357 The Death of Death

   (Note: This blog entry is based on the text for “The Death of Death”, originally shared on April 30, 2025. It was the 357^th  video for our YouTube Channel, Streams of Living Water (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCB7KnYS1bpHKaL2OseQWCnw), co-produced with my wife, Rev. Sally Welch.)

   We celebrate lots of things with a meal. One of them is the death of death. Today, we’re going to find out how that works.

   This coming Sunday, May the 4^th, will coincide with Star Wars Day, as in “May the ‘Fourth’ be with you.” The “Force”, in the Star Wars franchise, is presented as a unifying field that controls all things. It can be mastered by living beings to control thoughts and matter. The Jedi are sort of a religious order of beings who have gained control of the force for good, though later in the movies and serials what is “good” and “evil” is not always clear. Some are called Jedi knights, and are actually sort of like Buddhist/ wizards.

   I saw a meme a few months ago that said that people can identify what type of church it is by asking, “Do your pastors dress like hippies, rappers, businessmen, or wizards? 😊 I guess that does say a lot.

   In the Gospel text that will be read in the vast majority of churches in the world this coming Sunday, John 21:1-19, Jesus has been crucified. Jesus has given his life and died, dead as a doornail. Jesus has taken his life back again. He rose from the dead. He has appeared to his disciples. Twice. OK, that is a lot to process.

   And then this happened, in John 21:1-8,

21 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. ² Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. ³ Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

⁴ Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵ Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” ⁶ He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. ⁷ That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea. ⁸ But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

   Sure, the disciples had a lot to process. But Jesus had appeared to them twice! They had been given the Holy Spirit. They had been sent into the world.

   And what did they do? Seven of the remaining eleven disciples had gone back to work. They went home. They made the nearly 80-mile trip from Jerusalem to their fishing grounds on the Sea of Tiberias (aka the Sea of Galilee), on foot, and they went fishing. They were commercial fisherman.

   They fished all night and they caught nothing. Nothing. What were they supposed to do now?

   What does that feel like, to work without results? And how do you think they felt, given their circumstances? Like they had let Jesus down? Like they couldn’t get anything right, including their jobs? Like they were being punished by God. Ready to just give up?

   Then, just after daybreak, they were coming in and there was someone on the beach. They didn’t recognize Jesus for who he was. How could they not recognize Jesus? He was dead.

   Well, he had appeared to them. Twice already. After his crucifixion, death, and burial. Was it not light enough yet? Were they just freaked out over seeing the impossible? Were they still in shock?

   Jesus knew what had happened in that fishless night. So, he told them to throw the nets out on the other side of the boat. Like, that would work! Did they all slap their forehead and say, “Oh! Why didn’t we think of that?!” But they did it, and in their obedience to Jesus, willing to do whatever he commanded, no matter how crazy it seemed, they caught so many fish that they weren’t able to haul them all into the boat.

   They weren’t too far from shore though, so the disciples just used the boat to drag the net to the beach.

   And here comes Peter. Peter had let Jesus down even after Jesus told him that he would. Three times! And yet Peter wasn’t so ashamed that he couldn’t fanboy over Jesus and he jumped into the sea to get to him.

   And then this happened, in John 21:9-14,

⁹ When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. ¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. ¹² Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴ This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

   Some scholars say that the number 153 is the number of all the nations of the world known to the Jews at that time.

   And that makes sense, because this story includes references to God’s love for the whole world, such that Jesus died for the sake of the world, and of the disciples’ call to go into the world and make disciples.

   It’s kind of a Jesus’ greatest hits compilation. He reassures the disciples with references to where his divinity had been made plain to them in the past.

   Where else did Jesus preside over a meal of bread and fish? The feeding of the 5,000.

   Where else was there a miraculous catch of fish? The calling of the disciples to leave their nets and come and follow Jesus.

   And Jesus presided over this breakfast on the beach to show that he still cared for them. To respond to their guilt over their abandonment of Jesus with forgiveness and reconciliation.

