A Lord Who Serves
Opening Prayer
Lord, teach me the importance of being a servant in Your kingdom, beginning today.
Read John 21:1–14
Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 “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.
4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
6 He said, “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.
7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” 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. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter 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. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
“This is a whole new world. It isn’t magic. It isn’t ghostly. It’s real, but it’s different” (N. T. Wright).
Think Further
Without explanation, these disciples are back in Galilee. We have to go to the other gospels to find out that Jesus had said he would meet them in Galilee (Matt 28:7–16), which suggests that John may have expected his readers to be familiar with details recounted by the other evangelists. Even so, it is an odd list. Peter is still the leader. We are glad to see Thomas here and surprised to find Nathanael (who appears here and in John 1 but nowhere else in the New Testament), as well as James and John and two others unnamed. Perhaps these seven are the disciples who came from Galilee.
Much has been written about their fishing trip; some writers have suggested that Peter had given up his calling and gone back to his old way of life. “Never has a fishing trip been so severely judged!” writes George R. Beasley-Murray, who points out that even though Jesus had been crucified and risen from the dead the disciples must still eat! (John: Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 36, 399). Moreover, there was no reason for them to despair when they had already been overjoyed at meeting the risen Christ.
Jesus appeared to them again in a familiar setting and performed a similar miracle to the one he had done when they first met him (Luke 5:1–11). The symbolism of that scene was enough for the “disciple whom Jesus loved” (7)—presumably John—to recognize him and for Peter to throw himself into the water. But even later, as Jesus cooked the fish, the other disciples weren’t sure. “None of the disciples dared ask him” (12) yet they somehow knew. This is very strange—but so were the circumstances and so was Jesus’ resurrection body, like and yet unlike the Jesus they had known before. He had breakfast ready and served them just as he said he would at his second coming (Luke 12:37).
Apply
This time we see Jesus not just present and talking, but serving his disciples! Worship the Lord who still serves!
Closing prayer
Lord, we are humbled at the very thought that You would serve us, when it is we who should do the serving. Allow us every opportunity to imitate You in this respect.
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