OUR LORD'S APPEARANCE AT THE SEA OF TIBERIAS.
In the Song of Solomon the Bride appealing to her Beloved says, “Tell me, O Thou Whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon “; for she is desirous of knowing where He is to be found at that time. He answers her by saying, “If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds' tents"; thus very clearly indicating that where His own loved “little flock” is seen, there her Beloved may surely be found. Where His own were assembled in Jerusalem, their risen Lord stood in the midst; even so, when certain of them, having left Jerusalem, are actively engaged fishing in the Sea of Galilee, He is then in the same locality with them, bent on promoting their highest interests, and this while they are totally unconscious that the Lord is so near them.
They are engrossed in their unsuccessful efforts to catch fish, but their risen Lord is thinking much more of themselves. As in His dealings with ourselves oftentimes, He first allows their human energies to expend themselves in vain and fruitless toil. Then obedience to His command is rewarded with blessing so bountiful, that John quickly discerns in their Blesser the Person of the Lord.
Having made this discovery John as usual toils on, in strict harmony with the Lord's own expressed command. He honors his Lord by his patient continuance in the path of obedience. Peter, hitherto so much engrossed in his fishing, from the instant that John has informed him that it is the Lord Who stands upon the shore, becomes so exclusively occupied with Jesus, that the fishes, highly valued before, are now of such small account to himself that he suddenly ceases all his own toil to hasten into his Lord's presence.
Was not the ship of greater intrinsic value than ever so large a draft of fishes? Peter springs out of the ship without the slightest hesitancy, save only that he attires himself becomingly for the special occasion. Some might feel disposed to reflect with severity upon his leaving those attached brethren, who had at the first followed his lead, to toil henceforth by themselves. In this action of his we however see striking evidences of his own ardent affection for the Lord; for greatly as he loves them, his brethren have a secondary place in that heart now full of Christ to the exclusion of aught else. He has literally left all for Christ, and is privileged, not only as being the first disciple to reach the Lord, but also as being thereby enabled to help his brethren even more effectually than he could have done had he remained with them. For all the advantage of having a firm footing upon the shore is Peter's as he now draws the net to land, full of great fishes. Do not those who come straight from the Lord's presence to the succor of other loved ones ever prove to be the most effectual helpers of their toiling brethren?
While standing “in the midst” in Jerusalem, our Lord took and ate the fish His disciples gave Him. By the shore of the Sea of Galilee they saw a fire of coals that they had not themselves made, fish laid thereon that they had not caught, and bread not at all of their providing. These partakers of the repast are the guests of Him Who serves them during the never-to-be-forgotten meal; itself an earnest of the joys of the coming feast at which our Lord will make those servants, whom He finds “watching,” to sit down to meat, when He will gird Himself and come forth and serve them.
His own resources infinite, yet does He condescendingly acknowledge the result of His blessing of their own toil by saying, “Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.”
To those already established in the glorious truth of His resurrection was this “proof” given, by which our Lord Jesus also gave ample proof that His great love and tender concern for His own remained unaltered by changed circumstances.
The thrice repeated “Lovest thou Me?” wrought more effectually in the heart of Peter than a long discourse would have done. And the very nature of the threefold charge is yet another clear indication of constant solicitude for the promotion of the welfare of His own “lambs” and “sheep.”
John's last picture in his Gospel is his presentation of Peter following his risen Lord by express command; and of John following Jesus because it is Himself that is leading the way—no question raised and no definite command required. May we so follow Christ at all times.
THE APPEARANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN IN GALILEE.
What inclines us to the thought that this was probably the occasion to which Paul refers when he writes of our Lord being seen “of above five hundred brethren at once,” is the final wording of this “proof” as given by Matthew, viz., “and when they saw Him, they worshipped Him: but some doubted.” For the three last quoted words could scarcely apply to those who had already seen Him more than once before, and who, when they had previously seen Him, knew that it was the Lord. And the verse preceding that quoted is conclusive that this meeting was by previous appointment. From the knowledge, however imperfect, which we possess of our own hearts, we can easier account for “some doubting,” or being at “a loss what to think, if these words apply to “some” of that “five hundred,” many of whom had not before seen Him since He was risen from among the dead. The Lord now authoritatively commanded His disciples to go and teach all nations.
OUR LORD'S APPEARANCE TO THE APOSTLE JAMES
is one of distinct “proofs” enumerated by Paul (1 Cor. 15), of which no mention is made elsewhere.
THE APPEARANCE ON THE FORTIETH DAY
(possibly that “to all the apostles” of which Paul speaks) was evidently in Jerusalem. Earlier, by express command or appointment, had they gone to Galilee, there to see the Lord; now the exhortation given is, “tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued, with power from on high.” They are further instructed to begin preaching “at Jerusalem.”
“And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy: and were continually in the temple, praising God.”
ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST
Peter adduces the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as demonstrating the glorious fact that the risen Jesus had “been exalted by the right hand of God,” and had “received of the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit “; Whose presence on earth was and is an incontestable proof, not only of the resurrection, but also that the risen Jesus has departed out of this world unto the Father.
We pass on to consider that which, viewed from one standpoint, may be said to be
THE FINAL PROOF GIVEN TO THE NATION OF ISRAEL.
One of the charges preferred against Stephen before the council was that he had been heard to say, “that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered unto us.” To the subject-matter of his unanswerable defense we now make no allusion, seeing that his powerful testimony through the Spirit before the enemies of the Lord was instantly confirmed by the heavens being opened in the sight of that fearless witness on earth. That same Jesus Whom they had crucified, and Whose sepulcher had been so carefully sealed, is now seen by Stephen standing on the right hand of God. Given thus unexpectedly, this infallible proof of the resurrection could not be gainsaid; the guilty disputants had only one resource; this they instantly adopted, and silenced the witness by stoning him to death.
THE LAST PROOF OF ALL
cited by the apostle Paul is that the risen Lord was seen of himself also, “as of one born out of due time.” To believers of Gentile birth, this appearance of the Lord has a special interest, because of its being inseparably connected with Paul's call to the apostleship of the uncircumcision.
JOHN AFTERWARD SAW THE RISEN LORD
in His judicial glory; and fell at His feet as dead. The Lord then said, “Fear not; I am the First and the Last, and the Living One; and I became dead, and, behold, I am alive for evermore.”
A. J.