The story of Jesus’ death cuts to the core. His resurrection is a miraculous gift that words don’t do justice to. What was it like to be there? I can’t quite imagine “all the feels” of that weekend for those closest to Jesus. The disciples find themselves playing catch-up with what has happened and the emotions of it all! They had to be confused and hurt and elated and so many things.
I wonder what you do when you are feeling overwhelmed? Do you retreat to a quiet space or go out? Do you turn to friends or like alone time? I have a few ways of coping with the overstimulation we call life. In the spring, I always seem to start a gardening project that takes my full attention and keeps me outside. Somehow, the breezes, the hard work of digging up soil, and even sweating in the heat and swatting at the gnats help keep stress and strong emotion at bay. It’s enjoyable work for me. I can see progress (plants planted!) and sense easing of stressful emotions. I get to enjoy seeing flowers open and vegetables ripen. It becomes something I can enjoy in the present and look forward to in the future.
After the week of Jesus’ death and resurrection, his first appearances, the disciples had to be feeling overwhelmed. They had just a few days to take in the idea that he was dying, watching him be nailed to a cross, finding an empty tomb – and then he shows up through a locked door. We look at this story in hindsight; the disciples, Jesus’ friends, the women at the tomb all lived through these unprecedented events in real time! The resurrection was still being digested, if they could even fathom it. Around the third time Jesus shows up, the disciples all decide to go fishing. Peter announces he wants to go fishing, and all the others decide they’d join. This seems an odd or quaint way to spend their time.
And yet, fishing is familiar. It’s their old way of life, how they made a living, and something that is likely second nature to them. They can push out to sea and enjoy the movement of the boat on the waves. Together, they will cast nets and pull them in, getting into the rhythm of throwing them out and pulling them in. It’s ordinary and routine. Perhaps it is calming to do something they know so well. Returning to something we know helps humans deal with emotional overload. And gives us a reprieve from the world invading our lives.
The big difference for the disciples is this: they are now living in a world in which there is amazingly no escape from Jesus. After the resurrection, the routine is no longer routine! The regular is no longer regular! Nothing can separate us from the love of God or the presence of God! Thanks be to God.
So even when they go fishing, Jesus is there. Wherever they might find themselves, the Lord is there… waiting to comfort them, offer nourishment, and walk with them. Fishing as a means of escape or a walk in the woods: Jesus continues to join them, to feed them as he did in life. Jesus continues to teach them, to reveal how Christ-followers love, and helps them see that he is permanently with them. We are reminded that, no matter how we are feeling, Jesus is with us. May we have eyes to see, as they do, Christ with us all, in the ordinary, in the way-too-stimulating world. May we all find ways to sit with Jesus, lost in a garden or in the waves of the sea, to enjoy time with him and escape the overwhelming world for a while.
May it be so,
Tara
photo credits – Tara Lain