Gospel Of John – Chapter 21

Friday, March 10, 2006

PRAYER – PSALM 46

¹God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
²Therefore we will not fear though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
³though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult.
⁴There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
⁵God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
God will help her right early.
⁶The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
⁷The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
⁸Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has wrought desolations in the earth.
⁹He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear,
he burns the chariots with fire!
¹⁰"Be still, and know that I am God.
I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth!"
¹¹The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.

A.                 OUR WINTER-SPRING 2006 SESSIONS

   The Gospel of John, alternating with rotating topics. Introducing Orthodoxy; Orthodox Saints; Church History; Our and Other Churches; Parables of Christ; Contemporary Ethical Issues, etc.

B.                 WHAT WE WILL DO TODAY

    Today we will finish our study of the Gospel of John in the light of the writings and commentaries of the Church Fathers and other Orthodox and some non-Orthodox commentaries. The 21^st chapter of John describes the appearance of the Resurrected Lord to the Disciples at the Sea of Tiberius, where He provides food for seven of His Disciples, the restoration of Peter and His commission by Jesus, and talks about the beloved Disciple John and His book.

C. UNDERSTANDING THE PASSAGE FROM THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH
   Comments from, ‘The Orthodox Study Bible; St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 14; St. Augustine, On the Gospel of.John, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, vol. 7; Orthodox Study Bible; Panagiotes Trembelas, Commentary on the Gospel of.John; John Kolitsaras, The New Testament The Four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of St. John. Oxford, 1824. Collegeville Bible Commentary: The Gospel According to John and the .Johannine Epistles. Text and Interpretive Rendition. Athens Zoe Publications. St. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel According to S. John, vols. 1 & 2. The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: John and Acts. All quotations may be edited for the sake of clarity.

D. THE READING FOR TODAY – JOHN 21

¹After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he revealed himself in this way. ²Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.
   Orthodox Study Bible:  “The Lake of Galilee is also called the Sea of Tiberias, especially by Hellenized Gentiles, because the city of Tiberias (built around 20 B.C. in honor of Tiberius Caesar) is on its shores” (p. 267).

   St. Augustine:   6. This is a great mystery in the great Gospel of John; and to commend it the more forcibly to our attention, the last chapter has been made its place of record. Accordingly, inasmuch as there were seven disciples taking part in that fishing, Peter, and Thomas, and Nathaniel, and the two sons of Zebedee, and two others whose names are withheld, they point, by their number of seven, to the end of time. For there is a rotation of all time in seven days. (On the Gospel of.John, Tractate 122, 6).

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 as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any fish?" They answered him, "No." ⁶He said to them, "Cast the net on 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, for the quantity of fish.

Augustine: When the morning was come, Jesus stood on the shore; for the shore likewise is the limit of the sea, and signifies therefore the end of the world. . . . In the passage before us the Lord indicated by an outward action the kind of character the Church would have in the end of the world, so in the same way, by that other fishing, He indicated its present character. The capture of fishes signified the good and bad presently existing in the Church; but in the latter, the good only, whom it will contain everlastingly, when the resurrection of the dead shall have been completed in the end of this world.” (On the Gospel of John, Tractate 122, 6, 7).

⁷That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his clothes, for he was stripped for work, and sprang 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, but about a hundred yards off.
St. John Chrysostom: “When they recognized Him, the disciples Peter and John again exhibited the peculiarities of their several tempers. The one was more fervent, the other more lofty; the one more keen, the other more clear-sighted. On this account John first recognized Jesus, Peter first came to Him. For no ordinary signs were they which had taken place. What were they? First, that so many fish were caught; then, that the net did not break; then, that before they landed, the coals had been found, and fish laid thereon, and bread. For He no longer made things out of matter already subsisting, as, through a certain dispensation, He did before the Crucifixion. When therefore Peter knew Him, he threw down all, both fish and nets, and girded himself. Do you see his respect and love? Yet they were only two hundred cubits off; but not even so could Peter wait to go to Him in the boat, but reached the shore by swimming” (Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Homily 87, 2).

⁹When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying 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 and fifty-three of them; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.

    Collegeville Bible Commentary:  “The charcoal fire (v. 9) serves a double purpose. It sets the scene for Jesus’ servant role as He becomes a giver of bread (and fish) to the disciples and also serves as a stage prop for Peter’s profession of love, recalling the previous charcoal fire (18:18) next to which Peter had denied the Lord. (p. 91).
    Orthodox Study Bible:  “The fish becomes a symbol of identity for Christians, a picture of the Last Supper according to Orthodox tradition. The initials of the phrase ‘Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior’ in Greek form the acronym ICHTHYS (ICQUS), which is Greek for ‘fish’” (p. 267).

