When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him,“Follow me!” Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” Because of this, the rumour spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” (John 21:15-22)

 

 

     Last week, we left Jesus and the disciples eating a hearty breakfast of fish and bread. I don't know about you, but after I eat a big meal, I kind of like to sit back and relax for a while. I've been doing some reading on a few medical websites to discover if that's a good thing to do or not. The myth is that being active immediately after a meal helps us digest the food, but apparently that's not true. It actually prevents us from digesting food efficiently. The ideal situation is to relax for about 15-30 minutes (but not go to sleep) and then engage in some moderate exercise. That's supposedly the healthiest thing to do. Well, like I said, I like the “relax after a meal” part of that. I think most people do. The hardest part is to stop the relaxing and actually get back up after the 15-30 minutes and start to get some exercise. That's tough. For me, it doesn't really matter what the meal is. Breakfast, lunch, dinner – after eating, I usually don't feel much like getting up and about. Having a meal and then being asked to actually do something is a real challenge.

 

     This morning, we've moved on the the second half of John 21. Last Sunday, we left the disciples having a breakfast of bread and fish with the risen Jesus. It's not exactly the sort of breakfast my mouth would water for. I actually tried it once in Newfoundland at a Good Friday breakfast I was invited to speak at at the local Salvation Army Church. Fish and brewis it's called in Newfoundland. Boiled cod and boiled hard tack bread mashed together and covered in pork fat. Not exactly my choice for how to start the day. In fact, as the meal was being served, one of the cooks said to me, “Reverend, we know you're a mainlander, and this isn't your kind of breakfast, so we have some bacon and eggs we're gonna cook for you.” Well, I wasn't going to be the only one there eating bacon and eggs, so I ate the fish and brewis because of the simple principle: when in Newfoundland, do as the Newfoundlanders! In John's Gospel there's really no hint offered about whether or not the disciples enjoyed their breakfast of bread and fish. They were fishermen, so I suspect they did. What I do know is that Jesus didn't really want them to do very much relaxing after the meal. In fact, Jesus offered a challenge – specifically to Peter. It wasn't one that required a great exertion of energy, but it wasn't easy, either. “When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?' 'Yes, Lord,' he said, 'you know that I love you.' Jesus said, 'Feed my lambs.' 

 

     I've often said that this has to rank as one of the most confusing passages in the entire Bible. You read through the exchange between Jesus and Peter and you're left scratching your head a bit. Three times Jesus asked Peter “do you love me.” Three times Peter replied, “yes, Lord, I love you.” Three times! It's kind of a hard passage to figure out. Why did Jesus need to keep asking the same question? Did he doubt Peter's love? Was he suffering from a bit of an inferiority complex, needing affirmation? The reality is that Jesus was challenging Peter; challenging him to a depth of love he had never before known. 

 

     What doesn't come across when you read this passage in English is that Jesus changes the basis of the question. I'm going to do a bit of paraphrasing here, hoping to bring out a bit more clearly exactly what's happening in this passage. The first two times Jesus asks Peter “do you love me,” he's asking about agape love. He's saying to Peter – “would you be willing to give up everything for me,” is essentially how you might paraphrase the question. And Peter responds by speaking of a very different kind of love, called filia. Essentially he says: “well, Jesus, the truth is I love you like a brother.” They're two very different things. What comes across in English as a very strange conversation is actually, when you understand the language this was written in, a bit of a disagreement, or even an argument. Jesus is challenging Peter to give him the deepest kind of love imaginable, and Peter's saying, “sorry, Jesus, but here's my limit.” Jesus then asks the question the third time in a different way, basically saying, “all right – if that's all you're willing to give me, are you sure you can give me even that?” That third question is a bit of a rebuke, which is why Peter is hurt. Peter's not hurt because Jesus kept asking him the same question; Peter's hurt because the third question was different and suggested that Jesus might had lowered his expectations of Peter and might have doubted his faithfulness just a bit

 

     But what do we learn from this exchange? Why does it matter to Christian faith in the 21st century? I struggled with this passage for a long time until I came to understand the nuances of the language it was written in – and then, all of a sudden, in a strange sort of way, I started to see this as a very comforting passage that's actually filled with a lot of hope. It tells me a lot of how and what Jesus thinks about me – and, for that matter I suppose, about any of us. It also tells me a lot about myself. What we learn first is that Jesus expects a lot out of those who dare to be his followers. Those first two questions were tough: “would you be willing to give up everything for my sake?” That's a tough call, a demanding challenge – and a huge compliment. It's always a compliment when someone sees in you the potential to do something that you never thought you'd be able to do, and Jesus clearly sees in his disciples the potential to be more and to give more than we ever thought possible. The second thing we learn is that Jesus' expectations of us aren't unrealistic. Jesus challenges us to great things, but in the end Jesus accepts what we're able to offer. That's what was going on with the third question. Jesus lowered his expectations of Peter. It was no longer “would you be willing to give up everything for my sake?” Instead, it became, again to paraphrase, “all right, if you can't do that will you really love me like a brother?” Peter was hurt by that question. I find it comforting to realize that, when all is said and done, Jesus won't demand more from me at any given time than I'm able to give. Knowing that Jesus is prepared to lower his expectations actually frees me to do the best that I can do, knowing that while Jesus might want me to give more, he'll graciously accept what I'm able to give at any given time. But if this account teaches me a lot about Jesus and what Jesus expects of me, it teaches me even more about myself.

 

     In the end – Peter said “yes” to Jesus' first two questions as well. “Would you be willing to give up everything for me?” Remember? That was the start of the challenge. And Jesus knew that, however unable he was at the time to give everything, and however many times Peter had and perhaps would fail him, in the end, Peter would say “yes” to the first question: “when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” It's a look ahead to Peter's ultimate destiny. We often forget that Peter also ended up being crucified for his faith. I don't want to be crucified – not for Jesus or anyone else to be honest. But what I learn here is that in spite of my weaknesses, my failures, my sins or my lack of understanding, I'm capable of greater things for Jesus than perhaps I can even imagine. At that moment, I'm sure that Peter didn't realize that he would be crucified, but he probably appreciated Jesus' affirmation of what he was capable of doing for the Kingdom of God. So should we all.

 

     And it all came after a meal. Holy Communion is a meal. It's the stuff that nourishes us, and that equips us for the life of faith, love and sacrifice that Jesus calls us to. And when the meal is over, and when we've been fed, and when we go our separate ways – we do so knowing that in some way we can rise to the challenge of doing greater things than we ever thought possible as we serve the Kingdom of God.