What Christian citizenship looks like – Reflecting God, Part 3

Note: In this post we welcome guest blogger, David Hundert. David is studying in Kairos University – Evangelical Seminary’s Master of Divinity program.

We can look at people, and based on what we see outwardly, we can sometimes determine what their heritage is, where their family might be from or what culture they were raised in. For instance, we can look at an individual and say, “They might have Asian heritage,” or “Their heritage is from India.”

Also, as we get to know people, we can determine the environment that they were raised in. For instance, when a child is raised in a home where they are beaten quite often, it’s been said that they can grow up into a bully. If a child is raised in a home where empathy and understanding are the language most often spoken, they grow up into caring individuals.

These are generalities. These aren’t definitive examples, and there are always exceptions to the rules. However, I say all this to make a point. When someone looks at us, can they tell what our heritage is? What can they tell about the way we were raised? Can they tell who our Father is? Can they tell that our home isn’t of this world? Philippians 3:20 states,

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

How can we reflect the country that our citizenship most accurately represents? In 1 John 4, verses 7 and 8 we read:

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

Our heritage is to love! If we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, and His Spirit lives in us, shouldn’t it be evident to those around us? There’s an old rhetorical question that asks, “If we were arrested and charged with being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict us?”

What would the prosecution look for as evidence? They would look to see if we loved one another. Look at the example of Paul in Scripture. The same man who persecuted and tried to destroy the Church, after coming face to face with the Lord, learned what it means to love. He’s responsible for more instruction about love and how to love, then anyone else who contributed to the New Testament. For example, Paul writes this in Romans 12, verses 9-18,

“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

If we were to live by those guidelines, what would we look like? What would people see? Is this what the Church looked like in Acts chapter 2, verses 44-47, where Luke writes,

“All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

Is this what love looks like? In the case of the early Church, was this the evidence that would convict them? It was their love, one for another. It was evident in how they cared for one another. Even Jesus Himself, when asked in Matthew 22:36–40,

“’Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘”Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’”

Love is at the heart of the two greatest commandments. How can we practice that kind of love? What does it look life in today’s world, for us to love unconditionally? Wouldn’t it be great, if there was a spot in Scripture that would walk us through what that would look like? In the next post, we’ll find that spot.

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Made in God’s…essence? – Reflecting God, Part 2

Note: In this post we welcome guest blogger, David Hundert. David is studying in Kairos University – Evangelical Seminary’s Master of Divinity program.

The Hebrew word for “image” is “tselem” which translated directly, can be “image,” “likeness,” “inscribed column,” or even “replica.” The image of God is an important concept both in Old and New Testaments. In the ancient world an image was believed in some ways to carry the essence of what it represented. It was believed that an idol, when used in worship, was used so because it was believed to contain that deity’s essence.

However, if an idol was supposed to be the image of the god it represented, then what in the world does it mean for an idol to “contain the essence?” If we were created in God’s image, then what does it mean for “us” to contain His essence?

Essence is defined as the nature of a thing as opposed to it’s “existence.” In other words, a painting captures the essence of a landscape, but it isn’t the landscape.

In Genesis 1 verse 26, God says, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.” “Image” and “likeness” are two different words in the original Hebrew. The word for likeness is “demoot” and it means “likeness,” “double,” “pattern,” “form,” “something like,” “simile,” or my favorite, “builder’s draft.” It was customary with Jews to repeat the same thing in different words, but in this case, it is believed that the second word was added for the sake of explanation. It was added to clarify what the author meant by “image.”

In Biblical times, images were used as a means of marking someone’s property. In Mesopotamia the significance of an image can be seen in the practice of kings setting up images of themselves in places where they want to establish their authority. If the image of the king was there, this was his property, or the image of Caesar on his coinage, indicating his rule. It’s kind of nice to think that if we were created in the image of God, that it’s His way of establishing His rule in us! We are His property.

So, while we are created in God’s image, we are created to bear His essence, His image. This raises the question, how can we all be the image of God? We obviously don’t all look the same, so could it be something else? What is the essence of God that we were created to bear?

You and I don’t look anything alike, so how can we both be made in the image of God? Granted, if that were the case, we can argue that looking at us, we can make the assumption that the Lord is incredibly handsome, but that’s where the similarities end, right?!

If no one has seen God the Father, how can we know if we are truly reflecting the essence of God or not? In the next post, we’ll begin to answer this important question.

Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash

Wisdom, justice & goodness – Reflecting God, Part 1

Note: In this post we welcome guest blogger, David Hundert. David is studying in Kairos University – Evangelical Seminary’s Master of Divinity program.

