Beholding Jesus in His Redeeming Work

by the Rev. Dr. Paul S. Nancarrow

This sermon is based on John 21:1-19, Acts 9:1-20, and Revelation 5:11-14. Click here to listen to an audio version of this sermon.

In our collect this morning, we pray that God will “open the eyes of our faith,” so that we may “behold Jesus in all his redeeming work.” And in our scripture readings this morning, we see Jesus revealed to people in an almost bewildering array of redeeming work. In these readings Jesus shows himself in very different appearances, but always with the same redeeming love.

Our Gospel this morning narrates what may be the last of the resurrection appearances of Jesus. Peter and James and John and Thomas and Nathanael and a couple of others have gone fishing. Now, they have seen the Risen Jesus; they have had the Holy Spirit breathed on them and have been told that they are to go out and forgive sins – but it seems they’re not quite sure how to actually do that, because here they’ve gone back to what they’re used to, here they’ve done kind of the ultimate “we’ve always done it that way” – they’ve gone fishing. But the old way doesn’t work anymore: they’ve fished all night and they’ve caught nothing, they’ve done what they’re used to, and they’ve come up empty. And in the morning they see a stranger on the shore, and this stranger knows they have no fish, this stranger knows they can’t simply go back to how everything used to be – and so the stranger tells them where to put the net to find the real catch, and calls them ashore to feed them, partly with what they’ve caught and partly with what is sheer gift. And when these disciples feel their lives restored, when they feel their empty work redeemed, they know that it is Jesus, then they behold it is Jesus in his redeeming work.

And after breakfast, Jesus takes Simon Peter aside and appears to him in a different way: not as a mysterious stranger on the shore with miraculous knowledge, but as his intimate friend and wise teacher.  Three times Jesus asks Peter “Do you love me?”; three times Peter answers “Yes Lord, you know I love you”; three times Peter makes the declaration he had failed to make in the courtyard of the high priest’s house on Maundy Thursday night. By asking Peter three times, Jesus gives Peter the opportunity to redeem his failure from before, to be set free from the burden of guilt that still holds him back, to be ready to go out and forgive sins in Jesus’ Name – because he knows now how much he himself has been forgiven – to be someone who really can tend Christ’s sheep. In this appearance as the loving friend, Jesus frees Peter for ministry, and Peter beholds Jesus in yet another way in his redeeming work.

In our Acts reading we see Jesus appearing in a very different way. Saul, breathing threats and murder against the church, is on his way to Damascus to arrest anyone he can find who believes in Jesus. But before he gets there Jesus arrests him: the Ascended Christ appears to Saul as a bright light and a loud voice and a sudden inner knowledge that he is “chosen to bring Jesus’ name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel.” In a single moment, Jesus catches up Paul’s vehemence and intensity and devotion and transforms it, redirects it, changes it from being a drive for persecution to a zeal of proclamation; in this encounter Jesus redeems Paul from being blinded by hate to seeing in the Spirit of Love. A bright light and a voice is a very different appearance from a stranger on the shore or an intimate friend – but in this appearance, too, Paul beholds Jesus in his redeeming work.

And finally, in our reading from Revelation, John the Seer beholds the Heavenly Jesus in a visionary and symbolic form: he sees Jesus as a Lamb, a Lamb that was slaughtered, a Lamb that was killed in sacrifice and is yet alive, a Lamb that stands before the throne of God and is in the midst of the throne with God. And in his vision John hears all Creation – the natural creation of animals and creatures in the air and on the earth and under the earth and the sea; but also the supernatural creation of angels and ancients and living essences, myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands – John hears all Creation singing the praises of the Lamb, because in his death and life the Lamb has redeemed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation, because the Lamb has broken the power of death and prepared the way for ultimate redemption in the union of heaven and earth. It is because John is given the vision of the redeeming work of Christ on this cosmic scale that he is able to face his own personal exile and persecution; it is because John is given the vision of the redeeming work of Christ on this cosmic scale that he is able to encourage his fellow believers to be faithful in their life-circumstances, too. The vision of a heavenly Lamb who was slaughtered and lives is very different from a light and a voice, or a stranger on the shore, or an intimate friend – but in this appearance, too, John beholds Jesus in his redeeming work.

Now what all three of these readings do together, is to show us the that Risen, Ascended, Heavenly Jesus makes himself known to us in all sorts of ways, through all kinds of appearances, in many different instances of his one redeeming work. The real, living Jesus shows himself present with us when sins are forgiven, when people are fed, when empty failure opens up to new possibilities for fullness, when blind hatred has scales fall from its eyes and receives the witness of love, when those who feel exiled from the good of life find hope and courage and faithfulness to go on. Though the appearances for us may be very different, we, too, can behold Jesus alive with us in his redeeming work.

So where will you behold Jesus, risen and ascended and redeeming, with you this week, this day, this hour?

Will you behold Jesus in our prayers this day, as we offer our intentions to God, and God takes up our energies and makes us instruments to accomplish Christ's mission?

Will you behold Jesus in this Eucharist, as he fills our emptiness with bread and wine and his living presence, and shows us how to reach down deep within us to bring forth a catch of creative work?

Will you behold Jesus in the faces of your friends, and the faces of strangers – and even in the faces of your enemies – will you behold Jesus giving you the opportunity to reach out in love that transcends your barriers and your limitations?

Will you behold Jesus when you leave this church today, when you go about all the ordinary tasks of life, all the things you wouldn't typically think of as "ministry," all the opportunities to show forth the new life that is given to us in Christ, the new life we can offer to others in Christ – will you behold Jesus in the redeeming work Jesus calls you to do?

In our collect this morning, we pray that God will “open the eyes of our faith,” so that we may “behold Jesus in all his redeeming work.” Look around you and behold Jesus here. Amen.