Psalm 2:7-12 – Right response to our Sovereign King

In the earlier verses of Psalm 2, David had established that the nations and rulers were in rebellion against God and His anointed. He had shown how the Lord scoffed at their frail attempts at toppling His plans. The people and rulers of the world fail to realize that God’s plan can never be frustrated. To counter that, God had His King installed on Mount Zion, His holy hill. This King we know is Christ Jesus. Mount Zion, we have concluded, is a symbol of His presence. What a privilege it is for us as His children to have access to His presence. 

Now in verses 7-9, we see God and His anointed Messiah having a divine conversation.  What is said here reminds and assures us that Jesus and God have a unique relationship. He is God’s Son and God is uniquely, His Father. From this conversation, we know that there is an interactive relationship between them. Within the Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit interact all the time. This is a model for us. Be reminded that we are created to have an interactive relationship with the Trinity. Through this interactive relationship we can find assurance and spiritual growth.   

Here the Psalmist paints a picture of the Anointed speaking and making known God’s plan. He went back to the moment God decreed His reign. The divine purpose was to redeem man from the fall. This plan began even before the world came into being. The Psalmist made known that the second person of the Trinity would come as God’s incarnate Son. And through His redemption, He would fulfill the unchangeable plan of God and be made King. This is not the end, the plan is that larger. Ultimately all the ends of the earth would ultimately become the Kingdom of our Christ and King. All nations will be His inheritance and the ends of the earth as His possession. He will absolutely dominate all, and all resistance to God will be crushed by His indomitable power.   

This Psalm concludes with the Psalmist counselling all opponents, kings and all, of the right course of action. All hostility toward God is futile. There are both warning and encouragement in this portion. In verse 12, we find a word of caution. It is for those who will not come to seek refuge in Him. Not to do so, we are told, would be courting destruction. All who resist and oppose Him, choosing the path of rebellion, will degenerate further and further. That’s the reason why many of such people continue to malign and slander Christ. They will ultimately be cut off. 

Hence, the only right thing to do is to yield to God and His plan. How to do so? We are given several insights on what we need to do. In verse 10, we are instructed to exercise wisdom and discernment. Give up resisting God and the hope to overcome His plan. In verse 11, we are called to submit and worship our King with reverence. Give Him the honor that is due to Him alone. As we do it, do so willingly and joyfully, and not grumpily. Don’t ever see serving God as a woeful thing. Serving God is the greatest privilege that will usher the greatest joy into our life. Then in verse 12, the Psalmist urges us to love the Lord. To enter into an intimate communion with Him. In the Authorize Version or the King James Version, the translators use this phrase, “Kiss the Son.” Kissing is an intimate expression between two people. Hence to kiss the Son is a call to relate with Jesus intimately. Show true affection for Him. Be consistent in relating with Him. Don’t say one thing to Him and act another. This Psalm promises that everyone who takes refuge in Him is a blessed man. Daily, let’s come to the Rock and Refuge of our life, and be truly blessed in our relationship with Him! 

Psalm 2:1-6 – Man’s stupidity versus God’s Sovereignty

Psalm 2 is a Messianic Psalm. The King inferred here is none other than the Messianic King of Israel. Jesus Christ as we know is Israel’s anticipated King and Messiah. We can say with certainty that Jesus is the person this Psalm is describing because of the many quotations taken from it. In Mark 1:11 and Matthew 17:5, both the writers of the Gospels quoted from this Psalm. One at Jesus’ baptism and the other at His transfiguration. On both occasions, God is seen to be announcing Jesus as His Son. In Acts 4:25–28, the early disciples quoted this Psalm to refer to Herod, Pilate and the people’s hostility and conspiracy to crucify Jesus Christ, the Lord’s anointed. Again in Acts 13:33, we see Paul quoting from this Psalm pertaining to Jesus’ resurrection. 

The Psalm itself leaves us with no clue concerning who had composed it. But the Apostles in Acts 4:25 attributed its authorship to King David. The experience expressed here was not exactly what David himself had gone through. That’s because he was not talking about himself but the true Messiah. He could see and express what he said in this Psalm because he had adorned the spirit of prophecy. And he saw long before hand the natural opposition that sinners have towards Jesus the Son of God, Israel’s Messiah King.  

A quick scan will help us to see four clear demarcations in this Psalm. Verses 1-3 tell us that the nations and their rulers set themselves up in rebellion against God and His Messianic King. In verses 4-6, God is seen reacting and responding to their rebellious plots. In verses 7-9, the Messianic King then declared God’s promise to give Him dominion of the world and much more. In verses 10-12, the Psalmist warns the rebels to submit to God or be prepared for a sure destruction. The whole composition closes with an offer of God’s blessing for all who would come to Him for protection.

The Psalmist began with a rhetorical interrogation. Through the question, he leaves no doubt that the opposition was against God and His anointed. But he considers it a sheer stupidity for the nations and their rulers to think that they could come up against God. Don’t they even know that their plan cannot stand against God? Don’t they even know that they have no chance against God and His Messiah? Here we see the stupidity and audacity of puny man to think that they could tear God’s plan and partnership apart. This is what foolishness can do to people. They forget their own capability and imagine to have power more than they truly possessed. This first three verses underscore that fact that no one can come up against God and expect to be able to overthrow Him and what He proposed to do. God’s plan can never be thwarted.

