ask, “Surely we are not blind, are we?”⁵  Jesus then attempts to address their questions about who He is.  In the discourse that follows, Jesus makes the kind of statement about Himself that is scattered throughout John's Gospel.  Such statements, which are commonly called the “I Am” sayings, include metaphors that teach us who Jesus is.  On this occasion, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.”⁶

So what exactly does it mean that Jesus is the Good Shepherd?  A quick look at what the Bible tells us about shepherds, both literal and figurative, will show us that it means a lot of things.

Perhaps it would be helpful to consider what a bad shepherd is like for the purpose of comparison.  When Jesus calls Himself “the Good Shepherd,” He makes it a point to differentiate Himself from a field hand who is hired to watch the sheep.  A hired hand, according to Jesus, will make himself scarce at the first sign of danger, leaving the sheep to be attacked and scattered.⁷  He will not put his life on the line for the sheep, because he is not personally invested in their.  He is only working a job to pay the bills.

The ancient Hebrew prophets were never in short supply of scathing words for the people in charge.  Some of them compared the kings of Israel and Judah to bad shepherds who failed to take care of the sheep entrusted to them.  For example, God commanded the prophet Ezekiel to “prophesy against the shepherds of Israel”⁸ who had been tending themselves instead of tending the sheep.  God told Ezekiel to say,
Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves!  Should not shepherds feed the sheep?  You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep.  You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. ⁹
Through the prophet Jeremiah, God said, “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! … It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them.”¹⁰

Though there are a lot of bad shepherds in the Bible, there are a number of good shepherds as well.  Moses served as a shepherd for his father-in-law's flock before he was called to shepherd the people of God out of slavery in Egypt and through the wilderness toward the Promised Land.¹¹  The prophet Amos also tended sheep before he was called to speak on God's behalf in an attempt to lead the straying people of God back onto the right path.¹²  Good shepherds must be personally invested in those who are entrusted to them, whether they are sheep or people.

A bad shepherd will benefit from his role without adequately caring for the sheep entrusted to him.  A good shepherd, on the other hand, is personally invested in the well-being of his sheep.  Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”¹³

One of the most memorable shepherds in the Bible is Jesus' ancestor David, who tended his family's sheep before he became a soldier and later king of Israel.  When David famously defeated the giant Goliath, he did so not as a soldier, clad in armor and carrying a sword, but as a shepherd, equipped with only a bag, a sling, and a few stones.  He said to the king, who initially objected to his challenging the giant, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father; and whenever a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it.”¹⁴  David was no mere field hand.  He put his own life on the line as a shepherd, because he was personally invested in the lives of the sheep entrusted to him.

David faced lions and bears for his father's sheep.  His descendant Jesus will face a cross for His Father's sheep.

Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.  I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.”¹⁵  A good shepherd knows the sheep entrusted to him.  In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus begins a parable by asking, “What do you think?  If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?”¹⁶  One hundred sheep make up quite a large flock.  A shepherd in charge of so many sheep would have to know his flock remarkably well in order to notice that a single sheep is missing.¹⁷

Jesus continues His parable, “And if [the shepherd] finds [the sheep], truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.”¹⁸  A good shepherd does not leave any of his sheep behind.  He does not consider ninety-nine percent a success.  He does not write off his losses and move on.  It is only when the flock is complete that a good shepherd can celebrate a job well done.¹⁹  Jesus concludes His parable, “So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.”²⁰  God knows and loves all of God's children, and God is not content to lose any of them.  Jesus says, “The Father and I are one,”²¹ meaning that what matters to God matters to Jesus.

There are other parts of Scripture that offer us hints regarding what it means that Jesus is the Good Shepherd.

Bad shepherds, according to the prophet Ezekiel, fail to do things like strengthening the weak, healing the sick, and seeking the lost.  Throughout the Gospel story, we read that Jesus does these very things.  He brings hope to the hopeless, befriends the friendless, and heals those who are sick in body or mind.  Bad shepherds, according to the prophet Jeremiah, cause the sheep to become scattered.  In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that, “when [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.²²

David, who is one of the most famous shepherds in the Bible, penned what is probably the most beloved poem in the Bible, which begins, “The Lord is my shepherd.”  One thing I find interesting about the twenty-third Psalm is that David, a shepherd, puts himself in the place of a sheep as he meditates on his relationship with God.

