St. Luke's Episcopal Church
Cleveland, Tennessee

Third Sunday of Easter
April 18, 2010
The Reverend Joel W. Huffstetler

This is not only a lengthy Gospel reading, it is so full of content that one couldn't take it all in in one sermon. So in this sermon today I want to concentrate on the dialogue between Jesus and Peter.

It has been a long time since I have quoted my favorite New Testament scholar, N. T. Wright. So today is the day we get Bishop Wright. N. T. Wright is the Bishop of Durham in the Church of England. Before that he was the Canon Theologian at Westminster Abbey. Before that he taught at Oxford and at McGill University in Montreal. He is an eminent New Testament scholar. He is the person who most influences my way of reading the New Testament.

About this conversation between Jesus and Peter, Bishop Wright says, and I quote, “This scene between Jesus and Peter is one of the most spectacular interchanges in the whole Bible, perhaps in all literature.” That is a strong statement. I would like for us to think about it for just a moment. Think about what you just heard read, and then think about what Bishop Wright says, “This scene between Jesus and Peter is one of the most spectacular interchanges in the whole Bible, perhaps in all literature.” That is a strong statement. What makes that the case? What is so profound about this interchange between Jesus and Peter that, arguably the leading New Testament scholar in the world, would say this is one of the most important passages in all of the Bible?

I think the context in which this takes place is the key to its interpretation, as is normally the case. I would like us to think about what we call Holy Week. I would like us to think about Peter being out in the courtyard while Jesus is being interrogated by Pilate. Someone comes up to Peter and says, ‘You're one of them. You are one of his followers.' Peter says, ‘No, I am not.' The challenge is issued again, 'You are one of them. We have seen you with them.' Peter says, 'I am not.' Then the third time Peter is challenged, ‘You are one of his disciples.'

Peter denies it a third time, and says, ‘I do not know him.' Then the rooster crows and Peter remembers that Jesus had said to him, ‘You will deny me three times,' and Peter had said, ‘No, Lord, I will never deny you.' Then he did. In that moment full of fear, full of anxiety, Peter denied knowing the Jesus.

Before we are too harsh on Peter, I think it is important to remember that we know the end of the story. We read Holy Scripture from the perspective of 2000 years of church history and interpretation. That day Peter was in the moment. He didn't understand that Jesus would be raised in three days. Peter didn't have the benefit of hindsight. In that moment, knowing that Jesus was about to be persecuted and fearing that the same fate might await him, Peter cracked under pressure. He denied knowing the Lord whom he had followed all around the countryside. Peter had left his normal life to follow this rabbi whom he believed to be the Messiah. Yet in a moment of anxiety and fear, Peter cracked. He had to live with that failure until this conversation. Peter had to live with the fact that he had failed his Lord. He had to live with the fact that he had not had the courage of his convictions when he was put to the test. So in that situation Jesus pulls Peter aside after Easter Day, and he asks Peter the same question three times, “Do you love me?” The answer is, ‘Yes, Lord, I love you.' ‘Yes, Lord, I love you.' Then the third time Peter gets agitated. One of the translations says that Peter was “grieved” because Jesus asked him the same question the third time. Peter said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” So what we see here is this extraordinary moment of healing. Peter was devastated before this conversation. He had failed his Lord. Yet rather than lastingly condemning Peter, rather than holding on to resentment and anger, rather than condemning Peter to a lifetime of living with failure and guilt, Jesus instead picks him up. By asking Peter these questions, Jesus gives him the chance to pick himself up, to no longer wallow in a sense of defeatism, and Peter, in the end, says resoundingly, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” And Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.” Jesus doesn't just pat Peter on the head and say, “It's OK.” He doesn't just put and arm around him, and say, “It's alright.” Jesus gives him work, and in doing that Jesus shows the trust he has in Peter. Peter isn't relegated even to remembering his moment of failure because the Lord trusts him. Jesus says to Peter, ‘Carry on my ministry. Feed my sheep.'

Remember it is John who pictures Jesus as the Good Shepherd. So now Jesus says to Peter, “Feed my sheep.” What we see here is the rehabilitation of Peter. We see him lifted out of defeat. We see him pulled out of despair and healed. That is why N. T. Wright says that this interchange is one of the most spectacular in all of the Bible, because we see this amazing turnaround. A man who is beaten down, weighed down with guilt and a fear of failure, a sense of being a complete failure when it counted the most, in this moment with Jesus, is healed of those memories. Then Jesus, in the end, says, ‘Follow me. Don't look back. Don't dwell on the past. Don't stay defeated. Follow me.'

I want to begin to close by telling you a brief story. There was a man in St. Paul's, Chattanooga, with whom I was very close. This man is my father's age, or was before he died. He could have been my father age wise. He and I became very close for a variety of reasons. We had a pastoral relationship, but had become friends as well as having a pastoral relationship. Debbie and I had come home from a summer vacation one time. This man was English and he knew we had been in Scotland. He said, “I do hope you had a lovely trip to Scotland. I hope it was everything you hoped it would be, but, Joel, now that you are home, I am in Memorial Hospital. I need you to come to see me at your earliest convenience.” I knew that wasn't good. I went the next day, and my very dear friend told me he had been diagnosed with late stage pancreatic cancer, and that he was near death. He wanted to talk with me and have a pastoral time together before he began to get more and more incapacitated. He said, “I am going to face this with as much courage as I can muster. I am going to maintain my dignity as much as I can. I am going to care for my family as well as I can with the time I have left, because in times like this we simply have to march on.”

I want to leave with you today this phrase that I will always remember from my dear friend, “In times like this, in the end, we just have to march on.” That is what Jesus says to Peter here, ‘March on. You are forgiven. I trust you. You are still one of my disciples. Feed my sheep. Follow me.' ‘March on,' Jesus says to Peter. Because Jesus has given him grace, Peter no longer has to be that defeated, fearful man that denied Jesus in the courtyard. Peter now can march on, because he has experienced the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.