Solomon's Porch March 1, 2006 Jehovah Jirah

On finding a ram to sacrifice in place of his son, Isaac, Abraham called the name of the place Jehovah-Jireh [the Lord will provide] (Genesis-22:14) Try to picture this if you will. The crucifixion is over and things are fairly quiet. Strolling along the beach at the sea of Tiberias, we find some lonely characters that don’t seem to know what to do with themselves. They walk silently along the beach kicking a piece of drift wood and scattering the gulls. You remember them: Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee and two other of His disciples. One of them mumbles, what are we going to do now? Simon Peter straightens from his crouched walk, lifts his head and says, I’m going fishing. The rest of them suddenly spring to life and announce, we’re going with you. These were seasoned fishermen who knew the joy of a day at sea with their lines and nets, and the sea air blowing in their hair. Anchored just offshore was one of their fishing boats still standing where they left it when the Master called them. Jesus told them He would make them fishers of men, and for a season they were just that. They were experiencing the joy of being with their Lord and listening to His teachings and marveling at the wondrous things He did. Healing the sick and those suffering with infirmities, opening the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, raising the dead to life, feeding the multitudes and declaring the Kingdom of God.- And what was His reward? He sought no reward, but He changed the world forever, it has never been the same from that day to this. And it is not over yet, He promised to come back, and when He does, every promise He made and every prophesy in the Book will be fulfilled beyond anything we could ever possibly imagine. Ok Nat and Thomas get that anchor up and lets go fishing, you sons of Zebedee never mind putting the sails up, it’s too late in the evening to sail out, we’ll just try drifting here offshore with the breeze tonight and see what we come up with. The reflection of a beautiful full moon shimmered across the water as they let down their net. The old ship creaked and groaned as she drifted and the men lay on their back on the deck, hands under their head looking up at a star laden sky. A great feeling of peace permeated the atmosphere. They lay there reminiscing and recounting the wonderful days when they were with Jesus. Thomas reminded Peter of the time Jesus rebuked him, and said "get thee behind me." and they all laughed about it. How He did love us and how we do miss Him now. Two or three of the men finally drifted off to sleep, relieved from the tension of the trials and crucifixion. They drifted all night occasionally checking the net only to find it empty. They wondered if their life from now on was also going to be empty. They felt such great loneliness and emptiness without the Lord, as though nothing counted anymore. They took great comfort in knowing from personal experience that He had risen from the dead and was most assuredly alive. "We have seen him," said Thomas, and what He said would happen to Him is exactly what happened. At first I didn’t see how it could be that we would ever see Him here on earth again, but there He was right in the midst of us, alive and well. He knew that I had some doubts, and did He ever put those to rest. And if you don’t mind I wish you all would quit calling me Doubting Thomas, no one could possibly believe any stronger than I do. Jesus never found fault with me because I had some doubts, He understood. They all laughed and Peter asked Thomas to check the net again and don’t doubt for a minute that there may be some fish this time. It was such a warm lazy night they all drifted off to sleep again as the boat softly rocked. The moon was almost full and the shadow of the boat fell across the gentle waves. It was so quiet you could almost hear it. Now and then a small wave would lap the side of the boat adding a peaceful rhythm to the gentle rocking. Morning was announced by the familiar squawking of gulls looking for a handout. The men stretched and accepted the fact that another beautiful day was here, except that someone was missing, the One that they counted on to provide their every need. What are they going to do without Him leading them every step of the way, never failing to see that everyone around Him was provided for? Peter sat up on the hatch cover and said, "we now know for a fact that He is Emmanuel. You do remember the story about Joseph and Mary don’t you? How all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Who would ever have believed that God would come from heaven to be with us. Imagine our Great Creator appearing in our very midst. And look what happened to Him when He did. Makes you wonder why He came doesn’t it? But He made it quite clear exactly why He was here. As it has been told, "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save his people from their sins." Thomas sitting up with his head in his