Encounters with the Risen Savior: Flooded with Memories

This is part of our Thursday series on the encounters with the Risen Savior that are shared in the four gospels. Today’s encounter is shared with us by John.

At this point, Jesus had already appeared to all of the disciples, and in chapter 21 John goes on to tell about a day when seven of the disciples had decided to go fishing. They had been unsuccessfully fishing all night, and at daybreak heard someone on the shore tell them to cast their nets on the right-hand side of the boat. And just like it happened when they first met Jesus, their nets were overwhelmingly full of fish. At this point John realized that the man on the shore must be Jesus. Peter, as impulsive as always jumped off the boat and swam to the shore while the others stayed in the boat and drug the net full of fish to shore. In verse 9, John describes the scene they found on shore like this:

So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread.

Jesus invited them to have breakfast and in verse 13 John describes part of that breakfast meal:

Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise.

There had to have been so many memories flooding through these men during this encounter. The memory of their early meeting with Jesus and the huge catch of fish had to come back to them all. The fish and bread may have brought up reminders of the feeding of the 5,000. Jesus breaking the bread and giving it to them likely flooded them with memories from the Passover meal they had celebrated a short time before and everything that had happened since.

For Peter, there may have been something else that brought up a not so great memory. In the cool of that morning, the fish were being cooked over a charcoal fire, and while we don’t know that it’s the case, that fire and all the other memories that were flooding back may have brought up another fire that he stood at a short time before.

Then the slave-girl who kept the door said to Peter, ‘You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves; and Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself … Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. So they said to him, ‘You are not also one of His disciples, are you?’ He denied it, and said, “I am not.’ One of the slaves of the high priest, being a relative of the one whose ear Peter cut off, said, ‘Did I not see you in the garden with Him?’ Peter then denied it again, and immediately a rooster crowed.

John 18:17-18, 25-27

While we don’t know if these memories had come back to mind over the fire that morning, but it was likely that Peter was still struggling with what he had done. He had been so confident that he would never betray Jesus, but he did three times just like Jesus said. But after breakfast, Jesus had an incredible conversation with Peter there on the shore. Three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him. All three times Peter said that he did and Jesus asked him to tend and shepherd His sheep. After this beautiful moment of healing and restoration, Jesus went on to predict the kind of death Peter would be faced with and once again spoke the words that He had in the very beginning, “Follow Me!”
​
Memories can be powerful things and our senses are often great at bringing memories back to us. Sometimes those memories are wonderful, sometimes they are challenging, and at times they are painful. Some memories pop up and help us see and appreciate things in a new light. Some memories challenge us to reclaim a passion or live up to something that was spoken into us. But some memories, especially painful memories, can so easily suck us into patterns and lies that prevent us from being who God wants us to be and doing what He has called us to do.  When we find ourselves getting drug down by painful parts of our past or present, we need to bring that pain to Jesus and let Him heal and restore us. If you are struggling with memories that are holding you back from the abundant life that God has for you, and you just don’t know how to bring it to Jesus, I would encourage you to find a trusted friend, advisor, or counselor to help you walk through that process so that you can live the abundant life that God has for you.