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Monday: Going Fishing?

Read John 21:1-3, Mark 1:14-20

After seeming to wrap up his resurrection account with Thomas’ turnaround, John adds this indispensable last chapter. Jesus has risen and appeared to his disciples and the women who supported his ministry. But, there’s something still amiss. Peter, having seen the empty tomb and interacted with Jesus multiple times, still seems lost. This is made clear by the declaration, “I am going fishing.” Peter was a fisherman who had been called to become a fisher of men. He spent three years with Jesus and he’s now seen his Lord overcome death. There is no way that he should be returning to fish in the sea of Galilee. But something else happened, right before Jesus died. He denied Jesus three times.

It’s easy for us to scratch our heads at Peter but we’re often in the same place, if we’re honest. How often do we linger in sin and doubt even though we believe that Jesus died so we could be forgiven and reconciled? Moreover, that he rose from the dead! In those moments we also may be tempted to go back to our old lives or find an easier path. But alas, like Peter, we will find that Jesus is waiting for us to come ashore.

Tuesday: A Charcoal Fire

Read John 21:4-9, John 18:15-18

As was foreshadowed in our John 18 devotional, Jesus welcomes Peter and the other disciples with breakfast on the beach cooked over a charcoal fire. The word charcoal fire is only in the bible one other time. It’s the specific type of fire that Peter and John stood by when Peter denied Jesus three times. It’s clear that Jesus means to remind Peter of his denial and deal with it. It must have been such a difficult moment for Peter, so full of joy when he saw that it was Jesus, to come ashore and see that firelight and the face of his Lord.

Do you have anything in your life that needs to be confronted or faced? John wants us to know that Jesus’ heart is to deal with issues and restore relationships as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

Wednesday: They knew it was the Lord

Read John 21:10-14

In many of the resurrection accounts, in all four of the gospels, the disciples have a hard time recognizing Jesus after he rose from the dead. Even here, after seeing him twice, it takes a moment for them to recognize Jesus. But, now in this third encounter they are finally sure. There have been many reasons cited over the centuries for this slowness to see Jesus. While some have more merit than others, I think we would be wise to not downplay the power of grief and experience based belief.

These men saw Jesus die. Because of Jesus, we have at least some context for resurrection. They did not. If you went to a family member’s funeral, you would have a hard time believing that you saw them walking around a week later. Couple this with the grief of their whole idea of what Jesus would do (conquer as king) being turned completely upside down and it’s a recipe for blurry vision and confusion. When we see people struggling with grief that we haven’t experienced ourselves, these resurrection accounts should help us to be so empathetic and patient.

Thursday: Another will carry you where you do not want to go

Read John 21:15-19

There’s so much going on in this passage but let’s focus in Jesus’ statement that when he is older he will be led to where he does not want to go. Scholars who study spirituality in the second half of life see this as an illustration of what it’s like to move into middle age. When we are younger, like Peter, we have boundless energy and we are able to move past hurts with more ease. But as we get older, hurts can pile up. We may start to battle bitterness. We realize that we don’t have as much control over our future as we hoped or believed. In other words, we get led where we do not want to go.

Jesus is telling Peter, and us, if we’re blessed with long lives, that getting older as Christians presents new challenges. And as these challenges arise, we should keep in mind Jesus’ last command to Peter, “Follow me.”

Friday: Lord, what about this man?

Read John 21:20-23

Peter’s gonna Peter. Even at the very end, he remains impulsive. After a touching reinstatement and an ominous prophecy about his death, Peter asks about John’s future. John inserts this autobiographical detail in the same humble style with which he has included all of the details about himself: without mentioning his own name. John is believed to be the only apostle that was not martyred for his faith. Although legend stated he was dipped in a vat of hot oil and lived. The contextual clues of his writings (especially Revelation) corroborate the legend that he lived a long life compared to his peers. This story seems to shoot down a rumor caused by his long life that he would never die.

Saturday: The world itself could not contain the books that could be written

Read John 21:24-25

John began his gospel by proclaiming that Jesus is the Word. He ends his gospel by telling us that there are not enough words to describe everything that Jesus did. He’s humbly letting his readers know that this is not a full biographical account. He’s chosen to write what the Spirit led him to write, probably after the synoptic gospels had begun to make their way around. John supplements them masterfully.

As for the statement about there not being enough books. I’ve often thought that it would take many, many books, but you could write down everything that a person did. Especially, if they only lived to be 33 years old. But, Jesus died, rose again, and lives forever. His story is still being written, and through the Holy Spirit, we’re all interwoven into it. It truly would be impossible to write down the impact that Jesus has had, even with all the books in the world. I agree with John.