Another Repeat Performance

      Sometime after the Day of Pentecost, seven of the disciples are back where it all began, along the Sea of Tiberius (Galilee). Restless, Simon Peter decides to go fishing, and the others join him. They’re out on the water all night and catch nothing. I can’t help but wonder if it reminded Peter of the moment when Jesus called the fisherman to follow Him. Or maybe his thoughts were still replaying the three times he denied Jesus.
      When the weary fishermen start to make their way to shore, a man is there whom they do not recognize (John 21). He calls to them, “Children, have you any food?” The empty boat should have given the answer obvious, but they respond in the negative anyway. The man tells them to “cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.”
      That’s enough for Peter to recognize who it is. He plunges into the water and swims ashore. His fishing buddies are left dragging the boat and the net filled with fish to shore. When they finally arrive, Jesus has a fire going, along with fish and bread somehow. Okay, boys, how many hints do you need! Apparently they have an idea, but they dare not ask. It’s almost as if it is too good to be true. Could they all be hallucinating at the same time with the same mirage?
      Then we’re told that this is the third time Jesus has shown Himself to them after His resurrection. Maybe they just couldn’t wrap their heads around the idea of the resurrection and seeing Jesus appear again.
      They break bread together and chow down on some fish. Jesus turns His attention to His disciple who is struggling with his triple failure back in Herod’s court. The account seems to indicate that Jesus took Peter aside to deal with him privately. Three times Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him. Peter confesses his love three times. Seriously, Lord, how many times do you need to ask? The same number of times that Peter fell short! The disciple’s heart is right, but he probably sees himself as a useless servant. So three times Jesus reaffirms the call: Feed My lambs, tend My sheep, feed My sheep. Like His Lord Peter shall be a shepherd, too.
     The Chronos Lesson: Their first time together began with a miracle catch of fish. Jesus had called them to be fishers of men. Their last time together on the earth is another miracle catch of fish—153 to be exact. Jesus is the beginning and the end. Researchers have pointed out that there were 153 known species of fish at that time. It’s a vivid reminder that the disciples shall go into the known world and preach the Gospel, bringing people from every tribe, nation, and tongue into the Kingdom of God.
       However, the impromptu breakfast by the sea ends in a peculiar manner. After reaffirming Peter as His disciple, Jesus prophesies Peter’s future. “ ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.’ This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ ”
     To our natural minds, this doesn’t sound like the best way to encourage Peter to act on his calling! But spiritually speaking, Jesus is showing Peter that he indeed has the shepherd’s heart, one that is willing to lay his life down for the sake of the sheep and the Gospel. Tradition has it that when Peter was condemned to death in Rome, he requested that he be crucified upside down because he didn’t feel worthy to die in the same manner as his Lord.
        But before the significance of what Jesus has just told him could sink in, Peter looks at John and asks what that disciple’s future looks like. Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.” In short, it’s none of your business, Peter. Our faith is personal, and God deals with each individual according to His design for them.
       Not surprisingly, this got tongues wagging. “Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die,” even though that is not what Jesus said. It is interesting, though, that John is generally thought to be the only one of the original 12 disciples to have died by natural causes.
      While in prayer and in the Spirit on the Sabbath on the Isle of Patmos in Asia Minor (Turkey), John hears a voice behind him. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia.” Thus begins the Vision that is the Book of Revelation. Actually, it is a series of visions. More on that later. It is a vision of the “things which must shortly take place.” Jesus adds that the time is near, so it is time for the prophecies to be made clear.
        At the end of the book, John is reminded that the time is at hand, so he is told not to seal up the prophecy. Why is this significant? You may recall that Daniel got a vision concerning Christ’s first and second coming as part of the 70 Weeks Prophecy (Daniel 9). The prophet gets one last prophecy, recorded in Daniel 12. It foretells the time of the end as well.
        “At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness. Like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:1-3). But unlike John, Daniel is told to “shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end.” It is not yet time for the revelation to be understood.
       Rest assured that time will come:  “[Then] many shall run to and fro and search anxiously [through the Book], and knowledge [of God’s purposes as revealed by His prophets] shall be increased and become great” (Dan. 12:4, Amplified Version). Can you guess when that time is?
        We’re in it now! As the end of this age draws so near—within this decade—the Spirit is bringing clarity to the end-time doctrine. It’s time to be in the know so that we know what we ought to be doing.
        Our predecessors sought to understand, and passed along what they thought they knew. But the fact that there is so much confusion about the end-times tells us something is wrong, and it has to be on our end because God is not the author of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33). Their motives were right, but it wasn’t time to see it fully yet. Now is the time to understand the things that shall shortly take place!