Numbers can be tremendously powerful things – this week in the election campaign we heard of lots of different tax and national insurance equations once again, we heard lots of talk of deficits and even the occasional surplus – we heard the Conservative Party claim that 102 promises from the last Labour manifesto had been broken – perhaps the most astounding fact of all is that someone counted !
Because numbers, whilst sometimes being tremendously powerful can also be a little boring at times – I’m sure it’s not true but accountants who of course deal with numbers most of the time have some rather mean jokes about them – for example, An accountant visited the Natural History museum. While standing near the dinosaur he said to his neighbour: "This dinosaur is two billion years and ten months old".
"Where did you get this exact information?"
"I was here ten months ago, and the guide told me that the dinosaur is two billion years old."
Or perhaps, A patient was at her doctor's office after undergoing a complete physical exam. The doctor said, "I have some very grave news for you. You only have six months to live." The patient asked, "Oh doctor, what should I do?" The doctor replied, "Marry an accountant."
"Will that make me live longer?" asked the patient. "No," said the doctor, "but it will SEEM longer."
I should add that there are equally bad, if not worse jokes about the clergy before anyone get’s too offended ! But back to numbers and in our gospel reading (john 21:1-19) this morning, we have what seems a rather random number – we are told that the fishermen obeyed the instruction of Jesus to go out again, and when they did so, they caught a net full of 153 fish.
As I said, it seems a rather random number, but a number of people over the centuries have assumed that it was included for a reason - Cyril of Alexander said it was a symbolic number - 100, meaning the fullness of the Gentiles, plus 50, representing the remnant of Israel, and 3, representing the trinity. Augustine discovered 153 is the sum of 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13+14+15+16+17. Then he proposed that seventeen was a symbolic number representing the Ten Commandments and the seven gifts of the spirit.
Jerome suggested there were 153 fish because there were 153 different kinds of fish in the Sea of Tiberius, and therefore, the catch was a symbol that the Gospel is for everybody, every kind of person in the world, and finally Tom Gillespie, a NT professor (and president) of Princeton Seminary, said that, at the time the Gospel of John was written, there were believed to be 153 different ethnic groups in the world.
Perhaps some of these theories come as a result of people having a bit too much time to think but it does seem that this number may have some relevance – but the most important relevance of all is that it is an incredible number – once again Jesus has provided for his followers more abundantly than they can ever imagine possible.
And from this incredible scene of him providing a huge catch of fish, we get right back down to basics as Jesus says to his followers, ‘Come and have breakfast’ ! From the incredible and miraculous to the mundane and ordinary, Jesus was there – and Jesus is here… everywhere…
It is a discovery that Saul made as he travelled on the Damascus Road in the account we heard from the Book of Acts (9:1-6) – he was the great persecutor of Christians, fired up with a great passion to kill as many of them as he could find – but meeting Jesus that day his life was transformed forever.
Michelangelo said that the beautiful sculptures he created were already there, inside the stones. He simply removed the excess to reveal the precious essence. I suspect that some of us may have more difficulty than others in making a sculpture out of a bit of stone, but it’s a wonderful thought to remember that this is what God can do for any of us and anyone….
Saul, this great persecutor, would become Paul, the great evangelist and campaigner for the Christian faith. Out of evil, God uncovered a man who would devote the rest of his life to spreading the gospel message. Within the stone that was Saul, God carved out the sculpture that was Paul.
And as we look around it’s comforting and exciting to look at a world full of possibilities, full of people waiting to be transformed as they are touched by the power of God… comforting because there is nobody who is beyond the touch of God and exciting because we are part of the plan to put God in front of people – and as we do that, we will see that he is ready to transform and ready to provide more abundantly than we, or anyone else, can ever ask or imagine.
At the moment when we watch the news we can’t avoid listening to promises – promises which are well intentioned, but promises that may or may not be delivered – but God has delivered on his promises already – from the creation stories of the Old Testament right through to the account of Jesus rising from the dead, and appearing again to his followers, we see God crying out to the world to come closer to him…
We see God offering chance after chance to people whom he wants to be cross with, but who he can’t resist trying to make it a little easier for them to get it right next time. Just like the perfect loving parent who so wants to tell his child off for failing to do something, but actually ends up lowering the bar for the child because he is so keen for the child to succeed, so God has kept lowering the bar for us…
Now, all he calls us to do is not live a perfect life, although that would be his choice, but to live a life following Jesus – a life, not of perfection, but of devotion – a life committed to the teaching and example of Jesus, however poor a job we may do of following his example at times… God has lowered the bar for us because he loves us so much that he is desperate to enjoy eternal fellowship with him and, as he did with Saul, he can shape and transform anyone, and he can continue to shape and transform us…
Whether the number of 153 fish is relevant or not, what is relevant is that fact that God can meet our needs in a way that is greater than we can ever expect, and he can provide us with a strength and a power that we wouldn’t imagine possible, and as we continue to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, as we continue to celebrate an Easter faith of darkness being dramatically turned to light, good trouncing the powers of evil and hope and love finally winning over despair and hate, may we be ready to live a risen life, a new life, full of the joys of resurrection and hope and peace and love, and may we be ready to share that life with everyone we meet. AMEN
Because numbers, whilst sometimes being tremendously powerful can also be a little boring at times – I’m sure it’s not true but accountants who of course deal with numbers most of the time have some rather mean jokes about them – for example, An accountant visited the Natural History museum. While standing near the dinosaur he said to his neighbour: "This dinosaur is two billion years and ten months old".
