3rd Sunday of Easter

April 18, 2010

Acts 5, 27-32.40-41
Rev 5, 11-14
Jn 21, 1-14

Commentators of John’s Gospel tell us that there are two moments in the life of Peter which seem to parenthesis a life of relationship with Jesus no less different from how we experience our own today. These two incidents are too meager in details that they seem too cold, abrupt, and void of human emotions. But, if we supply it with our knowledge of the cultural, political and social background of those times, both incidents come out very much alive with its human emotions to an extent that we can identify ourselves with what happened to Peter.

THE FIRST CALL (Jn. 1:40-42). Peter was a Galilean. Galilee was the hotbed of the Zealot movement – a revolutionary movement out to overthrow the Roman imperialist power present in Israelitic land. We can say that Peter must have been connected with this movement. Together with the rest of the Israelitic world, he must have also expected the promised Messiah. According to their own interpretation, the Messiah would be one sent by God with super human powers to lead Israel in throwing out the Roman imperialists so that Israel as a nation “freed from the hand of their enemies, they can worship God in freedom and without fear.”

The fame of Jesus went ahead of him wherever he went. People talked of his miracles, of his new and beautiful teachings. There was something in his teachings that they did not experience with their Scribes, Pharisees, and teachers of the law. It was not surprising that the ordinary people saw in Jesus as the promised Messiah, of course, in their own interpretation.

We can imagine, therefore, that when Jesus called Peter, Peter already heard about Jesus. He must have shared the same secret hope of the people that this must be the Messiah. Thus, when he was called, we cannot avoid imagining that Peter must have felt that he had much to contribute to the cause of Jesus. With all his revolutionary experiences, he must have felt that he was the right person to be called. He had more experiences than this carpenter from Nazareth regarding revolutions and guerilla warfare.

Thus, he became one of the close-knit companion of Jesus. We can imagine that Peter must have joined the discussion about who would be taking this position and that position in the Kingdom of Jesus; or who was the greatest among them. These are not far-fetched conjectures because, as Matthew and Mark report, Peter really understood that Jesus’ Kingdom was a political Kingdom. That is why when Jesus predicted his passion right after the Galilean Crisis, Peter could not understand how Jesus could talk about suffering (a suffering Messiah was a contradiction in terms in his vocabulary); thus he remonstrated with Jesus for talking about suffering and death. He promised that this would not happen to Jesus. He will always be there to protect him with his sword.

But when things got rough, when Jesus was caught by the Jewish authorities and sent to the Romans to be judged, the brave Peter, the Peter who promised to protect Jesus with his life was nowhere to be found. He hid himself together with the rest in order to protect his skin. When confronted by a woman who recognized him, he even denied that he was one of the close companions of Jesus. In disgust and discouragement about himself and what he did, he went back to Galilee to start fishing again. He went back to his old life.

THE SECOND CALL (Jn. 21:15-19). It was at this moment when Peter was literally on the ground, with no chanceto fall lower than now, that Jesus called him again. “Follow me.” Now, we can easily imagine what transpired in the mind of Peter at this moment. I can imagine that in one flash of light he now remembers the moment when, with enthusiasm and self-confidence, born out of the conviction that he can contribute much to the cause of Jesus, he followed Jesus. He now remembers the time when he promised to protect the life of Jesus with his very own life. And he also remembers the time when he knowingly denied that he was part of that close knit companions of Jesus. He even remembers having said: “I do not know him.” But the worst is that, at the time when Jesus needed him most, together with the others, he hid himself to protect his skin.

But this Jesus came back from death. And, despite what happened, despite the fact that he did not live up to his word, despite the fact that he consciously denied him, and left him to fend on his own, here was Jesus, calling him again. Therefore, as Peter stands up to say YES and to follow Jesus again, I can imagine that there was no more that enthusiasm of old born out of self-confidence; I can imagine that he was not anymore thinking of the great things he could and would do for the cause of Jesus. Peter, like any man who learns from the hard knocks of life, knew that he could not depend on himself and his own experience. But where did the courage and the enthusiasm to say “yes” again come from? It could come from only one source; from an undeniable fact that despite what has happened, despite his past, despite his knowledge that he was not anymore worthy of being trusted, Jesus still trusted him, Jesus still offered him responsibilities over the flock. In short, Jesus still loved him. This was where the enthusiasm and the courage come from. He was still loved despite everything. This made the difference. This gave him the courage to say YES again. This is what made him Peter THE ROCK.

Fr. Magdaleno Fabiosa, SVD
DWS, Tagaytay City
The Word in Other Words