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 the meantime?

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 Jesus. 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. Thomas 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

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