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Jesus in Our Ordinary Moments
Getting Closer to Jesus: John 21 is a rather strange chapter. In a sense, it almost seems unnecessary. John 20 could have easily been the conclusion of this amazing Gospel, for it more than adequately tells the resurrection story (John 20:1-10), more than adequately offers proof that Jesus was alive (he visibly appears four times to his disciples in John 20:11-29), more than adequately issues Jesus’s Great Commission to his disciples (John 20:21-23), and more than adequately summarizes the purpose of John’s account as well as the core of salvation that we read about again at the end of John 21 (John 21:30-31).
But then, like a man who wears both belts and suspenders, as if we really needed any more, here comes chapter 21 offering even more stories that Jesus is alive indeed. Yet these stories are a bit strange in that they are not so much grand appearances of the Resurrected Lord in his empty tomb splendor, a la chapter 20, they are more of the garden variety insertions of Jesus into the everyday life of his disciples:
• Jesus shows up at the fishing business during the graveyard shift and offers some helpful advice: “Hey fellas, try throwing your nets on the other side of the boat. I betcha there’s a bunch of fish over there!” (John 21:6)
• After work, he has breakfast with his team: “Hey guys, I got a fire going, so bring some of those fish you just caught. Let’s eat before you head home.” (John 21:9-14)
• Before they leave, he offers some challenging but encouraging professional direction to Peter, discouraged from failing the Lord in his moment of need: “Hey Peter, I know you denied knowing me at my trial, and you probably think that’s a deal breaker for me ever using you as team leader to this band of disciples, but chin up, I’ve got a big job for you.” (John 21:15-23)
Much has been made in this chapter about the disciples going back to what they previously knew—the fishing business—as if they were giving up on their call to ministry. But after the grand appearances of the Resurrected Lord in chapter 20, certainly these guys weren’t giving up on Jesus—they were more than convinced he was alive, and the Lord over death and Author of life. No, they were simply doing what men did in those days—work. They were bi-vocational pastors, so perhaps they were just being responsible.
Much has been made about the miraculous haul of fish—153 large ones, to be exact. But was it a really a miracle or was it the result of Jesus seeing from the shore what the disciples a hundred yards into the water couldn’t—a school of fish on the opposite side from where they were looking. In commentary on John, William Barclay offers this interesting insight into this incident, quoting H.V. Morton, a well-known nineteenth-century travel writer who extensively wrote on the Holy Land,
It happens very often that the man with the hand-net must rely on the advice of someone on shore, who tells him to cast either to the left or the right, because in the clear water he can often see a shoal of fish invisible to the man in the water.’ Jesus was acting as guide to his fishermen friends, just as people still do today.
Much has been made about Jesus’ interaction with Peter—a difficult conversation where the Lord presses him on the depth and strength of this disciple’s love. Many preachers have highlighted the different Greek words for love used by Jesus (agape) and Peter (philos), as if there were some veiled secondary conversation going on between the two. But perhaps this was nothing more than the Lord showing a struggling disciple, embarrassed and discouraged that he had failed the Lord, that Jesus indeed had big plans for a future of ministry impact.
For certain, John 20 is about the spectacular, undeniable miracle of the Resurrected Lord walking out of an empty tomb, but chapter 21 brings to us the spectacular, undeniable miracle of a Resurrected Lord waking into our ordinary moments. As I ponder the purpose of this addendum to the resurrection, it seems to me that more than anything, this chapter is simply yet thankfully showing us how Jesus goes out of his way to come to us in our mundane moments—the difficult slog of our daily work, the banality of our breakfast, the harsh reality of redirecting our failure into building blocks of a future usefulness in service to him.
John 21 is the ongoing miracle of the Risen Lord in the rote details of our dull dailiness.
Thank God John included this postscript of a Risen Savior who goes out of his way be the Resurrected Lord for real life.
