Breakfast with Jesus

Read John 21:9-14

9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. (NRSV)

We who believe Jesus was not just an ordinary man but the human expression of God, may sometimes think of him in overly spiritual terms. Yet when he walked the earth he did so as a human being with all the features and much of the frailty of normal humans. And we may tend to think that all this changed after his resurrection: his humanity somehow dissolved.

Not so. It seems from our text that the risen Jesus, resurrection body and all, managed to cook up a breakfast for his disciples and serve it to them. This may not be of profound importance, but it does remind us that Jesus at the very least cares for his people in very practical ways. In the midst of miraculous appearances and passing through solid walls and teaching of his resurrection, he finds the time and has the ability to serve breakfast.

It is right and proper to reflect on Jesus as seated with God in a place of highest honour. But we must never forget that this exalted Jesus once found the time and made the effort to cook up some bread and fish on the lakeside for his weary and hungry disciples. We never forget that Jesus’ great example of love and service was his death on the cross. But his preparing breakfast is at the very least an encouraging footnote in his love-based life.

Blessings
David Reay