When you look in the mirror, what do you see? More importantly, when you look in the mirror, what  should you see?

If we want to get a truly accurate depiction of what that answer should be, then we need to look back at the beginning. In Genesis, chapter 1, verses 26 and 27 we read,

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

We are all created to be “image bearers” of God. We were created in His image or some translations say, “in His likeness,” but what does that mean?

Take a look at God’s dialogue in verse 26, ‘Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness’…” One commentator explains,

“For God is not now first beginning to consider what form he will give to man, and with what endowments it would be fitting to adorn him, nor is he pausing, as over a work of difficulty: but, just as we have before observed, that the creation of the world was distributed over six days, for our sake, to the end that our minds might the more easily be retained in the meditation of God’s works: so now, for the purpose of commending to our attention the dignity of our nature, he, in taking counsel concerning the creation of man, testifies that he is about to undertake something great and wonderful. Truly there are many things in this corrupted nature which may induce contempt; but if you rightly weigh all circumstances, man is, among other creatures, a certain preeminent specimen of Divine wisdom, justice, and goodness, so that he (mankind) is deservedly called by the ancients ‘(microcosm)’, ‘a world in miniature.’”

Isn’t that awesome? The commentator is saying that God didn’t need to think about how he was going to create us. He did however, for our sake, make sure that the author of Genesis worded it in such a way that in all of His creation, we would realize that we are special and in spite of the fact that we are corrupted due to the fall, it was His pleasure to bestow upon us, “Divine wisdom, justice, and goodness.”

Photo by Михаил Секацкий on Unsplash

Mirror, mirror…what should you see? – Reflecting God, Preview

Note: In this post we welcome guest blogger, David Hundert. David is studying in Kairos University – Evangelical Seminary’s Master of Divinity program.

In the Disney classic, Snow White, the wicked stepmother approaches her mirror and asks, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest one of all?” only to find out that the answer isn’t who she thinks it will be.

In modern day society, we shake our fists at modern day media and their advertising executives, who seem to target small children, with advertising that plants a disillusioned form of what they think the benchmark for beauty should be. As a result, generations of girls and boys struggle with healthy self-images because they are told that they don’t meet the standard of what they understand beauty should be. 

This coming week on the blog we are going to consider the question, “When you look in the mirror, what do you see?”

More importantly, “When you look in the mirror, what should you see?”

Photo by Ria Alfana on Unsplash

We are restored for mission – John 21, Part 5

Jesus responded to Peter’s three denials by with three restorations.  Though Peter had committed a terrible offense to Jesus, Jesus does not see Peter as beyond help. Do you see what this means?

You are not beyond God’s love and forgiveness. 

You are not beyond God’s redemption. 

You are loved and forgiven. 

God can redeem any situation. 

Deny him three times? Redeemable. 

Turn your back on him, ignore him, give him the silent treatment, and his love never fails.

Jesus concludes by inviting Peter anew, “Follow me.” All is forgiven, Peter is restored.

You can be restored.  But notice that Jesus’ restoration leads to action.  He is saying, “Peter, be about what I’ve taught you.  Love people, care for others.  Feed my sheep.  Serve in the mission of my Kingdom.” We are restored for mission. We are set free to serve.

You and I can walk in the victory that is found in new life in Jesus.  As Paul would later write in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Anyone who is in Christ is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.”

At the end of the chapter, there is a brief conversation.  Let’s read that now, starting at verse 20.

“Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?” This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”

John is reminding us that we are loved and forgiven, even when we deny Jesus, even when we make choices that are not in line with his way of living.  Still he loves us and invites us to renew our intention to follow him.

Focus on following Jesus.  Focus on his love. His redemption.  Choose to accept and believe it is for you.  Then feed his sheep, care for his people. We are restored for mission.

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How Jesus responds to the fact that one of his best friends disowned him at the moment of his greatest need – John 21, Part 4

When Peter denied Jesus, has Peter lost his position as leader?  Is Peter qualified to be one of the 12 disciples anymore?  When you deny your Lord, haven’t you committed the unforgivable sin?  What Peter did was extremely significant, and not in a good way.  Now Jesus addresses the elephant in the room, the fact that Peter denied or disowned Jesus three times, and right at the moment of Jesus’ greatest need.  Here’s John 21 verses 15-19:

“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

Finally, Jesus addresses the elephant in the room!

First, Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me more than these?” 

Peter answers, “Yes, of course I love you.” 

