Friday, February 27

Scripture: John 21:12-17
Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.”

GOOD FOOD AND DEEP CONVERSATION

Food—hot food, on the shore of a lake. Smell it. Hear the sizzle of broiling fish dripping on glowing coals. Bread, fresh and soft, golden brown.

This was how Jesus met his disciples in the days after his horrific death and astounding resurrection. He was there for all of them, but especially for Peter.

And Peter knew. Nobody else jumped in the water to beat the boat to shore. And it was Peter to whom Jesus turned his attention after they ate.

But linger on the food part a moment. In our deepest darkness, we tend to doubt that God will meet our most basic, daily needs. (And it too often drives us, in a frantic grasping, to meet them ourselves, apart from Him.) Jesus in this passage gives us an example to follow. He is approaching men—friends, He’d called them—who were racked by fear, a sense of abandonment, distrust of all He’d said to them, lived before them for three years. He came not with words, but with Himself, and breakfast.

It’s important that He met them at work. He came at the end of a long night on the water. They’d been seeking solace in the routines of gathering fish. Full nets were what brought them financial return, but as any fisherman knows, it’s the very routines of fishing that bring peace, normalcy, even stability of soul.

Jesus knew it had not been a good night. The nets were empty and that, along with persistent casting, had left the men weary. So Jesus’ question in the passage before this in John 21 had been awkward, but like all non-superficial dialogue, much needed. Of course they hadn’t caught anything. The miracle of Jesus’ knowing the precise place and moment where they should cast the net had probably brought goose bumps to all aboard.  

Jesus meets us where we are. And for fearful, weary and discouraged men, hot food was the precise tool needed. It melted the walls they’d put up. And if there was still any doubt that Jesus was really there, not just a ghost, the sight of Him munching on bread and fish was the clincher.

So Jesus turns to Peter, still wet from his swim. The “throw your net” command had taken this fisherman back to that moment years earlier, out on the water. Now Jesus was more familiar, yet there must have been some of that same awe (and confusion) as Jesus asked him, three times, “Do you love me?” Three times. Why that many? Perhaps because it had been three denials from Peter that Jesus knew needed healing. So they chatted there by the shore. And Jesus gave special instructions to this discouraged follower. Good leaders do that; when we think we’ve failed, the suggestion that we can succeed brings hope. So with the smell of bread and fish in the air, Jesus’ final command was about feeding— on a day not to be forgotten.

PRAYER
Bread of Heaven, feed me until I want no more.  In fullness and bounty empower me to minister to a hungry and dying world. May my heart and hands be quick to respond to all there is to do in Your name, no matter how difficult it is. Make me a lover of souls and a fisher of men. Amen.

Michael Longinow, Professor of Journalism