St. John’s Lutheran Church, Toluca, IL – 3rd Sunday of Easter
Acts 9:1-20; Psalm 30; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-19
Gospel: John 21:1-19
1After [he appeared to his followers in Jerusalem,] Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3Simon 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.
4Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” 6He 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. 7That 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. 8But 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.
9When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11So 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. 12Jesus 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. 13Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
15When 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.” 16A 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.” 17He 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. 18Very 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.”
NRSV
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Divine Cognition
Grace and peace to you, beloved of God, from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Today we find the first witnesses of the resurrection out and about. This is good! It shows some progress. Before, they were in shock at the sight of the empty tomb and were absolutely paralyzed by fear. After the breath of life they received from the resurrected Christ, they seem to be trying to carry on with their lives. There was a problem, though. They were moving back into fishing for fish.
Our brains can be separated into two kinds regarding the mode of function. You may have heard of the reptilian brain. We are not thinking much when our minds are running on this mode. Instead, we are reacting and the reactions we will have are based on what our minds are already trained to do, on what is usual. The other mode of function for our minds is the cognitive brain. Our cognitive neural networks are running in good capacity when our minds operate in this mode. We are thinking, analyzing, and making decisions based on the memories of what we learned through our life experiences. When we are operating in cognitive mode. We are not just reacting to situations. We are responding to them.
Stress has the power to dictate how much our brains are functioning in reptilian mode. The more stressed we are, the more biochemicals are released in our brains that suppress the cognitive mode and promote the reptilian one. The more stressed – or anxious – we are, the more angry, fearful, or depressed we become. It is a negative self-feeding loop operating in flight or flight mechanisms.
When we surrender to the reptile in our brains, we lose our humanity, for even reptiles know to fight or flight. Survival instinct is not what makes us humans.
So no wonder Jesus invaded the anxious and fearful space the disciples found themselves before, locked behind closed doors, and the first thing he says is peace be with you.
The one who was there when everything was created knows how our brains work. Peace is the antidote to the perpetual anxious state. It is only when we are rescued out of the runway train going downhill and have the chance to breathe a little that the levels of the cognition-suppressive biochemicals in our brains drop, and the cognitive neural networks start doing their thing. The more we breathe, the more we start to think again.
Now back to the problem at hand.
The disciples indeed left the point of fear and paralysis after Jesus gave them some holy air days back. However, they were going back to their old routines. They were returning to who they were before the tragedy of the cross and the opportunity to start anew given by the empty tomb. A healthy balance should exist between the reptilian mode, which takes us back to who we were before, and the cognitive mode, which responds to situations and makes decisions looking forward. The fact that everybody is setting themselves to fish for fish, again, indicates that the arrow is not pointing in the right direction. Perhaps, it is time for the Prince of Peace to provide some divine intervention again.
This time, Jesus’ course of action is to cause a recall of their memories prior to the cross-resurrection event. Hopefully, their anxiety is now low enough to respond to them. So Jesus goes like, “yo, fisherman, no fish eh? Do me a favor, cast the net to the right side of the boat. Maybe you will catch some.” Sounds familiar, right. Isn’t it kind of what Jesus said when he first called them at the lake a few years back. They did and got a lot of fish. Then suddenly, “hey, it’s the Lord!” Good, they are starting to remember, fish for people.
Then the resurrected Messiah invites them to sit down by the fire at the beach and have some breakfast. They shared some bread and some fish. I wondered if they remembered some more. Maybe in the calming and assuring presence of Jesus, they recalled when the Christ made everybody sit down, and a few loaves of bread and fish fed thousands. See, when the disciples were falling back into their old routines, they returned to the mundane. Jesus had spent his entire ministry trying to open their eyes to the divine manifesting right in front of them.
There at the lakeshore, safe, fed, and comforted, Jesus reminds them, and Peter especially, of their last moments before the arrest. Simon, son of John, do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Feed my lambs. Simon, son of John, do you love me? Yes, Lord. Then tend to my sheep. Simon, son of John, do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know everything. Then feed my sheep.
After three times, everything sinks in. Their minds are primed again in full cognition of the things necessary to tell Jesus’s story to generations yet unborn. Love your God, love one another, and go out to tend and feed God’s beloved people. They have come full circle, from my God, my God, why have you forsaken us to the joy and the clarity of what to proclaim next. They are ready to focus on what is divine and respond to the gift of the resurrection, received and yet laying ahead. Follow me, said our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the almighty. Amen.
NRSV
Bridging Faith 