11 ^th Resurrection Gospel

(John 21: 15-25)

So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

        On the shore, a fire was ready, with fish cooking on it.  Christ said:  “Go, bring some of what you have just caught.”  They pulled out the net, and began to count the catch; there were 153 fish.  Christ said to them:  “Come, eat…”  No one dared ask “Who art Thou?”  With great trepidation, everyone sensed that it was the Lord.  They could not bring their hands to grasp the food.  Christ Himself got up and distributed it to them. 

        This is the beginning of the eleventh and final Resurrection Gospel reading.  The Risen Christ eats with his disciples, early in the morning on the shore of the sea of Tiberias.  Christ already has a special Body.  His closest disciples recognize Him not so much with their eyes as with a feeling in their hearts, for Christ’s human body has already been glorified.  Christ sits with His disciples around the bonfire. Throughout the world, everything is as it had been.  No one knows that the Creator of all creation is sitting, as a man, on the shore of a small and isolated lake.  Of course it was then quiet on that shore, for all of the winds had died down. 

        “Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou Me more than these?” “Feed my Lambs.”  “Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?...”  “Lord, Thou knowest all things.  Thou knowest that I love Thee.”  The Lord reinstates Peter.  After all, Peter had renounced Him thrice, and thus had to be reinstated thrice. “Simon son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?”  What boundless love – not a shade of rebuke, not a whisker of bitterness, nothing but love.  Peter’s transgression was awful: he had renounced the Lord, his beloved, close friend, in His presence, while He was being demeaned, and suddenly, “Lovest thou Me?”… more than those who had not renounced Him. “Feed My sheep.” I say to you thrice, from henceforth wiping out your three times [of betrayal].  After all, Peter, you wept, and your tears brought you toward Me, and I restore you to the Apostolate…  And he said other words, giving Peter to understand with what manner of death Peter would glorify God.

        The Sea of Tiberias.  The Incarnate Creator of the Universe, Who had suffered, and Who as a man was recognized through particular sight.  Poor Galileean fisherman, who with difficulty caught 153 fish, and did not yet know that they were to catch perhaps more than some 153 billion people and lead them into God’s palace.

        Christ’s every single word, every single phrase, has enormous meaning, great meaning, both obvious and hidden, for every single word and every event in the Gospel has something to do with the personal fate of each individual person.  While Christ may not say to each of us, “Feed My lambs,” Christ addresses each of us with the words “Lovest thou Me?”  And what can we say in response, knowing that love for God is inseparable from love for His commandments?  What will we say to Christ at His Final Judgment, when we are face to face with God, and He asks each of us, as He had asked Peter on the shores of Tiberias, “Lovest thou Me?”  We will be able to respond, “O Lord, Thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love Thee.”

  Archbishop John Shakhovskoy