Title: Resurrection of Hope/John 21:1-14
Contents Resurrection of Hope/John 21:1-14
The main character, the old man, only encounters difficulties. But he resists “without losing” whatever happens. The old man's resistance always fails, but he dreams of a lion while he sleeps. The lion is a symbol of strength. A lion's dream symbolizes that he will not lose courage.
This novel shows that human life is a series of tragedy and disillusionment. However, humans cannot give up hope. Although this hope deceives humans, humans live with hope. This makes human beings human, and allows humans to maintain their own dignity. Through this work, Hemingway magnificently portrays human dignity in confrontation with tragic reality.
However, Hemingway's novel is not a depiction of the reality that humans have hope, but rather a claim that humans should have hope in any adversity. Humans need hope to live. But not everyone has hope. That is why it contains ‘hope to have hope’.
Do we humans really have hope? After all, isn't the hope we humans have like a mirage? Aren't you living in the hope of being deceived and deceived, knowing how to be deceived, and having no choice but to have it?
What we Christians need to ask here is what should this lion's dream be for Christians? is to do For Christians, it is what keeps the Christian existence. We need to ask the question what makes Christians overcome this world.
Disciples' failure
The Gospels do not portray people as heroic or worldly successful people, but very candid human figures. A tragic side can be read from the lives of the disciples in the Gospels. Most of them weren't politicians or rich people. They were people who barely made a living by fishing. However, they abandon all means of making a living and follow Jesus and become wandering evangelists. Their only possessions were the clothes they were wearing and the shoes they were wearing. And they didn't know where to eat their next meal. They lived a life where they didn't know where they were going to sleep that night. And their teacher died on the cross as a sinner. They gave up everything they had and followed the teacher for three years, but all that was left was disappointment and fear.
disciples' faith
When the teacher they trusted so much died as a sinner, they were so traumatized that they could not get out of the shock. This can be seen by looking at the process by which Peter and the other disciples properly recognized the Lord of the Resurrection. Peter went directly to the tomb of Jesus and saw for himself that the body of Jesus had gone, only linen cloths lying there. Still, he could not remember the prophecy of Jesus that he would rise again on the third day after he died (John 20:9).
That evening, the disciples were in the house for fear of the Jews, unable to breathe and trembling in fear. At this time, Jesus himself appeared. But Thomas was not there. Later, when Thomas heard this, he shouted and said, "Unless I see the nails in his hands and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." Eight days later, Jesus reappeared in the presence of Thomas. said to Thomas. He said, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and reach out your hand and put it in my side. And do not be a believer, but a believer." Then Thomas no longer doubted and confessed, "My Lord and my God."
In this case, the other disciples except Thomas seem to have good faith, and Thomas may think that he has perfect faith in the resurrection when he sees Jesus who has appeared again.
However, if you look at today's text, you can see that Peter, who said he had good faith, and Thomas, who saw the risen Lord and confessed, "My Lord and my God," are still in unbelief without much difference.
Peter, who took the lead in following the Lord, was the first to see the empty tomb of the risen Lord, and Peter, who had met the risen Lord twice, took the lead in going fishing. When Peter said, "I am going fishing," all the other disciples said, "We will go together," and followed Peter. If we count the number of disciples who went fishing in the text, it is seven. The number seven is a perfect number and does not simply refer to seven disciples, but to all disciples. When they go fishing, they go back to their former jobs. In other words, the seven disciples went to catch fish, indicating that all the disciples returned to their former lives. The disciples who had abandoned their father and the boat and followed the Lord now abandoned the Lord and went back to the father and the boat. They were disappointed and there was no hope. They wanted and had to spare their physical life, so they took back the old labor they were accustomed to.
the futility of human effort.
However, they were no longer satisfied with their life as fishermen. Not only was he not satisfied with his mental health, but his work as a fisherman did not go well. They fished all night, but did not catch a single fish. The Lord appeared again in the scene of their disappointment. Again, they did not recognize Jesus. The Lord said, "Cast your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find it." As the disciples did as Jesus said, there were so many fish that they could not lift them up. When they see the miracle of the Lord, their eyes widen and they recognize the Lord. As soon as Peter learns that it is the Lord at the beach, he jumps out of the sea and walks on the water to reach the beach. And you will definitely recognize the resurrected Lord for the third time.
the Lord's education
The event of today's text is the educational process that the Lord educates people. The Lord was with us in the repetition of meaningless human failures. Only when the Lord exists is the meaning of our life revealed.
According to the Gospel of John, the Lord appeared twice, but did not give the disciples courage. If it didn't happen the second time, he appeared a third time and awakened our faith again. The Lord said, "How many times must I appear to you before you believe in the resurrection?" He did not rebuke him, although he had to rebuke. How great would it be if we humans met the Lord once and became possessors of fiery faith? But human faith is great amidst many disappointments and setbacks. Human beliefs are completely unreliable as long as they remain in their own beliefs. Only the direct guidance of the Lord can sustain our faith. Our faith is dependent on the direct coming of the Lord. The Lord continues to enlighten us as humans.
Only when the Lord educates us over and over can we have faith. The resurrected Lord awakens the faith of the disciples over and over again three times. And the case of the text is the case of restoring their first love again. A similar incident occurred when they first met Jesus. In Luke 5, at dawn, when they could not catch any fish all night, Jesus gave them the joy of sailing by telling them, “Go into the deep and cast your nets.” Then the disciples left everything and followed Jesus. And the miracle of Peter walking on the water was repeated once again in today's text. When Peter was walking on the water, when he saw the waves, he was afraid and fell into the water, and Jesus rescued him.
The disciples seemed to believe, but they were not perfect. So training was needed again. Recognizing the risen Lord is entirely a gift from Jesus. If Jesus had not continuously revealed Himself, the disciples' faith would have ended as a bubble of faith, and the three years of following Jesus would have been like a dream.
We should thank Jesus for his patience and education. We must learn the patience and education of Jesus. When we come to know the Lord, the greatness of human beings and the strength of human will become useless, and only the love of the Lord is seen as great. This cannot be done without the thorough love and education of the Lord.
Ladies and gentlemen, do you not feel helpless in the contradictions of reality? Are you wondering, “What can I do as a Christian?” ‘Even at school, other people stand out, so why is it hard for me to be zealous? Why am I not doing well? Is our family running tiredly?’ Are you worried about it? Do you want to escape reality, feel that everything you've done seems to be in vain, want to give up your aspirations and plans to do something new, and want to give up on everything that's going on?
But the Lord is with us in the contradictions of reality, in the futility of reality, in human unbelief, and in human ignorance. Our faith begins with the coming of the Lord. Faith is never our first coming to the Lord. Faith is the Lord's education. It is never the result of our own efforts. All initiative in our faith rests with the Lord.
In unbelief, we realize the grace of the Lord on the contrary. When we claim that we have faith, we reject grace on the contrary. The love of the Lord increases when we realize our unbelief and tell the Lord that we have little faith. You will realize the Lord's unconditional love. We learn that even if we forsake the Lord, the Lord will never forsake us. The basis of our lives is not the strength of our will, nor the strength of our faith. It is only in the love of God that never gives up. It is God's unchanging and unchanging love that makes humans human and makes Christians Christians.
With this love of Christ, we can overcome the difficulties of war, unemployment, future anxiety, and the realities of human contradictions and sins. This is not human courage to deceive us. It is not the human courage to cultivate one's will while being deceived and deceived, it is faith in the resurrection of the risen Christ. We can overcome the vain hopes of the reality that deceives man in the resurrection faith where despair is despairing and death is dead.