Going on in verses 4-6, the Psalmist proceeds to speak about the Lord. He showed that men’s puny paltry plan against God was so laughable that even God Himself scoff at it.  The purpose of the Psalmist was to show that God’s Sovereignty reigns supreme. His throne is in heaven. His throne is higher. He transcends the realm of men. He has a superiority that none can ever equal. God doesn’t panic over man’s stupidity, He merely scoffs at their plan. Here God calmly and firmly made a declaration. He made known that He had installed His King on Zion, His holy hill. The King is none other than Jesus, His Son. He is our reigning King. Mount Zion is God’s holy mountain. In other places of the Bible, it is also known as the Mountain of the Lord. It symbolizes God’s presence and reign.

Hear what the prophets Isaiah and Micah exhort all believers to do: “Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of God…, so that He may teach us concerning His ways and that we may walk in His paths. For the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3 & Micah 4:2). Knowing that God has installed Jesus as the reigning King, and His presence is now available to us, we must go up frequently to “Mount Zion,” a symbol of His presence and discover more of His plan for our life.  What’s important is: we must collaborate with Him and His plan for the world and for our own life. 

Psalms 1:4-6 – The end of the wicked

Using two words, the Psalmist contrasted the wicked to the godly. In the original, verse 4 would be better translated as “Not so are the wicked.” It is put this way for emphasis. It is interesting to note that while the Psalmist took two verses to talk about the godly, he only used these two words, “not so” for the wicked. While the godly are described as stable, fruitful, glowing and effective, the wicked are seen to be just the very opposite. They are described as chaff, the husks of wheat where the grains had been removed. They are therefore empty and light and can be easily blown away by the slightest of wind.

Chaff reminds us of what the farmers in those days would do after they had harvested their crops. They would place the harvested crops on a stone threshing floor, and then drive oxen to trample on it. In the process, the hooves of the oxen would separate the wheat from the husks. Then the farmers would take a winnowing fork or a shovel and tossed both the grains and husks into the air. Because of the weight, the grains would then fall to the ground to be gathered and brought into the granary later. The chaff being light will be blown away by the wind.

The godless are like chaff because they do not factor God into their life. They have no time or little time for Him. By implication they are those who would take their counsel from the ungodly, stand with the sinners and scoff with the scornful. The word chaff tells us how God evaluates the life of people who have no room for Him in their lives. Some may even own big houses, drive big cars and have plenty of assets, but their lives are aimless and going in circles. God sees such lives as worthless for they can never fulfil His purpose in the world. They will be too carried away by their concerns for the mundane.  

Verse 5 tells us two things will happen to such people. Firstly, they would not be able to stand in the judgement. This is referring to their inability to pass God’s day-to-day assessment of their lives. He will reckon their lives as worthless and of no consequence. Their works would merely be futile labor. Secondly, they would fail to find a place in the congregation of the righteous. This phrase refers to the final accounting on the judgement day.  On that day, when God gathers the company of the redeemed together, such people will be visibly absent. The Gospels tell us that on the judgement day, Jesus the judge will separate all who gathered at the judgement seat into two groups, the lamb and the goats. The godly will be placed among the lamb and the wicked, among the goats.

As he concludes, the Psalmist tells us with certainty in verse 6 on how both the godly and the wicked would end. It’s because God is all-seeing and all-knowing. He is totally acquainted with the way of the righteous as well as the deeds of the wicked. For the righteous, He will prod, protect and preserve. For the wicked, this Psalm serves as a call to return to God and His Word or face the judgement and perish.

Through Psalm 1, we sense one compelling lesson. There is nothing more important than to build our life according to the Word of God. Building it any other way will give us a weak foundation and cause us to be separated from God’s purpose for our lives. If we want to be counted among the redeemed and make the mark at the final accounting, partaking and acting on the Word of God must take a significant place in our daily living. Thus, it is important to study, meditate, memorize and obey the Word of God. They will certainly ensure that we attain a God-pleasing life.  

Psalms 1:3 – The outcome of godly living

A godly man, we have discovered, is one who finds his delight in the Word of God. He starts the day reflecting on it and ends the day musing it. While he may not be immune from evil, he has the ability to resist the onslaught of it. That’s because he spends a great deal of his life considering ways to live the Word of God. The phrase that’s used for ‘the Scriptures’ in this Psalm, is “the Law of the Lord.” It refers to the whole counsel or revelation of God. Through the Law of God, the godly man is given a whole, yet varied, perspective to life.

Being full of God’s Word and its principles, he is thus able to reject and not be influenced by ungodly philosophy. To conduct one’s life based on God’s Word is certainly very different from one that’s just following the standard of the world. To live a word-filled life is to live a life diametrically opposite to that of the world. Realize this, more than just giving us God-pleasing principles, the Word also has the capacity to enable us to act so that we will indeed please God.      

In verse 3, we see what a godly life will inherit: He is like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In whatever he does, he prospers. This verse describes the blessedness of the godly in four specific aspects. He is stable, fruitful, glowing and contributing.

In coming constantly to the Word of God, the godly man is likened to being planted to a flowing stream. He gets his spiritual nutrients and resource from the Word. He found grace through the partaking of the Word. The more he drinks the Word, the more stable he becomes in God. Not only will he be stable, he will also be fruitful, yielding fruit at the right season. Fruit comes by abiding in the vine. The more we learn to drink in the Word, the more we will stay connected to God. The connection creates the environment for the cultivation of fruit. We all know that the fruit develops as we lead a Spirit-guided life. We will manifest the fruit of love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are the characters of Christ Jesus our Lord. We will be more radiant in life as we become more and more Christ-like.

