Joy Tabernacle
2501 N. Chevrolet Ave.
Flint, Michigan 48504
Sunday School
April 8, 2018
Appearance of the Risen Lord
Lesson: John 21:1-14
This morning in Sunday School we didn’t
get to talk about my favorite part of our text!
We talked about Jesus’ tender, playful
reintroduction of Himself after His resurrection to His disciples and
especially to Peter, who after all his boasting about how he was ready to die alongside
the One he himself had recognized first as the anointed Son of the living God,
had completely failed the test!
Despondent, probably wondering whether the mess he’d made could ever be cleaned
up, Peter decided to go fishing (v. 3).
Whether it’s fishing, or biking, or
walking, or working with your hands, or going off by yourself to pray, the way
Jesus did, we agreed it’s good strategy to have a way to process things when
difficulties come and problems need to be worked out.
In a gesture of loving solidarity,
knowing however badly they felt, Peter must have felt much worse, his friends went fishing
with him.
Jesus wanted to lovingly reinstate Peter
and relaunch the ministry that was now destined to become greater than any of them
could have imagined. Because He did not have Facebook, Jesus could not post a
message saying, “You and Jesus have been friends on Facebook for three years,”
with a video of their first encounter in Luke 5, back when He first told them
they were going to be “fishers of men.” So He had to reenact the whole affair!
“You guys got any fish,” Jesus asks
(v.5), playfully reminding them of just how much they were capable of apart
from Him (John 15:5), much as He did with you and me when He first called us:
“Say, Jord,” He queried, “how’s that ‘doing things on your own’ thing working
out for you? You getting a lot of mileage out of ‘taking control of your own
life,’ are you?”
Out of control as usual, Peter dives
overboard as soon as he realizes it’s Jesus (v. 7). We agreed if Peter had been
from Flint he would have been dead or in prison long before this. And yet,
Jesus turned him into one of the great leaders of the church! Jesus’ message in
this to you and me is, “Jord, you may be crazy, but I worked with Peter, and
you ain’t as crazy as Peter! I can work with you, too.”
And then the big finish, those tender
words spoken by your Friend and Savior, Who from the very beginning of time has
enjoyed nothing more than spending time with the likes of you and me (Proverbs
8:30-31). This is what it’s going to be like in Glory: you’ll wake up, to the
smell of bacon and coffee, in your new body. All the men will be built like
LeBron James, but those who are first will be last, so LeBron himself will have
to get a job delivering mail, because those of us who don’t start for the
Pistons will start for the Cavaliers. We’ll lightly spring up to get the blood
circulating and gently brush the ceiling of the mansion Jesus has prepared for
us (John 14:2-3) with the tops of our heads.
Down in the kitchen, Godfrey will
ask, “Jesus, will You give me a hand with these eggs?”
“Bro, I only do fish and bread.”
Then He’ll go to the bottom of the stairs and holler up, “Hey, Aaron, just
because it’s Heaven don’t mean you can sleep all day! Come and have breakfast!” (v. 12)