Take the Next Step: Write down three ordinary moments of the day that is ahead of you—a stop for coffee on the way to work, a trip to the post office, taking out the trash when you come home, etc. Now, thank God in advance that Jesus will be with you in those moments, and anticipate how he will help, encourage, and direct you as you go about your ordinary day.
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The Strongest Proof of All
Getting Closer to Jesus: We get it backwards—understandably. The advancement of the scientific method in our day has taught us that empirical proof must come first, then we can place belief in the certainty of something. There is no room, or even need, really, for faith, which requires trust rather than evidence. “Follow the science” is now the mantra of our modern enlightened minds. We have been steeped in that dogma for generations now, so it is no wonder that we wrestle with not having physical, visual proof for our faith in Jesus Christ.
According to our line of thinking, Peter, John, Mary, and Thomas were most fortunate. On that first Easter Sunday, Simon Peter ran with John to the tomb, and seeing that the stone had been rolled away, he pushed past John and went straight in, where he saw the strips of linen lying where a body should have been, just as if the corpse had magically risen through them, leaving them to float silently back to earth, sans body. Then John, who had reached the tomb first, followed Peter inside. He then saw what Peter saw, and he believed. Mary Magdalene was at the tomb as well, and after Peter and John left, she encountered Jesus. Mary then went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” Later that day, the disciple Thomas, responding to the dubious news that Jesus was alive, said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later, Jesus suddenly appeared before his very eyes, and Thomas exclaimed, “I believe!” (John 20:6,8,18, 25)
They had literally, physically, and visually seen the resurrected Lord. No wonder they all believed!
Yet their belief is not met with the highest praise that Jesus would offer in that encounter. Rather, he said to them—my paraphrase,
You have seen me, and for that, you have experienced something most blessed. Now I want you to go and tell others what you have seen. And those who hear and believe will in turn tell others. But here’s the deal: Those who believe your eyewitness testimony will be telling my story not based on their own visual proof; their witness will be on the basis of pure faith. They have not visibly seen, yet they have spiritually believed. And for that, they are even more blessed than you who have literally seen.
Did you catch that? You and I want so badly to hold the literal evidence of resurrection in our hands, believing that physical proof will somehow make our case for Christ more rock solid than it already is. Jesus begs to differ. He says the strongest proof of all is to believe, for out of believing faith comes indisputable knowledge of the resurrected Lord, evidenced in the transformed life of the one who has believed.
In the eleventh century, St. Anselm, arguably the most brilliant Christian thinker of all time, wrote, “Credo ut intelligam”; that is, “I believe, in order that I may understand.” Two centuries later, Thomas Aquinas said, “In order that men might have knowledge of God, free of doubt and uncertainty, it is necessary for divine truth to be delivered to them by way of faith, being told to them as it were, by God himself who cannot lie.” In the seventeenth century, Blaise Pascal wrote, “Reason’s last step is the recognition that there are an infinite number of things that are beyond it. The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know at all.” But it was another brilliant thinker in the fourth century, the North African bishop, Augustine, who best captured the essence of what Jesus meant when he said,
Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe.
After Jesus revealed himself to his disciples, he said to them, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (John 20:21) He sent them out with the story of his life, death and resurrection, and with the commissioned authority to invite those who would believe their message into an experience of the Kingdom life, both in time and for all eternity.
Since you have believed their message, you, too, have been commissioned to tell the story of the resurrected Jesus. And while you did not see the risen Lord with your own eyes, you have something even more powerful: indisputable faith evidenced in a transformed life. You are a satisfied customer, and there is nothing more indisputable—and blessed—than that.
You have believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now tell your story. As you do, your faith will be increasingly rewarded with the evidence of things not seen.
Take the Next Step: How has Jesus changed your life? Tell someone about it!
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Let the Power Flow
Getting Closer to Jesus: It was the evening of the first Easter Sunday, and the disciples were abuzz with the resurrection. A few of them had encountered the living Lord but others of them had only heard rumors that he had risen from the grave. They were about to get the surprise of their lives—and this would be a game-changer.
