A good catch, a meal, and a friend.

A good catch of fish, a meal, and a friend. This was one of the gifts Jesus gave to the men who had accompanied him on his itinerary of preaching and healing.

When Jesus came back from the dead, he no longer preached to the crowds but visited privately with the people who had trusted him; He was seen by the women at the cave where he had been buried; then Peter saw him and talked with him; then James saw him, then he visited often with the 11 remaining disciples, he walked beside two lonely people as they went home believing him to be dead. 500 people at once saw. After several weeks Jesus went to be with his heavenly Father.

Paul who had never seen Jesus before, saw him only as a bright light and heard a voice that no one else heard. Since Jesus returned to his Father innumerable myriads of people have become aware that Jesus lives and have decided to accept his invitation to, “Follow me.”

Five of the men who had accompanied Jesus, went out fishing on the lake. This was the way they had earned their living before Jesus invited them to, “Follow Me.” They spent a hard night casting nets into the lake but caught nothing.

Returning to shore they saw someone standing on the beach; he called out and advised them to let their nets down once more, on the other side of the boat, they did so and caught 150 fish. Getting nearer they recognized the man as Jesus, their leader who had come back from the dead. Jesus had made a fire and was roasting fish. “Come and have breakfast.” he invited them. Amazing that Jesus who had endured so much, and who was so exalted now as the man God had brought back from the dead would stoop to gather branches and to light a fire for the men who had been his friends when he was an itinerant preacher. This is what life with the companionship of the risen Lord is like; he is always involved in our lives, encouraging, strengthening.

The last few words of the record in the Gospel of John say that if all the things Jesus did were written down not even the whole world would have room for the books that were written. That sounds like a very extravagant claim. When I look around the world today at the things that are being done by Jesus through the people who serve him, I can believe it. One person tells the story of Jesus to many others and they are changed. One changed life changes another, one act of love gives birth to more acts of love; one forgiven person forgives many others. Jesus is still at work, he says that he has overcome the world with its confusing demands and temptations; he says that the enemy of souls has fallen from power. Jesus gives the people who love him the privilege of sharing in his work, but if they falter and fail because they pay too much attention to the attractions and worries of the world, Jesus will invite another group to become his co-workers.

“Follow me.” Says Jesus to Peter (The man who had lied about his connections to Jesus.) “Don’t worry about what will happen to other people, just make it your business to follow me.” Jesus was always inviting people to come to him, to join in his activity and to follow him. He said it at the beginning of his public ministry and he continued to say it. Jesus returned to his father; that meant that his friends no longer had the assurance of his physical presence, but his spiritual presence was stronger still since his spirit is not limited in the way a physical body is.

For Peter following Jesus meant continuing to allow God to mold Peter’s character till he became loving and patient and strong and wise and courageous as Jesus was. It meant continuing to say the words that Jesus had said, to baptize and to heal and to forgive. It meant teaching that God is love and God is good. Peter never again denied that he knew Jesus and he, too, was crucified by the enemies of Jesus.

“Follow me.” Says Jesus. He says it still, inviting everyone who hears to begin a life that will become a power for good. Inviting them to walk in the pathway that he has already walked. He invites them to follow him being reverent and obedient to God, feeding the poor, healing the sick, forgiving wrongs. The work they do will be rewarded and the good that they do will live after them.

Sometimes that pathway is difficult, but often it is wonderfully happy. God provides for and protects those who love Jesus, Jesus accompanies those who serve him, and we have his friendship; the friendship of man who loved us so much that he died so that he could conquer death and cause us to share in his resurrected life.

The Gospel of John: chapter 21, verses 1 - 25
1 Corinthian 15:5
Colossians 3:24
Revelation 14:13

End of this series.

Just Like He Said

Thomas was not with the other disciples when Jesus visited them after his death by crucifixion. Jesus showed them the nail wounds in his hands and the sword wound in his side. The friends of Jesus were changed people, not only had Jesus breathed his own spirit into them but he had commissioned them to explain to the rest of the world that death had been defeated. They were given the ministry of forgiving sins in the name of Jesus.

Thomas refused to believe what they said; unless he himself could touch the nail wounds and put his hand in the sword wound on Jesus’ risen body he would not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead. Eight days later (What a long time it must have been for Thomas) Jesus visited the disciples again and invited Thomas to feel his wounds. Thomas is not only convinced but declares his allegiance:
“My Lord and my God.” he exclaims.
Jesus responds, “Because you’ve seen you’ve believed, happy are the people who believe without seeing.”
That phrase describes you and me, people who have not seen the risen Jesus with our natural eyesight but who believe that he has defeated death and lives to forgive sins and unite us to God.

The women who followed Jesus were the first to see the empty tomb. Mary Magdalene, whom Jesus delivered from a possession she could not free herself from, stayed by his grave late into the first night. Perhaps she thought that only by being near him could she remain free from possession. She was the first person to see Jesus. He spoke to her when she was weeping because she could not find his dead body, “Go to my brothers, said Jesus and tell them I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.

Many other miraculous signs were done by Jesus in the presence of his disciples. They are not all recorded: but, says the writer of John’s Gospel, what has been written is written so that you may believe that Jesus is the anointed one, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life through his name.

The Gospel of John: chapter 20, verses 1 – 30

Conflicting opinions

What we regard as unimportant God regards as decisive. We tend to think that doing wrong is something we can’t avoid and we consider our own wrongdoing to be a very small thing. God, on the other hand, tolerates no wrong doing, he does not excuse it, or overlook it, he plans to eradicate it. Between our tolerance of wrong doing and God’s hatred of anything that harms his creation is a gap so wide that people cannot comprehend it and prefer to deny it.

God can be resisted but he cannot be defeated, his oft-declared intention to restore creation to its first state of perfection may be delayed but it cannot be prevented. Will his eradication of all wrong require the extinction of all who do wrong? If so who could live?

Very few people deliberately choose to offend the ‘Only Divine’ by doing wrong, Instead they are overcome by wrong. The sin in the world is stronger than the people who practice it. Nations make many laws to control wrong-doing but they never completely succeed. Great leaders envision the perfect society, and their vision is hampered by the universal tendency to sin. Always evil lies coiled and concealed in some secret corner tempting people to believe in lies. Sin is an evil master who releases not one of its captives.

We plan to plead before the judge of all living that we did much good and tried hard and will he please disregard our wrong doing and remember only our good deeds. If God does not eradicate the wrong doers, how can his restored creation be perfect? Many of you have answered the question already: only by transforming the wrong-doers and bestowing on them a new nature. Would you choose it if it were offered to you? Would you choose a nature which rejects all little kinds of seemingly necessary and harmless wrong doing?

Jesus the messenger of God lived among us without sin. Temptations did not deceive him and he proved himself stronger than the cosmic force of evil. Evil conspired to be rid of him.

The people who tried and condemned Jesus to death did not think of themselves as evil, only as doing something that seemed both necessary and unavoidable. Execution was carried out with no miraculous escape and no intervention by God. Jesus had previously told his disciples that no one could take his life from him, but that he would choose to lay it down for his friends, because this was the greatest act of kindness a person could perform for the people he loved. .

Darkness covered the land, an earthquake broke open the graves of the dead. The contorted figure hanging from the wooden cross made it evident to all who could understand, that God loved humanity so much that he would sacrifice himself instead of demanding sacrifice from us.

The Gospel of John: chapter, 19, verses 16 – 37
John chapter 8, verse 46
John chapter 10 verse 18