He Loved Him

     A man approached Jesus and asked, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus replied, "You know the commandments. Do not murder, do not steal..." "Teacher," he replied, "I have done all that since I was young." Jesus looked at him and loved him and said, "One thing you lack, go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow me." (Mark 10:17-22)

     We all know this story and have probably heard several sermons on it, but there is something I've overlooked til now in this story. Jesus "looked at him and loved him." Jesus was about to tell this man to do something harder than had ever been asked of him before but first He loved him. I believe this is also true in our lives. The times when God requests much of us remember, He is looking at us and loving us.

More Than These

     A few weeks had passed since Jesus had last appeared to the disciples and shown Thomas His wounds. The inactivity and the fear of the unknown weighed heavily on Peter's shoulders. Finally he had had enough and he announced to the gathered disciples that he was going fishing. For lack of something better to do, the rest of the disciples went too. After a night of fruitless effort a man appeared on the shore and told them to try the other side. Of course the nets were full to overflowing and they realized that it was Jesus on the shore.

     After feeding them, Jesus called Peter aside and asked him this question, "Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?" More than what? More than the disciples---maybe, but I think Jesus had something else in mind. I think Jesus was referring to the boats and nets and fish scattered on the beach. You see Peter's faith had begun to waver and when faced with difficulties and his response was to return to what he was before he met Jesus. This is a common response, when we are suddenly faced with trials we revert to our old ways. We go back to where we are comfortable.

     Will Jesus have to wave you in from a fishing boat or maybe off the corporate jet and ask you, "Simon (or whomever) do you love me more than these?"

First Things First

     Not long after Jesus' death Peter and the disciples went fishing. This was the first time they had gone fishing since the day Jesus called them out of their boats and away from their nets to become fishers of men. Just like that day, they weren't catching a thing. To add to the irony, a man called out to them from the shore, "Catch anything? No, huh? Try lowering the nets on the other side." They did and pulled in more fish than the boat could hold. As they pulled the boat ashore they saw Jesus tending a fire. Before doing anything else Jesus made breakfast for His hungry disciples.

    He knew before He could fill them up with His spiritual message, He had to take care of their physical needs. Just like you have to repair a hole in the tire before you can fill it up, you need to repair the body before you can fill it with any spiritual message. When you see a person suffering from hunger, you can talk to him all day about God but until you feed him, he will never really respond to the message you are trying to deliver. We as Christians need to be careful not to look beyond the physical needs  as we deliver a message of hope.