"Where did you get this exact information?"
"I was here ten months ago, and the guide told me that the dinosaur is two billion years old."
Or perhaps, A patient was at her doctor's office after undergoing a complete physical exam. The doctor said, "I have some very grave news for you. You only have six months to live." The patient asked, "Oh doctor, what should I do?" The doctor replied, "Marry an accountant."
"Will that make me live longer?" asked the patient. "No," said the doctor, "but it will SEEM longer."
I should add that there are equally bad, if not worse jokes about the clergy before anyone get’s too offended ! But back to numbers and in our gospel reading (john 21:1-19) this morning, we have what seems a rather random number – we are told that the fishermen obeyed the instruction of Jesus to go out again, and when they did so, they caught a net full of 153 fish.
As I said, it seems a rather random number, but a number of people over the centuries have assumed that it was included for a reason - Cyril of Alexander said it was a symbolic number - 100, meaning the fullness of the Gentiles, plus 50, representing the remnant of Israel, and 3, representing the trinity. Augustine discovered 153 is the sum of 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10+11+12+13+14+15+16+17. Then he proposed that seventeen was a symbolic number representing the Ten Commandments and the seven gifts of the spirit.
Jerome suggested there were 153 fish because there were 153 different kinds of fish in the Sea of Tiberius, and therefore, the catch was a symbol that the Gospel is for everybody, every kind of person in the world, and finally Tom Gillespie, a NT professor (and president) of Princeton Seminary, said that, at the time the Gospel of John was written, there were believed to be 153 different ethnic groups in the world.
Perhaps some of these theories come as a result of people having a bit too much time to think but it does seem that this number may have some relevance – but the most important relevance of all is that it is an incredible number – once again Jesus has provided for his followers more abundantly than they can ever imagine possible.
And from this incredible scene of him providing a huge catch of fish, we get right back down to basics as Jesus says to his followers, ‘Come and have breakfast’ ! From the incredible and miraculous to the mundane and ordinary, Jesus was there – and Jesus is here… everywhere…
It is a discovery that Saul made as he travelled on the Damascus Road in the account we heard from the Book of Acts (9:1-6) – he was the great persecutor of Christians, fired up with a great passion to kill as many of them as he could find – but meeting Jesus that day his life was transformed forever.
Michelangelo said that the beautiful sculptures he created were already there, inside the stones. He simply removed the excess to reveal the precious essence. I suspect that some of us may have more difficulty than others in making a sculpture out of a bit of stone, but it’s a wonderful thought to remember that this is what God can do for any of us and anyone….
Saul, this great persecutor, would become Paul, the great evangelist and campaigner for the Christian faith. Out of evil, God uncovered a man who would devote the rest of his life to spreading the gospel message. Within the stone that was Saul, God carved out the sculpture that was Paul.
And as we look around it’s comforting and exciting to look at a world full of possibilities, full of people waiting to be transformed as they are touched by the power of God… comforting because there is nobody who is beyond the touch of God and exciting because we are part of the plan to put God in front of people – and as we do that, we will see that he is ready to transform and ready to provide more abundantly than we, or anyone else, can ever ask or imagine.
At the moment when we watch the news we can’t avoid listening to promises – promises which are well intentioned, but promises that may or may not be delivered – but God has delivered on his promises already – from the creation stories of the Old Testament right through to the account of Jesus rising from the dead, and appearing again to his followers, we see God crying out to the world to come closer to him…
We see God offering chance after chance to people whom he wants to be cross with, but who he can’t resist trying to make it a little easier for them to get it right next time. Just like the perfect loving parent who so wants to tell his child off for failing to do something, but actually ends up lowering the bar for the child because he is so keen for the child to succeed, so God has kept lowering the bar for us…
Now, all he calls us to do is not live a perfect life, although that would be his choice, but to live a life following Jesus – a life, not of perfection, but of devotion – a life committed to the teaching and example of Jesus, however poor a job we may do of following his example at times… God has lowered the bar for us because he loves us so much that he is desperate to enjoy eternal fellowship with him and, as he did with Saul, he can shape and transform anyone, and he can continue to shape and transform us…
Whether the number of 153 fish is relevant or not, what is relevant is that fact that God can meet our needs in a way that is greater than we can ever expect, and he can provide us with a strength and a power that we wouldn’t imagine possible, and as we continue to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, as we continue to celebrate an Easter faith of darkness being dramatically turned to light, good trouncing the powers of evil and hope and love finally winning over despair and hate, may we be ready to live a risen life, a new life, full of the joys of resurrection and hope and peace and love, and may we be ready to share that life with everyone we meet. AMEN
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