[Ministry Spotlight] On the shore with Jesus

One of my favorite narratives in Scripture comes from John 21, as Jesus reveals Himself to the disciples after His resurrection, and ultimately restores fellowship with Peter there on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias.  The interaction that is recorded between Peter, the disciples, and Jesus has always been an encouraging reminder of the faithfulness of God and the opportunity that every disciple has to restore our relationship with Jesus after a failure.  The image of Jesus standing on that misty morning shore always gives me hope. 

If you remember the story, it involves seven of the disciples going fishing all night and not catching anything.  Peter had led them on this adventure in the wake of the death and burial of Jesus, even after having a couple of experiences of meeting the resurrected Jesus prior to this encounter.  It appears Peter has just gone back to what he had known BEFORE meeting Jesus and following Him for three years.  We may never know if Peter was disillusioned, bored, or just plain hungry, but we know for certain that Jesus met Peter in that moment and Peter had an opportunity to passionately pursue Jesus from that day forward. 

There are a couple of points that stand out to me in this narrative.  First, I’m so thankful Jesus was standing on that shore that day.  I’m so thankful for the incarnational nature of Jesus, that He doesn’t wait for us to come to Him, but He makes His presence known to us so that we can follow Him. 

A second point that has always amused me is the fact that Peter put on his clothes, jumped into the water to swim to Jesus on the shore, and left all his buddies in the boat to take care of that big load of fish they had just caught!  Peter felt a call to go to Jesus, and he went!  

That’s what church planters do . . .  they respond to Jesus in sometimes unorthodox manners.  They leave what they know, and the safety of the big boat and their friends and they go to where Jesus is calling. 

What makes this story personal to me is that I know those other disciples probably wanted to jump in and swim to Jesus as well, but they rationalized that someone had to stay in the boat to handle the nets . . . so they could have breakfast with Jesus.   

Don’t miss the most amazing benefit of this whole narrative!  It’s not that Peter was restored, or that they caught 153 fish, or even that they were obedient to what Jesus told them to do after fishing all night and catching nothing.   

The most amazing benefit of this story is that all these men got to have breakfast with Jesus! And contrary to what they believed, Jesus didn’t need the fish they caught, He just wanted them to be with Him.   

Verse 9 of John 21 tells us that when the disciples got to the shore, “they found a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread.” While it is true that Jesus invited them to bring some of the fish they had caught to be added to the breakfast, we know from the story that the fish the disciples caught was simply a symbol of fruit that comes from being in obedience to Jesus, and not a requirement for being intimate with Jesus.   

As Arkansas Baptists, we always walk in this delicate balance between those men and women who will jump out of the boat and follow Jesus to plant, re-plant, or revitalize churches . . . and the ones who stay behind, pulling on those nets full of fish, that by the way, Jesus had just allowed them to catch.  Both are needed, and both are necessary for the Kingdom of God to be multiplied.  God give us wisdom to know how to respond when Jesus calls.