Title: The Lord Knows!
Contents
Disciples who returned to their daily lives - Even after seeing Jesus resurrected, the lives of the disciples are the same as those of a fisherman. After experiencing a miraculous life for three years, they now leave that experience behind and fish for a living on the shores of Tiberia. Simon Peter, Thomas who is called Didymus, Nathanael the Galilean, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples, then 8 disciples are now fishing here. They haven't caught a single fish all day long. Things don't go their way, so their shoulders are sagging, and they don't even seem to have any hope of life. At dawn, someone is standing on the beach. But they do not know that it must be Jesus.
Those who believe in Jesus enjoy the privilege of always being with the Holy Spirit. However, there are many cases where we do not know the Holy Spirit because we cannot see it. The Holy Spirit helps the Lord's children to not lose heart when they do God's work, and to always overflow with gratitude and joy. That's why he supplies that strength through prayer and praise through the Word.
When they told them to throw it on the right side of the boat with discouragement, they threw it so powerless that it was hard to even catch a straw, but there were so many fish that they could not lift the net. It is a moment that reminds me of the precious experiences of life that I gained by emptying myself and obeying. When John, the disciple whom the Lord loves, announces that the Lord has come, Peter put on his cloak and jumped into the sea. In the past, when the Lord told me to walk on the water, I was afraid of the waves and I was afraid to cross. There is nothing to be afraid of when we only look to the Lord.
After a while, there is a quiet silence between Jesus and the disciples, who are having breakfast. It is because the disciples also know the heart that He is with them and loves them. The heart of sharing bread and meat is the Lord who has never changed. He shows his disciples the joy of sharing.
Now the Lord brings out what you want to say: 'How can you do that? Can you betray me? I have been looking for you like this.” Instead of giving the disciples a bristle so that they could not lift their heads, they asked Peter, the eldest son of the disciples, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these people?” Peter doesn't answer out loud. I am ashamed, but with the sincere voice inside of me, I answer, 'The Lord knows that I love you.' But Jesus asks Peter the same question three times.
Here we find a wonderful love for Peter, no disciples, no us. Who is Peter? Before Jesus died on the cross, wasn't he the one who proudly swore that he would be with Jesus for the rest of his life before the cross and boasted that he was the Disciple? Do I really want to forsake the Lord?... But his pride breaks down in front of the cross without fail. Another man from Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus by selling him for 30 pieces of silver, who watched the scene where Jesus was being interrogated in the priest's court, and was found out by those who opposed his existence, and denied knowing Jesus three times on the spot. Wasn't he the one who betrayed Jesus by his appearance?
How can he openly confess that he loves the Lord before the Lord? But Jesus was aware of his weakness. He also knew Peter's sincerity more than himself. So I ask again. “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than others?”... With the above words...
In response to the Lord’s above story, Peter said, “Lord, you know all things, and you know that I love you”. Although I showed the folly of denying the Lord, honestly, I had no joy in doing anything other than the Lord, and the Lord knows my sincere heart that only You are my everything... , I was able to confess that I truly love the Lord, who loved me as I am, not because of what I have. That is, I was able to share the confession of the first night of the wedding feast that the Lord loved me and I also loved the Lord, whom the Lord wanted to hear the most. The biggest reason the Holy Spirit works is to make us realize how much God loves us, and to make us love only God and build the kingdom of God in the grace and blessings that He gives us.
Peter, who had the deepest love with the Lord, is no longer shaken by any tribulation, temptation, or even himself. Like the Lord, he was martyred at the end of his life while preaching the gospel. At the moment of his death at the scene of his last martyrdom, he remembered the Lord's words, and he was ashamed to die like the Lord, so he made a wish to hang himself upside down and die. Eventually, he was hung upside down on a cross and was martyred.
The Gospel of John realizes that John, the disciple whom Jesus loves, has to take care of his mother Mary for a long time without being martyred with other disciples so that they can believe that only Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and to fulfill the mission of writing the Gospel. This is a book that testifies how much you love us through His Son, Jesus Christ.
And at the end he exclaims: His love is like a scroll in the sky and the sea as ink, but God's boundless love cannot all be recorded. Now, Christmas, the beginning of God's love for us, is approaching. Let's pray....