Children, Have You Any Meat?

It's a shame that this scripture had to be written. John is the only one to record the event, and if he'd has his way he probably would have left it out. It is here for our instruction. It's barely three weeks after the resurrection. These men were apostles, leaders of the early church, yet they had to learn a lesson. "Children, have you any meat?" Their answer had to be "no." How would we answer the question?

John 21:1-71 After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself.

2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.
3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto
him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship
immediately; and that night they caught nothing.

4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.
6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of
the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not
able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.

7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto
Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord,
he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.

This is a common question. If we run upon a fisherman, what do we say? Have you caught anything? The disciples fished all night, so the next morning the Lord asked them if they had caught anything. They had made a big mistake; it was not God's fault, but God does want us to know this can happen and it can happen to us. The instruction here is not about fishing; it's about consistency.

Bear in mind what has happened. The word from the women at the tomb was that Jesus would go ahead of them to Galilee. He met the ten that first Easter afternoon. Two weeks later he met them again; Thomas was there. The disciples were just beginning to understand why Jesus died. He was risen and the blessing of their salvation was given as well as their commission. They needed to work for the Lord. The momentum of the early church was rising. As long as they were consistent, God blessed them. Jesus instructed them to go to Galilee telling them he would meet them there.

Instead of waiting for Jesus when they got there, Peter decided to go fishing and talked some of the others into going with him. It was after the Sabbath, so there was nothing wrong with going fishing. What is wrong here? Their consistency was at stake. They were to be faithful to the Lord. The same is true with us. We must be consistent in our life. We can be faithful to God's house, be faithful to study our Sunday school lesson, but if we're not consistent with our daily life the faithfulness is not worth much at all.

Just three years prior to this Jesus had called several of the disciples from their fishing boats to follow him. He told them he would make them fishers of men. They did just that. It was a higher calling.What Jesus offers is far better, far better in life and in eternity. Jesus has made us what we are, and the measure of our success is by our consistency–it's what we're made of. We are Christians by the Lord's making. Jesus called us to something more important; he made us something different when he saved us. My response to that difference should be to live how Jesus made me.

Jesus moved from place to place, from the Upper Room to Galilee. The third week after Easter, everything should have been on a roll. It should have been falling into place. Is your life falling into place. When the disciples got to the sea, Peter looked back on what he used to do before he followed Jesus, before he was delivered from his sin. James and John had tempers.Nathaniel was cynical–could anything good from Nazareth? Thomas was a skeptic. Matthew was a hustler trying to take money from people. Peter was a flip-flop. He liked to show off. While it is not a sin to fish, it is a sin to fish on Sunday morning when we ought to be in church. Peter thought he could go fishing before Jesus came. He would just slip out and do it.

There is no break from serving the Lord. We have to be consistent. Are we in and out of church? Are we the same on Monday that we are on Sunday? Are we a Christian around the crowd? Do we watch what we say? Are our deeds and decisions consistent with being a Christian? If we profess it we must do it. There is a hypocrite in all of us. It's the truth. There is one in me; there is one in you. Sometimes it just busts to get out. We'd better stay out of the boat! Let's not forget the bondage that came with the old life. It will bite us if we go back to it–just a little. We are an influence to others for good or bad. We don't want to be a stumbling block to anyone.

So they went fishing and did so all night. Nothing happened. These old fisherman could not fish anymore. They slipped back into that old lifestyle so much that Peter slipped off his fishing jacket and was naked. It didn't bother him a bit. The old Peter came out.These boys were having a relapse. In one night's time they went back to what they were three years ago. We are not to look back on our old life with yearning. Jesus found them out; they were caught. Remember the Lord also knows our inconsistency. We can't eat from both pastures; we won't gain anything but will lose everything.

The morning came. Jesus was standing on the shore. He addressed them as children, for that's how they were acting. Children, do you have any meat? Did it do you any good to go back? Did you get anything out of it? Does our inconsistency do us any good either? They, as well as we, do have to confess. No. It did us no good at all. John recognized Jesus first and told Peter. He immediately clothed himself and jumped in the water. He was ashamed. They should have been on the shore waiting for Jesus. They were not consistent. Jesus then told them to cast their net on the other side; in other words, get on the right side of this. That's a good reminder for us; stay on the right side. Face up to our inconsistencies.

Later in this same chapter Jesus asked Peter if he loved him more than these, more than the fishing? Peter said yes. Jesus told him to feed his lambs. Our future success will depend on our consistency. What is He saying to you and me today? Take a look at yourself– who you are, how you're living, and where your living has taken you. Have you any meat? Gird yourself. Cast your net on the right side again.. and come back ashore to Him.