No man had ever risen from the dead, and if this were indeed true, it would prove beyond all reasonable doubt that Jesus was who he said he was—God come in the flesh. And if he was who he claimed to be—the living Lord of life and Savior of the word—he therefore had it within his authority and power to do what he said he would do: forgive sin, heal the sick, set those in bondage free, provide his subjects with a real experience of the Kingdom life and in fact, grant them eternal life.
This was truly the Good News!
Yet for all their anticipation of a resurrected Jesus—and all that it implied—these disciples were still huddled in fear behind closed doors. They were still intimidated by the religious leaders who ruled the day with an iron fist and the religious system that had sent their Lord to the cross in the first place. There was still a major disconnect between what they intellectually accepted and their emotional reality. Fear and concern dominated their better judgment.
Now, before we get too far down the road on this, perhaps we ought to admit that fear and concern often dominate our emotions, our behavior, and our thinking as well. We accept that Jesus is risen, that he is Lord over all, yet we easily get intimidated by circumstances, get set back on our heels by the system, whatever that might be for us, and give in to fear in our emotions. We are really no different than the disciples—their story is our story.
But thank God for Jesus! While he suddenly appeared among those first disciples—one of the benefits of having a resurrected body—he no longer needs to do that with us. Why? He doesn’t have to; he is already among us. In fact, his promise is that he will never leave us nor forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5) Moreover, he shows himself to us, not necessarily by opening his wounded hands, but by holding our hands all along the way. (Isaiah 46:3) It’s true that as we look back over the course of our journey with Jesus, our testimony will have to be, “the Lord has led us all along the way.” (Deuteronomy 8:2) Then to neutralize our concerns and fears, he grants us his peace—the peace of Christ that rules our hearts and minds. (Colossians 3:15, Philippians 4:7) And he makes all this not only possible, but sustainable by placing the Father’s gift within us—the precious Holy Spirit, who infuses us with both the authority and power of God Almighty to do his will and work. (John 19:23)
So rather than living our lives huddled in fear and paralyzed by worry, like the disciples, as we act in faith upon what Jesus has done, we can live in inner confidence and spiritual power—we, too, like those first disciples, can change the world. At the very least, our corner of the world can—and should—look radically different now that the resurrection has rocked our world.
This truly is and always will be the Good News—the resurrection has rocked your world, and by the power of the resurrection working through you, it will rock your world!
Take the Next Step: Take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit to remind you of the full power and real authority that is now within you to live in the reality of Christ’s resurrection.
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Letting Go Of Immature Views Of Jesus
Getting Closer to Jesus: Imagine Mary’s surprise—and joy—at hearing that familiar voice tenderly whisper her name as she stood before the tomb of her Lord: “Mary!” (John 20:16) She turned to see what she had never expected to find when she left early that morning to care for the Lord’s crucified body. Jesus was alive! And Mary was so overcome with a thousand different emotions all at once that she grasped onto Jesus as if she would never let go again. She had lost him once, but she was not about to let that happen twice!
If you are a parent and have ever lost your child in a department store, you will understand that scene: After minutes that seem like hours of panicked searching, you find that child, and while you feel like giving them the mother of all spankings, instead you hug them so tightly they almost suffocate.
That is exactly what Mary did, but in grasping onto Jesus, she becomes a timeless picture of our tendency to cling to yesterday in order to feel good about today. We do that in a variety of ways:
We fiercely cling to a “spiritual high” from yesterday, wanting it replicated today.
We fiercely cling to wounds from disappointment, failure, and hurt, and as a result, fear, guilt, and unforgiveness now control, if not define, our lives.
We fiercely cling to the attention we get by being needy.
We fiercely cling to immature views developed in our spiritual adolescence of a God who winks at sin and really doesn’t punish our wrongs, or who must not care about us because he let bad things happen, or who is nothing more than a celestial “sugar daddy” who gives everything we want.
