One of my favorite
movies of all time would probably have to be Braveheart. It is a movie about
medieval Scotland and the Revolutionary William Wallace. Scotland at that time
was under oppressive British rule, so oppressive that one of the laws was that British
troops were given the right to be with a man’s new wife on their wedding
day. After William’s wife resists and is
killed, William starts a revolt against the king in attempts to free Scotland.
There is one aspect of this movie that reminds me of our scripture for today.
While in the midst of his struggles to free Scotland, William elicits the help
of one of the noblemen of Scotland. He was a Scotsman who had been given money
and some power from the king in exchange for his obedience. William asks for
his help on the battle field and he consents. During a major battle however, as
William is relying on the forces of this nobleman for help, the nobleman
abandons William in his time of need. William is later captured and executed,
however the movie ends with this nobleman taking up the fight, and leading
Scotland to freedom. It is a true story of redemption.
Our scripture for this morning is also a story of
redemption. In our scripture for today there are really two different things
going on. First you have Jesus appearing on the beach to the disciples and
telling them where to cast their nests in order to catch more fish. The second
part of the story is a conversation between Jesus and Simon Peter. This morning
we will be focusing on the latter. The
gospel of John gives us a fascinating conversation between Jesus and Peter. “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.”
This is a very interesting
and confusing conversation between Jesus and Peter. Jesus continues to ask Peter if he loves him,
and Peter keeps answering yes. We can sense the frustration of Peter, and we
begin to wonder why is Jesus doing this? There are many theories and
interpretations to what this means, and many of them are correct, but this
morning as we ask the question why did Jesus ask Peter this question three
times, we must turn to another scripture that might shed some light on the
question. We must go back to John 18 and the night in which Jesus was handed over to be killed. “ Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that
disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of
the high priest, but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other
disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who
guarded the gate, and brought Peter in. The woman said to Peter, "You are
not also one of this man's disciples, are you?" He said, "I am
not." After this the scripture switches to Jesus being questioned
by the high priests, but a little later in the chapter the story comes back to
Peter. “Now Simon Peter was standing and warming
himself. They asked him, "You are not also one of his disciples, are
you?" He denied it and said, "I am not." One of the slaves of the high priest, a
relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, "Did I not see you
in the garden with him?" Again
Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.
And with the cock crowing, Peter had fulfilled what was
prophesied by Jesus, that Peter would deny Jesus three times before the cock
crowed twice. We must realize that this is not some minor incident. While Jesus
had twelve disciples that he relied on, there is no arguing that Peter was
special, that Peter was some sort of leader amongst the disciples. Peter is
talked highly about throughout the gospels, and even this gospel of John, who
frequently refers to a different disciple as the disciple whom Jesus loved,
still talks about Peter as though he was a leader of the disciples. At the
mount in which Jesus was transfigured before a select few disciples, Jesus even
tells Peter that Peter is the rock on which he will build his church. This even
plays a huge role in the Roman Catholic church, as it is believed that is pope
is in a lineage all the way down from Peter himself. This means that one of the
great leaders of the disciples and one of the leaders that the church today
emulates, denied Jesus not once, not twice, but three times. This certainly
seems to put a dent in his credentials as a Christian leader.
This leads us back to our
scripture for today. As Jesus is asking
the question of whether Peter loves him, I can imagine that Peter has that
fateful night in the back of his mind. He must be thinking that he had betrayed
Jesus, and now Jesus does not trust him eanymore. It must have been a horrible
feeling, to feel as though the one that you love so much as your Lord and
savior no longer trusts you. It must have been humiliating to feel as though
you had let your savior down. While this may have been how Peter was feeling
while Jesus was asking him these questions, I think that it would be wrong to
assume that this was Jesus’ intent. In fact if we look at these questions from
the perspective of that fateful night in which Peter denied Christ, we may see
that this moment now on the beach is actually a chance for redemption.
As we think about that
horrible night for Peter, let’s pinpoint what it is that Peter did that would
make him feel guilty or ashamed. It is a pretty to figure out; Peter was asked
if he knew Christ and he denied him. He didn’t just deny him once, not even
twice, but Peter denied Christ three times! Peter wasn’t even being asked
whether or not he loved Christ, he was simply being asked if he knew him, and
still Peter denied knowing Christ. And now Jesus is here with Peter asking
whether or not Peter loves him. At this moment we are going to take a step back
and have some of our scripture acted out and then maybe we will start to get a
sense of the significance of this moment.
Reader 1: "You are not also one of this man's
disciples, are you?"
Me: “I am not”
Reader 2: “Simon son of John, do you love me more
than these?
Me: “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”
Reader 2: Feed My Lambs
Reader 1: You are not also one of his disciples,
are you?"
Me: I am Not
Reader 2: “Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Me: Yes, Lord; you know that I love you
Reader 2: Tend my Sheep
Reader 1: "Did I not see you in the garden
with him?"
Me: You must be mistaken; I do not know this man
Reader 2: Simon son of John, do you love me?
Me: Lord, you know everything; you know that I love
you.
Reader 2: Feed My Sheep
Cock-a-doodle-do
This is the beauty of our
scripture for today. Three times Peter denied Christ on the night in
which Christ gave himself up for us, and now three times Peter is able to tell
Christ that he loves him. It is not Jesus doubting Peter because even Peter
says that Jesus knows all things and knows that Peter loves him. This
conversation was a gracious act of mercy by Jesus, allowing Peter to redeem
himself by testifying to the goodness of the Lord. Our passage for today is a
redemption story. It is a story that tells us that even when we fail, even when
we turn our backs on Christ, Christ is there offering us grace and forgiveness.
That is why our liturgy for the sacrament of Holy Communion says, “when we turned away and our love failed,
your love remained steadfast.” Christ’s love remained steadfast, it remained
steadfast for Peter even after betrayed him, and it remains steadfast for each
and every one of us here this morning. We just have to answer that one
question, “Do you love me?” Of Jesus I love you.
If we stopped here with
the message however we would be missing one crucial element of the story. After
this great moment of redemption, after each time Peter was able to affirm his
love for Christ, what did Jesus say? Feed my sheep, Tend my lambs, feed my
sheep. You see Jesus did not simply say I forgive you go on your way, he did
not say you are now redeemed let’s go back to eating fish on the beach. He says
feed my sheep, tend my lambs. Christ gives Peter a calling, a ministry of his
own. Now there are some who would argue that this was some penalty for Peter’s
betrayal. Some would argue that since we do not merit the grace that is freely
given that we must do the work for Christ out of our debt for him, but this is
not how I understand it because Christ did not cancel our debt of sin simply so
that we would become indebted to him. What type of freedom is that? Instead, Jesus is saying, Peter, I told you that you are the rock on
which I will build my church, and I did not lie. I have not turned my back on
you Peter, you have not lost my trust, I will still build my church upon, here
is your mission, feed my sheep. Our
calling to ministry, and when I say that I mean all of us, is not out of
some debt that we have to God, but is out of God’s love, that even after
we fail him time after time, Christ still sends us forth in his name. That with
every denial there is a chance for
redemption, that every time we turn away, there is still an opportunity to
serve. That even in all of our failings, we are called to be Christ arms and
feet in this world. It is a humbling and daunting task, and yet one that proves
God’s love towards us.
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