The leaves that won’t wither is talking about glowing witness. None of us would like to have a plant that has withered leaves, a picture of lifelessness. A tree with withering leaves gives the idea of lacking shine and glow. It’s a person devoid of the beauty of the Lord. How can a person who lacks the shine and glow of the Lord be an effective witness? Hence to say that a blessed man is one whose leaf does not wither, is to say that he has a glowing witness for the Lord. That’s the advantage of being godly. Such a person will then also be effective. A life connected with God is always vital and exciting to be with. Effectiveness of the blessed godly man is seen in the fact that whatsoever he does with his hand, he will find success and prosperity. The blessedness of life is not defined by our outward circumstances. Our joy and happiness is not in the abundance of things that we possess. It is found in the secret of knowing Christ and loving Him. Oh, to love Him more dearly, to see Him more clearly and to follow Him more nearly!

In Jeremiah 17:5-8, the prophet also described believers as lush trees with leaves all intact, firmly rooted and flourishing. In his description of the unbelievers, he painted them as shrub in the desert, devoid of water. We can either be a tree full of life or a shrub without life. The difference lies in how we value the Word of God. And Jesus puts it quite differently when He taught about the two houses built on different foundations. One is founded on rock. It is built by the one who hears His Word and obeys it. The house which had a flimsy weak foundation of sand is built by the one that hears the Word but refuses to practice it. Each result is very telling. What kind of life would we rather have? And the key lies in how we regard the Word of God.  

Psalms 1:1-2 – The contrast between the godly and the wicked

Psalm one describes for us both the wicked and the righteous in God’s reckoning. The wicked man as we can see, lives a self-centered life, whereas the godly lives a God-centered life. Here we see a definition of the wicked as well as the godly man. A wicked person is not just defined by his deeds. He is a wicked person not because he is a murderer or a rapist or such. He is wicked because he does not factor into his life and living the wonderful Sovereign God, who controls every aspect of human existence.

In describing the godly person, the Psalmist here unwittingly starts by identifying the ungodly person. He is wicked, he is a sinner and he is a scoffer. The Psalmist also shows us how a person can be initiated into adopting a lifestyle of this wicked person. He uses the three words – walk, stand and sit, to show how a person can be subtly inducted into the company of the wicked. A person first gets initiated into evil by walking among the wicked. In walking with them, he listens and entertains their philosophy. The more he listens, the more he becomes entrenched. So he then takes his stand with those wicked philosophy. Soon he becomes convinced and is committed to the principles of those evil philosophy. Then he adopts the philosophy and acts on them. To sit among the wicked suggests that he would soon join them in the ungodly practices and begin to scoff and sneer at godly principles. It begins with hearing the ungodly counsel, then becoming convinced, and finally making a commitment and joining in to scorn godly practices. So we need to be careful who we move with and who we are listening to. Keep in mind the wise words that say, “If you run with a skunk, you smell like a skunk.”

What the Psalmist is doing is to set the foundation for us to become the godly person we ought to be in God. It cries out loudly, “Avoid ungodly counsel, avoid ungodly principles and avoid ungodly practices!” Remember, it all starts with accepting the ungodly counsel, then adopting the ungodly principles that would cause one to finally scoff godly principles. So he explicitly states that the godly man refuses to be induced into the route of the wicked.

How then would a godly person be defined? He is defined by the time he spends in the Word of God. He has great delight in the Word that God has given to us, His children. The Word of God is not a book sitting on his shelf only. He takes the time to read it and reflect on it. He does not just do it occasionally. He mediates on the Word continuously. He meditates in the morning and he muses over it at night. He won’t start the day without it and he would end the day with it. He allows the principle of the written word to saturate his mind and fills his heart. He has deep consideration for the counsel of God’s Word. His principles in life are all derived from the Word. He spends time to read the Word, reflects on its implication and He acts on divine principles.   

It is God’s intention for us to adopt the stance of the godly. We become godly by avoiding the influence and counsel of the ungodly. We spend time in the godly discipline of meditating and musing over the Word of God. Every action in life begins with a thought in the mind. When we allow ungodly counsel to fill our thoughts, we naturally will gravitate toward them. How needful it is to begin the day with the Word and end the day with it. Bear in mind what Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 that “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.”

Introduction to the Psalms

We will be spending some time to reflect on the book of Psalms, the longest book in the Bible. There are altogether 150 Psalms. In truth this book is neatly divided into volumes: (1) Psalms 1 – 41; (2) Psalms 42-72; (3) Psalms 73-89; (4) Psalms 90-106; and (5) Psalms 107-150. It was thought that they were divided this way to parallel the first five books of Moses. Some of the themes include: praise and worship, prayer, sorrow, anguish and suffering, dependence on God, divine enablement, and victory in God, blessed living and many more. 

Psalms are composed and written roughly over a period of 900 years. Moses’ Psalm 90 was probably the earliest one to be written. Other Psalms were written later, when the people of Israel returned from the Babylonian exile. The rest were written in between those two time frames. David had often been thought to be the author because he had written many of the Psalms. Other authors include Solomon, Asaph, Heman, Ethan, and descendants of Korah. Some were even anonymously written.

