David Bahn - Reflections

In the case of the disciples' failure to catch any fish that night, Jesus' question seems like more of an invitation than a challenge. But it is an invitation to admit their failure and lack of resources. And it became an opportunity for Jesus to show his gracious provisional power. Who would have thought it? So now, the questions I posed more than two weeks ago seem ever so appropriate.

Are you willing to ask these questions of yourself?

This fish-eating (or rather the recording of it) is meant to show that Jesus is not an apparition. He's not a ghost. He is real. He has a real body. Thomas can touch his hands and side. Jesus can eat fish.

Jesus' resurrection, God's promises, heaven's hope, and our future joy in the life of the world to come is as real as the fish the disciples caught and Jesus enjoyed with them that day.

153 fish. That is a remarkable number of fish. Maybe you have some wonderment-worthy numbers of your own. Perhaps you’ve seen Jesus show up and bring resources you had no idea of until he made himself known. That relief may come tomorrow. Who knows? And if it does, take a moment to count the fish and praise God for his gracious provision.

I wonder how many times I've struggled with no apparent success only to have Jesus show up and bring a degree of success I could never imagine. I wonder if God has not engineered some things in my life so that I did not succeed until I recognized Jesus' presence and went his way. I do believe Jesus wants to show himself to us because of his love for us. He doesn't come to chide. He comes to bless.

This is an Easter psalm. And as we celebrate Jesus' resurrection from the grave it is much easier to give thanks for the day he has made. Jesus' resurrection is the great show of God's creative power. It also  provides us with a reminder of God's goodness and steadfast love. For Jesus' resurrection not only vindicates him and his faithfulness to the heavenly Father. It also bring a promise since he is the first fruits of all who die in faith in him.

In Jesus it is a good day to live or to die. St Paul puts it this way, "For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's." (Romans 14:8) For this I give thanks and rejoice. How about you?

The message of Jesus is getting to new people. Lives are being changed for all eternity. People are being brought to faith. God is at work there. New churches are being planted through the Harvest Partnership. We look with anticipation to the harvest. You can see this worldwide in places like Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, and  the baltic states where PLI is at work training pastors and lay leaders to make disciples who make disciples. This is only the tip of the iceberg of God's work - things of which I am aware in my immediate sphere of influence. In fact, Diane and I will be teaching for PLI in Tanzania this summer. But all these groups and ministries would say unequivocally, along with this psalm:

This is the Lord's doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.

So we say,

This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Amen!

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. (Psalm 118:22)

I wonder how this verse might apply to us today. Certainly as a reminder that Jesus is the chief of the corner. He defines the building of the church. He defines its angles, dimensions, and measurements. He is essential to our faith. You cannot attach a true hope apart from Jesus. In fact so important is Jesus' resurrection that St. Paul says, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile." (1 Corinthians 15:14) But indeed Christ has been raised from the dead! He is the chief of the corner. I'll do all I can to build my life off of him, and when I fail, I will repent and look to him for grace, forgiveness, hope, and life. This is God's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. 

Through this psalm we call out, 

that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.

And comes the answer: 

This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.

Jesus is both the door (John 10:9) and the one who has opened it. He died, and says, "behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades." (Revelation 1:18) He has opened up heaven to all believers. The Te Deum expresses it beautifully:

When Thou tookest upon Thee to deliver man: Thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb.
When Thou hadst overcome the sharpness of death, Thou didst open the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.

"Open to me the gates of righteousness,

Psalm 118 is a great Easter psalm. This is the day the Lord has made, let us be rejoice and be glad in it. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His steadfast love endures forever. Steadfast love. Pure goodness. God’s making of each day. Redemption. These are the makings of the purest joy.

Jesus triumphed over evil by resisting every temptation, manipulation, intimidation, and pressure to abandon faith in God and give into the deceitful plans of Satan. All Satan wanted was for Jesus to give up reliance on his heavenly Father. All he wanted was for Jesus to fail in his perfect obedience to God. All he wanted was for Jesus to come down from the cross and save himself.

But Jesus did not give into Satan's schemes. He remained true to God. And to do so he prayed. That is so very clear because he explicitly quotes from Psalm 22. That psalm is the most vivid description of Jesus' physical suffering to be found in the Old Testament. This psalm (118), encapsules both the suffering of Psalm 22, with the victory and hope of Jesus' triumph.