Asbury United Methodist Church

I invite you to take a journey with me to Jesus' time and use your imagination as we enter into John 21:1-10.

We are the unnamed disciples in John's passage.  All of us disciples are feeling like we are in limbo.  We are uncertain what to do next. Without Jesus' leadership we don't know if we are to continue teaching and healing or if we should go back to what we used to do.  We aren't sure if Jesus is going to appear again and give more instructions, or if we will never see him again. We don't know if we should go back home or stay together. Like I said, we are in limbo.

Peter said, "I'm going fishing".  Sounded like a good idea, better than just sitting around not knowing what to do next.  So we get in the boat and head out to catch some fish. Only that doesn't happen, it's like the fish are everywhere BUT around our boat. We are out all night and getting pretty hungry and frustrated and it was almost dawn. Then a man on shore called out to us.  He suggested we throw our nets on the other side of the boat.  We thought, "what a waste, there aren't any fish anywhere near the boat"! But he had sort of an authoritative air about him, so we did.  And it was as if a school of fish swam right into our net. One minute we had nothing, the next we had over a hundred fish! 

Then John shouted out, "It's Jesus!".  Well, duh! No wonder we caught all those fish. Jesus did amazing things!  Everyone's mood immediately lifted and Peter even climbed out of the boat and swam ashore.  We quickly got the boat and the fish to shore.  As soon as we got there we could smell the bread and the fish broiling over the coals.  I don't think I've ever smelled anything so heavenly. It was hard to imagine that Jesus would take the time to cook US breakfast.  We brought more fish over and he put them on the coals and pretty soon we were stuffing ourselves. It was sort of mind boggling, in one way, it was just like our old relationship with Jesus...friends sitting around discussing life. Yet, he had died, and he had come back and now we knew he WAS the Son of God! Things were different and we knew they would never go back to being the same.

What can we learn from this breakast on the beach? I invite you to ponder a few points:

1) The disciples were uncertain what to do without Jesus as their leader.  How often have you felt uncertain about what God is calling you to do, because you are not LETTING Jesus be your leader? 

2) Fishing was a great idea, but it took listening to Christ to know where to fish.  The same is true of churches, yet how often do we ask Christ where we should "fish for people"?  Perhaps if we first asked where to go to "put out our nets", we too would get hundreds of "fish".

3) Christ wants to offer us breakfast on the beach.  All the spiritual nourishment you want is available to you...freely given and with love.  Just as he served the hungry disciples, he wants to serve us.  Are you taking Jesus up on his offer of breakfast on the beach?

4) Once we encounter the risen Lord things are never the same. How has your life changed since encountering the risen Lord?