Monthly Archives: June 2014

Just Like Old Times!

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JUST LIKE OLD TIMES!

“Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ None of the disciples dared ask Him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord.

“Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.” John 21:12-14

Jesus and His disciples on the beach; the ripples on the lake sparkling in the early morning sunlight; the boats on the shore nearby dripping water from their latest fishing trip; the nets full of writhing fish; it was all so familiar, just like old times. Was it possible that so much had happened in between?

Only one thing was radically different. Jesus had been dead and buried, and yet, here He was, serving breakfast to them as though nothing had happened. They knew it was Jesus, but they still longed to be sure. Nothing like this had ever happened before in the history of humankind. They were too afraid to ask Him if it was really He. What if their imagination was playing tricks on them and it wasn’t Jesus after all? Was it possible that they could all be fooled at the same time?

Then they heard the same familiar invitation, ‘Come and eat,’ and saw the same familiar gesture, breaking the piping hot flat loaves of bread and handing the pieces out to them, and they were reassured. Twice before in the past few days He had appeared out of nowhere. Closed doors did not deter Him. He even heard their whispered conversation in His absence.

Thomas, at least, had no more doubts about Him. He had had an in-your-face encounter with Him and an opportunity to finger the wounds of His recent horrifying death, not that he needed to push his finger into the wounds that still appeared raw and painful, the only visible remnants of His ordeal. He was convinced, once and for all and would never forget his faith-exploding meeting with Jesus.

Every time Jesus appeared to them, He had something meaningful to achieve. When He was no longer personally on earth, they would be so bound to Him in the confidence that He was alive that they would go to the ends of the earth, face the worst that their unbelieving fellow men could throw at them, endure suffering and even lay down their lives for Him because they had seen Him.

These men had not joined a movement or subscribed to a cause. They had not signed a decision card or answered an altar call. They had not “accepted Jesus as their personal Saviour” in order to go to heaven. They did not connect with Him because He could solve their problems, meet all their needs, keep them healthy and happy and make them rich.

They had spent three years in His company. They had watched Him die and seen Him alive. They were convinced that He was the Son of God, the Messiah. They had not yet understood the implications of His teaching and miracles, His life and death, His resurrection and appearances to them, but they remembered His words, ‘When the Holy Spirit comes, He will lead you into all truth,’ and they would go to the ends of the earth for Him. They would follow Him, no matter what.

They were standing in the threshold of something new and big and beyond their imagination but they did not yet know it. At that moment they were overjoyed to be with Jesus, content to know that He was alive, and to share a meal with Him like old times. He would give them instructions about the next step when the time came; of that they were sure. They knew Him well enough to be assured that He knew what He was doing even if they did not.

Why did He eat a meal with them? It was the Jewish was of saying, ‘Guys, I have forgiven you. There are no issues between you and me. We are reconciled and we can share this meal in harmony. I have put everything that has happened behind me. This is a new start.’ Can you imagine their relief and joy that their Master was alive, that He had forgiven them, that they were still very much His disciples and that He would lead them on from there.

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

 

Breakfast On The Beach

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BREAKFAST ON THE BEACH

“As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, ‘It is the Lord,’ he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.”  John 21:7b-8.

How predictable of Peter! He was the first to respond. Unlike Judas, who had slunk away in his remorse and committed suicide, Peter yearned for another chance. Another chance to do what? To prove to Jesus that he was no coward, after all? That he could and would make good on his promise to stick with Him through thick and thin?

But now everything had changed. They were no longer trudging all over Israel with an itinerant rabbi. He was alive, yes, but He was different. He came and went in a flash. It was impossible to follow Him as they did before He died. The only thing Peter knew at that moment was that Jesus was on the beach and he wanted to get to Him as quickly as he could.

Why did Peter grab his cloak? The others could have given it to him when they reached the shore. To be uncovered above the ankles was regarded as nakedness. He couldn’t work with the encumbrance of his cloak so he took it off in the company of his fellow disciples, but in the presence of his Master he needed to be appropriately dressed, wet or not!

Was this Peter’s first encounter with Jesus after His resurrection? No, it wasn’t. He had been with the other disciples in the upper room when Jesus appeared to them the first time. Why was this occasion so special? I think Jesus planned a leisurely breakfast on the beach around a fire to trigger something in Peter he would never forget.

“When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’ So Simon climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.” John 21:9-11,

Can you picture the scene? Fish cooking slowly over a fire of hot coals. Jesus waiting for a few more fish from their catch. The other disciples sitting around the fire, warming their cold hands. Why was Jesus here?  He never did anything without a reason. Every detail of this little scene had meaning.

For Peter, everything was happening at a maddeningly slow pace. Had Jesus showed up on the beach just to have a picnic breakfast with them? Why bread and fish? As he stood watching the fish cooking over the fire, many thoughts flooded his mind. Bread and fish triggered the memory of crowds of people sitting on the grass while he and the other disciples distributed pieces that miraculously multiplied in their hands. Who was this man who could do that?

