Jn 21:1-19 (or 21:1-14)
1Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. 2Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples. 3Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” 6So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. 7So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. 8The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish. 9When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. 10Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.”
11So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. 13Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish. 14This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead. 15When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16He then said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” [Jesus] said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, “Follow me.”
Crossing the Threshold—from Darkness to Light: The setting for this appearance story of the Risen Lord is different from the preceding narratives. The disciples are no longer “locked in” for fear of the Jews (cf Jn 20:19, 26). They are instead in the open, “at the Sea of Tiberias,” the place of daily chore. In fact, by Peter’s initiative, the disciples are back to their job, fishing.
The end of a futile night of fishing happens as the disciples obey Jesus’ words. It recalls a similar episode in Luke (cf Lk 5) and alludes to the disciples’ experience of being “fishers of people.” On their own, they can do nothing; with Jesus, everything changes.
As the disciples haul the great catch, they find breakfast ready. Jesus, the Master himself, becomes their servant. He takes the bread and gives it to them; and he does the same with the fish. “Take and give” are allusions of the Eucharistic feast. Mission begins from and returns to the Eucharist, fount and summit of the entire Christian life. We eat and give thanks for that which we have been given. And this in turn anticipates what is still to come.
After the meal, we hear the intimate dialogue between Jesus and Simon Peter, the one chosen to lead the community of disciples. The triple question of the Master to his disciple recalls the triple denial of Peter during Jesus’ trial before the Sanhedrin (cf Jn 18:17, 25, 27). A humbled, transformed Peter is graced to undo the triple denial with a triple profession of love, this time based only on his Master’s knowledge of him: “Yes, Lord; YOU KNOW that I love you.”
We know how Peter and the apostles later grew into the height of their love for the Master and carried out his charge, “Feed my lambs, tend my sheep.” The Second Reading in today’s liturgy gives strong testimony to this. Completely transformed by the Holy Spirit given to them by the Risen Christ, Peter and the apostles boldly carry out the preaching in Jerusalem, resisting all efforts of the religious leaders to stop them (cf Acts 5:27-32). Despite punishment and flogging, they “left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name” (Acts 5:41).