The Earliest Resurrection Story?
John 20:30 – 21:19
April 27, 2025
After three months, we’ve come to the end of our survey of the gospel of John.
Actually, last Sunday we covered the final chapter of the original gospel of John. You can see at the beginning of our scripture reading today it says: “Jesus worked many other miracles for his disciples, and not all of them are written in this book.” In other words, the authors conclude the book at this point. The gospel of John ended with chapter 20. Not the chapter 21 of our Scripture reading today.
The gospel of John was first written down sixty years after Jesus’ death. It was put together by a group of Jewish Christians in Ephesus who called themselves the John Community. They emphasized the disciple John and the centrality of love.
These authors concluded their book with chapter 20 which included four stories of what happened after Jesus died.
Years after the completion of this book the next generation decided the book needed an epilogue: one more chapter. So, they added this 21st chapter with additional stories about Jesus after he was crucified.
Why did the next generation of the John Community add this epilogue, this 21st chapter?
The first reason they decided to add this epilogue is because of the tension in the early Christian movement between those who were more closely aligned with John and those who favored Peter. The John Communities and the Peter Communities found their experience with Jesus Christ to be different. John Communities emphasized love while the Peter communities talked more about salvation from sin. But they both followed Jesus and called themselves Christians.
Eventually, there was a desire for more unity and less division between the John Communities and the Peter Communities. As a result, a concession was made by the John Community to add this epilogue to their Gospel. In this chapter Peter and his primacy were highlighted. It is Peter who will oversee tending the flock of Christ’s people, not John. This concession by the John community brought the two sides together.
The symbolism of this unity was the miraculous catch of 153 large fish of all kinds in a net that was unbroken. It was a way of expressing the inclusiveness of the church that includes Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female, and most importantly both the Peter communities and the John communities. It’s an amazing diversity unified in following Jesus Christ.
There is value in working together in unity with those who are not like us, who are different, and even those who think differently than us. There is also great value in being a church that welcomes and affirms all: that doesn’t exclude people or look down on anyone. That is what it means to be an Open and Affirming Church as this church has been for over twenty years now.
The first reason this epilogue was added was to enhance the unity of the church.
The second reason this epilogue was added was to highlight a different resurrection story. I think this resurrection story was actually the earliest story told about what happened after Jesus died. This story was overlooked by the four gospel writers because it wasn’t as dramatic as the other stories.
But I think it’s lack of drama points to the more historical and accurate portrayal of what really happened after Jesus died.
Reading this story makes me think that this is what happened:
Jesus was crucified for the ways his love challenged the Roman and Jewish leadership. His death was at first a crushing blow to the disciples and other Jesus followers. They pondered and prayed together for weeks afterwards as they returned to their former lives. It was a low time.
A month or so later, some of these same disciples were having a very bad fishing day. For some reason, they sensed they were to fish on the other side of the boat. The number of fish they caught was amazing. They were thankful for this great blessing from God.
This small group of disciples then gathered around a fire for a breakfast of fish and bread. It was like the type of meals they had had with Jesus. Suddenly, it was as though they sensed Jesus’ presence with them.
The disciples started talking about Jesus. They referred to him now as the Christ, the Messiah. It seemed as if they were eating with Jesus Christ himself.
After that, they connected with other former Jesus followers and told them about how they experienced Jesus’ presence. They said that: in a sense, Jesus Christ was still alive and wanted to continue his ministry through them. They were to express their love for Jesus Christ by feeding his sheep, by caring for people in need.
This account of what happened after Jesus died needed to be told. So, the second generation of the John Community decided to include this story in its 21st chapter epilogue of the book.
It was a very different story than the one that talked about a missing dead body after 36 hours in a tomb.
This relates to something I shared in a sermon a year and a half ago when I was talking about the ways in which we have reconstructed our faith over the years.
I shared about how I view the difference between the historical human Jesus and the post Easter divine Jesus Christ.
I used the analogy of a muffin mix and a muffin.
The muffin mix is the historical human Jesus. I believe this historical human Jesus had compassion for the marginalized. I believe this historical human Jesus was a good teacher who preached about God’s kindom of love and inclusion. I believe this historical human Jesus was crucified and died because the people in power were threatened by his message of love.
But the muffin mix is not the same as the muffin.
The muffin mix is the historical human Jesus who lived between 3 BC and 30 AD.
But the muffin is the biblical Post Easter Divine Jesus Christ the gospel writers talk about. This is the same Jesus Christ that the disciples experienced around the breakfast fire weeks after Jesus’ death. I believe this is the first time they began to understand that Jesus lives on – not as the historical human Jesus, but as the post Easter divine Jesus Christ. They felt this Jesus Christ in their hearts as they were sharing a meal together.
This is the same Jesus Christ that Paul experienced twenty years later. This is the same Jesus Christ that Christians continued to experience during the next 2000 years. This is the same Jesus Christ that we can experience being alive and with us in our day, even today in this sanctuary.
This leads us to the third reason the second generation of the John Community added this 21st chapter epilogue to the gospel of John. They wanted to highlight again the ways in which our neediness opens the door for God’s nearness. Our neediness helps us better see God’s nearness to us.
Imagine being one of those disciples. Jesus was gone. He did not just die; he was cruelly crucified. Jesus was killed by people who might want to round up and punish Jesus followers like themselves. They were afraid for their lives.
In addition, they were processing their loss. They suddenly had to deal with the death of someone they considered almost invincible. The disciples were still in shock.
The disciples were disappointed, depleted and discouraged. They wanted things to go back to the way they were. They wanted life to flow as it did. They wanted to be as certain as they once were.
On top of all this, they found themselves sitting in the boat with empty nets. Their best efforts were not enough. Their established methods were fruitless. Their eyes drifted across the water – as if seeking, longing for something.
In the midst of their neediness, the disciples experienced God’s nearness.
They cast their nets one more time before finishing up their nighttime fishing experience. The number of fish they caught was overwhelming. What an amazing answer to their unspoken prayers.
After catching an incredible number of fish all at once, they gathered around a campfire to eat their breakfast. God in Jesus Christ became so real. They felt like Jesus Christ was there, with them. They felt surrounded by his love and encouraged by his presence.
Their neediness led to God’s nearness.
The good news we celebrate today is this:
Our neediness still opens the door to God’s nearness.
Think about the ways we are needy on this day.
How are you needy today?
Your health, the health of a loved one, your grief, your loss, your worries, your frustrations, your disappointments, your discouragement, your depletion.
How are you needy today?
The good news we’re invited to hear today is this:
Our neediness opens the door to God’s nearness.
God through Jesus Christ is with us in this room today to encourage you, to enrich you, to surround you, to remind you how beloved you are. The divine Jesus Christ is near you in the middle of whatever neediness you struggle with right now.
And that same divine Jesus Christ continue to say to us as he did to Peter long ago: If you love me, then take care of my sheep. Pass on the love that I share with you. Pass it on to every sheep that needs it.
Amen.