Psalms are actually songs or poems to be accompanied by stringed instruments. In Hebrew, this book is known as the “Tehillim” meaning “praise songs.” In the Psalms, we are introduced to different types of Hebrew poetic parallelism (a subject for serious students of the Bible to study). Some of the Psalms even have a superscript to provide the historical background for the composition. A good example is Psalm 3. The heading tells us that it was composed while David was fleeing from Absalom, his son. Another thing we may see in the Psalms would be the word “Selah.” This is a term indicating a pause or an interlude. It could either be a pause for the musicians to change instruments, or a pause to allow musicians and listeners to reflect on the truth that had been sung.

We want to reflect on the Psalms because like all the books of the Bible, they are God’s words to us. They were written by the people of God, who found God to be real in their personal experiences, whether the moments were genial and non-congenial. In fact Jesus had also quoted from them. In the Messianic Psalms we find the life of Jesus predicted and alluded to. Through them, we are directed to Christ our Lord and Savior.

Here are six reasons why we should spend time to meditate on them:

·        To keep our mind focused on God

·        To receive the wisdom of God

·        To build our faith in God

·        To be inspired to live for God

·        To learn how to praise God

·        To know the value of both personal and public worship

So let’s poise to begin on the journey to discover the rich lessons of the Psalms.

John 21:24-25 – The reliability of the Word of God

These last two verses of John are a deep assurance to us, who are involved in fishing and shepherding. John maintained that whatever he had written were not just hearsay. They are accounts composed by one who had witnessed all that had taken place. John knows that the testimony is true. The Gospel of John is not a fictional book, it’s an autobiography of the life and works of Jesus.

John wrote this account. But the people who came to believe in Jesus could testify that all that were recorded therein is true. Hence he said, “This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these thigs….” Then he followed by saying, “and we know that this testimony is true”, meaning those who were associated with him could attest to the truth of his account. John then went on to say that, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself *would not contain the books that would be written.”

John could have written many other things that Jesus had done, but obviously did not include in this Gospel. Some of them could be gleaned from the other three Gospels. And if all that Jesus had shown in His life, and His teachings and works were to be written, we would be fascinated by the truth to no end. Then also countless books would be written, so much so that all the libraries in the world would not be able to contain the books written on Him.   

This brings us back to John 20:30-31 that say, “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” John had handpicked the essential facts and have them written to provide the basis for faith in Jesus. His whole purpose for writing what he wrote was to help us to come to faith in Jesus. He had truly convinced us that this is truly the Son of God. As we embrace this truth and build our life in the truths Jesus had taught, we will have eternal life. Yet we have not reached the bottom of the truth as yet. We still have much to discover.

Whether we are starting out in our journey of faith or midway through it. Whether we are career workers in church or laymen serving a ministry in the church, our faith and living must all rest on the revelation of the Word of God! Why? Because it is the only reliable testimony of all that Jesus had done. Let us be fully acquainted with His Word. We must study, understand, digest and assimilate it. And as we seek to be firmly established in His word, we must also go forth to proclaim the truth that will set men free. Know it or not, our work places, our schools, our offices, our camps and wherever we conduct our business, they are our mission field. We must make disciples for Jesus of all ethnic groups. Go forth and multiply!

John 21:18-23 – Divine dealings

The Lord deals with us all the time. He wants us to be more aware of the plans He has for us to give us a hope and a future. The Lord will deal with us as an individual and He will also deal with us corporately. In verse 18, Jesus turned to Peter to reveal what would ultimately happen to him. John tells us that He was showing by what death he was to glorify God. Peter’s ministry would be more than teaching and shepherding the flock of God. It would involve pain, suffering and death. History bears these facts. 

The Gospel of John was written after Peter’s death, hence here John hinted that he knew the kind of death Peter received. The church historian, Eusebius said that Peter went to Rome near the end of his life. He was imprisoned and was bound and led out to a place to be crucified. Feeling unworthy to die in the same manner as His Lord was crucified, he requested to be crucified upside down. 

Here Jesus was indicating to Peter that he would have to be sacrificed in the work that He had called him to do, whether in preaching and teaching His Word or shepherding the flock. The world will not easily welcome the truth of unseen realities. In fact the world is hostile to them. Yet we cannot deny that spiritual unseen truths are as real as physical realities. Because human nature wants everything to be seen and touchable before they will accept them, the message of Christ that requires faith in the unseen will be resisted. This is why sacrifice has to be made to propagate the truth of the Gospel. The work of Christ does demand that we give up our comfortable lifestyle and at times to live under trying circumstances. Yet it is a privilege to bear and make known the Word of God, even if it means enduring hardship. Peter realized that in experience and he laid down his life for the sake of Christ and the Gospel.

When Peter saw John, he asked the Lord concerning John’s outcome. John, as we know, was the one who laid on the bosom of Jesus at the last supper in the Upper Room. Peter goaded him to check with Jesus concerning who His betrayer would be. Since the Lord had made known Peter’s outcome, he wanted also to know what would be John’s outcome. We must realize that the Lord has a particular track charted out for each one of us. It may be different from the other. And it calls for individual accountability. There are also times that God will deal with us as a body and we need to discern those situations as well. We are all accountable to God both as an individual and as a corporate body. There is individual responsibility and also corporate responsibility. 

