A woman and her husband, a beautiful home, and immaculately kept lawn and gardens. On nature walks through the woods nearby they saw wild creatures tame enough to hand feed. The night sky filled with stars was not marred by pollution, air traffic, or space debris. And the perfect neighbor, God, took evening strolls with Adam and Eve each evening at dusk.
Sounds Idyllic, I know. Paradise has been conceived of by every culture, and never seems to vary from the same basic ingredients. We really don't require much as human beings do we? All that was missing was a grill...and a few zebra steaks, or maybe catfish. :)
Jesus hung out with fishermen. And, he was handy with a grill. I don't know that He ever ate zebra, but remember the silent feast of fishes by the seashore that early morning beyond Calvary in John 21? Peter's Fishing Expedition had caught nothing all night. But, Jesus had called out from the shore with an inside tip, producing a miraculous draught of fish. Then Peter dove rashly into the water and swam to Jesus. Jesus instructed them to bring Him some of the catch to add to the grill. They ate the fish apparantly in silence. Jesus looked at Peter sitting there with the water dripping off his coat, droplets sizzling in the heat of the campfire. It was then that Jesus opened the subject the others must have been dreading. "Do you love me?" I'm sure the others all breathed a sigh of relief that Jesus singled out Peter, instead of them to drill about the issue. I am amazed at Jesus asking only about Peter's love, and not his faith. We get it all backwards. We think God cares so much about what we believe or know, while He is wondering how much we love Him. It's all about relationship.
If you look back to the last meal Jesus spent alone with the disciples, the Last Supper, you will find Peter protesting to Jesus that he will never be offended over Jesus. Matthew 26 Then he denied Jesus three times, just as Jesus said he would. I'm sure this meeting with Jesus had to be an uncomfortable reminder of their failures. I'm sure their denial and abandonment was on Jesus' mind. But, He forgave them.
Of course, Adam and Eve had failed in Paradise as well... the best of situations. But, God had a solution to the failure problem. Incarnation and Pentecost: twin historical events where God came down to man, to redeem and restore His fallen creation to Himself. Sadly, neither event would solve the love problem. It would take Jesus' crucifixion to teach us how to love Him.
1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
We didn't even recognize love until he died for us. Strange isn't it? If love is blind...why do we see so clearly when we fall in love with Jesus?
Sounds Idyllic, I know. Paradise has been conceived of by every culture, and never seems to vary from the same basic ingredients. We really don't require much as human beings do we? All that was missing was a grill...and a few zebra steaks, or maybe catfish. :)
Jesus hung out with fishermen. And, he was handy with a grill. I don't know that He ever ate zebra, but remember the silent feast of fishes by the seashore that early morning beyond Calvary in John 21? Peter's Fishing Expedition had caught nothing all night. But, Jesus had called out from the shore with an inside tip, producing a miraculous draught of fish. Then Peter dove rashly into the water and swam to Jesus. Jesus instructed them to bring Him some of the catch to add to the grill. They ate the fish apparantly in silence. Jesus looked at Peter sitting there with the water dripping off his coat, droplets sizzling in the heat of the campfire. It was then that Jesus opened the subject the others must have been dreading. "Do you love me?" I'm sure the others all breathed a sigh of relief that Jesus singled out Peter, instead of them to drill about the issue. I am amazed at Jesus asking only about Peter's love, and not his faith. We get it all backwards. We think God cares so much about what we believe or know, while He is wondering how much we love Him. It's all about relationship.
If you look back to the last meal Jesus spent alone with the disciples, the Last Supper, you will find Peter protesting to Jesus that he will never be offended over Jesus. Matthew 26 Then he denied Jesus three times, just as Jesus said he would. I'm sure this meeting with Jesus had to be an uncomfortable reminder of their failures. I'm sure their denial and abandonment was on Jesus' mind. But, He forgave them.
Of course, Adam and Eve had failed in Paradise as well... the best of situations. But, God had a solution to the failure problem. Incarnation and Pentecost: twin historical events where God came down to man, to redeem and restore His fallen creation to Himself. Sadly, neither event would solve the love problem. It would take Jesus' crucifixion to teach us how to love Him.
1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
We didn't even recognize love until he died for us. Strange isn't it? If love is blind...why do we see so clearly when we fall in love with Jesus?