He could hardly bear to look at the coals. The memory of his failure almost suffocated him. He would never forget the look in the eyes of his Master as He turned and looked at him; not “I told you so,” or “Why did you do it?” but “Oh Peter, my heart breaks for you.” Perhaps this was the meaning of the scene he could not escape. Did the Master want him to feel the terrible pain of his denial so that he would never step across that boundary again?

I have a sense that Jesus took him back to that moment — He could not be with Peter when it happened — so that He could walk with him through it again, not to condemn but to reinterpret it with him so that Peter could feel His forgiveness and never again be overwhelmed by guilt and shame. Peter had a job to do, and there was no sense in living in the past.

From Jesus’ perspective, Peter’s past had ceased to exist, washed clean by the blood He had shed on the cross. Only the His words could erase the guilt from Peter’s soul and set him free to live for his future and not from his past. The message he was to proclaim was one he had to experience so that he could preach it with passion.

Never again would the sound of a cock crowing or the sight of a fire of coals trigger the feelings of guilt and shame that had imprisoned him until that moment. Yes, Jesus had a reason for every detail of his little breakfast on the beach. He had a beloved brother who needed the reassurance that he was free from his emotional prison and recommissioned to do what he had been called to do. His failure had not disqualified him, only refined him so that he would know himself and his Master a little better.

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Not Fired But Refired

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NOT FIRED BUT REFIRED

“Afterward Jesus appeared again to His disciples by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathaniel from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ‘I’m going out to fish,’ Simon Peter told them, and they said, ‘We’ll go with you.’ So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.” John 21:1-3.

Does this sound vaguely familiar? When did something like this happen before? Perhaps many times during these fishermen’s lifetime, but only recorded once before in the gospels. Jesus had been preaching on the shore of the lake. The crowd hassled Him so much that He asked permission to use Peter’s boat as a pulpit.

It was daytime, not the normal time for fishing but, when the preaching was done and the crowd dispersed, Jesus instructed Peter and Andrew, his brother, to go back into deep water after a fruitless night’s fishing and throw in their net again. Every fisherman knew that you didn’t catch fish by day. In any case, the night’s fishing had yielded nothing, so what was the point of trying to catch fish by day? Peter protested but they did it anyway and landed such a huge haul that they had to call for help to pull it in.

Peter was so overwhelmed by this unusual event that he pleaded with Jesus to leave him alone. ‘Go away from me,’ he said, ‘for I am a sinful man.’ He recognised something about Jesus that was not like any other person. But not only did Jesus comfort and reassure him, He called him and his fishing companions, Andrew, James and John to follow Him. At His call they left their huge catch and the equipment for their livelihood and followed Jesus.

Just over three years had gone by. So many things had happened in the interim. They had become disciples of an unusual and popular rabbi which was a lifetime calling. Then things had turned sour and their rabbi, young as He was, was executed on a Roman cross for what could only be described as a trumped-up charge. They were left stranded. What were they supposed to do?

By this time they were quite a close-knit group and even more so since Jesus’ death. They were bonded together in their bewilderment and grief and stuck together even though some of them were not fishermen. They had gone back to Galilee, perhaps to try to pick up the pieces of their lives and move on. Peter, as always the leader, on an impulse perhaps, decided to try a spot of fishing. Surprisingly, his boat and net were still there after more than three years. The others joined him, and they set out at sundown to try their luck. It was a fruitless night.

“Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus. He called out to them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’ ‘No,’ they answered. ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.” John 21:4-6.

Exhausted, weary and disillusioned, they were pulling towards the shore when they saw something unusual. A lone figure stood on the beach over a small fire. Who would be out so early in the morning? At first they did not recognise Him. He called out to them, ‘Guys, did you catch anything?’ and when they answered in the negative, He instructed them to throw in their nets on the right side of the boat.

Hadn’t they heard that instruction before? When they did it, they got the same result — fish galore, so many that the net was too heavy to drag to shore.

“Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!'” John 21:7a.

Of course! Who else could it be? They had seen Him in Jerusalem, but they were not expecting Him to turn up in Galilee. There was only one person who could issue a foolish instruction like that to seasoned fishermen and get the result they got. They remembered the previous occasion. It was the never-to-be-forgotten moment of their call to follow Him.

 

What was He saying to them? Was He setting the scene for a renewed call? Was He about to recommission them because He was alive? They had gone back to the old life because they thought their time with Him was over. But it wasn’t. What they thought was the end was only the beginning of a new chapter for them. Jesus had not fired them for their failure. They were about to be refired for a whole new life!

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

 

Believing Is Seeing

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BELIEVING IS SEEING

“A week later His disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’

“Thomas said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Then Jesus said to him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.'” John 20:26-29 NIV.

Poor Thomas! It was his misfortune to be absent when Jesus appeared to His disciples for the first time. I often wonder whether it was doubt that drove him to demand his own personal audience with Jesus. Could his doubt have been linked to a disappointment that had caused him such deep pain that he was not willing to take the risk of entrusting himself to anyone again?

