Gen 1:1-5, John 21:1-14 for Sunday, June 24, 2007

Translation:
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (2) The earth was formless and empty and darkness was upon the surface of the sea. The breath of God hovered upon the surface of the sea. (3) And God said, "Let it be light." And it was light. (4) And God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided between the light and the dark. (5) God called the light day and God called the dark night. It was evening and it was morning, day one.

John 21:1 After this, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And he was revealed in this way: (2) They were together: Simon Peter and Thomas, called Didymus and Nathanael from Cana of Galilee and the sons of Zebedee and two other of his disciples. (3) And Simon Peter said to them, "I am leaving to fish." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and they got into the boat and in that night they caught nothing. (4) And now early morning came and Jesus stood on the shore, however the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. (5) Therefore, Jesus said to them, "Children, have you no fish?" They answered him, "No." (6) But he said to them, "Throw the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some. Thus they threw it and they wer eno longer able to drag it for the number of fish. (7) The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it is the Lord, he put his coat on (for he was naked) and he threw himself into the sea. (8) But the other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from the shore, about 200 cubits, dragging the net of fish. (9) When they got out onto the shore they saw a charcoal fire with fish and bread lying on it. (10) Jesus said to them, "Carry the fishes which you just caught. (11) So, Simon Peter went up and dragged the net onto the shore full of 153 large fish and it was a great number, but the net was not torn. (12) Jesus said to them, "Come, have breakfast." But not one of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" They knew that it was the Lord. (13) Jesus came and he took the bread and gave it to them and the fish likewise. (14) This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to the disciples after rising from the dead.

There is so much to say and so little time! These are well-loved scriptures. Surely any Google search would turn up endless websites and books for all of us to explore.

The Genesis scripture is well known and much-debated in many circles. We learn a lot about God in five short verses. First, God creates. the verb for "create" might actually be a technical term used to speak about the newness and uniqueness of what God is doing. In any case, this verb is used only where God is the subject, so this creating is an intentional work of God. It seems unlikely that God would be creating literally out of nothing, but rather that God is ordering and organizing the universe. Before God began, it isn't that there was nothing to work with. It was simply formless, void, dark. When God gets started, he organizes light from darkness and creates days--God orders.

So much could be said about these five verses of Genesis, but I'll end with one last favorite remark. God's act of creation is not static. God creates and evaluates--God calls light "good." Good is different from perfect. Good is not complete, not finished. Moreover, God's words "let there be..." leaves room for a creaturely response, a kind of consultation. God does not create alone, but in conjunction with creation. God does not create statically, but leaves room for change.

The text from John is more than a little curious. Jesus has died and risen from the dead and the disciples occasionally have an experience where Jesus appears to them. This is another act of God's creation. Genesis relays a more familiar act of creation, but resurrection is also an act of creation. Appearances of the risen Christ proves to us that Jesus really did conquer death.

Fishing was the profession of the disciples before they met Jesus. After his death, you can imagine what their dismay and confusion. As a society, we know that when a charismatic leader dies a movement may find a new direction, or die with its leader. The disciples were in a transition time and chose to fall back on what they knew best: fishing. The did not immediately choose to carry on Jesus' ministry in the same ways Jesus had when he was alive.

So, the disciples set out to go fishing one evening. Fishermen typically caught fish in the evening so that the catch could be fresh for the morning markets. Fish was a dietary staple for many. After a whole evening of fishing and catching nothing when the first rays of morning began to shine, the disciples were ready to pack it in. This is when Jesus appears to them, though they do not know it is Jesus. He commands them (it is even grammatically a command in Greek) to throw their nets on the right side of the boat. You can imagine their exhaustion, or maybe even pure desperation. Without fish to sell, they could have no money, nothing to eat, no livelihood and no way to support themselves. We may have more technology today, but these simple matters of economics have remained the same.

They follow Jesus' command and catch so many fish that the nets are full! Jesus performed a similar miracle earlier in their ministry together and the disciples recognize him (finally!). They are anxious to see Jesus and Peter dives in to swim to shore while the others haul the fish in the boat. When they arrive on shore, they notice that Jesus already has some fish. There are three Greek words used for fish in this passage. The type of fish Jesus has is a dried or preserved fish, already cooking over the fire. Jesus instructs them to bring their fresh fish over and invites them to breakfast. They recognize it is Jesus almost immediately and do not even dare ask him to clarify his identity.

I think the important message here is the obedience to Christ. The disciples tried to fish by themselves with luck and a little skill on their side. They were not successful. The only way they could nourish themselves was to be obedient to Christ and rely on his instructions to be true. The same would follow for their ministries. Very little could have been accomplished with luck and skill. Reliance on Christ was the only way to effectively spread the Gospel message. Trust that the message was true and that the ministry would work were the only ways to make new believers in Christ.

These are two incredibly packed scriptures and we have so little time to really dive into them with such a short blog. I like to think of them as two creation stories. One tells of the ordering of the cosmos and the other tells of the miracle of resurrection. Both require us to be obedient, to listen for God. Both require us to rely on God, but also to be active participants with God.