Friday, April 22, 2011
Reading: John 21:1-14
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2021&version=NIV
Reflection: While there is one final section in the book of John, we will finish out the blog here. In some ways, that seems appropriate. Here, at the end, we go back to the beginning. Peter finds himself back on familiar ground...back when he received his original call to discipleship. One is left to wonder if Peter is so filled with doubts that he is tempted to return his old way of life. After all, he failed his Lord and three times denied that he even knew him. So now, filled with shame and frustration, he announces that he is returning to something familiar...something from the old life...fishing with his nets. Maybe he feels he has lost his calling...lost his right to follow Jesus...lost his chance due to repeated failure.
We know how Peter felt, don't we? To seek to step out and follow only to make mistakes and fail. To claim to unbelievers that we are followers of Jesus and then do things that dishonor that testimony. We feel like we have failed so badly, that we might as go back to the way we used to live before committing to Jesus...at least then we wont feel hypocritical. I can't help but think there is a bit of that in Peter...when nothing else makes sense he returns to the comforting feelings of his old life.
But Jesus meets him there and restores him to his position of leadership. When He does, we all find out that our failures are not fatal. If we are still alive, we still have hope. Jesus will meet un in our failures and restore us to life. The only question is, when we see Him, will we jump out of the boat and come running for help, or will we row even harder away from the love available to us. May all of us, when tempted to run from discipleship and go back to the familiar failures of the past, have the courage to turn around, get out of the boat, and swim to Jesus. Peter will be there waiting to meet us.
Another perspective struck me this morning as I read this passage. Maybe going back to "fishing" was just a diversion or distraction from the craziness of the moment. A lot had happened in the lives of the disciples: Jesus' triumphal entry, his arrest, trials, Peter's denials, Christ's crucifiction, and then His resurrection. I would be overwhelmed with that kind of emotional rollercoaster ride!
ReplyDeleteSometimes taking time to retreat to something familiar can help us gain clarity about the situation. When I need space to think, I drive out in the country. I suspect this is because my father was a farmer when I was young, and I spent many carefree summers on my grandfather's farm growing up.
We have no way of knowing the motives of Peter and the other disciples, but maybe fishing was just their way to step back and regroup, not an abandonment of their faith.