In our text for this morning, having denied Christ three times, Peter is given a chance for reconciliation. But I would argue that the author of our text extends that chance to us as well. We are given an opportunity to embrace our call to listen and follow Jesus in this new reality and to show we love Jesus by feeding Jesus’ sheep, by tending his lambs. Like Peter, like the disciples, we are now the Shepherd’s heart and hands in this world.
May 4, 2025
Fifty Days of Easter
“Feed My Sheep”
John 21: 1-9
Rev. Dr. Heather W. McColl
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 his outer garment, for he had taken it off, 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. 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.”
Feed My Sheep John 21: 1-19
Today as we continue celebrating the Easter Season, we get sort of an odd text, odd because it appears to have been added as an afterthought to the Gospel of John, added as a way to help the early Church, to help us as people of faith answer the question, “What do we do while we are waiting for God’s next move?”
Because that is exactly what the disciples are doing at this point…they are waiting for God’s next move. At this point, everything has changed for them. They know that they cannot go back to the way things used to be. The resurrection has transformed them. It has transformed their understanding of how the good news works. It has shown them that love and light will always overcome. The resurrection has transformed them into the people God created and called them to be.
In this story, the disciples learn that they cannot go back to the way things used to be. So, their challenge now is to figure out their calling in this new reality where grace abounds, where love heals, where death is not the final word. The challenge is to figure out what they are called to do while they wait for God’s next move.
Many commentators agree that this story was added as a way to re-commission the disciples. After all, in this text, we hear echoes of another time when the disciples fished all night and caught nothing. We hear echoes of another time when Jesus told them to try something different. We hear echoes of another time when the disciples left everything behind, when they embraced their call to be followers of Jesus with open hearts and open minds. In this story, we hear echoes of another time when Jesus commissioned the disciples by saying “Follow me”.
It is almost as if the author knew the early Church, knew the disciples, knew that we needed something, something to remind us of our call, something to invite us to a new sort of discipleship, something which encourages us to know that even though Jesus is not here with his disciples anymore, the Spirit is always there, guiding us, leading us with wisdom and care in our calling as his followers. It is almost as if the author knew we needed something to hold on to, to practice, something to strengthen us while we wait for God’s next move.
What I mean by this is that for me, as a lifelong Big D Disciples of Christ , I do not miss that everything about this story seems to be leading up to just one moment- the moment when the disciples gather at the Table with the Risen Savior. It seems that the “real” action of this story happens around a meal. All are invited to come as they are and experience the welcoming Spirit of God.
Sure it is a simple meal, just a couple of fish thrown on the fire but still it is an opportunity for all the disciples, the ones who are lost and don’t know where to turn, the ones who are in need of grace, the ones who need to know that they are loved more than they could imagine, this simple meal of fish, cooked around a campfire, became an opportunity for them all to come and experience the presence of God in life-transforming ways.
In that moment, when the disciples ate together as a community connected with the Risen Christ, they remembered everything Jesus taught them, everything he said to them, everything he shared with them. At the table, simple as it may be, in the presence of the One who loves them, their faith was encouraged. Their hope was renewed. Their hearts were open to the Beloved Community in their midst.
You see for me, that’s why we gather each week at the Table. We are People of the Table. As Big D Disciples, we didn’t get this name simply because we hold a lot of potlucks or the fact that we seem to be eating every time we turn around. We are People of the Table because each week, we gather at the Table. We recognize that it is God’s Table, not our Table. It is the moment in which we are invited into the presence of our Risen Savior. We are welcomed and embraced as who we are, broken imperfect people. At the Table, we are reminded that we are loved more than we could ever imagine. In that moment, when we gather at God’s Table, we re-center ourselves in the presence of God. We are People of the Table because it is through the simple meal of the bread of new life and the cup of the new covenant in which we become the people God created and calls us to be.
Every time we gather at the Table, we celebrate our connection with each other. We give thanks for the healing and wholeness that we have found in the breaking of the bread and the drinking from the cup of the new covenant. We experience an invitation into the welcoming presence of God, and we are reminded that we are loved more than we could ever imagine.
But our experience with the Risen Christ doesn’t allow us to stay there. We realize that it is not enough to know we have enough bread and enough drink to satisfy our hunger and our thirst. At the Table, we begin to understand that we are called to also satisfy the hunger and thirst of all of God’s children as well. Through this moment of eating, of breaking the bread of life, of drinking from the cup of the new covenant, we realize that God’s grace, that God’s love was never meant for just our family and our friends. It was never meant just for those who think like us or act like us. It was meant to be shared with all of God’s children. It was always meant to become the way we work together to make the Beloved Community of God a reality here on Earth for all of God’s people.
What the disciples learned around the campfire that morning, what we learn as followers of Jesus Christ is that any time we gather around God’s Table, whether it is here in our sanctuary or the ordinary tables which fill our lives, anytime we gather around the Table, Jesus is always there, calling us to feed others. As Big D disciples and little d disciples, we know that loving Jesus always leads us to care for God’s children, it always leads to us feeding Jesus’ sheep. It always leads to us tending his lambs.
Because on the night when Jesus was betrayed, he took a loaf of bread, blessed it and broke it and said, Remember me. In like manner, he took a cup and said this is the cup of the new covenant poured out for each and every one, and when you drink it Remember me. For as often as we eat this bread, and drink this cup, we remember…we remember everything Jesus taught us. We remember everything Jesus said to us. We remember our call to love one another. We remember who we are and whose we are.
Through the bread and the cup, when we gather around the Table, we embrace our call to be Jesus’ disciples in this new reality. We show we love Jesus by feeding Jesus’ sheep, by tending his his lambs. Because like Peter, like the disciples discovered, in this in-between, while we are waiting for God’s next move, while we are waiting for God’s Beloved Community to come to fruition here on Earth, we as followers of the Risen Lord, are called to be the Shepherd’s heart and hands in this world. We are called to feed and tend his lambs. May it be so. Amen.
See also: Theology Tuesday for Sunday, May 4, 2025 – Feed My Sheep John 21: 1-19.
Additional sermons are available in the Sermon Library.
Listen to the podcast.
Leave a Reply
Your email is safe with us.