gone fishin'

Friday in Easter Week

April 17th

READING: John 21: 1-14

Then 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 lake. 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. 10 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 and 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.

REFLECTION

In yesterday’s reading, too, something happened with a fish. It was no accident that it became a symbol of Christianity early in our history. The Greek letters of the familiar title that Christians soon gave to Jesus Christ were absorbed nicely into the Christian fish symbol, ICQUS. Fish came to appear as a symbol associated with Eucharist, through the narrations of the feeding miracles, and associated with the Resurrection as an allusion to the fish references around the resurrection narratives, as well as the reference by Jesus to the “sign of Jonah.” The fishers, Simon Peter and Andrew, were warned that their career would later be taking on the new dimension of mission and evangelism, for which the fish symbol can also stand as shorthand.

So there are some powerful metaphors running here: “you have no fish, have you?” The disciples are woefully inadequate in their task until such time as they surrender to the command and will of the risen Lord. Even then though the task of bringing the net ashore is arduous – obedience to the whispers of God may sometimes be described as a light yoke, but they might also, at least to this long-term erstwhile Australian resident, have undertones of “hard yakka.”

John and Luke alike are conscientious in their attempts to convey the “solidity” (I sometimes prefer the word “thinginess”) of the resurrection. I reflected yesterday on the “denser reality” of resurrection. We can never expect to understand all dimensions of this, any more, I suspect, than the tui and korimako in my garden understand why I put sugar water out for them. Sometimes, by faith, we needs must say “it is what it is” and enjoy the good tucker of life that the risen Lord provides. Not a waltz in the park, as current events in the world warn us. But life invaded by the unexpected and inexplicable nectar (sugar water) of faith.