Later, Jesus appeared to me beside the Sea of Galilee. This
is how it happened. Several of us were there. I said, “I’m
going back to the way things were before all this . . . the discipleship. The execution . . .”
“We’ll come too,” they said.
So we returned to what we knew and with which we were most
comfortable. We tried all night to be
successful in our old endeavors but had nothing to show for our efforts.
At dawn, Jesus was standing on the beach but we couldn't see
who it was. "Hey kids,” He called. “Have you found what you were looking for?”
“No,” we replied ruefully.
Then He said, “Try focusing your efforts a little more to
the right and you’ll get what you were looking for.” At first, I thought it was ridiculous, but we did what He said. And He wasn't kidding! We couldn't even haul in our entire bounty because it was more than our net had the capacity to contain.
Then one of my companions who knew Him best said, “It’s the
Lord!”
When I heard that, I scrambled to get presentable and
splashed right into the water, then sloshed to the shore! The others stayed with the boat and dragged
our bounty in with it since we were really only about 100 yards away.
When we all got to the beach, we
found breakfast waiting for us—fish cooking over a fire, and some bread. That fire reminded me of how I had very recently denied even knowing Him to those who asked me about it while we were warming ourselves in the chilly night air around a fire much like this one. That was right before they killed Him. I kind of stared into the flames getting lost
in thought for a bit.
“Bring some of your bounty you just pulled in,” Jesus said. Grateful for the distraction, I went to the boat and dragged our load to
shore. There was an abundance of loot in the net and yet it somehow hadn't torn.
“Now, come and have breakfast!” Jesus said warmly.
None of the others dared to ask who He
was. They KNEW it was the Lord. Then He served us bread and fish (and even ate with us.) This was
the third time He had appeared to us after His execution and resurrection. After breakfast, He asked me, “Do you love me
unconditionally? With all you have and
with all you will ever be?”
“You know I think you’re wonderful and I am very fond of you!” I replied.
He nodded. “Then minister to My children,” He said.
After a moment, he repeated the question, “Do you
love me unconditionally even to death?” His gaze was piercing.
I wiped a crumb off my mouth and nodded, “You’re a really great friend and I love being with you! I never thought I'd see you again!” I hoped I was reassuring Him.
“Then take care of my children,” He said. I absently nodded my head.
But He hadn't made His point, I guess. “Are you my friend? Do you like me?”
At this point, I was troubled that He had asked me a third
time and I noticed He watered down His question a bit to reflect what my answer to Him had been the previous two times. “You know everything Lord!” I swallowed hard. “You KNOW I love being with You and
I’m so glad to see you again. You’re
practically my best friend in the entire world!”
He said, “Then minister to my children!”
A few weeks later, I was standing in front of a crowd in Jerusalem . . .
--This blog post was inspired by today's sermon on John 21 at New Work Fellowship in Hopkinsville, KY preached by Paster Cory Pitt on April 21, 2013. Click here to hear the whole thing! http://www.newworkfellowship.com/#/mediasermonsbaptisms
