Recognize, Respond, and Rush!

In a global pandemic it’s sometimes difficult to recognize Jesus.
Throw into the mix racial injustice, brutality, and demonized outrage, and it’s hard to breathe as we search for the face of God.

We ask questions like, “Where is He?”  “Has He forsook us?” 
We, like the ones inside the boat who knew Him best, find ourselves questioning Him too, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?” (Mark 4:38)

And when I turn to the Word I come looking for someone I can relate to.  Someone who knows burden and carries it well.  Someone who, despite odds, remains immovable in their intensity… passionate in their pursuit.

John 21 tells the story of Jesus appearing, again, to His disciples after His resurrection.

Several of them were together when Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” (vs 3)
“We’ll come too.” they all said. (vs 4)
So they went went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach but the disciples couldn’t see who He was.
He called out to them, “Have you caught any fish?” (vs 5)
“No” was their reply.
He tells them to throw their net on to the right side of the boat, and then they would catch some.
And when they did, they caught so many that they couldn’t even haul in the net. (vs 6)

John 21:7 says this, “Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It’s the Lord!’  When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord he put on his tunic, jumped into the water, and headed to shore.”

I  chuckle at the following verse that says, “The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore.”

In His passion and zeal, we see eager Peter take the plunge into he water to swim to His Savior.  Nothing else mattered.
He had his sights on Jesus and He went for Him.
We see no reservation, and aside from taking the time to put his shirt back on, we see Peter exhibit absolutely zero hesitation in his chase for Christ.
He took the risk.
Regardless of what other people were doing.
Regardless of what other people were saying.
And He acted upon immediate impulse of love for the One He called friend.

And I wonder what it is that keeps us from recognizing Jesus.
Maybe it’s misunderstanding of His character and His purpose.
Maybe it’s unbelief developed in the heart of doubt and uncertainty.
Maybe it’s discouragement… because this isn’t the way you thought it might look.
Maybe it’s a mind preoccupied with our own distress and troubles.

I would say it like Abraham, almost on repeat, for the past ten years of my life… “Surely the Lord is in this place and I wasn't even aware of it!”  (Gen 28:16)
And yet how is it possible that I miss Him so often?

John recognized Jesus.
We don’t know how long it was until his blurred vision was made clear, but we know that he was the one who recognized Him as the One they had walked with, talked with, and learned from. 
John’s senses were heightened because of his history with Jesus and his nearness to His form.
John knew it by the authoritative way He spoke.  My commentary says that the “true disciples recognize that royal tone.”
John knew it by the language of sympathy and love in which He spoke.  Jesus appeared to them in the scene they were most familiar with, and sympathized with their current condition.
John knew it by the provision Jesus made for them, His closest friends.

And there’s something so glorious about the words we hear John speak… “It is Jesus!”
It was the cry of faith… the cry of obedience.. and the cry of submission.
“It’s the Lord!”

And I wonder if we can be so bold to see Him in the midst of heartache and pain.
To see Him when we read the headlines of more loss and the furthering of devastation. 
“It’s the Lord!”
To recognize the voice of the One who never left… who’s been there all along… even when we failed to take notice.
“It’s the Lord!”

And then I wonder if we, like Peter, can set aside everything to rush to be where He is.

Psalm 91:1 in The Passion Translation says this, “When you sit enthroned under the shadow of Shaddai, you are hidden in the strength of the Most High.”

The truth is, you may now be in the shadow… and it may feel all-consuming and you may feel as though you’re suffocating… but even in the dark place is a testimony to His nearness.  Even in the shadow, you are made safe by His strength.

May we be like John - the one who recognized Jesus.
May we be like the disciples - the ones who responded to Jesus.
And may we be like Peter - the one who rushed to be where Jesus was.

May it be that nothing else matters but recognizing Jesus in all things and then rushing to be with Him.