John 21:12-14, Breakfast

12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

This third appearance by the resurrected Jesus to this particular group—he also appeared to others—is full of symbolism to help the disciples better understand their call to mission. Jesus had earlier used fishing as a symbol for mission: “Come and follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” As John Milne writes, “This incident therefore becomes a parable of their impending work, and ours.”

On their own the disciples caught nothing. But following the directions of Jesus they caught ample fish. They and we must rely on Jesus for everything. We are, as his followers, totally dependent on him and his Spirit dwelling within us and directing us. The churches that rely on the power of God grow and produce new disciples while those who rely on their own power may have a period of growth, but like the seed planted in rocky soil, when the sun comes out it withers and dies from the heat. Churches that rely on their own theology instead of biblical theology, eventually find themselves withering because they are not nourished by God’s word but by their own understanding of who they want God to be. You will find that unbiblical churches tend to redefine what the Bible calls sin, becoming a religion of man instead of the missionary movement Jesus calls his followers to live.

The large catch of fish also points to a mission field far and wide and diverse. The church was never meant to stay put, just as Jesus’ disciples were not to stay put in Jerusalem or in Galilee. They heeded his call and began spreading around the world, witnessing joyfully to what God had done in Jesus to take away the sins of the world and free people to become truly human. May we never forget we are always to share the good news of what Jesus has done through his death and resurrection, what he is doing now from heaven through his Spirit, and what he will do for us when he returns.

Almighty God, your Son, Jesus, calls us to eat with him. Today we can still hear his voice, “Come and dine.” Because of his grace we may feast with him any time. He fed the many and changed water into wine. And he calls to hungry, thirsty sinners even today, “Come and dine.” Amen.