The Communicating

Linda Rock
5 days ago
4 min read

Jesus does not just come to His seven friends, but He does more. He has conversation with them from where He is on the shore. Yes, they are in a boat in the water, returning to the shore. Just before they get to the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus calls out to them.

Is Jesus not still the same to His own? Then let our faith gather the sure strength of resolve, believing with unashamed surrender that our Jesus, even in this moment, just as we are, will call out to us.

Here is Jesus’ Second Move – The Communicating

He called out to them. Friends, haven’t you any fish? No, they answered. John 21: 5

Jesus takes the lead in this follow-up move, as it were. True, He comes to where the disciples are, but He goes a step further. He does not wait until they land on shore to have communication with them. He does not even wait for them to recognize Him, before He speaks to them. Absolutely not! The Risen Jesus speaks to them even before they speak to Him. In their full, yet blinded view, Jesus calls out to them, speaking as interested friends speak to each other. Haven’t you any fish? Jesus has come to convince them that He, their Lord and Master, is alive and in attendance in their lives. It is His planned mission, His urgent priority, yet His first words to them are not about Himself, nor of the Kingdom of God, but about their fishing.

Pause! Listen with all your belief and faith. Jesus, our Risen Lord and Master, still makes the first moves of communication in our sad lives. Look at the wisdom, mind and heart of our Risen Lord. Does this picture of the understanding and wisdom of our Jesus, not bring uplifting and refreshing, just to be reminded again of who our Jesus is? Jesus is deeply concerned with the state and condition of each mind and heart of His seven friends. He knows their weak, frail states, how blinded they are by their own failure. He knows their powerlessness and utter weakness to help themselves, far more to help another who is literally in the same boat as they are. Wherever their minds are, they have tried to bring some closure, some sense of normalcy back into their downed lives, by returning to fishing. Jesus begins His talk with fishing, their present path.

Believe you me! Jesus, our Risen Lord and Master, still makes the first moves of communication in our sad lives. He sees us, sees our deep, un-met needs and knows that we need to realize that He is not just alive, but alive and present. We need to believe, without question or doubt, that Jesus knows exactly where we are in body, mind and spirit, and He will come to us even in our confused and empty states. This is so very true in prayer. May we hear the convincing voice of God the Holy Spirit, who assures us of this fact. No prayer of ours, no sigh, not even a single cry, is uttered to our Lord first. He is always the Person to communicate with us first, so that our prayers are in response to Him.

Fish, the essence of their self-healing, is the subject on which Jesus speaks, as He calls out to them. He never said things like, Hi there! Look at Me, I am Your Risen Master or I am Jesus, who is speaking to you. No! Perhaps we would expect that as human wisdom would demand, but no. Our Lord’s wisdom sticks to the physical, on the spot, immediate picture, which is fish. Their response is not one of great faith, or one of some divine nature. Their response is one of any ordinary, polite fisherman, as he comes in with his boat. Haven’t you any fish? Or any question about fish is common to fishermen. Remember, Peter used to be a fisherman before meeting Jesus and answering His call. In plain, human courtesy and manners, these seven men respond to the Man on the shore. Their answer is in the negative.

O how Jesus comes into our present downcast lives, as an ordinary Person, speaking ordinary talk. Our responses have nothing to do with faith or trust, but simple courtesy.

Regardless of your present predicament, even if you are courting some futile and fruitless work, Jesus still communicates with you. Keep believing! You may be feeling worse than ever, thinking that you can’t even successfully do what you enjoyed doing previously. Be that as it may, Jesus speaks to you, keep faith in Jesus.

Here are two statements of fact.