Swimming in Clothes
April 18, 2010
John 21:1-19 and Acts 9:1-20
The Gospel of John is not known for a cuddly, warm portrayal of Jesus. Instead it displays what scholars call a very “high Christology.” This type of Christology—or perspective on who Jesus was—places great importance on aligning Jesus very closely with God. The first verses of John’s Gospel highlight this with familiar words: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus, being the Word, is proclaimed in the opening passage of John as part of God’s own self, who has existed from the beginning of the cosmos. And for the rest of the Gospel of John, Jesus maintains this elevated and serious stature. Likewise, the disciples in John follow a similar pattern. They are earnest, serious people not prone to laughter or hysterics.
Except, that is, for our passage today. Chapter 21 of John offers a bit of respite and relaxation from the seriousness and gravity that has preceded it. And let us be thankful for that! Life cannot be lived by somberness alone. If our complete portrait of Jesus and the disciples is one without smiles, laughter, or at least a bit of fun, then they will never be completely human to us. Humans need humor. We need lightheartedness. We need awkward situations and unabashed chuckles. And so today our passage provides a little bit of comic relief from the seriousness of Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter.
Though I wonder if we have been so trained to view the Bible with such deadly severity that we overlooked the strange incident that occurs in our passage today. Did anyone catch it? Was anyone befuddled by the rather odd actions of the revered apostle Simon Peter?
Let me read it for you again: “5Jesus said to [his disciples], ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ 6He 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. 7The 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. 8But 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.”
“When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea.” What is going on here? First of all, why was Peter fishing naked? That is a humorous image in and of itself! There is no indication that the other disciples have the same proclivity for nude fishing. Was he the only disciple trying to get rid of his tan lines or did the other fishermen join him in this endeavor?
And secondly why did he put on clothes only to jump into the sea fully dressed? We are told by John that the boat was a full hundred yards from shore and the fishermen had caught 153 fish. So instead of helping his fellow workers haul this supreme catch to land in the boat, like any normal human would do, Peter puts on his clothes, jumps into the sea and swims one hundred yards to shore, his soaking wet clothes weighing down his body and making the journey that much more difficult.
And what a sight Peter would have been when he drug himself ashore! Drenched to the bone, sand staining his skin, hair mussed up, wet and gritty, surely completely winded and huffing and puffing for air. This was probably not the last image he wanted to present to the resurrected Jesus—dirty, grimy, smelling of fish and sweat, dripping with water, out of breath. Is this really the trusted disciple in whose hands Jesus gave the keys to the church?
Scholars help us understand this passage in several ways. First of all, they tell us that Peter’s nakedness probably didn’t mean complete nudity. Rather, Peter had taken off his outer robe in order to keep it clean from the dirty job of fishing. His nudity probably meant that he was going about his chores in his inner robe, or underwear—probably a loin-cloth-like garment. Secondly, the word used for “put on” frequently means “to gird” and may signify his tying a rope around his outer garment to keep it steady on his body. So perhaps Peter was simply making sure his outer garment wouldn’t fall off on his long swim to the shore.
Another helpful point scholars make is that both “the disciple whom Jesus loved” and Peter recognize Jesus by calling him “Lord.” In a society where strict classism reigned people of lower status were socially required to show honor to those more powerful or more important than them. Because Simon considered Jesus his “Lord” he could not dishonor him by appearing even half-naked in his underwear before him. Putting on his outer garment was a sign of respect and deference to his teacher and master.
All of these scholarly insights are both plausible and helpful. However, we must also realize that there is humor in this situation! After all, if Peter’s reaction was normal for the time, then why didn’t the other disciples join him in swimming in their clothes to the shore and leaving the boat to the whims of the wind and waves? I can imagine the disciple whom Jesus loved, Nathanael, James, John, and Thomas, all of whom were in the boat with Peter, rolling their eyes at their fellow disciple and thinking, “there goes that nutzy Peter again. Let’s net these fish and bring them to shore. He ain’t gonna be helping!”
If you still haven’t been able to imagine the humor entailed in this story, perhaps we can think of a modern example. How many of us have seen the movie Forrest Gump? One of my favorite moments from the movie is when Forrest comes home from fighting in Vietnam and buys a shrimp boat. One of his friends in Vietnam was a man named Lieutenant Dan who promised that if Forrest ever captained a shrimp boat he would help him out. A few years have passed since their days in Vietnam and one day Forrest is out shrimping and he notices a man on the dock staring at him. Forrest, the only person on the massive shrimping vessel, squints his eyes at the blurry figure.
