"153"

December 24, 2013

“153”

Blessings Folk!

Today’s reading:

John 21:1-14


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What do you do when you don’t know what to do?

Jesus had told the disciples what to do - go make disciples.
But how?

Peter decided to go fishing.
Nothing wrong with fishing - as advocation or vocation.

Was Peter returning to his former business? I suspect so.
Did Peter think that he was failure due to his denial of the Lord? Probably.
So, they went fishing.

They caught nothing.
In the flesh we catch nothing of import to the kingdom.

After a night of fruitless - fishless - fish’n, Jesus stood on the beach calling to them.

He tells them to cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat - a catch was to be had.

This made no sense.
This was frustrating to the disciples.
But they did it anyway.
A large catch manifested.

John - the disciple whom Jesus loved - recognized Jesus first.
Peter threw on his outer garment and threw himself into the see.
Really?
Echoes of fig leaves before the Lord.

Jesus had fixed breakfast - bagel and lox!

Jesus wanted some of the 153 fish they had caught.
They counted them? Yes, businessmen.
Is there significance to the number? Yes.
We do not know exactly what...I suspect it has to do with our faithfulness in proclaiming the gospel and the resulting harvest.

This was the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples.
None questioned Who He was.
They ate.
Awe.
Wonder.