Thursday 7th August 2025
Thursday 7 August 2025
St John 21: 1 – 14
After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off. When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.’ So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Reflection
I wonder why the disciples had returned to making a living fishing after the tumultuous events of Holy Week and Easter Sunday? I also wonder where the women are. Perhaps the disciples had left Jerusalem to allow things to calm down; perhaps they needed to earn some money to sustain themselves in those in-between times after resurrection and before Pentecost. Perhaps Jesus was letting them have space to think through the implications on their lives of His rising. As for the women; all too often men leave them out of the stories.
We too live in in-between times; spiritually we live between Pentecost and Advent (every time we celebrate Holy Communion we note “Christ will come again” but often forget this part of our faith) We live in a time between an undamaged undepleted earth and the disaster to come wrought by our greed and exploitation. Some social theorists call our economic times “late capitalism” implying we’re between two economic stages (though they are more sketchy about what comes next!). Politically the UK is years away from a General Election but there’s new parties and disillusionment with the old. We remember the fuller churches of our youth and see far fewer people at worship now and wonder what comes next.
Like the disciples we may find these times unsettling. We may despair and just prepare for the worst; yet we have to adapt. We have to learn to wait, adapt to a changing climate (which will involve huge sacrifices from richer nations), plan for a new (hopefully better) way of doing economics and learn to speak truth to political power. Above all, in these times we have, like the disciples, to let ourselves be fed by Jesus, to see where He’s standing in plain sight, and be prepared to follow where He calls.
Prayer
Meet us, Risen Lord,
when we’re hungry.
Meet us, Gentle Saviour,
when we need direction.
Meet us, Good Shepherd,
in these in-between times;
that we may be fed, guided,
and commissioned anew
in Your service.
Amen.