The response Jesus gave to Peter sounded abrupt. That’s because He detected a spirit of rivalry here. The Lord wants us to work in collaboration with fellow believers. The call is to identify each other’s strength and weakness. It will enable us to either supplement others lack or complement other’s strength. We are not called to compete with but to complete each other. Jesus told Peter, “If I want him (John) to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” The words of Jesus here were misinterpreted. So words went out that John would not die until the Lord returns. But this was not what the Lord meant. A careful examination of Jesus’ response will tell us that He was addressing Peter and telling him to stay focused on his own role. He wanted him to follow Him in the path He had charted for him. Like His instruction to Peter, we must also not eye the calling of other’s as it will create jealousy and rivalry and destroy our effectiveness. So we need to be discerning. He will deal with us on a personal basis and He will also deal with us as a family. Let us be blooming where we are planted.

John 21:15-17 – From fishing to shepherding

It is interesting to note that the phrase, “by hook or by crook” is a Christian phrase.  It is derived from John 19. We often think that the meaning of this phrase is to get anything by all means, whether rightly or wrongly. In the context of John 19, this phrase is about fishing and shepherding. Christ expects us to go out and like skilled fishermen, use the hook and fish people for the Kingdom. Having won them for the Lord we are then to use the crook to shepherd and disciple them for Him. Using the shepherd’s staff we guide the sheep, and with the crook of the staff, we rescue the sheep when they fall into a ditch.  

This is a record of the particular conversation Jesus had with Simon Peter by the charcoal fire which the Lord had started by the shore of Galilee. Notice that the Lord addressed him as “Simon”. When the Lord first enlisted him into His band of disciples, He renamed him Peter. It meant a stone. Simon at that point was as impulsive and unstable as a grain of sand. But in the new name Peter, he was expected to be more stable. Unfortunately, Peter had two natures that we are also accustomed to. On the one hand we may declare our commitment to the Lord and desire to be faithful to Him. But on the other we also recognize that we do have a compromising nature that we often function in, because of the fear of what men may think about us. In addressing him Simon Peter, the Lord was addressing the side of Peter we are all akin to.

Here the Lord asked him three times to affirm his love for Him. This is truly designed to parallel the three times Peter had denied Him. The physical setting of both situations were similar. Both the incidences took place around a charcoal fire. During his denial, Peter was warming himself by a charcoal fire in the courtyard of the High priest’s residence. Now he was warming himself by the charcoal fire that the Lord had started. Both times we see a three-fold statement. He denied the Lord three times and now he was asked to affirm his love for the Lord three times.

The Greek has several words that had been translated love, each with a different shade of meanings. The two used here are: firstly, “Agape” – that means a decisive love which one would commit to another wholly for the benefit of that person. It is unilateral. Love despite of and not because of. And secondly, “Phileo”, meaning a natural affection or a natural love we feel toward another. Peter used the word “phileo” on all three times in response to Jesus’s questions. Jesus on the other hand used the word “agape” for the first two times before He descended to the word “phileo” on the third time.  

Jesus’ questions to Peter was “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” What was Jesus referring to in the three words “more than these”? It could mean these fish that they had just caught, or his business of fishing or these boats that they had used for the fishing. From the context, we can safely conclude that Jesus was asking Peter if he loved Him more than the love those men had shown for the Lord. Prior to his denial, Peter had on several occasions vehemently declared his love for Jesus. He claimed that even if all would fall away, He would stay and fight and die with Him. He had regarded himself to be more faithful and committed than the other disciples. That’s why Jesus asked him “Do you love me more than these?”   

Peter had obviously learned some painful lessons. And like him, we are not to judge our relationship with the Lord with the level other people show. We must learn to measure our love for Jesus from our heart, and respond from the depth of that heartfelt love. Notice Peter in his response did not include the others. Twice, he said to the Lord, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” Finally he vehemently said, “You know all things; You know that I love You.”  Peter had come to understand the Lord better. At Gethsemane, he felt that loving Jesus meant he had to fight to demonstrate his love. Here he realized that loving the Lord meant loving and taking care of those whom the Lord loves.

At the declarations of Peter’s love for the Lord, he was told in three different ways to take care of the sheep that belong to Jesus. He was first asked to “Tend My lambs.” Then in verse 16 to “Shepherd My sheep.” And again in verse 17 to “Tend My sheep”. Each suggests a different aspect of looking after the sheep of Jesus. First, Peter was to tend the lamb, meaning the younger ones in the faith. It’s to teach them in their formative years and not wait till they have grown up. Then to “shepherd the sheep” is a call to guard the sheep of God. It is a call to discern where the sheep are at and to arrest the impending dangers, and to warn and fend them from the danger. Then Peter was called to “Feed my sheep,” the grown-up ones. He was to teach them the Word of God to help open their minds to the thoughts of God

In response to the call of Christ, we, whom God has given the privilege to know and grow in Him, are now entrusted to help the younger and weaker ones in the Lord. People, by and large, are not looking at life the way God wants us to see it. Many are not even thinking of the way God would have us think. Many Christians are following the fantasies of the world blindly. What we need in our day is an active and accurate understanding and obeying of the Word of God. The crisis of the church is a crisis in the famine of God’s Word. Let’s not just read and study to understand the Word but let’s study to learn and then to teach it!  

