Two Lots Of Fish

Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. John 21:11

Two stories of the Lord Jesus providing a miraculous catch of fish, one in Luke and one in John. In one case, two boats are not sunk but the number of fish is not told. In the case of our verse for today, the number was counted by someone and so is the size of the fish noted, and in this case the net remains unbroken. The first case came early in our Lord's ministry at the calling of the disciples, while the second from John came after the resurrection. In both cases though, professional fishermen had caught nothing in a night of labor just before the big catch. We see the miracle of bounty and want that, but how often do we consider that the Lord also provided for nothing for a long period of time first? To spread a net and catch nothing at all could happen, once, twice, but all night? Nothing at all, not even a junk fish or two? The hand of the Lord may provide to us in our endeavors a long night of nothing to prepare us for the big catch.

Watch for Him!

Bucky

Standing On The Precipice Of History

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.
  -- Malachi 4:5-6

These are the closing words of the Old Testament in the Bible. Another prophet, Amos, had foretold of a famine of hearing the words of God, and Malachi closed out the writing of the word. Centuries would pass before John the Baptizer came in the spirit and power of Elijah, but he was not Elijah. The famine had ended though, and John is the herald of the New Testament. I wonder at times though if Malachi knew that he stood on the precipice of history as the final prophet of the age? I wonder if Malachi and John met in Heaven with a 'Hey, Brother!' as the famine of the word ended with the coming of Jesus? Maybe we will get to ask them soon.

The famine has ended, as Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

Bucky

You Follow Me

Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”  John 21:22

Is the election over yet? Three more weeks from tomorrow? Ahhh, no, say it isn't so! The disciples took from our verse for today something that humans have looked for since their earliest times - immortality. John wrote to set them straight on that since what Jesus said was about comparisons. "You follow Me," Jesus said to Peter to remind us not to worry over God's will for others as we walk with Him. We can easily be led astray worrying over another believer's circumstance. While there are followers of Jesus who are wealthy in faith, there are also those who are just plain old wealthy. What is that to us? We follow the Lord Jesus! For most of us comparisons with other believers will not work out anyway. Living that way we will end up too much this or not enough that until we are depressed and anxious all the day long. Follow Jesus. 

To each of us He has said, "You follow Me."

Bucky

Takes Away The Sin

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"  John 1:29

Has a nation ever chosen a lamb as its national animal? Perhaps a small nation who didn't want to attract the unwelcome attention of powerful neighbors with their lions, bears, or eagles, might do so. We generally do not look to a lamb to stimulate respect for our strength in others. And yet, here comes the Son of the Almighty, and John said to look at the Lamb. The Jews at that time were fully expecting the Lion to come and chase out the Romans. They got the Lamb. To those who are given the ability to believe in Jesus though, Lamb sounds exactly right. 

Gentle, humble, and Savior, the Lamb of God! 

Bucky

You Need Some Euangelion

And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.  Matthew 24:14

As always it seems, there are plenty of bad tidings to tell of this morning, and our news media has become proficient at telling of it. So, you need some euangelion this morning. That odd-looking term I used is the Greek for gospel, which means glad tidings. You and I need some glad tidings this morning, and our Lord promises that His glad tidings will be preached in all the world. Just a quick glance at all the different religions active in the world today makes that promise quite a bit of good news all around. But His glad tidings are not just a geographic quota to be filled. There are the promises of eternal life, love, joy, peace, and righteousness. An end to sorrows, grief, despair, and sadness comes as a further promise of joy unending in our Lord Jesus. For the lonely there is the hope of close companionship, and for those in pain or fear there is an end to the old things. Why there is even talk in Isaiah of predator and prey animals lying down together with a little child leading them. 

It's about time for some good news, and Jesus is just the man for the job!

Bucky

His Way

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It's better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. Mark 9:43 NLT

In our studies of historical peoples we have read of those who prepared the corpse for a successful afterlife with horse, weapon, money, and even wives and servants. Imagine having all of this prepared for you, but no hands! Of course Jesus knew when He said this that hands don't just take off on their own to do sin. When it comes to dismemberment for preventing sin, the head would seem to be the place to start. But that causes other problems such as being rather permanent. He who has ears to hear... cannot hear when his head has departed his body. The message here seems to be about priority. Is your priority entering God's kingdom in Heaven, or is it to be with the sinners in Gehenna, that Greek name for Hell? Eternity sounds like such a dreadful long time to be in a place of fire and brimstone.

Of course we know from the Word that salvation comes by faith in Christ Jesus, and not (sigh of relief!) by dismembering our sinful bodies. Praise God for His way!

Bucky

The Start Of Something

So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.  Exodus 12:14 

Moses did not know at this time that the Lord not only began the feast of the Passover, but in time would also start the celebration of communion. It was at the Passover that Jesus told His disciples to take the bread and the wine in remembrance of Him. I wonder if there will be another celebration added to this when Jesus returns? Perhaps the celebration of the wedding of the Lamb and His Bride will take place at the Passover too. We may be looking ahead to something new that began way back in the days of Moses, or Adam! 

An everlasting ordinance for a celebration of God's work, that's wonderful!

Bucky