"Come and Have Breakfast"

“Come and have breakfast.” Already in Isaiah 55:1-3 the Lord invites us, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live.” These words were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jesus told the Samaritan woman, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn 4:14). He also said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them” (Jn 7:37-38). Jesus is the Living Water, the Bread of Life. He declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (Jn 6:35).

And now the Risen Lord invites us, “Come and have breakfast.” He invites us into this new life that only He can give, a life that never ends. The living Lord invites us into a close, loving relationship with him. He invites us into his Kingdom. He provides everything we need for this new life. He forgives us. And He calls us to love and follow him.

1. Jesus Provides

After all the events in Jerusalem, the disciples returned to Galilee. Most likely they went home. Here we see seven of them together. I can imagine them sitting together, thinking, talking about all that had happened. This is the aftermath of all the excitement. They went through some very dramatic experiences. Jesus was crucified. He died. He was buried. They thought it was the end. Then he is alive. The Lord is risen. They already met and saw the risen Lord twice. But where is he now? What’s next?

“I am going to fish,” Peter told them, and they went with him. Perhaps Peter wanted to get on with life. Perhaps he wanted to get a break from all the emotional experiences they have gone through. Perhaps Peter felt so badly about his failure, his denial of Jesus, that he just wanted to escape that whole horrible experience and focus his mind on something else. What else was there to do? So they went back to what they knew best; to the world and life they knew. The last three years had been a roller coaster ride; full of excitement, expectations, ideals, hopes, dreams, even disappointments, and confusions. And now, it seems not much has come of it. So, they will return to their former profession, settle down, and do something sensible for a change, like earning some money, providing for their families. Like catching fish. So off they went fishing. But that didn’t work. They worked and tried all night and caught nothing. They were cold, tired, and hungry. It was early morning, just after dawn the beginning of a new day.

At that moment Jesus came again. At first, they did not know it was him. Perhaps it was difficult to make out who it was in the early morning light. He called out to them from the shore and asked them if they had any fish to eat. No, they did not. He told them what to do, and a miracle happened. They caught a large number of fish. Then John realized who it was, and said, “It is the Lord!” When Peter heard this, he grabbed his cloak and jumped into the sea. This was not a graceful dive, but a cannonball. The Greek actually says that he threw himself into the sea. Again, we see the passionate Peter acting on impulse. Well, who can blame him? I am sure that he longed to see Jesus again. And he still had unfinished business with him. 

On the beach, there was a fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus invited them to bring some of the fish they caught to add to what he already provided. Then he says, “Come and have breakfast.”

Jesus invites us also to breakfast. He invites us to have and experience this new life He provides because He is the life and the resurrection. God’s kingdom has dawned and broken into this world. He invites us to enter into this kingdom. He not only gives us new life and salvation, but He also provides everything we need for living this new life. He gives us the Holy Spirit. 

This encounter takes us back to when Jesus called his disciples the first time. Mark 1:17, “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people,” or, “I will make you fishers of men.” In John 20:21-22 Jesus sent his followers and gave them the Holy Spirit, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

We are called and sent to make disciples but if we try to do this on our own we will fail. Without Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5). Like the disciples, who were expert fishers, we will work all night and catch nothing. He equips and empowers us to be fishers of men, to fulfill our mission and calling in this world. Yes, we must give our best and work hard, but we must do so in total dependence on Christ. Only when we abide in Christ, spend time with him, listen to his voice, trust Him, only then will we succeed in our calling because Jesus provides.

2. Jesus Forgives

When Jesus says, “Come and have breakfast,” He invites us into grace and forgiveness. Jesus forgives. In this encounter on the beach, He restored Peter. Imagine yourself in Peter’s sandals. In Matthew 16:16, Peter made a great confession, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” In John 13:37, Peter said, “I will lay down my life for you.” In Matthew 26:33, Peter boldly claimed that even if all fall away on account of Jesus, he never will, and then he said, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you” (v.35). We all know what happened. He denied Jesus three times. 