John 21:9-14 - We need the Lord

Miracle happens when a human encounters God. Christ chose to work through human channels. Several miracles Christ did confirm this truth. In the first miracle in Cana of Galilee, the water containers were filled up with water by men before Christ turned them into wine. In the miracle of the loaves of bread and fish. It was a lad who co-operated by giving up his lunch. It turned out to be a mighty miracle where 5,000 and more were fed with so little. Now we see this final miracle Christ had done. A few of the disciples laboured all night and caught nothing. At the word of the Lord, they cast their nets to the other side of the boat and caught a huge catch of 153 fishes. 

In the account in John 21:9-14, when they came to shore Jesus had already started a fire. Amazingly, John tells us some fish and bread were already laid over the charcoal-lid fire. It assumed that the Lord had placed them there. He then invited them to bring some of the fish they had caught so that they could eat something. This could be telling us that every moment of real fulfilment in life begins with Him. It is He who has invited us to collaborate with Him with what we have. Every meaningful Christian venture is a result of our willingness to work with Christ. This is God’s grace in operation. He allows us to participate in His work. Every fruitful and fulfilling venture can only be experienced when the grace of God operates through human channels.    

Notice that Peter, who at the word of the Lord, was the first to move. He hauled the net in and discovered a total of 153 fish yet the net did not break. What does this tell us? We may not fully understand God’s intention in the figure of 153. But we do know that they were large fishes, probably of different kinds. It could be God’s way of saying that the Gospel He came to give is for everyone regardless of race, color, gender or status. His Gospel is designed for everyone on earth. It is a universal Gospel. No matter what kind of fish one may be, they can be netted by the Gospel.       

Here we also see that the work of fishing will bless the fisherman. As Jesus gathered these disciples on the shore, He also invited them to come and feast with Him. They would certainly remember that on several occasions He had multiplied bread and fish, and fed them till their physical hunger were met, and they want no more. As fulfilling as fishing may be, it will not be as fulfilling as fishing men for the Kingdom of Christ. If we are to be truly satisfied, we must begin to evangelize.

But the main emphasis of this passage is to show us that success cannot be attained without the power of God. We can rely solely on human strength, but only to find our effort fruitless. We can employ human wisdom without consulting with God, the result will be a big fat zero. But if we start our plan by consulting God, we will find limitless possibility in the work He had entrusted to us. The reality of Christian life is this: we can never find great meaning and fulfilment without the Lord. So in the darkness of boredom and emptiness, like Peter, we need the Lord. When life seems fruitless and we are finding “no catch” in our careers, we need the Lord. Even when our nets are full and we cannot contain the abundance, we still need the Lord. Remember, in every situation, positive or negative, we can never do without the Lord! 

John 21:4-8 – It all starts with an honest self-appraisal

In the first three verses of John 21, we learned that Thomas Didymus, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of Jesus’ disciples followed Simon Peter and went out to fish. They toiled whole night and caught nothing. Some of them were expert fishermen. Thus, it’s truly unusual that they should catch nothing despite the time they spent on fishing. This only happened because God had a higher purpose. So we read that as the morning was breaking, Jesus stood at the beach unrecognized by Peter and the rest. The Lord then asked them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” Their answer to Him was “No.” 

This was an honest answer. If we expect the Lord to work we need to deal with our failure honestly. They were quick to recognise that they had a failed expedition. They could have allowed pride to prevent them from telling the truth and to offer all kinds of excuses for why they caught nothing. What happened tells us that if we expect the Lord to work in our circumstances, we need to honestly appraise and admit our own personal inadequacy. Our arms of flesh would often fail us.

However, standing at the shore a hundred yards away, the Lord could see the fishes on the other side of the boat. This is indeed amazing. Remember that He is the Lord. It could well be that He summoned the fishes there. So He asked them to cast their net on the other side of the boat. And immediately, they had such a high catch that they found it difficult to haul the catch in. This must have brought their mind to one other such occasion when an almost similar experience happened. Then they also acted upon the Lord’s instruction, dropped their net and caught so many fishes that their nets were near breaking. What happened was a sign to the disciples that this was the Lord at work and they recognized Him.

It was John who realized the Lord more quickly than Peter. He then exclaimed, "It is the Lord!" But it was Peter who was quicker to act then John. He quickly put on the garment that he had laid aside whenever he worked. And then plunged into the water and swam to the shore to where Jesus was standing. He left the rest to haul the catch to the shore. Peter did not care about the catch, he just needed the Lord. Like him, we must learn to prioritize between having the Lord and having His blessings only. Peter did not allow the blessings of the huge catch of fishes to prevent him from drawing near to the Lord. Like Peter, we must know that nothing is more important than drawing near to meet the Lord face to face.    

What has this account taught us? Firstly, that we need to be honest with what we are going through in life. It is necessary to come to the Lord to honestly appraise our work especially when we don’t seem to be making headway. We must learn to view our circumstances from the Lord’s point of view. More importantly, we need to act on His instruction with obedience quickly. Secondly, we must not allow the blessings he bestows on us to prevent us from drawing near to the Him to meet Him face to face. Thirdly, when we are reaching out and seeking to fish men for the Kingdom, we must learn to listen to His instruction. If we are to find the catch, we need to learn to cast our nets in the direction that He will instruct us. So draw near to discern His voice and then obey Him immediately.

John 21:1-3 – Lessons from failure

The scene we see now in John 21 was by the Sea of Galilee. This was where the disciples had come in obedience to the instruction of the Risen Lord through Mary Magdalene. Jesus told her, “Go and tell my disciples that I go before them to Galilee. There I will appear to them.” John would describe the manner the Lord would appear to them later. Verse 2 tells us that Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Peter, who felt bored and probably still feeling terrible for denying Jesus, wanted to go fishing. The rest also quickly added that they would go with him. So that night they went out to fish.

