(Pastors Gonzalo and Andrea Sanabria)
God is always teaching us, and uses different circumstances, situations and elements to forge his character in us and help us grow in an integral way. The Lord will use different environments, people and means to speak to us and make us know his character and purpose, that is why he will often surprise us…
JESUS APPEARS TO SEVEN OF HIS DISCIPLES (Devotional No. 070)
“After this, Jesus manifested himself again to his disciples by the sea of Tiberias; and he manifested himself in this way: Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them: I am going to fish. They told him: Let’s go with you too. They went, and got into a boat; and that night they caught nothing”, John 21:1-3.
In the first place we see the disciples without Christ, that is to say, Jesus was not with them, and they experience a lack of direction, and they invest forces and time without results. This sea had several names: Sea of Galilee, Lake of Gennesaret and Sea of Tiberias, it was called a sea because of its large size compared to the country, but it was really a large freshwater lake.
It has been distinguished by its large number of fish… it is interesting that although the water was fresh and the fish were abundant, they were going through a sad and difficult time: “that night they caught nothing”.
The Lord Jesus always arrives at the right moment: “As day was breaking, Jesus appeared on the beach; but the disciples did not know that he was Jesus”, Jn. 21:4. The Biblical text tells us: “as dawn was breaking”, perhaps 5:00 or perhaps 6:00 am “Jesus appeared”, surely they returned discouraged. They “did not know that it was Jesus” = but God’s gaze was on them all night.
Christ has many titles and one is “Sun of Justice”, they didn’t know it was Jesus, but there He appeared, so no matter how dark, difficult and cold the night is, our Sun of Justice will appear and shine, and the whole panorama switch to. God has the power to transform chaos into blessing.
The presence and guidance of God will always make a difference: “he told them: Cast the net to the right of the boat, and you will find. So they threw it out, and they couldn’t get it out anymore, because of the great quantity of fish”, (V. 6). What a great difference between “the whole night they didn’t catch anything” and “when they cast the net just once they locked up a large number of fish”, just follow their direction to see the glorious results.
The miracles of Christ should always bring us closer to Him, since Peter jumped into the sea to reach the shore where Jesus was. At this lake, Jesus performed 18 of the 33 recorded miracles.
The Bible says that Peter “threw himself into the sea” because he wanted to get to see his Master first, he valued the presence of his Lord more than blessings and miracles, he did not care about the fish, he wanted to be with his Master, he was beyond the miracle
Final reflection: With his power, Christ captivates your attention; With his love and care, Christ captivates your heart. Love for God goes beyond a miracle, it is a deep passion for his presence and for doing his will.
Christ is Almighty God, giver of life, only in him do we find eternal life. Let God do his work, only he knows how to do it. Look for him and move on, God will fulfill his purpose in you.
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