You may have heard that Jesus and Peter are using different words for love here.  Jesus uses agape and Peter uses phileo, which is the word for brotherly love. But most biblical scholars suggest that the different words for love aren’t the emphasis of the passage.  Instead the repetition is.  For now, we’re at “Do you love me” #1.  Peter says Yes.

So Jesus says, “OK. Feed my lambs.” The word “feed” there is more likely referring to a general idea of caring for or tending.  But this is a figurative passage.  Jesus wasn’t a literal shepherd with literal sheep.  Jesus is talking about the mission of his Kingdom and his followers.  He is inviting Peter to take over the shepherding role!  Peter is to tend, care for.  Maybe Peter has lost his possibility of leadership and being a disciple.  Maybe he has lost confidence in himself.  But Jesus hasn’t lost confidence in Peter.

But this conversation isn’t done.  Jesus repeats his original question, “Do you love me?” now for the second time.  Peter again says “Yes, like a brother!”  Jesus says a variation of what he said before, “Shepherd my sheep.” Has Peter figured out what Jesus is doing here? Is Peter counting the repetitions “Do you love me?” #1, and “Do you love me?” #2, thinking that a third one is coming, one for each of Peter’s three denials? 

Or is Peter confused?  Is Peter thinking, “That’s weird…why is he asking me the same exact question he just asked me?”  Is Peter thinking, “Jesus is purposeful about everything he does, so what he is getting at here?”  It seems that Peter might not fully get what Jesus is doing, based on what we read happens next.

Jesus asks Peter “Do you love me?” for the third time, and John tells us Peter is now feeling hurt.  Why is he feeling hurt?  Maybe he thinks Jesus doesn’t believe him?  Why else would Jesus ask Peter the same thing three times?  Or maybe Peter is sad because a realization dawns over him, “Oh…Jesus is asking me if I love him three times because I denied him three times.”

Peter, though he is sad, wants to make things right.  He says “Yes, I love you!” And this time they both use the word for brotherly love.  For a third time Jesus repeats, “Feed my sheep.”

Three denials.  Three restorations.  Do you see what this means?

We’ll talk about the significant meaning of Jesus’ restoration of Peter in the next post.

Photo by Kato Blackmore 🇺🇦 on Unsplash

The elephant in Jesus’ room… revealed – John 21, Part 3

I purposefully skipped a detail in my telling of the story of Jesus’ ministry years in the previous post.  It’s an important part of the story.  It’s the elephant in the room we’ve been talking about this week (see first post here).  The elephant is about Peter.  Back in chapter 13 we listened as Jesus and Peter have a very interesting conversation.  Chapter 13 takes place at the Last Supper.  Jesus has just told the disciples that he is about to leave them.  Hear again this conversation:

“Simon Peter asked him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.” Peter asked, “Lord, why can’t I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” Then Jesus answered, “Will you really lay down your life for me? Very truly I tell you, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!”

Yikes. Bold Peter will disown Jesus?  Doesn’t seem possible. I wonder how Peter took that.  He is very quiet all the way until chapter 18. In chapter 18, it’s a couple hours later.  They are now in the Garden, Judas has betrayed Jesus, and the temple soldiers are there to arrest Jesus.  Peter steps in.

“Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.) Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

Imagine what might be going through Peter’s mind at this point: “What did you just say, Jesus?  Put my sword away?  I told you, Jesus, that I was going to give my life for you, and I meant it.  Now is the time to fight!” 

But as we read in the other Gospel accounts, Jesus responds to Peter, “Put your sword away. I could call legions of angels if I wanted, but no, I have to face this.”

Upon hearing that, I wonder if Peter was confused, feeling off-kilter.  Put your sword away?  Wasn’t the whole purpose of the past three years to establish the Kingdom of God? 

But Jesus has said, “My Kingdom is not established by armed conflict.”  I wonder if Peter is weakened in this moment of confusion.  I wonder how much fear got the best of him.  Because we know what happens next.  Peter clearly hasn’t fully given up on Jesus because he follows the crowd to the illegal trial of Jesus and this happens, as written in Luke:

“And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.” But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said. A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” “Man, I am not!” Peter replied. About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.” Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.”

Whew. What a moment.  Peter adamantly denies ever knowing Jesus, and just then Jesus turns and looks him, as the rooster crows.  This is an abject failure on Peter’s part.  This is total betrayal of his Lord.  This is denial.  Peter knows what he did, and he is wrecked. 

It is a wonder, then, that Peter ever shows his face again.  Maybe he figured that all the denials happened away from the other disciples.  Of the 12 disciples, only John had come to the high priest’s house.  Did John know Peter denied Jesus?  Did any disciples find out?  Did Peter admit it to them?  Did any of the disciples ever ask Peter, “Remember when Jesus said you would disown him three times that night, and you were super bold about saying, ‘I would never,’ what ever happened with that?”  We don’t know anything about the conversations between Peter and the disciples.

