Missionary and Pastoral Directives for the Church
The Easter season stretches from Holy Saturday to Pentecost, celebrating Jesus’ emergence from the dead, his ascent to God, his glorification, and the gift of the Spirit, as one mystery. John 20:22 is Pentecost for Jesus “breathes on them and says, Receive the Holy Spirit” and this is the church-founding aspect of the resurrection. Another chapter, 21 also relates to the issue of church-founding.
John21 in four pericopes
John 21: 1-8 The appearance of Jesus at the Sea of Tiberias and the catch of fish
21:9-14: The meal of bread and fish
21:15-19: Jesus and Simon Peter
21:20-24: Jesus and the Beloved Disciple.
Episode in 21:1-8
The last time Jesus was in Galilee at this sea with his disciples he multiplied the loaves and fish, and then walked on the water, and afterwards gave a teaching about the bread of life. The four of the 12 mentioned here were in the previous encounter in appearance of Jesus but are now doing ordinary things, e.g. fishing. Why?
They catch nothing all night (21:3) then at dawn Jesus appears on the shore but they do not recognize him. John’s version of the miraculous catch story appears here after the resurrection rather than in the ministry section as in MML. As in Luke the story shifts from fishers of fish to fishers of men. The miraculous catch brings about a recognition of the risen Jesus in a patter like we saw in John 20. The first one to recognize the Lord is the Beloved Disciple, just was he was first in John 20. Simon Peter, takes the word of the BD and responds by jumping into the sea and swim to land to see Jesus, showing Peter’s spontaneity and love of the Lord, a motif Jesus will pick up later in his dialogue with Peter vv 15-17.
Episode in 21:9-14
Meal and symbolic missionary action of the catch of fish. There are 153 large fish, but the net is not broken. Regardless of what the number is to represent, it is a portrait of how successful the disciples can be with Jesus’ help. When Jesus invites them to “come and eat your breakfast” [remember John 1:39, come and see]. Other accounts of resurrection narrative also involve meals, Luke 24:30, Acts 1:4, Acts 10:41, Mark 16:14. Some stress the eucharistic aspect of the meal in the Emmaus story and here the image seems the same. The disciples know Jesus as the Lord in the context of a meal. Jesus took break and gave it to them and also the fish. In John 6 he took bread, gave thanks (eucharistein) and distributed it to all which is taken as the eucharist passage of John’s gospel. Later in the discourse he says, “the bread that I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh…if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in you.” Thus we claim Jesus present in the eucharist.
Episode 21:15-19
Jesus and Peter (tradition supports Peter as the apostolic leader of the earliest church (Luke 24:34, 1 Cor 15:5). It is interesting how the subject shifts when Jesus engages Peter about sheep. The catching of fish is an apt image for an evangelizing mission but to picture the ongoing care of those brought in by that mission one has to shift images..to the pastoral attention to the flock. Thus Peter is cast as both missionary and pastor.
Jesus calls peter, “Simon, son of John” as he did in John 1:42, Cephas, son of John. The role of shepherding sheep like the name Peter signifies this man’s specified identity in the Christian community. Three times, Jesus asks Peter, Do you love me? We are reminded of an earlier exchange between Peter and Jesus where Peter swears to support Jesus to the point of death and is told he will deny him three times before the cock crows twice and does. The threefold pattern and the context of the questions reply the threefold denial. Indeed in John after his denial of Jesus, he does not repent as he does in MML, so here he is given his chance to repent and turn. Furthermore a major pastoral role is being given to him.
In John’s letters and gospel there is no title or authority hierarchy given in the church in contrast to Paul’s teachings. Still the mutual love existing between Jesus and believers is essential factor in this community life and that criterion is applied to anyone who would exercise pastoral care. Even though Peter is charged with caring for the sheep, the sheep are “my lambs, my sheep” and therefore the flock never passes into the proprietorship of the human shepherd: no one can take the place of Jesus. Jesus calls the sheep “mine” while Peter may feed them!
The good shepherd is, was, and will always be, Jesus. The pastor will feed, protect, know, and die for the sheep but the sheep are not his, they belong to Jesus. In this dialogue, Jesus tells peter that he will die for the sheep. In truth Peter was martyred by crucifixion before the writing of this gospel.
Episode in 21:20-24
The Beloved Disciple is the one loved by Jesus, who laid near him at the Last Supper, and who seems to have been watching and listening to the exchange between Peter and Jesus. Peter asked Jesus, what about this man? Curiously this disciple to whom no pastoral authority over the flock has been assigned is a subject of concern to the human figure who has just received authority. Is there a Johannine value stated here: to be a beloved disciple whom Jesus loves is in the end more important than to be assigned church authority? The beloved disciple is the perfect disciple. If Peter embodies church authority, this disciple embodies all those who, although they may not be commissioned to care for the sheep, are deeply loved by Jesus because they love him and keep his commandments. In the last words of Jesus in Matthew (28:20) Jesus promises to be with us to the end of time…and here in John we hear Jesus imply that the beloved disciple may remain until I come/return…meaning a believing community of Christians will remain until Jesus returns.