“Being a friend of Jesus: 101” (St. Luke’s: Friday, May 18th, 2018; Acts 25.13-21; Gospel of St. John 21.15-19)

The end of your rope. Have you ever felt like you were at the end of your rope?  Have you ever felt that everything had gone wrong, and that there was nowhere left to turn?  Perhaps there have been times when you have burned all of your bridges, let everyone down and made a complete mess of things.  Maybe some of us feel that way this morning.  If so, today’s Gospel is indeed “good news” for us.

The original “Rocky”. We know him as “St. Peter”, the first Pope and a martyr of the Church – a true Christian hero; however, the chances are slim that anyone would have addressed him as “Your Holiness” during his lifetime.  His friends knew him as “Simon, John’s kid”.  When Simon met Jesus, Jesus gave him a nickname – “Cephas/Peter”, which means “rock/rocky”.  “Simon the Rock” – that’s how Jesus would have usually addressed him and it’s indeed how St. John refers to him in today’s Gospel.  At first glance, the dialogue in today’s Gospel may strike us as being a bit strange.  Jesus begins the conversation with a question: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”  If that isn’t awkward enough, Jesus repeats the question twice more.  What’s going on?  Is Jesus insecure?  Is he trying to have “the Rock” reassure him that he is indeed loved?  That’s not quite what’s happening.  As is always the case when two close friends are having a (very) personal conversation, you have to know the history of the friendship in order to grasp the meaning of the current dialogue.

Never at a loss for words. All four evangelists are agreed that “Rocky” was among the first to join Jesus’ travelling troupe.  “Rocky”, along with James and his brother John (John has always been a common name, even in the first century), constituted the “inner circle” of Jesus’ followers – these were the guys who were “in the know”.  They were the first to find out what Jesus meant by his strange stories, what Jesus’ intentions were and how he was feeling.  Early on, Rocky distinguished himself as the natural leader of the group of 12 apostles.  Always the first to speak up, Rocky often acted impulsively.  Although Rocky’s behaviour must have annoyed Jesus and the others at times, one thing was clear – he meant well.  Rocky was nothing if not an enthusiastic disciple of Jesus.

Empty promise, flashing sword, fireside denial. However, a few weeks before today’s conversation, things had taken a disturbing turn.  It had all started at Passover time, when Jesus had made arrangements for himself and the 12 to share the Seder meal.  The supper had gotten off to a very strange start as Jesus had gone around the table, washing the feet of his 12 companions.  Of course, Rocky had something to say about that: “You will never wash my feet!” (cf. Jn. 13.8).  Jesus gently insisted, and Rocky relented.  After this strange gesture of humility, Jesus had begun to say distressing things to the apostles: “I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me… Where I am going, you cannot come” (Jn. 13.33).  Rocky would have none of it: “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you” (13.37).  Now it was Jesus’ turn to be skeptical: “Will you [indeed] lay down your life for me?” (13.38). A little later during the meal, Jesus said: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends…” (15.13-14). Jesus will do what Rocky will fail to do.  After supper, Jesus led the 12 to the Garden of Gethsemane.  As the temple guards close in to arrest Jesus, Rocky does indeed display some bravado – in a misguided attempt to defend his master, he cuts off the ear of one of the High Priest’s servants (18.10).  As Jesus is led away, Rocky follows at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the High Priest’s residence.  As he warmed his hands with a group of people huddled around a charcoal fire, the woman guarding the gate recognized Rocky as being one of Jesus’ followers: “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” (18.17). Upon hearing these words, “the Rock” crumbled; he replied to the woman: “I am not”.  As his master is on trial for his life, Rocky goes on to deny twice more that he even knew who Jesus of Nazareth was (cf. Jn. 18.25-27).  Simon the loudmouth has revealed himself to be a deeply insecure man whose confidence can evaporate as easily as the smoke of a charcoal fire…  As Simon wept over his weakness, Jesus had been condemned to death and then crucified.  On the morning of the third day following the crucifixion, Jesus’ tomb had been found empty and Jesus had begun to appear to those who had been his followers.  St. John tells us that today’s Gospel episode is the account of Jesus’ third post-resurrection appearance (21.14).  The risen Jesus had found Simon and his friends doing what they had always done before meeting the master – they were fishing on the lake of Galilee.

A renewed vocation.  This brings us back to the lakeshore and to the dialogue between Jesus and “Simon the Rock”.  Now Jesus’ thrice-repeated question makes sense.  This is an opportunity for Simon to experience healing.  The events of the last few weeks have allowed him to see himself for who he really is – not a conquering hero, not a huge success; rather, Simon has realized that he is simply a man full of hang-ups.  Is there any hope for Simon?  Is there any hope for us?  Yes, Jesus says.  There is hope.  All is not lost.  There is yet life for those who have died a thousand deaths.  It all boils down to one thing.  Jesus asked Simon, and he asks each one of us – “Do you love me?”  As long as there is love, there is hope.  Of course, this is not a mere sentimental “love”.  When Jesus had defined love as “laying down one’s life for one’s friends”, he had used the word “agape”.  This is indeed the word that Jesus uses the first two times he asks Simon the question – “Do you agape me?”  Simon responds each time using a different word, the word phileo, which denotes the “love” of ordinary friendship and camaraderie.  The third time Jesus puts the question to Simon, he uses Simon’s preferred term – “Do you phileo me?”  Simon responds: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I phileo you” (21.17).  After each of Simon’s responses, Jesus gives him a command: “Feed my sheep”.  Earlier, during his ministry, Jesus had referred to himself as being the “good shepherd” who would “lay down his life” for his sheep (cf. chapter 10 of St. John’s Gospel).  The sheep – those who believe – still belong to Jesus, but it is now up to Simon to feed them, to take care of them, to nurture them in the faith, to model genuine discipleship for them.  Once Simon has confessed his phileo for Jesus and Jesus has commissioned him with his shepherding task, Jesus goes on to tell Simon that he will indeed demonstrate agape love for his master.  Simon will indeed “lay down his life” for Jesus.  Tradition tells us that St. Peter was crucified in Rome by the Emperor Nero.  Of course, even in death, “the Rock” would be “Rocky” – Peter insisted on being crucified…upside down.

Famous last words.  This is what it looks like to be a friend of Jesus.  It means that one will indeed experience failure, but that Jesus’ love calls us to respond to it by making our life a gift to Jesus’ sheep.  Jesus’ last words to Simon are also a challenge to us – “Follow me” (21.19, 22).  Follow me along the way of agape, the way of service to the members of Jesus’ flock, the way of “laying down your life for your friends”.  Of course, every disciple of the man from Nazareth must realize that “a friend of Jesus is a friend of mine”.  Jesus lived his life and laid it down in order to leave us a roadmap for living.  The man from Nazareth, the Word of the Creator and the Son of the Father beckons to us and says, “Follow me”.  Amen.