But Jesus knows what happened.  And Peter knows.  That’s the elephant in the room. 

Then Jesus died, and Jesus rose again, and Peter is still there with all the disciples when they learn the news that Jesus is alive. Peter is still there when Jesus appears to them. But no one mentions Peter’s denials.  Days and perhaps even a week or two have gone by.  Jesus now appears to the disciples a third time.  Still no mention of the elephant in the room. 

Also, it was a massive elephant in the room.  Peter who was supposed to the leader of the group had totally denied Jesus three times.  Remember that time Jesus said to Peter, “You are Peter, the Rock, and on this rock I will build my church.”  There’s some disagreement about Jesus’ meaning in that passage, but it seems to me a strong possibility that Jesus looked to Peter as a leader. 

But when Peter denied Jesus, has Peter lost his position as leader?  Is Peter even qualified to be one of the 12 disciples anymore?  When you deny your Lord, haven’t you committed the unforgivable sin?  What Peter did was extremely significant, and not in a good way. 

In the next post, we’ll observe the ingenious, gracious, and empowering way Jesus addresses the elephant in the room. 

A second fishing miracle – John 21, Part 2

Jesus’ disciples have just had a terrible night of fishing, catching nothing.  Then in the hazy hours of the morning a stranger shows up on shore.

“Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.”

The stranger tells them to throw their nets on the other side of the boat, and they get a miraculous haul of fish!  Too big to haul in.  Perhaps this miracle caused John to think about how this had happened before. In Luke’s account of the life of the Jesus, a very similar miracle occurs at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. 

That other time they had a miraculous catch of fish was three years prior.  At that earlier catch of fish, the men struggled to tow the nets full of fish to shore, and that is when Jesus says to Peter, James and John his famous line about discipleship, “From now on you will fish for people.”  At that moment, they left everything and followed him. 

Three years later, so much has changed.  They’ve walked and talked with Jesus.  They’ve heard the parables, the teachings, and they have observed his way of life.  He healed so many people.  He confronted the hypocritical religious leaders.  He even sent them out on numerous mission trips.  They saw him transfigured, gleaming bright white, with Abraham and Elijah.  They saw him cast out demons.  They saw him raise Lazarus from the dead. They watched crowds proclaim “Hosanna” and try to make Jesus king.  Just a few days later, they have a final meal with him, and he talks about giving his body and blood, and leaving them and sending the Holy Spirit, and then he is betrayed by Judas and arrested.  This is not what was supposed to happen, and they are scared for their lives. 

He is beaten, falsely accused, the whole city is in an uproar, the religious leaders are bloodthirsty, and even the Roman governor Pilate gets involved.  Finally, Jesus is crucified, dies and is buried.  It’s over.  Until the shock of their lives a few days later, when the women report that the tomb is empty and that Jesus is alive!  Then they meet him and it is all confirmed.  He gives them the mission of forgiveness. 

Did this catch of fish in John 20 spark in their minds a memory spanning those three years?  That he has called them to be fishers of people?  Did this catch of fish tie it all together?  To be fishers of people is to invite people to enter and live in the forgiveness of God, forgiveness that Jesus made possible through his life, death and resurrection.  They had seen Jesus model this forgiveness during the three years they walked with him.  Did this catch of fish suddenly make sense?

It seems for at least one of them it did.  We keep reading in verse 7,

“Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.”

Awareness and recall flood into John’s mind as he says to Peter, “It is the Lord!”  They all have breakfast together. But as I wrote in yesterday’s post, there is an elephant in the room there with Jesus.  What elephant? 

Did you notice that Peter is first to jump in the water after hearing that it is Jesus on the shore. It seems Peter is excited to see Jesus because they are about 100 yards from shore.  He could have easily ridden in the boat for a while yet, just like the other disciples did. 

Then it is Peter who fulfills Jesus’ request to bring some of the fish they caught.  Peter is busying himself.  I’m reading between the lines of the story, but it seems to me that Peter is very aware of the elephant in the room.  I purposefully skipped a detail in my telling of the story above.  It’s an important part of the story.  It’s the elephant in the room. Did you see it?

We’ll talk about it in the next post.