Mary was a spiritual clinger; she was guilty of all those incomplete and immature views. Jesus, however, refused to let her stay in that frame of mind, so he said to her, “Don’t hold onto me!” (John 20:17) The word “hold” is hapto in the Greek text, and it means, “to cling, to desperately grasp onto!”
Grammatically, in the negative, it means to stop doing what you always do—and are now doing again. Jesus is really saying, “Quit hanging on to your warm, fuzzy memories of past experience of me. That limits your view of who I really am. Raise your expectations!” Then in the rest of verse 17, he says to Mary, “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God!”
Jesus is pointing to a whole new order. He is more than just the crucified Savior who can forgive your past. He is more than just a rabbi (John 20:16) who gives you guidance and stability in the present. He is the risen Lord. who by virtue of his own transformation from death back to life, has the authority to transform your life today—and every day from here to eternity. And now he is going to the place of authority from where he will be your constant advocate, constant empower-er, and constant companion—in other words, he is your living Lord. Jesus is more than a resurrected Savior—he is also the Living Lord.
Finally, the light dawned for Mary. She got it! Mary went and found the disciples in John 20:18 and said to them, “I have seen” … not “the teacher” … not “the Savior” … but “I have seen the Lord!”
I hope you will get it too! Stop clinging to your immature and incomplete views of Jesus. He is not only your Savior—the one who forgives you of your sins—he wants also to be your Lord, the one who will rule over your moment-by-moment life.
Take the Next Step: Is there any area of your life that does not belong to Jesus? Your thought life? Language? Use of money? Friendships? Sex life? Attitude? Treatment of others? If he is not Lord over any one of these areas, he is not Lord at all. So hit your knees and surrender to his Lordship—and never turn back. You will not regret it!
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Brassy Boldness
Getting Closer to Jesus: You’ve got to give Peter credit—he was never one to hold back. John outran him to the tomb, but nervously stopped at the entrance to peek in. Not Peter! When he finally arrived, huffing and puffing, Peter, ignoring graveyard protocol and pushed past John right into the place where Jesus was buried.
Of course, the greatest part of this story is that Jesus wasn’t there! He had risen from the dead, the victor over death and sin, and now was alive forevermore. If Peter had found Jesus’ body still sealed behind the stone entrance of that tomb when they arrived, nothing else about this story would matter. But Jesus had risen, indeed, and that is why the other details of this story matter. Even small, seemingly insignificant details become both interesting and instructive—like Peter pressing in past John to witness the reality of the resurrection firsthand.
Peter’s spiritual pushiness is what endeared him to Jesus. His personal deficiencies are well documented, of course; the entire world knows of them thanks to the Gospel writers. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John pulled no punches in their accounts of this braggadocios, foot-in-mouth, leap-before-you-look, think-before-you-speak disciple. Yet it was Peter’s reckless abandon when it came to spiritual expectancy that led Jesus to declare,
“Peter, on your kind of faith, I am going to build this small team of disciples into a worldwide force called ‘the church’ that will take back Planet Earth from Satan and return it to its Rightful Owner.” (Mat 16:18)
Sure, Peter got into trouble more than his fair share, but he was the only disciple to actually get out of the boat to walk on water—albeit a walk that was short-lived and ultimately very wet. He was the first to go into the empty tomb—Ground Zero of the Christian faith. And he was the first one called upon in Acts 2 to give the inaugural sermon of the Christian era—where two thousand people responded to his altar call.
Jesus loved Peter’s brassy boldness. That was the kind of raw material the Lord could work with. It was certainly raw, but it was ready. It didn’t take much to light a fire with Peter; he was a tinderbox waiting for combustion.
I think we could learn something from Peter’s example. Peter didn’t have it all together in his life, but he was always willing to offer all that he had, raw as it was, and press into Jesus with full expectancy of what could happen when raw readiness met with resurrection reality.
Take the Next Step: Be Peter-like today in your journey with Jesus: a bit bold, daring to go so far as to be a little spiritually pushy. Chances are, you will encounter some resurrection power. Word has it that it’s still floating around out there.
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