Communion With the Christ:: The Easter Life

"I'm going fishing," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We'll go with you." So, they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing." Jhn: 21:3

In the Ancient Church, Easter was not thought of as a single observance but a season. Easter Day, or Resurrection Sunday, was just the beginning. It was often spoken of as the Great Fifty Days of Easter which covered several weeks up until Pentecost Sunday.

The number fifty was derived from the idea which was found in the Year of Jubilee under the Old Covenant wherein Israel, every fiftieth year, everything was restored to the condition that God had originally intended for the people, also called the year of the Lord's Favor.

All things were to be restored to the way God had established the nation, debits forgiven, land restored to the families, in-short it means everything was restored back to God's original intent for the people.

What this speaks to us, under the New Covenant is for Christians who are living in the post resurrection season is that, it has always been God's intention to be in relationship with us through his glorified incarnate Son, Jesus Christ.

This is, and was, God's intention , and through Jesus; all things have been restored. The Jubilee year has been inaugurated bring us all a new life, an Easter Life in and through the resurrected Jesus. Lk: 4:19

Post Resurrection

It was during these weeks in the lives of the Apostles and other Disciples of Jesus that the risen Lord appeared to them and gave them the experience of his resurrected life, they knew without doubt that Jesus lives.

"So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. So, Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." Jhn: 20:19-21

The Disciples knew that Jesus is Resurrected, there was now no doubts in their minds.

Going Fishing: Life As It Was

Yet, even after Jesus had visited the Disciples showing them that he lives, they still did not grasp the full import of this reality. The realization that Jesus lives had not yet reached deep down into their beings. They knew that Jesus was resurrected but this truth did not yet transform them.

The Disciples had not yet been transformed by the Resurrection, they seem to think that life was just going to continue as it always had been and they seemed perfectly content to return to their old lives even to the point, where St. Peter was going to return to his old profession of fishing and the others went along as well.

"I'm going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat", Jhn:21:3a

The Disciples had not yet come to see that life could not continue as it was after encountering the Resurrected Jesus. Encountering Jesus outside the bounds of death demanded a transformation in their lives. They simply could not remain as they were, they simply could not just "go fishing”, which means to return to life as it had always been.

The Disciples lives could and should never be the same. Jesus has changed all things forever.

Caught Nothing

Seven of the Disciples returned to Galilee, where they had always lived and once again returned to the Sea of Galilee and attempted to live their old lives and starting over where they had left off.

"So they went out and got into the boat," (3b)

In the darkness of the night, as the Disciples cast the nets out over and over again. They sailed to different points upon the sea, yet all their labor there in the darkness was in vain; they came up with empty nets each time. They caught nothing, their efforts were fruitless.

" but that night they caught nothing." (3c)

Jesus on the Beach

As the Disciples pulled in their nets into the boat and as the sun rises again, they hear a voice from shore inquiring regarding their catch, asking if they had any fish? at first, unbeknownst to the Disciples, it is Jesus himself . They answer "no fish had been caught", they have empty nets to show for the night of labor upon the water.

"But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. So Jesus said to them, "Children, you do not have any fish, do you?" They answered Him, "No."…"(4-5)

It is then, that their Lord gives Disciples instructions that will give them a full net which they had hoped for.

"And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch."(6a)

The Disciples followed the advice of the stranger on the beach, seemingly without any recorded discussion among themselves. As a result, they have a full catch. It so great a haul of fish that their net is nearly rent and the straining Disciples are not able to drag it completely into the boat. This is all due to the presence of Jesus and his word to them.

"So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.…(6b)

It is the Lord

It is St. John who first realizes that the stranger who has spoken to them is Jesus himself standing upon the beach and tells St. Peter.

"Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord."(7a)

St. Peter then swims ashore followed as the others in the boat bringing in the catch. There are on the beach Jesus has a meal ready for them and they spend a time of fellowship together, which brings to clarity to the truth that due to the Resurrection of Jesus their lives and ours can never be the same.

We need to live an all-new life in and with Jesus. An Easter life. They, and we, cannot just "go fishing”, to live life as it had always been before encountering Jesus outside the bounds of death.

Our life can never be the same after we encounter the resurrected Jesus, that is , we cannot return to life as it was. We are called to live an all-new way, an Easter life. A life lived in recognition that Jesus has died and come again from the grave. An all-new life. A life transformed. A Life lived out in relationship with God through the incarnate glorified Son of God which has always been God's intention for humanity.

"The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead."(8-14)

Fishers of Men

The Apostles went back to life as it was, but Jesus met the Disciples there on the shore to show them there had to be a change in their lives. Jesus uses this setting to direct them to the calling that he first announced to them just a few years earlier. They are meant to be fishers of men bringing the catch to Jesus. That was the reason they left all to follow Jesus.

Jesus now reminds them of this.

"And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him".…Matt:4:19-20

Jesus had called those Disciples and Christians throughout the ages to be fishers of men, that is, to bring the catch of humanity to Jesus Christ and in so doing fulfilling the prophecy found in the Prophet Ezekiel

"Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds--like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea."Ezk:47:10

Empty Nets

But this type of catch is only accomplished through a transformed life, a life lived in recognition that Jesus has risen from the dead, an all-new life, an Easter Life. If our lives are not transformed by the truth of the resurrections, then we are like the Disciples who, in the darkness of the night, had only empty nets to show for their efforts.

but that night they caught nothing." Jhn: 21:3c

If our lives remain as they had always been then we will have only empty nets, that is, none will come to Christ.

It was not until Jesus calls out and the Disciples followed his word to cast their nets on the opposite side of the boat that the nets became filled. If we are living an Easter life, a life transformed by the power of the Resurrection.

This is what St. Paul wrote to the Church at Philippi St. Paul was willing and desired to let go of his old life and be transformed and live in full recognition of the Resurrection of Jesus.

"But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead" Philp:3:7-11

" Understand that our lives can never be the same after encountering the Resurrected Jesus. Jesus' Resurrected Life, and our encounter with him should transform us.

An Easter Life

There on the shores of the Sea of Galilee St. Peter, and all of us, are given the gentle admonishment that we are to have an Easter Life.

"When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep." Jhn: 21:15-17

Our lives should "feed the lambs”, this means how we live brings the very life of Jesus into the lives of others all through the truth of the Resurrection. We cannot just "go fishing" and return to our lives as they had always been.

This should be the primary purpose of our lives so that others see the living Jesus in and through us. We can never be the same after encounter Jesus resurrected our live are lived in and transformed in view of this truth, this is the Easter Life the life which God has always us intended for us to live.

Benediction: May we each and all ever live that Easter life which our Lord has risen for us to have, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen.