JESUS IN THE MIDST
John 21:20-22, 25 NLT
John 21:3-6 NLT
[3] Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night. [4] At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. [5] He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied. [6] Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it….
[20] Peter turned around and saw behind them the disciple Jesus loved—the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, “Lord, who will betray you?” [21] Peter asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord?” [22] Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”…
[25] Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.”
What a strange way for John to end his gospel record! His story trails away to almost an apologetic anticlimax…or does it? It depends on the way we interpret what he intended.
I’ve heard it taught that Peter disobeyed Jesus’ instruction by going fishing instead of meeting Him on the mountain after His resurrection. On reflection, perhaps… it wasn’t so much his disobedience as his terrible failure that made him run from Jesus. Did Peter feel like he’d blown it with Jesus forever? Perhaps… he would simply go back to his old life and forget about being a disciple of this rabbi he had grown to know and love despite his cowardly denial. Perhaps that’s the way he thought and acted.
Perhaps…for Jesus, this meeting on the beach was a divine appointment. After all, Jesus knew where Peter was, on the lake in Galilee, fishing. He knew how Peter felt. He had seen the hot tears rolling down Peter’s cheeks as the cock crowed. He understood human nature. Peter had been humiliated by his own mouth. He couldn’t turn the clock back. Jesus was finished with him, so he would just go away, back to his old life, with the interim years a beautiful but fading memory.
The scene on the beach was strangely familiar. Tired men, empty nets, no fish… reminiscent of a similar occasion years back when Jesus appeared in the shore of the lake. Same situation now – tired men, empty nets, no fish. An unusual instruction from a stranger and then… enough fish to sink their boat! It happened twice, then and now!
Did the divine Master arrange it this way for a reason?
Perhaps… Jesus was purposely triggering Peter’s memory to serve His own gracious purpose. After reassuring and recommissioning Peter, Jesus issued the same instruction, “Follow me!”, twice, now and then! It was impossible for Peter to miss the impact of the beach scene and its outcome.
First time, rookie disciple, “Follow me!” and Peter sets off running, all enthusiasm and big mouth.
Second time, fallen disciple, “Follow me,” and Peter walks slowly, thoughtfully, sobered and brought down with a crash by his own big mouth. Forgiven and restored, a second chance, same commission, a new Peter!
And so, perhaps… John’s conclusion begins to make sense. Not so much ‘books written’ but ‘stories told’, just like Peter’s story, of failure and forgiveness, of relapse and restoration, over and over again, down the centuries, enough to fill the whole world with the records of God’s mercy and goodness, flowing in an unending river of grace from the cross which made it all possible.
When we read Peter’s story from a different perspective, we see Jesus’s determined purpose to set him back on his feet and back on the path of His purposes. Using Peter’s fall, not as a club to beat him but as a stepping stone to greater fruitfulness through the pruning, He met Peter where he
was, picked him up and carried him on to completion.
How do our prayers make such an amazing difference in the administration of God’s kingdom?
The book of Hebrews introduces us to a factor in our prayer lives that we must never forget. Yes, Jesus gives us power of attorney to use His name and nature as the guarantee that God will answer but…
Jesus has an even more intimate role in our praying. He is IN the Most Holy Place, AT our side as we approach the Father. When we come to the Father in His name, He is there. He vouches for us, presenting His blood as our right to approach.
Hebrews 7:24-25 NLT
[24] “But because Jesus lives forever, his priesthood lasts forever. [25] Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.”
He is our Advocate, presenting the merits of His sacrifice to the Father that forgives all sin for all time.
1 John 2:1-2 NLT
[1]”My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. [2] He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.”
He is the eternal High Priest who qualifies to represent us because He became one of us. He suffered as we do. He experienced all the temptations humans face… without sin. He is perfectly suited to represent us to the Father.
Hebrews 4:14-16 NLT
[14] “So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. [15] This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. [16] So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”
Our safety and security, too, in the Father’s presence, in the Most Holy Place, all depend on Jesus being there with us. He was there with Peter, doing everything to set the record straight. So He is there with us. The Father, who set it all up in the first place, now receives the Son’s intercession on our behalf and graciously hears us for Jesus’ sake.
Can you see, then, that Peter’s story is our story, and the story of the millions who have come after him? These stories are too many for all the libraries of the world to contain… stories of mercy, forgiveness, and restoration that echo the story of Simon who became Peter.
We can participate with the Father in prayer because we, too, have been forgiven and restored and are represented by the one who did it all for us.