   This is the resurrected Jesus. This Jesus is alive! He was there to do something familiar: share a meal. What was going on, they must have wondered? Was he there to get the old band back together? What was happening?

   How does Jesus deal with us in our inadequacies, with our faithlessness, our divisions, our biting and scratching, in our utter lack of interest in the mission God has given all of us to make disciples of all nations, when none of us dare ask where Jesus is when we all know that he is right here in the midst of us,?

   Jesus reveals himself to us in a meal.

   Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 11:17-24,

  ²³ For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” ²⁵ In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” ²⁶ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

   In Holy Communion we receive forgiveness of sin, life, and salvation. We receive the real presence of God. We commune with God!

   What is the most memorable, the most important, the most necessary meal for life?

   It’s Holy Communion.

   Jesus is present there for us in the forms of bread and wine.

   But wait, there’s more! Our text concludes in John 21:15-19,

¹⁵ When 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.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶ A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” ¹⁷ He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the 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. ¹⁸ Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” ¹⁹ (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

   Remember how Peter, in spite of his strong protestations that it would never happen, had denied he even knew who Jesus was, not just once but, three times on the night in which Jesus was arrested and tortured? He was afraid. And I’m guessing that he was not 100% excited to see Jesus now again, alive.

   But how does Jesus approach Peter after the breakfast on the beach? He asks Peter if he loved Him. How many times does he ask him? Three times. One for every denial.

   And how does Jesus respond to Peter’s affirmations? He tells him to take care of those who also belong to Jesus. And he renews Peter’s call and says to him, “Follow me.”

   Peter would have a productive apostolic ministry and finally be taken to prison in Rome and be sentenced to death by crucifixion. Would you be OK with that? Peter wasn’t, but it wasn’t the death part that he objected to. Peter only objected to the method of execution, saying that he was not worthy to die as our Lord had died.

   So, they crucified him hanging upside-down.

   Death itself is not particularly concerning for Christians.

   Paul wrote, in Philippians 1:21-24,

²¹ For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. ²² If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. ²³ I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; ²⁴ but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.

   I saw the body of a dead squirrel in the road near our home a couple of weeks ago, and I felt a sense of loss. It occurred to me that the feral cat that we took into our home had probably chased that squirrel around at one time. We see our cat’s excitement when one of the neighborhood squirrel’s looks at her from a tree branch outside our picture window. We see the squirrels, too, as a part of our neighborhood, so I felt the loss of something that we had experienced as a part of our lives.

   Are they taunting our cat, now, thinking about old times, are they curious, tentative, friendly? All the things that we also feel about death?

    We visited the Joanne Fabric store in La Verne a couple of weeks ago to buy some white fabric for Easter. They were the first of the bankrupt chain’s stores to sell out their merchandise and fixtures and go out of business. We reminisced with the salespeople, agreed that it had been awhile since we had seen each other, and told stories of the people that we knew in common. We spoke like people do at a funeral.

   “Funeral” is a word that is used too much anymore, though. Today it’s more common to call it a “Celebration of Life”. People think funerals are sad or, worse, boring. They want a service that puts the “fun” in funeral.

   It is very discouraging to me when Christians, even people who have been Christians for a long time, abandon the very things that could sustain and comfort them for a service that celebrates the life of the dead, and not the victory of Jesus over death that gives life.

   We want to focus on the good times, not the resurrection, not new life. We think we are beyond that stuff. We are embarrassed by it in front of our friends.

   We want to escape grief for a celebration. That’s why it really hits us hard when the party’s over, and we are left grieving for ourselves, because someone who knew me over time is gone.

   Or at least seems to be.

   That’s why Christians celebrate a living relationship with the one true living God that cannot be taken away from us. It was given to us by God in our baptism. Paul writes in Romans 6:3-5,

³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

   Augustine of Hippo once said, “"There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future" 

Peter experienced this in the breakfast on the beach. And we experience it too.

   God heals the broken. God heals you. Turn to Him and live. Repent and be made whole. Receive baptism and believe. Know the death of death, and come and commune with Jesus.