Introduction

The disciples make a big splash and eat breakfast with the risen Jesus. Wading in the water (remembering baptism) and eating with Jesus (celebrating holy communion) is our weekly encounter with the risen Christ. Jesus asks us again and again: Do you love me? And Jesus invites us, again and again, to follow him, bringing the Easter life to others.

Readings and Psalm

• Acts 9:1-6 [7-20]
  Paul’s conversion, baptism, and preaching
• Psalm 30
  You have turned my wailing into dancing. (Ps. 30:11)
• Revelation 5:11-14
  The song of the living creatures to the Lamb
• John 21:1-19
  Jesus appears to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias

Overview

Do You Love Me? Follow Me

When we encounter Jesus, we are changed and will never be the same. Jesus can be revealed in a blinding light on the road, in an abundance of fish, in breakfast on the beach. God uses all sorts of surprising things—bread, wine, water, words of forgiveness—to convert us. Like baptism, this conversion is both a once-in-a-lifetime, life-changing event and a daily process—a change that comes again and again, like Jesus’ question to Peter: “Do you love me?” Again and again, Jesus calls us to follow him. For Saul, the journey doesn’t end with the blinding light on the road. For Peter, the journey doesn’t end with breakfast on the beach. Conversion sets each of them, and each of us, on a path that continues for the rest of our life on earth—and leads into life eternal.