The Psalm begins, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.”²³  A good shepherd provides for his sheep; he makes sure that they have the food and water they need.  The Psalm continues, “He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.”²⁴  A good shepherd leads his sheep well, guiding them to water and pastureland while keeping them out of harm's way.  The Psalm continues, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff – they comfort me.”²⁵  A good shepherd is a comforting presence to his sheep when they are frightened.

David is confident that, with God as his shepherd, goodness and mercy will follow him his whole life.²⁶  Jesus, who calls Himself the Good Shepherd, says, “I came that [the sheep] may have life, and have it abundantly.”²⁷

Incidentally, today is both the fourth Sunday in Eastertide, which is also called Good Shepherd Sunday, and also Mother's Day, making it a good day to remember that Christ is not only like a shepherd but also like a mother.  In the Gospel of Luke, we read that, one day, while Jesus is ministering to people in Jerusalem, He receives word that His life is in danger.  He then laments over the city, saying, “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!”²⁸  Perhaps much of what can be said about a shepherd and his sheep could also be said about a mother and her children.  Mothers provide what their children need, lead them on the right paths in life, comfort them when they are afraid, give of themselves for their children, and often know their children better than their children know themselves.

Rob Bell, in one of his short films, tells a story about something that once happened to him while he was riding his bicycle on a trail through the woods.  As he was riding, he came across a family of geese in his way, and he tried numerous times, to no avail, to make them move.  Suddenly, Rob heard from the largest goose what he called “a sound that no human being should ever have to endure.”  He then realized that he had upset the mother goose.  Still intent on making the geese get out of his way, he backed up and began walking toward them very quickly.  The mother goose then assumed attack position, issued forth a hiss “straight from the pit of hell,” and charged him.  Rob then threw his bike over his shoulder for his own protection and ran back the way he came, away from the geese.²⁹

Nobody gets between a mother and her children, and nobody gets between the Good Shepherd and His sheep.  Jesus says, “I give [the sheep] eternal life, and they will never perish.  No one will snatch them out of my hand.”³⁰

Reactions to the claim Jesus made, that He is the Good Shepherd, are mixed.  Some in His audience think that He has lost His mind and that His words cannot be trusted, while others continue to insist that, if He can give sight to the blind, then He must be telling the truth.³¹

Later on, while Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Festival of the Dedication, which we typically call Hanukkah, some of the religious leaders approach Him in the temple and say, “How long will you keep us in suspense?  If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”  Jesus replies, “I have told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep.”³²  Jesus does not say what He says to the religious leaders for the sake of being exclusive; He is simply stating a reality.  A good shepherd knows his sheep, but sheep also know their shepherd.  The religious leaders are not among Jesus' sheep, because they do not see Jesus for who He is, and they do not follow Him as sheep follow their shepherd.

Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice.  I know them, and they follow me.”³³  Sheep are not stupid: they know who their shepherd is.  I have heard that the sheep of multiple different shepherds can intermingle while grazing and that each will return to it's own shepherd when called.³⁴  In Jesus' words,
The gatekeeper opens the gate for [the shepherd], and the sheep hear his voice.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.  They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers. ³⁵
Basically, the religious leaders do not belong to Jesus' flock because, if they did, they would follow Jesus when He calls them.

Jesus says to us, “I am the good shepherd.”  I've heard one preacher say that such sayings are not just statements about Jesus' identity but are also invitations to experience Jesus in a particular way.³⁶  When Jesus says that He is the Good Shepherd, He is inviting us to see Him for who He is, to put our trust in Him, and to follow Him as sheep follow their shepherd.

Jesus says, “The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me.”  Jesus performs a number of miraculous works in the Gospel of John, and the author refers to these miracles as “signs” because they point us to the truth of who Jesus is.  These signs also show us what kind of shepherd He is.  Jesus is the kind of shepherd who gives sight to the blind, treads fearlessly on top of a raging sea, feeds hungry multitudes in the desert, lifts up the weak, heals the sick, transforms water of ritual into wine of celebration, and brings new life to the dead.  He is the kind of shepherd who bears a cross to save His sheep and then rises from the dead to return to them.  We can put our trust in Jesus and follow Him as our shepherd, because we can see that He is good.

Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.  I know my own and my own know me...  And I lay down my life for the sheep.”³⁷  May you recognize Jesus for who He is; may you trust in His goodness; may you follow Him as your shepherd for the rest of your lives; and may goodness and mercy follow you always.

Amen.


Notes:

1. Jonathan Merritt.  Jesus Is Better than You Imagined.  2014, Faith Words.  pp. 119-120
2. ibid.
3. Exodus 20:8-11
4. John 9:1-34
5. John 9:35-40 (NRSV)
6. John 10:11a (NRSV)
7. John 10:12-13
8. Ezekiel 34:2 (NRSV)
9. Ezekiel 34:3-4 (NRSV)
10. Jeremiah 23:1-2 (NRSV)
11. Exodus 3:1-10
12. Amos 1:1
13. John 10:11 (NRSV)
14. 1 Samuel 17 (NRSV)
15. John 10:14-15a (NRSV)
16. Matthew 18:12 (NRSV)
17. Amy-Jill Levine.  Short Stories by Jesus: The Enigmatic Parables of a Controversial Rabbi.  2014, Harper One.  p. 38
18. Matthew 18:13 (NRSV)
19. Levine, p. 39
20. Matthew 18:14 (NRSV)
21. John 10:30 (NRSV)
22. Matthew 9:36 (NRSV)
23. Psalm 23:1-3a (NRSV)
24. Psalm 23:3b (NRSV)
25. Psalm 23:4 (NRSV)
26. Psalm 23:6a (NRSV)
27. John 10:10b (NRSV)
28. Luke 13:31-34 (NRSV)
29. Rob Bell.  NOOMA She | 021.  2008, Flannel.
30. John 10:28
31. John 10:19-21
32. John 10:22-26 (NRSV)
33. John 10:27 (NRSV)
34. Luke Norsworthy.  “The Good Shepherd.”  Westover Hills Church of Christ, 02/25/2018.
35. John 10:3-5 (NRSV)
36. Norsworthy,  “The Good Shepherd”
37. John 10:14, 15b (NRSV)

Le Bon Pasteur was painted by James Tissot in the late 1800s.  The photograph of the flock of sheep was provided by the Agricultural Research Service and is public domain.

Sermon: The Rock

Delivered at Zoar United Methodist Church in Greer, South Carolina on May 1, 2022, the Third Sunday in Eastertide

I share these thoughts hoping they are of help to someone else.
Comments are always welcomed.
If you find these thoughts helpful, please share.

The Rock

Audio Version

Click here to view the entire service on Facebook.

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way.  Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples.  Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”  They said to him, “We will go with you.”  They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.  Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?”  They answered him, “No.”  He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.”  So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.  That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”  When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea.  But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread.  Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.”  So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn.  Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.”  Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord.  Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.  This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

When they had finished breakfast, 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.”  A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”  Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.”  He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?”  And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”  Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.  Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished.  But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.”  (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.)  After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

John 21:1-19 (NRSV)

Whenever you run away
Whenever you lose your faith
It's just another stroke of
The pen on the page
A lonely ray of hope
Is all that you need
To see
A beautiful history

From “Beautiful History” by Plumb

In early 1738, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, was trudging through a season of doubt and frustration.  His ministry in the Georgia colony had been an abysmal failure.  Wesley sailed across the Atlantic with the intention of serving as a chaplain to the colonists and as a missionary to the natives – and saving his own soul in the process.  Sadly, with his strict rules and high expectations, he ended up alienating the colonists he intended to shepherd.  After he was sued for defamation of character by a former love interest – long story – he fled back to England as an utter failure.¹

Wesley, who was raised in the Christian faith, had been ordained as a priest in the Church of England ten years earlier.  By the time he returned to England from the Georgia colony, he wasn't sure he had any faith at all.  At that time he became friends with a Moravian priest named Peter Boehler.  Wesley once told Boehler that he was going to stop preaching, wondering how he could possibly preach when he wasn't even sure he had any faith.  Boehler said to Wesley, “Preach faith till you have it; then, because you have it, you will preach faith.”²

I suspect that, like John Wesley, all of us are tempted to throw in the proverbial towel at times.

