Dr Augustin Sokolovski
At Matins of the tenth Sunday after Pentecost, the Church reads the Gospel according to John, chapter 21, verses 1–14. This is the account of the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.
This account is rich in meaning. Let us consider one particular detail. When the disciples recognize the Risen Jesus by the words of John the Theologian: “It is the Lord” (John 21:7), Peter jumps into the water. The Gospel text adds: “Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was naked, and threw himself into the sea” (John 21:7).
This image has both a spiritual and a moral meaning.
The spiritual meaning is that nakedness is an image of Baptism. A person can come close to Christ and confess Him as Lord only in the Holy Spirit, Who is given in the Sacrament of Baptism. The ancient Christians, when approaching Baptism, removed their old garments as a sign of the new life in Christ.
According to the customs of that time, a person could appear in public naked only in two situations. Moreover, in these situations, he was not merely allowed to do so — he was expected to. These situations were death and Baptism. Of course, there were also other areas connected with the human body — public hygiene, baths, medicine — but these belonged to a completely different context.
Thus, we are speaking about two key moments: death and Baptism. It is not accidental that, according to the Apostle Paul, the symbolism of Baptism is connected with a person’s participation in the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Apostle writes:
“Do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
Therefore we were buried with Him through Baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in the newness of life.
For if we have been united with Him in the likeness of His death, we shall also be united with Him in the likeness of His Resurrection.”
(Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans 6:3–5)
The moral lesson is that when a person comes to the divine service and begins prayer, he should be prepared, properly dressed, and show reverence. Peter girded himself with a cloth — his clothing expressed readiness and respect before meeting Christ.
These are the two meanings — the spiritual and the moral. They can and should be received by us on the eve of Sunday.
The Gospel reading from John is considered the tenth Sunday reading out of eleven. Why eleven? This number is not accidental. Like much in Byzantine worship, which is celebrated in the Orthodox Church, it contains a certain symbolism.
The eleven apostles, on the eve of the Resurrection of Christ, remained in expectation. They themselves did not fully know that they were waiting for something. There were eleven of them because Judas had betrayed the Lord.
The threshold of Sunday carries within itself the mystery of the Kingdom: the “already” and the “not yet.” The victory of the Risen Christ has already been revealed, yet the fullness of the joy of the Resurrection, which is opened to the Church in the Divine Liturgy, has not yet been fully disclosed. This is a time of expectation, and at the same time a time of the fulfillment of the promise. Eleven, but not yet twelve. This is the image of liturgical Saturday and liturgical Sunday, and at the same time the image of our entire earthly existence: we already live in the light of Christ’s victory, yet we still await the final revelation of the fullness of the Kingdom of God.