Breakfast on the Beach

My very favorite episode in scripture: John 21. It has everything- action, a miracle, an odd wardrobe move, a weird number, a fish breakfast by the sea, a mystery, and a restoration. And, of course, it has the Lord Jesus. What could be better than that?

I would encourage you to read the chapter—here’s a link: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%2021&version=NKJV

This all takes place after the crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus has already appeared to the disciples twice before. It is not entirely clear how much time has passed between the second time and this time. But I get the sense that the disciples are restless, particularly Peter, who decides to go fishing and is joined by the others. They fished all night and caught nothing (sound familiar?). Then morning came, and they saw a hazy figure on the beach and heard a voice across the waves—“Have you caught anything?” “No,” they reply to whoever it is, and then the voice says, “Cast your nets off the right side of the boat, and you will catch some” (sound familiar?). They obeyed, whoever it was, and netted such a huge catch that they couldn’t pull up the net (sound familiar?). At this point, John finally realizes that it is Jesus calling out to them (apparently for some reason they didn’t recognize his voice before) and Peter puts ON his outer garment (why?) and plunged into the sea and swam to shore. He had to swim about 100 yards, and the rest came following in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. They caught the sight of a charcoal fire and the aroma of roasting fish. Jesus told them to bring some of the fish they had just caught (apparently he hadn’t brought enough for everybody). They counted the fish and there happened to be exactly 153 (why in the world John chose to give the exact number, I have no idea). Jesus then called them to breakfast. Can you imagine?

Then the mystery: “[N]one of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who are You?”—knowing that it was the Lord.” I have to say this is one of the most mysterious verses of scripture—at least to me. I mean, if they knew for sure who it was, then why did John write this? It seems as if they knew in their heart of hearts that it was Jesus, but for some reason still had some shadow of doubt. The way this verse reads, it suggests that they WANTED to ask who he was, but dared not to-- for they really knew. After all, he had just performed a miracle that was very similar to one they had seen before. But SOMETHING about Jesus gave them pause-- even though they had seem him twice before in his resurrected state. Something about this has always fascinated me. Maybe it’s just because I’m weird and think too much. But regardless of the mystery, I still maintain that this was the best breakfast ever known in the history of the world.

I love to read John 21 whenever I need a little peace (I dare you to read it and not feel more relaxed than when you started). But I especially love to read it when I need to feel a little closer to Jesus. Something about the way He is portrayed in this chapter just resonates with me. Here we have the King of kings and Lord of lords on a beach cooking a fish breakfast for his friends. That is just like Jesus. But there is still this air of mystery and awe surrounding Him—perhaps an element of fear. But not bad fear—good fear.

You see, it is good to have a healthy fear of Jesus. He is our friend, but he is not our “buddy.” He is the Lord! And He is the King. But not a nasty overbearing sort of a King, but a King we should joyfully and willingly die for, if called to do so. In America, we are not used to kings. But if you have seen The Lord of the Rings, or The Chronicles of Narnia, you can get a sense of this good sort of king in Aragorn and Aslan.

Speaking of Narnia, I’ll close this out with a passage from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It’s is one of my favorites:

“Who is Aslan?" asked Susan.

"Aslan?" said Mr. Beaver, "Why don't you know? He's the King…”

“Is -- is he a man?" asked Lucy.

"Aslan a man!" said Mr. Beaver sternly. "Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion -- THE Lion, the great Lion."

"Ooh!" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he -- quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."

"That you will, dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver, "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."

"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.

"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

QUOTE: "Then the mystery: “[N]one of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who are You?”—knowing that it was the Lord.” I have to say this is one of the most mysterious verses of scripture—at least to me. I mean, if they knew for sure who it was, then why did John write this?"==TMK

LOL...this was my first question too! Now i know i am not the only one wondering about that verse!

I have always postulated that the answer lies in the fact that in this life we are in a constant state of DEGENERATION but in eternity we will be in a constant state of REGENERATION. In this world we are decaying, aging. That will not happen in Heaven. I think that it is possible that after Jesus' resurrection He may have returned to life looking younger than He had before he died, so they may have
failed to recognize Him completely or immediately. I mean, think about it: If the most perfect human that ever lived was brought back to life, why leave him stuck at age 33? Thirty three years of decay, in other words. Perhaps he was restored to his prime, and that may have had him looking like a 17 year old. If someone you had only known for 3 years at most died and came back to life with the clock turned back to age 16-20 would you recognize him/her at first?

Once i had a dream on the very morning of a fellow Christian's funeral (a man i had never even met but who had attended the church i recently joined) and in the dream he appeared as 12 yrs old because he was regenerating; he started as an adult in the dream and just kept getting younger and younger til he was or looked about 12 yrs old. There is much more to the dream than that but i won't go into it. The basic point i am trying to make is that it is NOT NORMAL to age. It is only normal in our experience. Because it is a result of The Fall and of sin. And if God the Father is going to bring a perfect man back to life why do only half a job? Why wouldn't He restore Him to His prime of youth?

By 33 there are receding hairlines, receding gums, thinner lips, longer noses & ears, fatter or thinner faces, and so on. Goodness, if i died and were resurrected and then looked in the mirror i might not even recognize myself after all these years! We all looked better at 17, did we not?

Quote:
____
"He may have returned to life looking younger than He had before he died, so they may have failed to recognize Him completely or immediately. I mean, think about it: If the most perfect human that ever lived was brought back to life, why leave him stuck at age 33? Thirty three years of decay, in other words. Perhaps he was restored to his prime, and that may have had him looking like a 17 year old. If someone you had only known for 3 years at most died and came back to life with the clock turned back to age 16-20 would you recognize him/her at first?"
_____

Interesting-- I have never considered the idea that the post-resurrection Jesus may have appeared younger.

Even though he was 33 or so when he was crucified, life spans were much shorter then so perhaps at 33 he looked older than 33 year olds do today. Who knows.

Whatever it was, it definitely put the disciples at unease, which again is strange given this was the 3rd post-resurrection appearance. Did He look different than the 2 earlier times?

One thing is certain-- I can't wait to see him!

He very well could have looked older:

"So the Jews said to him, 'You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?'" (Jn. 8:57)

Why did they not say you are not yet 40 years old, or 35, or 30? He must have looked closer to 50. I remember Ravenhill attributed Christ's aged face to His late night and early morning prayer sessions that cost Him a good night's sleep. In any case, it is any interesting thought.

QUOTE: "Even though he was 33 or so when he was crucified, life spans were much shorter then so perhaps at 33 he looked older than 33 year olds do today. Who knows."==TMK

Indeed! Do you know how HOT it gets in the Middle East? If he spent much time in the sun--and it wouldn't take a lot--his skin may have appeared rather weathered or leathery. Why, i've seen some people from Southern California and all the wrinkles, the crows feet, makes their faces much different or older looking than the people who live up in the north where i am at. Also if he was a carpenter and/or carpenter's son he may have spent time outside in the sun cutting and sawing trees/wood.