hands, staring at the deck beneath his feet, said, "nothing will ever be the same, He has changed the world forever and He promised that He will come back again, I hope He comes soon" Peter pulled himself to his feet and said, "It’s time to check the net and I hope we have some fish, I’m hungry" The sun was still on the horizon and it was going to be a beautiful morning as this little group began to come alive. Peter checked the net-nothing. The others gathered around looking rather forlorn. Nothing for breakfast. One of the crew sighed and muttered something about, if The Master were here He would provide, He always did. "What do we do now," said Nat? "I guess we just pull up the net and get out of here." Thomas said, "Who is that person on the shore waving at us and yelling something. Can any of you understand what he is trying to tell us?" Peter said, "When he finds out that we don’t have any fish for breakfast he’ll be on his way. What is he saying anyway? Sounds like he wants to know if we caught anything during the night. Tell him no and maybe he will go away." Thomas watched as He keeps waving his arms and yelling "throw the net off the right side of the boat." Peter said, "we tried that last night and caught nothing, but give it another try and when he sees there is nothing to catch he’ll go away and quit bothering us." But no more than the net hit the water, fish appeared all over the place filling the net to the breaking point. John took a close look at the man on the shore and yelled, "it’s The Lord!" Hearing that, Peter jumped over the side and began swimming to shore. The rest dropped their small dory, grabbed the oars and pulled for shore. As soon as they hit the beach there was Jesus and a fire of coals and fish simmering for breakfast. He did it again, He provided when it looked hopeless. Jesus said, "pull the net to shore and see what you have." Peter with the help of the others went up and drew the net to shore, it was overflowing with one hundred and fifty three nice size fish. It’s a wonder the net didn’t break. Jesus said, "come and have breakfast" They wondered where He got the fish He had cooking and where did the bed of burning coals come from. He also had bread to go along with the fish. But none of them asked knowing that it was The Lord. They never ceased to be amazed at what The Lord might do next. This was the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was risen from the dead. Everything Jesus did and said while here on earth and everything written in God’s Word was and is for some purpose. What was the primary purpose of this, His third appearance to His disciples? As we read on in the Biblical account of this visit (John chapter 21) we learn that He emphatically stated and commanded them to "Feed My Sheep" But is there another message here in the 153 fish caught in the net, and the one fish Jesus had on the fire? I have searched through several Biblical dictionaries, encyclopedias, nine commentaries and the Bible itself and could find nothing that might give even a clue as to the possibility that this might be a prophetic message of some nature. Why exactly 153 fish? Several years ago I did hear someone propose that the 153 fish might indicate that 153 nations would be caught up in the net before Jesus returns again, and that the one fish on the bed of coals could represent Jerusalem. I can find nothing to substantiate that. The one thing that does stand out is that Jesus provided not only a net full of fish to feed those in need, but had breakfast ready for His friends. These were men that He loved, sinners that were now forgiven, men that He was willing to die for that they might be fed by His body and blood. Jesus is, without a doubt, as Thomas would tell us, the one true provider of man’s needs. Jesus still says to us today. (Rev 3:20) " Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Something man always wants to hear someone say to him: I love you-You are forgiven-supper is ready. Jesus is saying to us this very day. "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." (Matt 11:15)We who are hearing; should be feeding His sheep. Whenever we can, we should let someone hear that they are loved and that their sins can be forgiven and that they can come to the supper table? Jesus said (John 10:10) "I am come that they might have life , and that they might have it more abundantly." Pray and ask God to provide opportunities every day for you to share your faith and the love of Jesus. Faith is a gift from God. Eph 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith ; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:" ..."freely ye have received, now freely give." Matt-10:8 (Italics added for emphasis) If you have some insight, idea, or suggestion about why exactly 153 fish caught in the net (John-21:11)we would like to hear from you. In the meantime make good use of those opportunities provided to share the love of Jesus. Jehovah Jira, Our Provider Jehovah Jirah My Provider, His grace is sufficient for thee.