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Toward the end of the Gospel of John, we read that, one evening, the disciple Simon, who is more commonly known as Peter, announces to six of the other disciples, “I am going fishing.”  The other disciples agree to go with him.³

At this point in the Gospel story, Jesus has been raised from the dead, after being brutally executed by crucifixion.  The Disciples have now seen Jesus alive and well twice since His resurrection.  The first time they saw Him, He suddenly appeared in the room with them, even though the door was locked, and said, “Peace be with you.”  After showing them the scars from His crucifixion, He said to them, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”  He then breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”⁴  The Disciples have been commissioned by Jesus and empowered by the Holy Spirit to carry on the work Jesus started.

So why does Simon decide to go fishing?  For many of us, fishing is either a hobby or a means of getting away from the hustle and bustle of life and slowing down for a while.  For Simon, on the other hand, it was once a means of making a living.

Perhaps it would be helpful to look back on Simon's story thus far.

When Simon's brother Andrew, who had been a disciple of John the Baptist, began following Jesus, he found Simon and told him that he had just met their people's long awaited Messiah.  When Andrew took him to meet Jesus, Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John.  You are to be called Cephas.”⁵  Simon began following Jesus that day.

The story of how Simon became one of Jesus' disciples is told a bit differently in the other Gospels.  In the Gospel of Luke, we read that one day, when Jesus was trying to teach a crowd on a lakeshore, people were so eager to hear Him that they weren't leaving Him any breathing room.  He boarded the boat that belonged to Simon, who was washing his nets after he spent a night unsuccessfully trying to catch fish.  At Jesus' request, Simon rowed outward a bit, and Jesus was able to teach the crowd from the boat.⁶

After Jesus finished teaching the crowd, he suggested that Simon row his boat out to deeper water and throw out his nets.  Still discouraged from unsuccessful night fishing, Simon reluctantly followed Jesus' suggestion.  When he threw out his nets, he had the greatest catch of his life.  He caught so many fish that his nets began to break, and he had to call his fishing partners to row out to him and help him bring the fish to shore.  They filled both of their boats so full of fish that they started to sink.  Simon fell down before Jesus and cried out, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”  Jesus then said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching people.”  That day, Simon and his fishing partners became Jesus' disciples.⁷

Cephas, the new name Jesus gave Simon, is the Aramaic word for “rock.”  It is equivalent to the Greek word petros, from which we get the more familiar name Peter.⁸

The Gospel of Matthew provides us some additional insight about the significance of Simon's new name.  In it, we read that one day, after Simon and the other disciples had been following Jesus for a while, Jesus asked them, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  They responded with some of the rumors that were circulating about Him at the time, that He was some prophet of old who had returned.  Jesus then asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”  Simon eagerly answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”  Impressed with what Simon said, Jesus gave him a new name, saying, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah!  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”⁹

It is evident that Jesus saw something in Simon, whom He renamed Peter, that He would call him the “rock” on whom He would build His church.

It appeared to Peter that his hopes for Jesus as the Messiah were about to be realized when they entered Jerusalem shortly before the Passover festival.  The crowd met Jesus at the city gates, waving palm branches and shouting, “Hosanna!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord – the King of Israel!”  He then found a donkey and rode it into the city.¹⁰  He looked like a king riding in a peacetime procession.

A few days later, over dinner, Jesus rather ominously told the Disciples, “Little children, I am with you only a little longer.  You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, 'Where I am going you cannot come.'”¹¹  Troubled, Peter asked Jesus, “Lord, where are you going?”  Jesus replied rather cryptically, “Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but you will follow afterward.”  Peter said, “Lord, why can I not follow you now?  I will lay down my life for you.”  Jesus then said to Peter, “Will you lay down your life for me?  Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times.”¹²

Hours later, Peter found himself at the home of the high priest.  Jesus, who had just been arrested in a garden in front of the Disciples, was being interrogated inside, while Peter stood in the courtyard, warming himself by a charcoal fire one of the servants had made.  On his way into the courtyard, the woman at the gate asked him if he was one of Jesus' disciples.  Peter told her that he was not.¹³  Later on, someone else asked Peter if he was one of Jesus' disciples.  Again, he said that he was not.  Then another servant of the high priest looked at Peter and asked him if he saw him in the garden with Jesus when He was arrested.  Peter denied being there.¹⁴

At that very moment, a rooster crowed,¹⁵ reminding Peter of what Jesus told him hours earlier.

