John 20. 30 – 21.14
John
is bringing his Gospel – his story of the life of Jesus – to an
end, a glorious climax, as he describes the resurrection and the
encounters that people had with the risen Jesus. And as he tries to
wrap the story up, he is using words and themes that have been there
throughout the Gospel. In particular, the word “life”. With a
great literary flourish, he writes, “Jesus did loads of other
things, which I am not going to write about. But this book is
written so you may believe, and by believing, have life in his mane.”
It’s a carefully crafted echo of what he said at the beginning of
the book: “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. To
those who received him, who believed in his name, he gave the right
to become children of God.” (John 1 verses 4, 12)
And
in referencing the first verses of the book, John effectively
references all the other times he has mentioned “life” in the
book. And John uses the word “life” more than any of the other
Gospel writers!
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John 3. 15f “Everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.” -
John 4. 15 the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life
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John 6. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
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John 10. 10. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
So
at the end of his Gospel, John once again talks about his gift of
“life”. It is “Eternal life”. Literally “The life of the
ages” or the Life of the age to come. This is the life we believe
in. The Creed uses the same words as John, ζωὴν αἰώνιον.
The life of the ages.
The
first thing to note about this life, is that it is everlasting. So
Jesus promises that “he will raise us up in the last day.” In
possession of the “life everlasting”, we face our own mortality,
believing in the “resurrection of the body”. We are confident in
this because Jesus has promised that we have life. We have eternal
life. So we are able to anticipate our own resurrection and know
that we will live for ever.
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| Image: G Lilly |
But
the second thing about this life, is that it is abundant. It is life
to the full. It is not just “Pie in the sky when you die”. It
is also “Steak on your plate, while you wait!” And it enables us
to do so much more than “Wait.” My Dad, bless him, used to be
terribly morbid at times. He would say, “Roll on death;
retirement’s too far away”. As a Christian, he loved to sing
these old hymns: “In the sweet bye and bye, I will look on his
beautiful face.” But what about the hymn that says “The men of
faith have found glory begun below. Celestial fruits in earthly
ground, for faith and hope may grow. The hill of Zion yields a
thousand sacred sweets, Before we reach the heavenly fields, Or walk
the golden streets.” Isaac Watts got the balance. Life
everlasting is the life of the ages, the life of the new age, the
life of the Kingdom, already received and begun in us today.
We
are not just waiting. We live the life of the Kingdom, today. Steak
on your plate, is the power of the Kingdom, the continuing Presence
of Jesus with us by his Spirit, life to share with those around us,
today.
The
Life everlasting is a two way traffic. It promises us entry into a
safe, solid and lasting future in God’s presence: resurrection, and
life for ever. And it promises us that future, the safe, solid and
lasting future in God’s presence, invading our lives now.
So
as John finished his Gospel, someone asks him “Did you put in about
meeting Jesus on the beach?” and John is persuaded to write an
extra chapter – which serves to illustrate some of the qualities of
the Life of the Kingdom as we experience it today. Indeed, William
Temple wisely suggests that the person who persuaded John to write a
wee bit extra was right. Because “the victory was won; but its
fruits had still to be gathered.” (Temple) Luke tells that story
in the Acts of the Apostles. John does it by writing this last
chapter of his Gospel, before finally concluding with “Jesus did
many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I
suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books
that would be written.”
Those many things, were done
by Peters and Andrews and Johns and Sallys and Maureens and Allans
throughout the history of the Church. I want to use the first story
of John 21 to illustrate what the present-day life of the Kingdom is
like.
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Image: Eilif Peterssen, Public domain It is experienced in the challenges of everyday life. Peter and his friends, struggling to come to terms with the events of Holy Week and Resurrection day, went fishing. The Greek word has a particular force: “I’m going off fishing”. It seems almost as if Peter has decided it is time to get his life back. Maybe it was an expression of a sense of failure; a sense of doubt or uncertainty; of not knowing what the future might hold; maybe a bit of economic necessity. It is in that fishing trip, that wasted journey, that the Risen Jesus had something to do for and to say to his friends. Jesus had a deep conversation with Peter when he addressed Peter’s failures. Peter, like us, was keen to compare his ministry with that of John. But Jesus says “never mind him. You follow me.” What is our context for the experience of eternal life begun today? Lots of fear and failure. But Jesus calls us to follow Him -
It is about miracle. Night-time was the best time for fishing. When the sun starts to heat up the water, the fish go to the bottom to stay cool. So the first miracle was that there were any fish to be caught. The second miracle – I believe – was that Jesus knew exactly where they were. The third was that the nets didn’t break despite the size of the catch. It’s at that point that John realises that the stranger on the shore is Jesus. We are promised power. That power reveals who Jesus is. And sometimes the power of God is revealed in ordinary things: in addition to the miraculous catch, Jesus has a few fish grilling on a fire on the beach. We can expect the miraculous, and we can expect God to be at work in ordinary things too.
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It is about mission. Jesus chose to perform his miracle, in the context of a fishing expedition. He had done it before, when he first called Peter. And on that occasion, he had told Peter, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” We have the life of the Kingdom, worked out through our struggles, in the power of the Spirit, in spectacular ways and ordinary ways – so that we can engage in the Mission of the Kingdom; so that we can bring other poeple to that same life everlasting that we have. Some scholars suggest that 153 was believed to be the number of species of fish. A huge underestimate we know; but that is what people believed then, And it is also a “triangular number” (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13+14+15+16+17) I believe that the number 153 is there because it was exactly the number of fish that the disciples caught. Possibly John missed the significance of that number; but I believe that Jesus knew. It suggests that Jesus wants all people to hear the Gospel and be caught up in the Kingdom net.
One
last thing. John has a clear purpose in writing his gospel. It is
so that those who hear it read, may believe. It is believing in him,
that is the key that opens the door, to this amazing “Eternal
life.” Although he plays around with the word order, he finishes
as he starts. To those who believed in his name he gave the right to
become children of God. These things are written that you may
believe and believing may have life in his name.”
That
life is about our lives. It is about God’s power. It is about
mission. To those of us who have that life Jesus says one simple
thing, day by day. “Never mind anyone else. You follow me.”
©
Gilmour Lilly April 2017
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