DAY 164

REMNANT

Ezra 6, 7 & 8 and John 21

Today we read about the completion of the Second Temple! This is a wonderful moment, and yet we know it is not of the grandeur of the first one. Gone are the pages and pages of directions from God about how to build it; gone is the great nation that surrounded it. What will it be? How will it be used? In the coming pages we will find out, but today a remnant, a faithful remnant, has overcome amazing odds to rebuild and dedicate the Temple. It would appear to have taken about 20 years to build.

We then read of Ezra coming to Jerusalem; most scholars put this moment around 458 BC, over 50 years after the dedication of the Temple. Artaxerxes, the king, is certainly favorably pre-disposed to this effort, providing lavish amounts of money and stating that the rulers of the local provinces give Ezra whatever he asks for. A read of the text shows the modesty of this undertaking…and yet these are the faithful remnant.

In our New Testament reading we come across another remnant out fishing. John 21 presents an episode that has me scratching my head while at the same time my heart is moved.

I am scratching my head because I am wondering why they are fishing? In John 20 they have met the Risen Lord. Maybe “scratching my head” is really me “judging them.” I am thinking, “These are the disciples, they have met the Lord, they ought to out there.” But that judgment immediately rightly turns upon me evoking two responses:

·         These are 11 or so confused men and women, and

·         The same could be said of me, “I’ve met the Lord, so what am I doing.”

The place I come to in my thinking is that they are persons, just like us. It is easy to see them as “super stars,” but at that end of the day they are persons; in some way a remnant, and they can only do a godly appointed task if God is with them.

And He is. Jesus in this episode is on the beach. I have never been fond of fish, especially in the morning. Beyond the cuisine the moment is amazing. Here is the Risen Lord, cooking, and they know who it is, but are too anxious to speak. Why? I am not sure. Is it because they are fishing, having gone back to their “pre-call” vocation? Is it because they just don’t know what to say or do because it is all so new? I am not sure.

The silence matters not because it allows Jesus to take the initiative – and his initiative is always first and foremost about reconciling human beings to God. I wonder if Peter, who has dashed in, realizes that last time their eyes met were when the “cock crowed?” Could you imagine if that was the case? Here is Peter rushing to the shore, and then it dawns on him.

It is no wonder Jesus takes the initiative. First asking about fishing: Asking a fisherman about fishing is akin to asking someone about the weather…its small talk. Then, after a bite to eat, Jesus asks the ultimate question of Peter, “Do you love me more than these?” The threefold question has an interesting Greek language twist.

In Greek there are a number of words for love. Agapé is one – it is self-sacrificing/self-giving love. That is the word Jesus uses in His question. Peter answers “Yes I love you” with a different Greek word: Phileo. Think of our “city of brotherly love,” Philadelphia. Brotherly, sibling love, is the best way to understand that word. Why might Peter use it instead of Agapé? Perhaps because he knows he fell short once and doesn’t want to overreach. We will not know the answer this side of heaven. What we do know is the Lord persists. He pursues. He reconciles Peter to himself.

That is our God: a God who is in the business of reconciling us. A God who calls home the remnant to build a Temple. A God who calls home those who have even denied Him. A God would will do godly work to those who join Him in his mission.