Slowly he realizes who it is, shouting, “Lieutenant Dan!”. He waves his arms at his long-lost friend and suddenly, while about a hundred yards from shore, he plunges into the water, fully clothed, and full of excitement. He swims to shore to greet his friend, dripping wet, sweaty, out of breath, and probably stinking from shrimping all day. After a few minutes of conversation, Forrest’s unmanned, runaway boat slowly appears in the background, crashing through an adjacent dock. “That’s my boa-oat” is all Forrest says, less concerned about his crashed vessel because of his immense joy at reuniting with his old friend Lieutenant Dan.
While scholars can help us understand the cultural and historical reasons of what Peter’s nakedness really meant, and why he put on clothes before jumping in the water, what we must remember not to overlook is the pure humanity and joy inherent in the passage. Peter swimming in his clothes is not a normal human occurrence. It happens when raw emotions overtake our rational brains.
Peter’s actions are like a loving pet welcoming home its beloved family with wiggles and squirms. Peter’s actions are like a child’s utter glee at seeing grandparents or parents, or friends or relatives after a long absence. Peter’s actions represent humanity at its finest—exhibiting unabashed joy at simply being in the presence of a loved one, a friend, a companion.
It is a wonderful coincidence that Jesus refers to his disciples as “little children” in this passage, because that is exactly how the emotional Peter acts, like a wonderful, excited, gleeful child.
We must remember that this appearance by Jesus was completely unexpected. He had already appeared after his resurrection twice to the disciples and judging by Peter’s reaction to Jesus’ appearance on the beach, the disciples didn’t expect they would ever seen their beloved teacher again. Someone who was lost had come back again. Someone who left, had returned.
Peter’s strangely lovable action of swimming to shore in his clothes should help us to realize just how important the friends and loved ones we have in our lives are.
Part of the difficulty in maintaining long-lasting relationships in today’s society is our modern freedom of mobility. I am living 800 miles from my home and family. Many of us gathered here today live similar distances from children, from aunts and uncles, from childhood friends, from parents, from loved ones. It is often hard to maintain contact, to reconnect, to search out those whom we love but have lost track of.
Often times we may feel like Peter and the disciples on the boat, drifting on the sea, isolated from fond memories and dear friends. The temptation exists to reconcile ourselves to the difficulty of distance, to not seek out others, to leave long lost friends and family lost. But human relationships are vital to living healthy, whole lives. Human relationships of love and mutuality are God-ordained miracles and we must do what we can to develop and maintain them.
This past week, inspired by this passage, I sought to find a little bit of Peter’s exuberance. I plugged into Facebook, the Internet social networking site where people from afar connect with one another, and I sought out friends I met while living in Belfast, Northern Ireland for a year. And how wonderful the connections were! Youth that I worked with are now married and have children (a scary thought!), friends have changed jobs, moved cities, gone through troubles and found great delights. And in each connection that was remade and re-formed, I felt a little bit of Peter’s joy. I felt as if I was jumping out of the restrictions of my little boat and uninhibitedly swimming in my clothes toward the joys of long-lost friendships.
While not all of us here today are plugged into the digital age and thus cannot easily access the loved ones that we have lost contact with, I am sure there are ways reconnections can happen. It just takes a little effort on our parts and the guts to jump out of the boat.
Gratefully, our passage today doesn’t simply speak of rediscovering old friends, though that is an admirable quality it does possess. It also can be viewed much more broadly as calling us to live with the joy of Peter in maintaining and developing the human relationships we possess. Being excited to see a friend, picking up the phone and calling a trusted acquaintance when we are lonely, making dates with loved ones, going to lunch or coffee with someone we haven’t seen in a while, simply making an effort to be together with others—these are activities vital to maintaining sanity and humanity.
Our world can be isolating at times. The easiest thing to do is to sit in front of the TV or Internet surfing channels and websites that offer little in the way of satisfying our desire for actual human relationships. Scientific studies continue to show that one of the best ways to maintain health and livelihood is by not isolating ourselves. We need to be with others. We need to commune with people. We need to care for one another. We need to not be alone. We need to reconnect with old friends. We need to live in the world outside. Like Peter we need to be thrilled at the prospects of meeting an old friend, of reigniting a relationship, of being joyously in touch with other people.
So this week I hope that you may find a new acquaintance; that you may pick up the phone and call that friend that’s been on your mind; that you may hunt down on Facebook long lost loved ones; that you may make a lunch date; that you may seek out companionship and laughter; that you may merrily jump out of the boat and swim to shore to meet the splendid people that surround you. Amen.
