Do You Love Me?

The message for this week follows the lectionary reading from John 21:1-19.  It's the story of Jesus' third visit, at least His third visit, to the disciples.  He had instructed them to wait in Jerusalem for gift the Father had promised them (Acts 1:4).  This promise was probably made in one of His two previous visits, in the locked room, either the one Thomas missed, or when Jesus came back to see Thomas. 

Although Jesus had told them previously about the Holy Spirit that would come and be their guide and their counselor, I'm not sure they really knew what to expect.  They were waiting, but I'm not sure they knew what they were waiting for.  And after three weeks, they were getting pretty bored of that locked room.

Suddenly, without warning, Peter jumps up and says, "I'm going fishing!"  The rest, without missing a beat, all jumped as well, and said, "We'll go with you!"  And so they went.

When they got back, Jesus was waiting on the shore, with fire going.  He asked for a couple of the fish they caught, and prepared a meal for them.  After the meal, he pulled Peter aside.  He pulls all of us aside at one point in our lives. And He asks us the same question:  "Do you love me?"

This was a very short summery of the message.  If you would like to read the entire message, click here.  There is also an audio link to listen to the recording of the message, though this week the quality isn't the greatest.