Remember, these were fishermen. And night fishing in the Sea of Galilee was common. Fishermen would attract fishes to the boat by using torches, and then have them netted. Peter and his companions here were expert fishermen, yet they caught nothing, toiling the whole night. This was truly unusual for them. We are reminded here that every experience in our life has a purpose. We must not forget that God plays a key role in our experiences. He will arrange the circumstances of our life to get our attention. Their fruitless catch perhaps was to show them and us that without the Lord, our activities in life would remain fruitless and futile. So we read that they toiled all night and caught nothing.

Herein is another lesson: people often think that their achievement had been accomplished by their own cleverness and ingenuity. Many would claim themselves to be self-made people. We must not forget that everything we have in life comes from God. He is the one who has afforded us every opportunity in life. When we don’t realize that He is our source, we will depend on people and think that they are the source. We may even look at the successes of others with envy and jealousy. The mistake in those moments would be a failure to realize that God is our source and men are just His resources for us. If not for God, we will neither have the opportunity nor the resource to start with.

If we are not careful in handling success, it can be the ruin of our spiritual journey. We need to realize that failure can be a blessing if we can only see the hand of God through it. A failure, when properly apprised, will force us to pause and re-look at life. In those moments of reflection we will be brought face to face to consider the cause of our failure. It will also allow us the opportunity to consider the steps to realign our life and our relationship with God. Without a doubt it can draw us to acknowledge that apart from God, we can accomplish nothing.  

All experiences in life can be a God-moment if we take time to look at God’s intended lessons. Refuse to see a failure as the end. It could just be God’s appointment for a new beginning with Him. So every disappoint we have in life can be God’s appointed moment to relaunch into the deep, for a greater journey with Him. 

John 20:24-31 – Believing is seeing

Thomas, one of the remaining eleven apostles of Jesus, was absent when Jesus appeared in the Upper Room on the evening of the first day of the week. Thomas, also known as Didymus was not there and we do not know why. But we know he had missed something wonderful – an encounter with the Lord. Though this is a moot point, but it underscores for us the importance of not missing church on Sunday.

The other disciples present then decided to tell Thomas about it. They said to him, "We have seen the Lord." However, Thomas was more than a doubter, he had determined not to believe. Notice how he responded when told of the appearance of the Lord, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” He seemed to be saying this: “The evidence must be in accordance to what I want to see, otherwise no go for me.”  Perhaps he was a born pessimist. The kind of people who could only see the hole and not the dough in a doughnut. Just as belief, unbelief is also a choice. And Thomas chose not to believe. It revealed his faithlessness. 

We don’t know how the other ten apostles felt, but it shows that despite being together with them for close to three years, yet Thomas trusted the words of none of them, all ten. They unequivocally and explicitly told him, ‘we have seen the Lord face to face’. Yet he refused to be moved, unless he could feel and touch the Risen Lord. Take note that while feeling is needful, we must know that faith is the best way to begin our journey with God. To experience the things of the Lord, often times believing is seeing and not the other way around.       

What happened eight days later highlighted the goodness of the Lord! This time the disciples were again together in the house, and Thomas was also with them. Although the doors were again tightly shut, Jesus came and stood among them. As before He began by pronouncing "Peace be with you." Then, He turned to Thomas and said, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas must have felt foolish for his stubborn refusal to believe the words of his close associates. Immediately he responded saying, “My Lord and my God!”  Notice how gracious the Lord’s dealing was. He did not chide him but instead said, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” All of us are so blessed because we believe on the evidences of the resurrection although we did not see it. 

In the last two verses, John tells us that Jesus did innumerable miracles, so much so that it would be impossible to record all of them. Countless books would have to be written if all that Jesus had done were to be captured. However, John had chosen seven miracles that He termed signs in this Gospel. He had recorded them in this Gospel to generate faith in Jesus, the Son of God. When one believes in Jesus and invites Him to step into the arena of his or her life, there is no way to fully describe the transformation that will take place. With Jesus in our life, we will have the most wonderful kind of life – eternal life. It’s a life of peace, joy, beauty, holiness, abundance, His ever abiding presence and much more! What a promise! What a life! Let’s go for it!

John 20:22-23 – The Holy Spirit and effective ministry

To experience peace is everybody’s desire. We all need to have peace with God before we can experience the peace of God. Being reconciled to God we will have peace with God. But it is our daily drawing near to Him in prayer and fellowship that will enable us to experience the peace of God. It will help us to stay afloat in a hostile and restless world. This was what Christ promised to the disciples in that Upper Room that evening on that Sunday evening of His resurrection. Immediately after He promised them the peace, He also told them to receive the Holy Spirit.

Many wonder about what happened here. The question is this: If the Holy Spirit had been given here then how to account for what they experienced forty days later on the day of Pentecost? Why did Jesus tell them to wait in Jerusalem until they have received the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit?  Let us look at it this way. Man only have life because God breathed into him the breath of life. The same is true for spiritual life. One cannot have spiritual life until he has the Holy Spirit indwell in him. Spiritual life begins when we receive the Holy Spirit into our life. He will give us the power to live the new life in Christ. That’s why Jesus told His disciples to receive the Holy Spirit. Here He breathed upon them to impart to them the gift of the Person of the Spirit. Up till that point, the life of the disciples was kept by the power of Jesus’ physical presence, but after Christ’s return to the Father, they would need the power of the Holy Spirit to reside in them to sustain them in their spiritual journey. Like the disciples, our spiritual journey begin with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. He will also come within us to enable us to live that life.

