Third Sunday of Easter

WesleyMen Lenten & Easter Devotionals 2025

Gospel Lectionary

John 21:1-19 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he showed himself in this way. 2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin,[a] Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3 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.

4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” 6 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. 7 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. 8 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.

9 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.” 11 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. 12 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. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

15 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.” 16 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.” 17 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. 18 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.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Reflection

An Iowan, 24 years old, Peggy and I were fresh out of seminary – and we were ‘on the move.’ We had all our worldly goods in a 1970 Dodge Polara, with the smallest available moving trailer behind. Five miles short of our 850-mile destination, there loomed a billboard proclaiming in three lines, “Welcome to Klan Country/United Klans of America/Fighting Communism and Integration.” The hooded rider on a rearing horse sealed the image, seared into my soul from then until now. I had never heard ‘integration’ paired with ‘communism;’ to these of the “K,” equivalents. Just how far had we moved from our innocence, our new marriage, our liberal seminary, and our progressive church? What had we gotten ourselves into? It would take years to discover allies and strategies to learn to live with this new (to me) reality – and to resist; sadly, fifty years later, brutal racism remains endemic. The good news is that the hateful signage was taken down within two years – who knows how many prayers were lifted to that end?

The disciples must have wondered just how far they had come, leaving behind their villages, families, friends, and livelihoods. They had answered the call to ‘fish for people,’ a vocation that moved them way beyond their roots. As they followed Jesus, he never seemed to stay anywhere for long, continually going from place to place. Now confronted with their brutal new reality, unexpected despite Jesus’ warnings, they were bereft of all they knew and of the One in whom their hopes lay. Returning to the kind of fishing they remembered, Jesus appeared before them, and most unexpectedly. His invitations were several: Cast your net to the right side of the boat; Come and have breakfast; and threefold to Peter, Feed my lambs, Tend my sheep, Feed my sheep.

Some moves are geographic, others involve new jobs, homes, and relationships. Can we trust that when we move, wherever we move, however we move, Jesus our Savior will both accompany us and be there to greet us?

Prayer

Merciful Jesus, the dislocations in our lives are hardly as stark as those of these disciples, but we feel for them all the same. Our commitments to You rarely equal theirs, where every one of them left it all behind. Did they feel stagnated? Were they unable to move forward in the direction You had carved out, the pathway to living into the very realm of God? In this moment after Easter, how do you see us? As those who have often gone back to our old ways? As those who find it hard to accept Your invitation? As those who return to You but with downcast eyes, reluctant to receive the outstretched fish and bread? Surely, we share many a holy memory with these followers, like the one where You broke loaves and fish with the encroaching multitude. On that day, weren’t Your friends agents of compassion, taking from Your hands the marvelous gifts and pressing them into the hands of these people who hungered – for food and for You? Help us to hear anew Your invitations to ‘try the other side,’ going to the deeps; to come to the table, bringing others with us; to freely offer the nourishment that we have freely received. May we do it all in Your Name and with great joy, for You live! Amen.

Rev. Steve Hickle, Past World President of WesleyMen