This experience must have devastated Peter. I am sure that he had much regret; that he had beaten himself up over it, replaying that event over and over in his mind. The sound of the rooster. Jesus turning and his eyes looking straight at him (Luke 22:61). If he could only turn back the clock. He could not forgive himself. Yes, he had already met the risen Lord twice, but this matter is still between them. Had he disqualified himself from serving Christ? From being a follower of Jesus? Perhaps he doubted his own ability to walk with Christ again. Would his heart ever know peace again? Peter was in desperate need of love, grace, forgiveness, healing, and restoration. Seeing that fire on the beach, smelling the smoke must have brought back the memories of another fire on that night when he failed and denied Jesus.

Have you been there, where Peter was? I have been. Are you angry with yourself? Are you carrying old pains, hurts, regrets, sorrows? We all have experienced failures, and we will again. But our failures should not cause us to give up, to lose hope and despair. The disciples failed in their fishing trip, but Jesus restored the catch. Peter failed dismally. But in this encounter Jesus restores Peter. He did not just forgive Peter but gave him a very important ministry to do. Peter’s three confessions of love were followed by three gracious commissions from the Lord. 

Our failures should bring us back to Jesus. He brings us face to face with who we really are, with our failures and sins. He goes to where the pain is. He cuts to the heart of the matter. We cannot hide anything from Jesus. He knows everything about us. Therefore, in humility and repentance, we must confess and bring everything to Jesus. We must become poor in spirit. Only when we turn to Him can He begin to do his creative work of healing us, restoring us, and sanctifying, making us holy. Jesus is the Passover Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, including Peter’s sin, your sin, and my sin. Jesus forgives, no matter what we have done. We are people of the second chance. Accept his invitation to breakfast, receive his forgiveness and the new life He gives us.

3. Jesus Calls — Follow Me!

After breakfast, Jesus asked Peter three times whether he loved the Lord and three times Peter answered that he did. Do you love me? Do you really love me? More than these? Loving God is the highest and greatest priority in our lives. It comes before everything else. God made this priority clear already in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 — “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Jesus confirmed this with the Great Commandment in Matthew 22:36-38 — Love God with your whole being, and love your fellow human beings as you love yourself. 

Jesus is asking us, Do you love me above and beyond, more than anything and anyone else? Then follow me and serve me!  Again, this call comes with a warning. Be aware that to follow Jesus comes with a cost. It is easy to say that we love God but the test of that love is shown in loving others. If we don’t love others we don’t love God (1 Jn 4:20-21). This is the cost, the sacrifice of following Jesus. It is easy to love the lovable, those who love me, those who think and believe like me. It’s very hard to love the unloveable, the unbelievers, the wicked, my enemies, those who don’t think or believe as I do. So, we have to deny self, sacrifice our egos to love others unconditionally as Jesus loves them. This is going to cost us everything — we must die to self.

It is easy to say that we love Jesus, but the test of that love is the willingness to follow and serve Him, even to die for Him. We have talked about this many times. A life of loving, following, and serving Jesus is difficult. We are followers of the suffering Christ. We are following Him in the way of the cross. Therefore, we will experience suffering. We will be crucified in one way or the other by the world. So, again this calls us to take up our crosses daily and follow Jesus. 

Do you love me? Then follow Me and serve Me. Jesus calls us to participate in his kingdom work. We are his hands and feet in the world. This is true. But we must be careful because this can also be a very dangerous statement. We can become arrogant and proud. We may try to be fishers of men without Christ, relying on our own methods and power. We may think that God’s kingdom work depends on us; thinking that He needs us to accomplish his mission. No. He is God. He is Lord. He made the sea. He gives the fish. He made everything. He controls everything. He can accomplish his mission without us. He does not need us. 

And yet, He invites us to come and have breakfast with Him. He invites us to live and enjoy this new life with Him, already now, in this world. He invites us to join hands with him, to be his hands and feet in the world. He makes us heroes in God’s Story. There is no greater or better breakfast than this — loving him, following him, serving him, living for him. We are fishers of men in a dark and stormy world. But He provides. He enables us. Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Come and have breakfast with Jesus, now, in this life. And one day we will join Him for the best and most glorious breakfast in the new creation, a breakfast that will last forever.