Breakfast on the beach

John 21:1-19

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.

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. 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.”

This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

At this time of year, I appreciate that the Lectionary Readings encourage us to stay with Easter, to keep on reading those texts that tell us where and how Jesus appeared after the Resurrection.

Because by the time we’ve slogged through Lent, with whatever disciplines we’ve chosen to embrace and then contemplated Jesus in Holy Week noising up the crowds and the authorities, by the time we’ve done the tenderness of Maundy Thursday and the brutality of Good Friday and then waited out Easter Saturday, we can often arrive at Easter Sunday absolutely exhausted, washed out, ready to proclaim He is Risen - and take a nap!

And while Resurrection changes everything, while it defines who we are and what we believe as followers of Christ, while it infuses our very being, this time of year, this season of Easter, where we sit with these texts, gives us a new opportunity to let the resurrection stories sink in and become part of us once more, re-shaping who we are and what we do as followers of the Risen Christ.

This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

I love the intimacy and gentleness with which Jesus appears after the resurrection.

From all the various accounts in different gospels, we can’t help but pick up on Jesus focus on individuals, the way he seeks to reassure and comfort, and the way he restores their calling and purpose.

There’s Mary in the garden - Jesus calls her by name, and sends her to spread the news.

Then there are the disciples, huddled away behind locked doors. Jesus appears, breathing peace into them - and even comes back for Thomas who missed out first time around. And, as he breathes peace into them, he tells them: “As the father has sent me, so I send you.”

And, in this encounter, in today’s gospel, Jesus appears on the beach, teaching them how to fish, cooking breakfast for them, commissioning them corporately and individually.

Intimacy, gentleness and, more than that, inclusion.

Jesus took care to ensure that all who encountered his risen presence would know themselves included in his resurrection life and purpose.

Come and have breakfast.

What a beautiful, gentle, intimate invitation.

Come and have breakfast.

I want to pause there for a moment and ask:

When did you last have breakfast with the Risen Christ?

When did you last haul your boat up onto the shore, leave your work behind, and have breakfast with Jesus.

There something really quite intimate about breakfast, isn’t there?

Something vulnerable.

Even for those who are morning people, breakfast tends to be a meal that is quieter than other meals, a meal that we don’t often share with lots of people. It may even be a meal that we miss out on.

Come and have breakfast.

How would it feel to have breakfast with the Risen Christ?

To leave behind the trappings of our work...

To leave behind the poise and assurance that we often don later in the day...

To be intimate and vulnerable.

Come and have breakfast.

The Risen Christ gently enters the spaces we inhabit, even before we are ready for the day ahead, with the invitation;

Come and have breakfast.

 Maybe that’s all you need from this text today - to hear, again, the invitation from Christ, who enters our spaces before we can ever be ready: Come and have breakfast.

But there’s more.

I want to drag you on from that invitation, beautiful as it is, to see what happened next.

When Jesus encounters Peter.

Peter, the impulsive disciple, always away ahead of the rest, always trying to sort and organise and defend... until the night of Jesus’ arrest... when he denied his Lord. 

That night, in the garden, when the soldiers came for Jesus, Peter stepped in with his sword.

Jesus said to him then: “Put your sword back in its sheath.”

Maybe it was at that moment that Peter lost his bravado.

Because here was the man that Peter thought he knew refusing to fight back as he was arrested.

And Peter, who knew only the language of the sword, could no longer fathom out what was going on. If this was not a time for insurrection, a time to rise up and fight, when would be?

Maybe that’s why we find Peter, skulking around the High Priests courtyard, where they’d taken Jesus, denying that he ever knew him.

But in John’s gospel, unlike the other gospels, there’s an added sting in the tail of Peter’s denial.

Peter doesn’t simply deny that he knew Jesus.

He denies that he is one of Jesus disciples.

When asked: Are you also one of his disciples, Peter replied: “I am not”.

Not just denying Jesus but denying his own identity as a disciple of Jesus.

“I am not.”

There are few things that hurt more or are more confusing than losing your identity.

Jesus knows that.

I imagine Jesus asking Peter to take a walk with him on that beach.

And Peter, thinking, ah...here it comes.... time to face the music....time to pay.

How confused must he have been when, what Jesus asks is: Do you love me?

I wonder if Peter thought: what game is he playing?

And then, when Jesus asks him again, not once, but twice: Do you love me?

Maybe he was still waiting for the axe to fall, for the words of condemnation to come.

Instead, Jesus was giving Peter what Jesus knew he need most.

He was giving him his identity back.

He was restoring him as a beloved disciple of the Risen Christ.

And commissioning him to Feed my sheep.

What a come back.

What a restoration.

Jesus restored and renewed Peter’s identity as a beloved disciple and handed him back the keys of the kingdom by charging him: Feed my sheep

So what is it you need from the Risen Christ today?

What is your desire as Christ invites you to “Come and have breakfast” ?

Is it forgiveness you seek.

Hear Christ’s words of absolution.

Is it purpose you seek?

Hear Christ’s words of commission: Feed my sheep.

Is it identity you seek?

Hear Christ call you a beloved disciple.

Beloved, called, forgiven child of God - “Come and have breakfast”