I would like to point out that Peter is not a coward.  I believe that, when he told Jesus that he would give his life for Him, he actually meant what he said.  When the soldiers and temple guards came to arrest Jesus in the garden, Peter was the first to draw his sword and start fighting back.  He even cut off the ear of one of the men sent by the high priest.¹⁶  When Peter said that he was willing to die for Jesus, he meant that he was willing to die fighting for Jesus.  He never imagined that Jesus would tell him to put away his sword.¹⁷  When that happened, the whole game changed.

I think that something besides fear motivated Peter's denial.

In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that, shortly after Jesus gave Peter his new name, He started warning him and the rest of the Disciples that “he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”¹⁸   Peter did not like what he was hearing.  As the Messiah, Jesus was supposed to be crowned king in Jerusalem.  He was then supposed to rally His people against their Roman oppressors, drive them out of the land, and restore Israel to its former glory.  Peter took Jesus aside and said to Him, “God forbid it, Lord!  This must never happen to you.”  Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!  You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”¹⁹  The rock on whom Jesus wanted to build His church was acting more like a rock that would cause Him to trip.  Jesus then said to all who would hear, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”²⁰

To Peter, it was unthinkable that Jesus would surrender without a fight.  I think that maybe, when he lied and said that he was not one of Jesus' disciples, he was speaking not only out of fear but also out of disappointment, confusion, and even embarrassment.  I also think that there might have been a grain of truth in his lie.  Maybe he hadn't been following Jesus as his Messiah as much as he had been following the messiah he wanted Jesus to be.  To Peter, the Messiah was supposed to be a conquering king and not a suffering servant.  If the One he had been following was destined to serve and suffer, then what might he have to endure personally?

There is an old hymn that begins, “'Are ye able,' said the Master, 'to be crucified with me?”²¹  I suspect that most of us, if we were honest, would say, “Lord, we'd rather not.”

When Jesus was arrested, put on trial, and condemned to death by crucifixion, He appeared to have failed; however, when He was resurrected from the dead, He was vindicated.  The Resurrection showed Jesus' followers that Jesus really was everything He claimed to be.  He was indeed “the way, and the truth, and the life.”  He was indeed “the light of the world,” “the good shepherd,” “the bread of life,” and “the true vine.”  He was indeed “the resurrection and the life.”²²  The Resurrection also vindicated the way of life Jesus demonstrated.  It assured His followers that His way – the way of self-sacrificial love – ultimately triumphs over the way of the world – the way of seizing and maintaining power through violence.

There are various theories regarding why Peter and other disciples decide to go fishing.  For example, one commentary suggests that their fishing for fish is a “living parable” that ultimately symbolizes their fishing for people.  They will find themselves unsuccessful unless they depend on Jesus and do what He has taught them to do.²³  Personally, I cannot help but think that, when Peter says, “I am going fishing,” he is effectively tendering his resignation as a disciple of Jesus and returning to his former line of work.  Now that Jesus has been raised from the dead, Peter sees that he, not Jesus, was the one who failed.  “Some rock I turned out to be,” he might be thinking to himself.

Peter and the six other disciples spend a night on the lake not catching any fish.  After morning breaks, a man calls out to them from the lakeshore, asking them if they caught any fish.  When they reply that they have not caught any fish, he suggests that they throw out their net from the starboard side of the boat.  The Disciples do what the man suggests, and they catch so many fish that they are unable to bring the net back into the boat with them.  Having seen a miracle like this previously, they realize that the man on the lakeshore is Jesus.  The Disciples haul the fish to the shore, where Jesus is already cooking some fish and some bread over a charcoal fire – just like the one that was burning in the high priest's courtyard where Peter denied Jesus.  They bring Jesus some of the fish they caught, and, once the fish are cooked, He says to them, “Come and have breakfast.”²⁴

After breakfast, Jesus asks Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”  Peter replies, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”  Jesus then says to Peter, “Feed my lambs.”  Again Jesus asks Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  Peter replies, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.”  Jesus then says to Peter, “Tend my sheep.”  For a third time, Jesus asks Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”  Deeply hurt, Peter says to Jesus, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”  Jesus then says to Peter, “Feed my sheep.”²⁵  Three times Peter denied Jesus; three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him; and three times Jesus tells Peter to shepherd His people.  Peter might have been tempted to give up on himself, but Jesus never had any intention of giving up on him.  Peter might have failed, but he is still the rock on whom Jesus will build His church.

