Come and Dine |
| After His resurrection,
Jesus stood on the shore of Tiberia, cooking fish and bread for
breakfast (John 21:9). He invited them, "Come and dine" (come and
have breakfast - NAS). (v. 12). He then gave them fish and bread (v.
13). Peter had verbally denied the Lord three times. John, by his
silence had denied the Lord in the same courtyard. (John 18:15). All
the other disciples has scattered, deserted Jesus at the time of His
trial. But now Jesus, in total agape love and forgiveness, is ready
to serve them.
How are we to serve one another? In pure agape love, forgiving one another (Col. 3:12-14). Can we, with agape love and forgiveness serve one who has betrayed us? Or one who has denied us?" You say, "I can't do that." No, you can't by your own will and strength. But through the power of the Holy Spirit you can. How? It's something you learn to do little by little; you walk it out day by day. It's something you put on (enduo), not in a day but in a process of a lifetime. You will not be perfected in a day, a week or a month or a year. How do you put on the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 13:14)? Again it's a day by day process, a life-style. You don't wake up some Monday morning and decide or declare you are going to put on Jesus Christ. As long as people see some of you rather than the Christ within you, you are still in the PROCESS of putting on the Lord Jesus Christ. "COME AND DINE." Jesus was not a person to speak idle words. This invitation, "Come and dine" has so much more meaning than the apparent literal one for the moment. "Come" is an invitation to freely come to Him, at this point for the disciples in His resurrected state on the shore of Tiberia. Later for the disciples and for all mankind, in His glorious state, to manifest Himself as the Holy Spirit within them. To "come" means for us to ascend from where we are, in our spiritual state or walk, to where He is. Jesus has prepared the meal, the fish and the loaves are ready to eat. No salt or seasoning needed. God has provided all the ingredients for man to see, to enter, to advance, to live and walk victoriously, to rule and reign as an overcomer in the Kingdom of God. Eternal life is provided for those who eat. Again, Jesus acting as servant: "Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise" (John 21:13). It's our responsibility to dine, that is, eat His flesh and drink His blood. "...if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: AND THE BREAD THAT I WILL GIVE IS MY FLESH, which I will give for the world " (John 6:51).In essence, JESUS IS SERVING HIMSELF. He is not only the one who serves, HE HIMSELF IS WHAT HE OFFERS FOR US TO EAT. The natural mind cannot begin to comprehend this truth. It's our responsibility to eat the Word, that is, partake of it, whether milk or meat. Some of it may be sweet to the mouth but bitter in the belly (Rev. 10:9). We need to eat it ourselves, we can't be spoon fed all our life. We can't partake of the kingdom by an IV needle stuck in our veins or tubes rammed up our nose. We must chew and swallow it. With the help of the Lord, we can then walk it out. The role of Jesus as servant didn't end with His earthly ministry. He continues to act as servant in a many membered body, as the Christ within us. The Scriptures don't indicate specifically that Jesus ate with the disciples, except for verse 15: "So when THEY had dined..." But if He didn't eat with them, then He broke the pattern. For an Old Testament type, Joseph is a type of Christ. He invited his brothers to his home to eat. Genesis 43:16 reads, "And when Joseph saw Benjamin with them, he said to the ruler of his house, Bring these men home, and slay, and make ready; for these men shall dine with me at noon." Joseph did not actually, by custom, eat at the same table, but they did eat at his house. Ponder the thought, "The Lord Jesus Christ eating with us. "The
natural mind cannot grasp that. What does it mean? As we, the body
of Christ, share the Word with each other, the Christ within us
partakes (eats) of that Word that we pass between us. And as the
Holy Spirit reveals the meaning of the Scriptures to us (John 14:26;
16:13), the spirit within us partakes of that Word to (spiritually)
nourish us. Return to: |