Week 25 of the Church year
പുതുഞായറിനു ശേഷം രണ്ടാം ഞായർ
After breakfast on the beach, Jesus turns to Peter. Three times Peter had denied him. Now, three times, Jesus asks him the same question.
Jesus asks Peter three times whether he loves him. Each time Peter says yes, and Jesus tells him to feed or care for his sheep. Peter is hurt by the third question. Jesus tells him how he will die, and says: follow me.
This continues last Sunday’s Gospel. The breakfast by the lake turns into Peter’s restoration.
Jesus does not ask Peter to explain his failure. He asks if he loves him, and then gives him work to do.
ഈ ഞായറാഴ്ചയുടെ വായനകൾ
Jesus walks on the sea; the work of God is to believe in the one he has sent.
Peter walks on water, begins to sink, and Jesus catches him.
Moses sets up the tabernacle and anoints Aaron and his sons to serve.
Rahab hides the spies sent to Jericho.
Can a mother forget her nursing child? Even if she could, I will not forget you.
Peter and John before the council: we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen.
Christ is faithful over God’s house; encourage one another every day.
Do you love me? Feed my sheep. Follow me. This is the Gospel of the day.
Open in five scenesMoses anoints Aaron and his sons to serve, and Rahab, an outsider, protects God’s people. Isaiah says even if a mother forgets her child, God will not forget. Peter and John refuse to stop speaking about Jesus.
References follow the official lectionary of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Your parish may read them in a different order.
Pick a scene to see what happens in it and what is easy to miss.
After breakfast Jesus says: Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? Yes, Lord, you know I love you. Feed my lambs.
Jesus calls him Simon, his old name, not Peter, the rock. He is starting again from the beginning.
A second time: Simon, son of John, do you love me? Yes, Lord, you know I love you. Take care of my sheep.
Lambs, then sheep: the young and the grown. Peter is to care for the whole flock.
A third time: do you love me? Peter is grieved that he asks a third time. Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you. Feed my sheep.
Three denials beside a charcoal fire; three declarations of love beside another one.
When you were young you dressed yourself and went where you wanted. When you are old, someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go. John explains: this showed the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.
Tradition says Peter was crucified in Rome. John wrote after it had happened.
Then Jesus says to him: follow me.
By the same lake, “follow me” was the first call Peter heard (Mark 1:17). Now it is the last thing Jesus says to him in John.
The verse to keep
“അവർ പ്രാതൽ കഴിച്ചശേഷം യേശു ശിമോൻ പത്രൊസിനോടു: യോഹന്നാന്റെ മകനായ ശിമോനേ, നീ ഇവരിൽ അധികമായി എന്നെ സ്നേഹിക്കുന്നുവോ എന്നു ചോദിച്ചു. അതിന്നു അവൻ: ഉവ്വു, കർത്താവേ, എനിക്കു നിന്നോടു പ്രിയമുണ്ടു എന്നു നീ അറിയുന്നുവല്ലോ എന്നു പറഞ്ഞു. എന്റെ കുഞ്ഞാടുകളെ മേയ്ക്ക എന്നു അവൻ അവനോടു പറഞ്ഞു.”So when they had eaten their breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I have affection for you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
Simon Peterശിമോൻ പത്രൊസ്
The disciple who denied Jesus three times, now restored.
Simon, “he has heard”; Peter, “rock”
Jesusയേശു
The risen Lord, the Good Shepherd, handing his flock to Peter.
“The Lord saves”
മൂന്നു തള്ളിപ്പറച്ചിലിനു മൂന്നു ചോദ്യങ്ങൾ
Peter must have dreaded this moment. Three times he had said he did not know Jesus. Now he was sitting by a fire with him again. Jesus could have asked why. He could have reminded him of the boasting at the Last Supper. Instead he asks a single question, three times: do you love me?
The third time hurts. Peter knows what Jesus is doing, and he answers with everything he has left: Lord, you know everything. You know I love you. Each answer is met not with forgiveness in words but with a job. Feed my lambs. Look after my sheep. The failed disciple is trusted with the flock.
When someone we love has let us down, it is hard not to make them explain. Jesus shows another way: ask about love, and then hand them something to do. Being trusted again heals in a way that words alone cannot. And for all of us, after every failure, the last word is the same: follow me.
കുടുംബമായി സംസാരിക്കാം
Is there someone you need to trust again after they let you down? What would it take?
Two minutes after the audio. Everyone gets a turn, and nobody is interrupted.Give someone who has made a mistake a real responsibility this week, to show that you trust them.
Lord Jesus, you know everything; you know that we love you, even when we fail you. Restore us as you restored Peter, give us work to do for your flock, and teach us to follow you to the end. Amen.
The whole year
Every Sunday of the Church year, season by season: readings, the Gospel and a question for the family.
Sunday 4 of 7 in Kyomtho