Perhaps we should call him Disappointed Thomas, or Disillusioned Thomas or even Devastated Thomas rather than Doubting Thomas. I think his doubt was a symptom rather than the cause of his unwillingness to believe the story that Jesus was alive. He had not yet learned that, unlike fickle human beings who are fallible and unfaithful, he could trust Jesus’ word because He will never break a promise. He said He would rise from the dead, and He did!

Did Thomas do what he said he would do? I think that it was enough that he saw and heard Jesus and witnessed with his eyes that it was indeed the crucified one. He didn’t need to finger His wounds to be sure that it was Jesus. All his doubts, disappointment and disillusionment were swept away in that moment. He fell on his knees and cried out, ‘My Lord and my God.’

What was it that convinced Thomas once and for all that Jesus was both Lord and God? Was it the wounds in His body that spoke of His death and yet He was alive? Was it  the teaching and miracles that Thomas had heard and seen, now suddenly come alive in Him/ I think the fact that Jesus invited Thomas to do what he said he would do when Jesus was not present that convinced him that Jesus was God. How did He know what he had spoken unless He was invisible yet present?

The memory of Jesus’ gentle rebuke and tender invitation would remain in Thomas’ mind forever. Many months before, Jesus had asked His disciples the question: ‘Who do you say that I am?’ Peter responded with little understanding, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!’ Now Thomas was convinced that He was the Son of God and would go to the ends of the earth and face the fury of hell because he knew!

Thomas saw and was convinced. But that is not the way of the kingdom of God. God works in another way. It is not seeing that released faith but faith that releases vision. Faith is the invisible link between the unseen realm and power of God and the natural world in which we live. We bring God’s power into action on earth through faith in His word. Miracles do not beget faith. Faith begets miracles.

The mighty miracles of God which the children of Israel saw in the wilderness did not produce faith. Every time a new crisis arose they forgot God’s miraculous intervention and turned on Moses with accusations and demands. Jesus responded to faith with healing power. ‘Your faith has made you whole.’

The more confidence we place in Jesus, the more we experience His intervention in our lives. True blessing, the supernatural favour of God on us, comes when we are willing to stake all on His promises because He delights to be trusted.

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

Is Seeing Really Believing Or Is Believing Seeing?

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IS SEEING REALLY BELIEVING OR BELIEVING SEEING?

“Now Thomas, (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.'” John 20:24-25 NIV.

Doubting Thomas! That’s what people call him. But I have often wondered if that is a fair nickname for him. Perhaps a better name would be Disappointed Thomas or Dillusioned Thomas or even Devastated Thomas.

Why was Thomas so scepical of the good news that Jesus was alive? It’s easy to judge the man because we know nothing of his background and very little of his character.

We know he was a pessimist because he was the one who was resigned to dying with Jesus if they returned to Bethany when they heard that Lazarus was sick. They had been hiding out beyond the Jordan, not because Jesus was afraid, but because it was not His time, but the sisters’ plea had brought them out of hiding and back into range of the Jewish leaders.

What about Martha and Mary? When Jesus did not arrive in time to heal their brother, they were just as full of doubt about Him as Thomas was. Didn’t they both chide Him, “Lord, if you had been here, our brother would not have died”? They did not understand His ways and they had not yet developed an unshakeable trust in Him. That would come as they realised that what He did was far better than what they expected Him to do.

How much faith did the rest of the disciples have in Jesus? Had He not told them more than once that He would rise again? But, in spite of His many reassurances, they were devastated when He was crucified and went into hiding, feeling lost and abandoned, and not knowing what to do next. Some of them even went back to their old lives of fishing, as though the years with Jesus were just an interlude best forgotten.

At least Thomas was honest enough to express his misgivings out loud. He wanted evidence. He wanted his own personal experience of handling Jesus so that he would be beyond doubt that He was actually alive. After all, he had entrusted himself to Him once, and where had it got him? He was not prepared to stake his life on the testimony of others.

Perhaps Thomas had been seriously let down by someone of significance in his life  and he had carried the pain in his heart for a long time. “Once bitten, twice shy.” We will never know, but his vehement protest seems to suggest that he wanted to be very sure about Jesus before he was willing to entrust himself to Him once again.

Perhaps Thomas overreacted, but we can’t blame him because it is human nature to respond with reservation to promises that are not backed up by a trustworthy character. Perhaps he was also over cautious even though Jesus had never given him cause to doubt Him. Whatever Thomas’ reason for wanting hard evidence, at least he, unlike the religious leaders, was prepared to believe if Jesus showed up and he could check Him out for himself.

I think Thomas is a mirror of many of us. We also look for hard evidence when we are in a jam before we are prepared to trust Jesus. Unfortunately for us, in God’s scheme of things it doesn’t work that way. Jesus is no longer here in the flesh and is not likely to turn up in person when our faith has a serious wobble. Thomas’ reluctance to believe led him to a valuable lesson from which we should learn if we want to experience the peace of God in spite of hardships.

Although we cannot have Jesus’ physical presence with us, He has given us the assurance that He is always with us; even better, in us by His Spirit, but we have to accept the trustworthiness of His promise. He said He would rise again and He did. That is feat no one else has ever pulled off! Is that not enough for us to trust Him to make good everything else He promised?