Surprised by Jesus

This is the second post in a three part series on John 21

John 21:9-14

After Peter and the boys get to the shore, Jesus has a breakfast planned for them.  But there wasn’t a person there who thought this was going to be an ordinary breakfast.  First, it’s not everyday you share a meal with a guy who has come back to life after three days in the grave.  And second, for Peter, it’s not everyday you get the chance to share a meal with someone you have abandoned and renounced to save your own skin as they loose theirs.  Even Jesus didn’t intend for this to be an ordinary breakfast.  Even here he was making all things new.

Jesus has made a charcoal fire on the beach to cook over.  The only other place in Scripture we see a charcoal fire mentioned is the fire Peter was warming himself by the night Jesus was taken away.  This is the fire where he denied knowing Jesus and cursed at a little girl to prove his point.  How could Peter not be reminded of that night as he looked at this beachside fire?  This whole morning smacked of the familiar.  This was not the first time Jesus told these fisherman how to cast their nets to catch more fish than they could by themselves.  So much had transpired around water and shorelines.  What was Jesus doing by “recreating” these memories?  I’m sure a shame filled Peter as he stood waiting for his guilt to be announced.  But instead of guilt being heaped on him, Jesus makes him breakfast and offers him a seat at his table in fellowship.  This must have been the last thing Peter expected from a confrontation with the risen Lord.  Hostility was expected not hospitality. Punishment not nourishment.  Banishment not fellowship.  A demand for payment not being served by Jesus.

Are we surprised by Jesus anymore?  Have we been stumbling down this road of redemption so long we have become numb and indifferent?  Have we forgotten the surprise and awe we first felt when we were overpowered by the love and grace gifted to us?  Have we spent too many years trying to earn what was freely given to us that we don’t see the ways we try to earn it?  The slow pace of redemption in our life can begin to become so ordinary we gradually forget how amazing it is that God would have a relationship of fellowship with us at all.  It becomes easy for us to forget the hostility Jesus took so we could be welcomed by the Father.  We begin paying lip service to the punishment Jesus died under so the Father could celebrate our adoption.  Jesus’ banishment falls into the shadows of our everyday routine as we loose sight of the profound access we have to the throne room of our Father.  Missing these things trickles down into missing all the small moments of beautiful mystery that fill our days.

That beach breakfast should have been the best tasting meal to Peter, but he probably missed the flavors of the fish because he was wrapped up in shame and guilt.  He was probably searching for things to say as he filled his mouth with fish and bread.  But this wasn’t a “earn this” moment between Tom Hanks and Matt Damon in “Saving Private Ryan”.  It was a “breath deep” moment for Peter as everyday is for us.  Pause, breath deep, and savor.  Be caught off guard and marvel.  How delightfully surprising it is that Jesus would still prefer to eat with screw ups than those who have “it all together”.  Taste and see all over again.