"Come and have breakfast"
Monday musical meditations on God's good news
An opening prayer:
Long before the world is waking,
morning mist on Galilee,
from the shore, as dawn is breaking,
Jesus calls across the sea;
hails the boat of weary men,
bids them cast their net again.
So they cast, and all their heaving
cannot haul their catch aboard;
John in wonder turns, perceiving,
cries aloud, `It is the Lord!'
Peter waits for nothing more,
plunges in to swim ashore.
Charcoal embers brightly burning,
bread and fish upon them laid:
Jesus stands at day's returning
in his risen life arrayed;
as of old his friends to greet,
"Here is breakfast; come and eat."
Christ is risen! Grief and sighing,
sins and sorrows, fall behind;
fear and failure, doubt, denying,
full and free forgiveness find.
All the soul's dark night is past,
morning breaks in joy at last.
Morning breaks, and Jesus meets us,
feeds and comforts, pardons still;
as his faithful friends he greets us,
partners of his work and will.
All our days, on every shore,
Christ is ours for evermore! Amen.
John 21:1–14
- Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
- 4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Good news questions
- Jesus lives! "Friends," he calls out to seven of his disciples early one morning, from the lakeshore. They have caught nothing. Suddenly they catch 153 fish! What do both miracles change for you?
For others pray
- That God spreads the good news of the kingdom of the Son he loves in Angola
J.S. Bach's beautiful music for today
- BWV 93 (YouTube, "Whoever Lets only the Dear God Be in Charge")
- This piece reminds us of Peter and his six fellow disciples meeting Jesus by the lakeshore some days after the first Easter.
- One hundred fifty-three fish are a tiny, eyewitness reminder of what the piece tells us too:
- The risen Christ can do anything.
Comments
Post a Comment