Reflective Bible Study

While reading about the disciples fishing adventure following Jesus’ resurrection, I am impressed by two details John includes in his version of this event. Following the disciples towing the nets full of fish to the shore, and after Peter had abandoned the disciples and dove into the water to swim to shore, John tells us, “So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.” (v. 11)

John wrote his gospel decades after this event had taken place, and even after so much time had passed, He remembered this event exceptionally well. This event had made such a deep impression on his memory that he even remembered the number of fish they had caught, which was 153, and that even with this high number of fish, the nets did not tear.

When we read about this event, we are tempted to only see one miracle: the miracle catch of fish after having come up empty the previous night. But there is another miracle here as well, and that is the miracle that the nets did not tear. This is a distinctly separate miracle because while the miracle of the fish is one of abundant blessing, the miracle of the nets is one of preservation.

This preservation miracle opens us up to seeing a new angle on how God can work. Not only should we pay attention to His abundant blessings, but we should also note that these blessings were not too much for us to bear. When God abundantly blesses us, He does so in a way that will not ultimately harm us in the long run – and this may mean that the blessing might look different than we might imagine.

Also, the miracle of the nets prompts us to see how God might work subtly – helping to preserve the things we have and helping them last longer. Similar to the children of Israel not having their sandals wear out while walking in the wilderness, God can choose to work by helping our stuff last longer as well. We might not think of this as a miracle, but it may be much more than simply a coincidence.

God’s blessings come in many ways, and the miracle of the nets, while overshadowed by the miracle of the fish, helps us focus on God’s preservation as one way He may choose to work in our lives.

Have you ever wondered whether or not you made the right choice when faced with a difficult decision?

In this passage, I want to focus specifically on what we can learn from Jesus and His response to Martha that Mary has made the “right” choice.

The setting of this passage describes two opposite personalities: a detailed and task-oriented personality, and a relationship driven personality. Often, we look down on Martha because she was so focused on the details, but I don’t think that was what Jesus was talking about when He was making this statement. If this were the case, we could make the argument that God likes some personalities better than others – which is an argument that doesn’t sit well in my mind.

However, while we have two opposite personalities present in this scene, we also have a clear priority given by Jesus. Martha’s personality says that one shows love, respect, and appreciation through acts of service and by serving well. Mary’s personality says that one shows love, respect, and appreciation through quality time spent and by giving attention to the person.

Jesus didn’t tell Martha to stop serving; a response like that would have been counter to her personality. Instead He tells her to stop worrying about getting all the details perfect and to leave Mary alone. The priority Jesus makes clear for us is this: Relationships are more important than appearances. Loving/Helping people should be our priority.

Sure the details matter, and without people focused on getting the details right, we would waste a lot of unnecessary time, but when given the choice, a personal relationship should always come before the details of a task.

This comes easier for some people than for others. I can easily relate with Martha, because I have the task-driven, detail-oriented personality. God is helping me see the importance focusing on the relationship over my natural tendency to ignore relationships in favor of focusing on getting it right. I have come a long ways, but I know there is still a long way to go. What I do know though is that relationships are more important than details and people are more important than perfection.

Part of me wonders about a concept Jesus shared near the end of His famous “Sermon on the Mount”. In this two-verse idea, we are able to see a contrast between two different ways of living, and two ultimate conclusions – but I wonder if part of this idea is lost in translation or has been left out, because it doesn’t seem to fit a number of other things that I see shared in the Bible and visible in the world.

While sharing this famous sermon, Jesus tells the crowd, “Go in through the narrow gate. The gate to destruction is wide, and the road that leads there is easy to follow. A lot of people go through that gate. But the gate to life is very narrow. The road that leads there is so hard to follow that only a few people find it.” (v. 13-14)

What makes me wonder about this statement and idea is what Jesus means when He talks about a gate to life vs. a gate to destruction. Are these gates figurative for eternal life and eternal death, or is this something else? If only a few people find and go through the gate to life and this gate refers to eternal life, then what of the billions of people who call themselves Christian, and the multitude that cannot be counted in the book of Revelation? Is eternal life the best way to understand this concept Jesus is sharing, or is Jesus trying to teach us something different here?

Part of me wonders if Jesus is actually sharing a statement about those who are able to find the life that God has set out for them to live. There are plenty of people who simply live following the crowd, but not nearly as many people break apart from the crowd to live a life that is counter-culturally focused on obeying God’s will.

I wonder if the life that God created us to live is one that leads us to an amazing life in this world that also leads into an incredible, eternal life in the next world. If this is the case, then most people, while they have placed their belief in Jesus, are living and walking down a road that leads to destruction. Their lives are like a walking time-bomb that could explode and harm them at any given moment. I wonder if this broad group includes those who are not living for Jesus, regardless of whether they have given their hearts to Him.

But a case could be made against someone who says they are a Christian, but who has not truly given their heart to God. There may be millions of people like this, and this group of self-professed Christians actually cheapens what the Christian name is all about.

A case could also be made against those who simply refer to themselves as “believers”. They have taken Christ out of their identity. If we look at the name “believer”, it could refer to any number of things. I can believe that if I water and fertilize the grass in my yard, it will grow. Believing that grass grows with proper care is a far stretch from believing in Jesus and identifying my life with His.

I don’t know the way to the narrow gate, but I am intentionally looking for it. Jesus tells us that it is a gate that is hard to find and a gate that is counter-cultural, so these are the places I will start. It might not take me down a popular road, but living a life with God is the only life that brings true life, in both the present and the future. A life with God is the only path that leads to eternal life.