THE KING'S BUSINESS
970
again, with the addition of the doubting Thomas. Be that as it may, there they are on the shore of the sea, and Peter charac– teristically takes the lead and suggests a course that they will accept, "I go a fishing." So they go and there follow the incidents which I need not repeat, because we all know them well enough, Only, I wish to mark the distinct al– lusion throughout the whole narrative to the earlier story of the first miracu– lous draught of fishes which was con– nected with their call to the apostle– ship, and was there declared by Christ to have a symbolical meaning. Think of the fact! Jesus Christ, fresh from the grave, who had been down Into those dark regions of mys– tery where the dead sleep and wait, had come back Into this world and was on the eve of ascending to the Father, -this Christ, the posses.sor of such experiences, takes an interest In seven poor men's fishing, an<;l cares to know whether their ragge~ old net is full or .empty. Here is a vision to cheer us all. Liie must be full of toil and failure. We are on the midnight sea and have to tug, weary and wet, at a heavy oar, and to haul an often empty n et. But we do not labour alone. He comes to us across the storm, and is with us In the night, a most real, because unseen Pres– ence. If we accept the guidance o! His directing Word, His lndwell!ng Spirit, and His all-sufficient example, and seek to ascertain His wlll In out– ward Providen_ces, we shall not be left to waste our strength in blunders, nor shall our labour be in vain. In the morning light we shall see Him stand– ing serene on the steadfast shore. And when the sun rises we shall land on the solid beach, bringing our "!ew small fishes" with us, which He will ac– cept. And there we shall r est, nor need to ask who He Is that serves us, for we shall know "It is the Lord."
"For the Lamb which Is In the mld•t of the throne shall teed them, and •hall lead tit.em unto living fountains of wa– ten I and God shall wipe awa7 all tean from their eyes." Topics for Study (1) What Is suggested In the change of relationship of Jesus after His resurrection? Why did H~ not live with the dis– cipl'-'0 as He had previously f.one! ( 2) ·what Is suggested in His re– quest to bring of their fish also? ( 3) Was Peter divinely led to go fishing, or did Jesus simply use the fact as an opportunity to teach a great lesson? ( 4) What is suggested by the in– cident of the Lord making a fire and preparing a meal? ( 5) Could Peter have been a John if he had desired? I.\ SUGGESTIVE COMMENT Selected from ''Expositions of Holy Scripture"-Dr. Alexander Maclaren. The incident recorded In this appen– dix to John's Gospel is separated from other appearances of our risen Lord in respect of time, place and purpose. The object of the other appearances was, mainly, to establish the reality of the resurrection, the identity of Christ's physical body, and to confirm the faith of the disciples therein. Here, these purposes retreat Into the background, and the object seems to be to reveal the permanent relations between the risen Lord and His struggling Church. The little group of whom we read In this narrative reminds us of the other group of the first disciples in the first chapter of this Gospel, Simon Peter, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, James and John. A very natural Inference is that the "two others" unnamed here are the two others of that chapter, viz, Andrew and Philip. If so, we have at the end the original little group gathered together
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