Blessing And breakfast With Jesus

How can Jesus’ victory over sin and death become an ongoing reality in our daily lives?

Acts 4:1-12
John 21:1-14

In the dark days of the disciples of Jesus, Jesus helps them move through those days, the tensions and disappointment, the confusion. Everything they need to know about Jesus they have within themselves. They just require his help in piecing it all together. And as they deepen their understanding, they know—and hopefully we also—what they must do.
With the appearance of Jesus a second time and the news of the women that Jesus is alive. Peter suggested to the rest that he wants to return to his former occupation; I.e. fishing. He told the rest and they decided to follow him. Whether out of fear for the Jews or because Christ appointed him head they returned to their former ways. Throughout the night the disciples went out fishing in the sea of Tiberias and caught nothing without knowing that it was Jesus. He instructed them to cast their nets Having just dropped the net, they realize that it is now so full of fish that they could not even haul it in.

Amid this bewilderment, John cries out to the rest, “It is the Lord!” Even in the presence of so much distraction, the love for Jesus that possessed John so powerfully caused him to see something that others had overlooked. Hearing that it was Jesus, Peter didn’t even stop and think about what to do next. He tucked in his garments, dove into the water, and swam to shore. Nothing was going to keep him from getting to the Lord. What faith he had!
If John exemplified love, Peter was the picture of faith. He was the first one to declare who Jesus was; he was willing to step out of the boat and walk to him on the water; and he was the one who refused to turn away even when the teachings of His Lord seemed so strange. “Lord, to whom shall we go?” he states. “You have the words of eternal life.

In addition, today’s story of Peter jumping out of the boat to join Jesus is not the first time we’ve seen Peter do something like this. In other gospel accounts, Jesus beckons Peter to come to him…across the water. Today we see Peter jumping into the water to swim to Jesus who waits for him on the lakeshore. In both these stories, Peter knows he needs to get to Jesus. But that means leaving the boat. That boat, remember, represents what he knows best – fishing. It is his comfort zone. But Peter knows what he needs to do. And it means leaving the boat.
St. Josemaria Escriva’ once said, “With a love like John’s and a Faith like Peter’s, what is there to stop us!” A life following Christ is a life confident that the Holy Spirit will continue to show us Christ’s abundance. A life convinced of its power over sin and death. A life of daily witnessing the victory of Christ over sin and death. Peter and John had heard Christ’s teaching, witnessed His miracles, watched as He was nailed to the Cross, and rejoiced, three days later, when He rose from the dead. They knew that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and that in Him were the words of eternal life, light, truth, and love. They knew that Jesus alone was their blessed hope and so they proclaimed the good news far and wide – with great boldness and faith.

When Peter and John exercised the power in the name of Jesus from on high, by healing a paralyzed man, the Jewish leaders became fearful for the number of disciples was growing more and more, arrested the apostles, and brought them before the Sanhedrin for trial; the same Sanhedrin that condemned Jesus to death. But Peter could not remain silent and boldly proclaimed, “Let it be known to all of you and all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene—Whom you crucified and Whom God raised from the dead—by Him, this man is standing here before you – healthy.

This Jesus is the stone rejected by you builders. He has become the CORNERSTONE and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved. Peter did not tell of one way to be saved. He declared the ONLY way. Salvation is only found in Christ alone. Let us glory in that wonderful name of JESUS and resist the deceit of the world, the lusts of the flesh, and the wiles of the enemy. Despite our failings, our flaws, our faults, and our brokenness, we too are called to rise to new life and to always testify to the Good News and the victory of Christ’s Resurrection.

Fr Joseph Osho