[The readings for the last two weekdays of the Easter Season jump to the last chapter of John’s Gospel.]
Seven of the disciples had spent the night fishing and caught nothing. On their return, as their boat neared the shore, Jesus was standing there – except they didn’t know who it was. He told them to drop their nets one more time. They did, and caught a great haul of fish. At that moment they realized that the man on shore was the Risen Jesus.
When they came ashore, Jesus had breakfast ready for them. After breakfast, Jesus takes Peter aside and asks, “Do you love me more than these?” (Jesus isn’t asking if Peter loves him more than the other disciples love him. He’s asking if Peter loves him more than “these” – that is, more than his love for his boat and his nets and his friends.)
Jesus will ask this three times. He wants to help Peter undo his three denials. But Jesus knew that Peter was sorry, and that Peter loved him. So why go through this?
Christianity isn’t a religion simply of thoughts and abstractions. It involves a genuine personal relationship with Jesus Christ. To speak our thoughts and feelings engages more of our whole self. So we tell the Lord what our needs are, even though he knows what they are. We tell the Lord how we feel, even though he knows how we feel.
If I ever had any questions about whether prayer is really needed, this passage should help put those questions to rest.
Mount Everest, located on the Nepal-Tibet border is the highest mountain on earth, reaching a height of 29,028 feet (just under six miles). Attempts to climb its peak began in 1920, but all failed.
Fifty-one years ago today, a New Zeeland beekeeper named Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, reached the peak of Mount Everest and became the first human being to “stand on the top of the world.”
In the Gospels Jesus is frequently described as going up a mountain, usually to pray. However, the term “mountain” is a relative one.
The Britannica World Language Dictionary defines a mountain as “a natural elevation of the earth’s surface, rising more or less abruptly, reaching an elevation greater than that of a hill.”
As for a “hill,” that same dictionary says: “A conspicuous natural elevation rising above the earth’s surface and smaller than a mountain.”