In the Church, we emphasize the importance of believing in Christ – as we should do – but it is also important to remember that Christ believes in us.²⁶  Peter's story is also our story.  Christ sees something in each of us, as He saw something in Peter, and He calls all of us to be His disciple and to be part of the Church He is building, as he called Peter.  He would not have called us to be His disciples if He was not sure that we are up to the task.²⁷  Christ knows that each of us will fail from time to time, as he knew that Peter would fail, but He knows that we will bounce back from failure if we give ourselves the chance, and He knows that we will eventually succeed if we do not give up.

Peter will go on to do exactly what Jesus has called him to do.  In the Acts of the Apostles, we read that, on a holy day called Pentecost, Peter will preach to a crowd of Jewish people from many nations who are gathered in Jerusalem for the festival.  On that day, three thousand people will be baptized and welcomed into the Church.²⁸  We also read that, later on, Peter will be sent by God to minister to a Roman centurion named Cornelius and his friends and family.  He will realize that Jesus is not just the Messiah of His own people but rather the Savior of the whole world.²⁹  Peter's actions will help pave the way for the Church to become more inclusive of all people.³⁰

Peter will eventually lay down his life for Christ, as he said he would do.  Jesus says to Peter on the lakeshore, “Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished.  But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.”³¹  According to Church tradition, around thirty years later, Peter will be crucified by Caesar Nero, who will scapegoat Christians for the burning of Rome.  Because Peter will not feel worthy to die the same way his Messiah died, he will insist on being crucified upside-down.³²

Peter will remain faithful to Christ until death.  Jesus didn't name him “the Rock” for nothing.

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John Wesley might have been tempted to give up on his calling, but the God who called him had no intention of giving up on him.  On the evening of May 24, 1738, Wesley was dragged to a Bible study on Aldersgate Street in London – by whom, we do not know.  As he sat, listening to someone read Martin Luther's commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, his heart was, in his own words, “strangely warmed.”  Looking back on his experience, he wrote in his journal, “I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for my salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.”  God led Wesley out of that difficult time into an assurance he had not experienced previously.³³

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Christ calls all of us to take part in His redemptive work in the world.   He would not have called us if we were not up to  the task.  Inevitably each of us will fail at some point, but failure does not have to be the end of the story.  We must not give up on ourselves, for Christ never gives up on us.

Thanks be to God.


Notes:

1. Adam Hamilton.  Revival: Faith as Wesley Lived It.  2014, Abingdon Press.  pp. 62-67
2. Frederick A. Norwood.  The Story of American Methodism.  1974, Abingdon Press.  pp. 25-26
3. John 21:1-3 (NRSV)
4. John 20:19-22 (NRSV)
5. John 1:40-42 (NRSV)
6. Luke 5:1-3
7. Luke 5:4-11 (NRSV)
8. Michael D. Coogan, et al.  The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Third Edition.  2001, Oxford University Press, Inc.  New Testament p. 149
9. Matthew 16:13-18 (NRSV)
10. John 12:12-15 (NRSV)
11. John 13:33 (NRSV)
12. John 13:36-38 (NRSV)
13. John 18:15-18
14. John 18:25-27
15. John 18:27
16. John 18:1-10
17. John 18:11
18. Matthew 16:21 (NRSV)
19. Matthew 16:22-23 (NRSV)
20. Matthew 16:24 (NRSV)
21. From “Are Ye Able” by Earl Marlatt
22. John 6:35; 8:12; 10:11; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1 (NRSV)
23. Joel B. Green, William H. Willimon, et al.  The Wesley Study Bible (NRSV).  2009, Abingdon Press.  p. 1319
24. John 21:3-14 (NRSV)
25. John 21:15-17 (NRSV)
26. Rob Bell.  Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith.  2005, Zondervan.  p. 134
27. ibid.
28. Acts 2:5-42
29. Acts 10:1-11:18
30. Acts 15:1-21
31. John 21:18 (NRSV)
32. Wikipedia: “Saint Peter”
33. Hamilton, pp. 69-72

The Second Miraculous Draught of Fishes was painted by James Tissot in the late nineteenth century.