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The elephant in Jesus’ room – John 21, Part 1

You know that phrase, “the elephant in the room”?  It refers to the idea that there is something that everyone knows about, but no one is talking about it.  Imagine you’re walking through the mall, and there is a literal elephant walking down the large mall hallways. But as you’re walking what if no one in your group mentions this elephant? You’d definitely by thinking “Why is there an elephant in the room?”  You’d probably motioning to your friends, wondering what is going on, “Hey, I’m not crazy, right?  You see that elephant in the room too, don’t you?” 

The “elephant in the room” often occurs in relationships.  Something happens, but people ignore it.  It is usually an offense that one or more people commit against another person or group.  But because it is very difficult and awkward to talk about those kinds of things, people ignore them.  We don’t want to deal with it because we might be afraid of the emotions that might come out.  We don’t want to accuse people of bad behavior.  We don’t want to put people under the microscope, because they just might try to turn the tables and put us under the microscope and talk about our junk.  Or maybe they have a reputation for reacting very poorly, aggressively, or even abusively when we talk about their stuff.  So we are quiet, and we ignore the elephant in the room.

It is normal human behavior to want to ignore difficult relational situations.  In fact, there is even a biblical tension about this.  On the one hand, the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 4:10, that we Christians are people who speak the truth in love.  It seems Paul is saying we need to talk about the elephant in the room.  But Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:8, “love covers a multitude of sins.” Some people whip that verse out as if Peter is saying we can ignore the elephant in the room.  So what about you?  Do you talk about the elephant in the room, or do you sometimes ignore it?  What is the loving things to do? 

Clearly Paul and Peter are both right.  There are times when the most loving thing to do is wait, to not bring up the conflict, the hurt, the offense right away.  But there also comes a point when we need to talk.  Love eventually brings up the elephant in the room. 

In Jesus’ life right after his resurrection, there is a huge elephant in the room. See if you can find the elephant in John chapter 21, verses 1-3. 

“Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.”

The scene has changed.  No longer are the disciples in Jerusalem in the south.  They’ve returned to their home region of Galilee in the north.  It is interesting that they go back to fishing, after Jesus has given them a new mission, which we read in chapter 20.  He sent them on a mission of forgiveness.  Why aren’t they starting that mission?  John doesn’t tell us.

But there are realities of life, such as food, clothing and a home.  It could simply be that those disciples needed to make some money to provide for themselves and their families.  They go back to fishing.  At least some of them.  It seems 7 of them are there including John the writer of the Gospel.  But the disciples have a terrible night of fishing, catching nothing.  So we haven’t seen the elephant yet, and we haven’t even seen any fish. Then a stranger shows up, and that will make all the difference. We’ll meet the stranger in the next post.

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

When we behave badly and don’t want to admit it – John 21, Preview

We were in the mouth of the goal, and the guy next to me was yelling at me.  He had a good reason.  I had just thrown him to the ground. 

It was during a college soccer game with our rivals.  We were vying for position on a corner kick, and the guy on the other team was trying to box me out, so I grabbed his shirt and pulled him down.  He was not happy. 

What I did is not allowed in soccer, though it happens frequently.  Just watch professional soccer on TV. The professionals do it all the time.  Doesn’t make it right, though, so if you get caught, the ref will penalize you.

In that game, I didn’t get caught.  But I sure made the other player mad.  When he angrily yelled at me, I tried to ignore him.  I wanted to act like it was nothing.  Part of the game.

We’ve all made really bad choices, some far worse than an illegal action on the sports field.  I’m talking about the times we intend to hurt, wound, and ignore, giving in to our baser selves.  I’m talking about when we commit sin or when we omit good behavior.  Often, we act like this to the people closest to us.  Family members.  Friends.  Co-workers.

When we do something sinful, after the initial intensity of the situation, maybe after some time passes, we can want the ramifications of the act to fade away.  We might want to ignore it.  We might not want to deal with what happened.  Even if it affected one of our relationships, we can want to avoid facing the offense head on.

It is difficult to bring up.  Perhaps we don’t want to admit that we behaved so poorly.  We can wish that people will just move on.  They all know it happened.  Why do we need to talk about it?  Can we just get past it?  It feels so shameful and awful to rehash it.  Let’s just move past all that.

Do we have to talk about it? Do we have to go through the motions of admitting what we did, saying we’re sorry, receiving forgiveness, making amends?

In next week’s blog posts, we read the story of one of Jesus’ closest followers who is in that very situation.  This man committed a huge offense.  Lots of time has gone by, and he is not dealing with it.  What’s worse is that the person he offended was Jesus.

What will happen?  You might know the story.  Check it out in John chapter 21, the final chapter of the Gospel of John.  We conclude our blog series through John this week with the story of Jesus and his friend.

Photo by Casper Nichols on Unsplash