The experience on the day of Pentecost is a separate experience known as the infilling or baptism of the Holy Spirit. Here a believer will be filled with the Spirit to a fuller measure to enable him or her to minister the life of Christ. So we see two experiences: one at our spiritual birth, where the Holy Spirit is received and He comes and indwells us to give us power to live the life. The other is coming to Christ to be filled by the Holy Spirit to a fuller measure so that we are enabled to minister the new life. In reality what we are talking about is becoming more aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our life. The book of Acts shows us that signs, such as speaking in tongues, would accompany the experience of the infilling of the Holy Spirit.     

  

When we are guided and led by the Spirit to live the life, we find progression in personal sanctification. Like His commission to the apostles, here Christ also expects us to minister the life. Here Christ is not saying that we have the authority to forgive sin but that we have the power to declare the forgiveness of Jesus when people believe in Him. When a person recognizes his or her sin, confesses it and acknowledges a need for Jesus, we have the right to tell that person that his or her sins are forgiven in Him. We can also tell a stubborn person who refuses to acknowledge his sinful resistance to Christ’s forgiveness, that he or she would remain unforgiven.

Here’s the point: when we came to Christ, we received the Holy Spirit in the born again experience. This experience gave us the power to live the Christian life. But we also need to have the filling of the Holy Spirit to empower us to effectively minister the life of Christ. That’s why Paul said in Ephesians 5:18 that we should be filled with the Holy Spirit. The force of two words “be filled” is to be seen as “be being filled.” God’s intention is for us to be constantly filled with His presence so that we can be effective in declaring His love and forgiveness. We must keep on declaring the forgiveness of sin that can only be experienced in a personal relationship with Christ. What a wonderful declaration: there is therefore no condemnation for a believer in Christ!

John 20:19-21 – To be bearers of God’s peace

At this point, Jerusalem was quickly filled with the gossips concerning what happened to Jesus’ body. All kinds of stories must have emerged. The disciples of Jesus must be excited as well as puzzled by the news. Several individuals or groups had already claimed to have seen Jesus alive. First was Mary Magdalene. She was the one who came running from the tomb to tell Peter and John of the missing body. Of course she returned later and met Jesus. Then there were those women who remained at the tomb and were notified of Christ’s resurrection. Third was the account of Cleopas and his companion, probably his wife, travelling down the road to Emmaus. They must have returned excitedly narrating their encounter with the Risen Lord. Then there were news that Peter had seen Jesus. So on the evening of the first day of the week, they were all back at the Upper Room to talk about what had happened. John tells us later that Thomas was absent.  In other words, only ten of the remaining apostles were there in that Upper Room.

Notice John’s emphasis on the first day of the week. From here we learn that Sunday and not Saturday would soon become the Christian’s Sabbath. It would be the day that we followers of Christ would set aside time to gather in His name to worship and honour Him. Furthermore, John tells us here that they were gathering within closed doors for fear of the Jews. The doors were shut or more accurately, barred. But with the Lord, no barred doors could keep Him out. For He just drop in on them and they found Him in the midst of their gathering. The Lord, the Conqueror of death came among them. There was no limitation to what His resurrected body could do. What a joy to know that we will also have this sort of transformed body ultimately. But what happened here also reminds us of the promise of the Lord, to be with us whenever two of three of us are gathered in His name.   

Worthy of mention was the gracious way Jesus addressed them when He appeared to them in the Upper Room. He did not chide them but touchingly announced His peace upon them. He was truly magnanimous. He did not chide Peter for denying Him nor did He demand an explanation from the rest who forsook Him. But He went straight to assure and strengthen them. He not only removed their sins, He now removed their fears. The pronouncement of His peace over them was to set their hearts at rest. Everyone had failed Him but He did not hold it against them. Immediately, He also showed them the nailed scarred marks on His hands and the spear pierced mark on His side. Why?  They were shown not to establish His identity but to establish the basis of the peace we all experience in life. The only way to find real peace in life is to be reconciled with God. The marks in His hands and side remain a reminder that our peace was sealed by the marks He bore on our behalf. This Peace is now the inheritance of all who believe in Him.

In verse 21, Jesus again made another pronouncement of peace. He said, “Peace be with you.” This is not just a mere repetition. It is a clear indication that not only do we need to have peace with God but that we also need the peace of God. The first peace deals with our separation from God, the second deals with the need to stay afloat in a hostile and unrest world. We need to be reconciled to Him but we also need to be sustained in Him. Our peace with God enables us to stay connected to Him in order to experience the peace of God to overcome in a hostile world. We all know that the greatest threat to this peace in our day and age is hurriedness. We must learn to ruthlessly eliminate hurriedness in life. Let us be still and know that He is God. Peace is Christ’s resurrected gift to us. But the peace Christ gives should not be an end in itself, it should be a means to an end. Having experienced it, the followers of Christ were expected to spread this message of peace. That’s the reason why Jesus added, “…as the Father has sent Me, I also send you” after His peace pronouncement. He came to give us peace, so our role today is to proclaim that peace. Let us be Christ’s messengers of peace in a world of unrest!