   Chrysostom:  “And He bids them “to bring of the fish,” to show that what they saw was no illusion. But here indeed it says not that He ate with them, but Luke, in another place, says that He did; for “He was eating together with them.”( Acts i. 4 .) But the, “how,” it is not ours to say; for these things came to pass in too strange a manner, not as though His nature now needed food, but from an act of condescension, in proof of the Resurrection” (Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Homily 87, 2).

¹⁴This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

   Chrysostom: Perhaps when you heard these things, you glowed, and called those happy who were then with Him, and those who shall be with Him at the day of the general Resurrection. Let us then use every exertion that we may see that admirable Face. For if when now we hear we so burn, and desire to have been in those days which He spent upon earth, and to have heard His Voice, and seen His face, and to have approached, and touched, and ministered to Him; consider how great a thing it is to see Him no longer in a mortal body, nor doing human actions, but with a body guard of Angels, being ourselves also in a form of unmixed purity, and beholding Him, and enjoying the rest of that bliss which passes all language.

   Therefore, I entreat, let us use every means, so as not to miss such glory. For nothing is difficult if we be willing, nothing burdensome if we give heed. “If we endure, we shall also reign with Him” ( 2 Timothy 2:12). What then is, “If we endure”? If we bear tribulations, if persecutions, if we walk in the narrow way. For the narrow way is by its nature laborious, but by our will it is rendered light, from the hope of things to come. ‘For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, because we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal’ ( 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 .) Let us then transfer our eyes to heaven, and continually imagine ‘those’ things, and behold them. For if we always spend our time with them, we shall not be moved to desire the pleasures of this world, nor find it hard to bear its sorrows; but we shall laugh at these and the like, and nothing will be able to enslave or lift us up” (Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Homily 87, 3).

  
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." He 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." He said to him, "Tend my sheep." ¹⁷He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved 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.

   Orthodox Study Bible:  “Since Peter denied Christ three times (Matthew 26:69-85), Jesus asks Peter three times to confess his love for Him. Peter is thus restored to leadership in the early Church to continue his ministry of shepherding Christ’s flock” (p. 268).

   Chrysostom:  “There are indeed many things which are able to give us boldness towards God, and to show us bright and approved, but that which most of all brings good will from on high, is tender care for our neighbor. Which therefore Christ requires of Peter. For when their eating was ended, Jesus says to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, Tend my sheep.’

   And why, having passed by the others, does He speak with Peter on these matters? He was the chosen one of the Apostles, the mouth of the disciples, the leader of the band; on this account also Paul went up upon a time to enquire of him rather than the others. And at the same time to show him that he must now be of good cheer, since the denial was done away, ^[1]Jesus puts into his hands the chief authority among the brethren; and He brings not forward the denial, nor does He reproach Peter with what had taken place, but says, ‘If you love Me, preside over your brethren, and the warm love which you manifested  before, and in which you rejoiced, show now; and the life which you said you would lay down for Me, now give for My sheep.” (Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Homily 88, 1).

 ¹⁸Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you girded yourself and walked where you would; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go." ¹⁹ (This he said to show by what death he was to glorify God.) And after this he said to him, "Follow me."
   Chrysostom:  “What then does it mean when the Lord says, ‘where you do not wish to go?’  He speaks of natural feeling, and the necessity of  the flesh, and that the soul is unwillingly torn away from the body. So that even though the will were firm, yet still even then nature would be found. For no one lays aside the body without feeling. God, as I said before, having suitably ordained this, that violent deaths might not be many. For if, as things are, the devil has been able to effect this, and has led ten thousand to precipices and pits; had not the soul felt such a desire for the body, the many would have rushed to this under any common discouragement. The, ‘where you do not wish to go?’ is then the expression of one signifying natural feeling. (Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Homily 88, 1).

²⁰Peter turned and saw following them the disciple whom Jesus loved, who had lain close to his breast at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?" ²¹When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?" ²²Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!"

   Augustine:  “There are two states of life . . .  that are known to the Church. The one is in faith, the other in sight; one in the temporal sojourn in a foreign land, the other in the eternity of the heavenly abode; one in labor, the other in repose; one on the way, the other in the fatherland; one in active work, the other in the wages of contemplation; one declines from evil and makes for good, the other has no evil to decline from, and has great good to enjoy; the one fights with a foe, the other reigns without a foe; the one is brave in the midst of adversities, the other has no experience of adversity; the one is bridling its carnal lusts, the other has full scope for spiritual delights; the one is anxious with the care of conquering, the other secure in the peace of victory; the one is helped in temptations, the other, free from all temptations, rejoices in the Helper Himself; the one is occupied in relieving the indigent, the other is there, where no indigence is found; the one pardons the sins of others, that its own may be pardoned to itself, the other neither has anything to pardon nor does anything for which pardon has to be asked; the one is scourged with evils that it may not be elated with good things, the other is free from all evil by such a fullness of grace that, without any temptation to pride, it may cleave to that which is supremely good; the one discerns both good and evil, the other has only that which is good presented to view: therefore the one is good, but miserable as yet; the other, better and blessed. This one was signified by the Apostle Peter, that other by John.

   The whole of the one is passed here to the end of this world, and there finds its termination, the other is deferred for its completion till after the end of this world, but has no end in the world to come. Hence it is said to Peter, ‘Follow me;’ but of the former, ‘Thus I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?’

   For what means this last? So far as my wisdom goes, so far as I comprehend, what is it but this, Follow me by imitating me in the endurance of temporal evils; let him remain till I come to restore everlasting good? And this may be expressed more clearly in this way: Let perfected action, informed by the example of my passion, follow me; but let contemplation only begun remain so till I come, to be perfected when I come”.

²³The saying spread abroad among the brethren that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?"
²⁴This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true.

   Orthodox Study Bible: “The Apostle John lived a long life, dying at about the age of 100 (around A.D. 95-100). Early Christians marveled at his longevity and remembered the words of Christ recorded here. It is possible some Christians though John would not die before the return of Christ, and that this view is corrected with the words, Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die.

   This is the testimony of the Evangelist’s assistants, as the plural we know indicates. Tradition holds that a certain scribe named Prochoros actually committed the Evangelist’s words and teachings to writing” (p. 268).

²⁵But there are also many other things which Jesus did; were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.  

   Chrysostom:  “Let us then give exact heed to the words, and let us not cease to unfold and search them through, for it is from continual application that we get some advantage.

   So shall we be able to cleanse our life, so to cut up the thorns; for such a thing is sin and worldly care, fruitless and painful. And as the thorn whatever way it is held pricks the holder, so the things of this life, on whatever side they be laid hold of, give pain to him who hugs and cherishes them. Not such are spiritual things; they resemble a pearl, whichever way thou turn it, it delights the eyes.

   So if a man has done a deed of mercy; he not only is fed with hopes of the future, but also is cheered by the good things here, being everywhere full of confidence, and doing all with much boldness. He has got the better of an evil desire; even before obtaining the Kingdom, he has already received the fruit here, being praised and approved, before all others, by his own conscience.

   And every good work is of this nature; just as conscience also punishes wicked deeds here, even before the pit. For if, after sinning, you consider the future, you become afraid and tremble, though no man punish you. . . .  A heavy, a heavy and a burdensome thing is sin” (Homilies on the Gospel of St. John, Homily 88, 3).

Concluding Reflection on the Gospel of John

   Cyril of Alexandria:  “The power of the Word has been displayed more than abundantly. For it open to everyone to observe, that a thousand miracles were performed by the power of our Savior. The preachers of the Gospels, however, have recorded the more remarkable of them, in all probability, and such that their hearers could best be confirmed by them in incorruptible faith, and receive instruction in morality and doctrine; so that, conspicuous for the orthodoxy of their faith, and glorified by manifold works that make for righteousness, they might meet at the very gates of the city above, and being joined to the Church of the firstborn of the faith, might at length attain to the Kingdom of Heaven in Christ; through Whom and with Whom be glory to God the Father, with the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.” (Commentary on the Gospel According to S. John, vol. 2, bk.12, p. 708).

CONCLUDING PRAYER – Hymn From the Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers

"We have moved forward from unbelief to true faith, and have been enlightened by the light of knowledge. Let us then clap our hands like the psalmist, and offer praise and thanksgiving to God. And let us honor and venerate the holy icons of Christ, of his most pure Mother, and of all the saints, depicted on walls, panels and sacred vessels, setting aside the unbelievers' ungodly teaching. For the veneration given to the icon passes over, as Basil says, to its prototype. At the intercession of your spotless Mother, O Christ, and of all the saints, we pray you to grant us your great mercy. We venerate your icon, good Lord, asking forgiveness of our sins, O Christ our God. For you freely willed in the flesh to ascend the cross, to rescue from slavery to the enemy those whom you had formed. So we cry to you with thanksgiving: You have filled all things with joy, our Savior, by coming to save the world. Amen.

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