The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1912-05-21

ond.
The delay in giving this third mani
festation was evidently for the pur
pose Of testing the faith Of the Apos-
| ties and of leading them to reach |
conclusion respecting their future
course, which Jesus wished to correct. |
| So far as we can understand the rec |
ord at least two Sundays passed with |
out any further manifestation of Jesus |
| to His disciples, and then, giving up |
hope, they decided to return to the |
| fishing business and did so. The jour |
ney to Galilee and the resumption of |
business presumably took another |
week.
During all those thirty days the men
| tai attitude of all the Apostles and the |
| other disciples can be better imagined |
than described. They were perplexed. |
they had indeed had evidences Of the |
Masters resurrection: they had had |
the Scriptures called to their attention
which proved that this was necessary
and that God had previously so al
ranged. They had hoped for further
conferences with Jesus and that He
would have told them definitely what
| to do
Instead. left to themselves, the dis
ciples were thoroughly disheartened
They had left all to follow Him, to
tell the people that He was the Son
Of God. the long promised Messiah, and
! that He would soon set up His King
dom, which would bring blessings, pri
marily to Israel and. secondarily,
through Israel, to all the families of
the earth in harmony with the Abra
hamic Covenant Now apparently all
Of these hopes were dashed, frustrat-
ed. How foolish they thought it would
seem for them TO try to convince the
people that man. cruciied as a male
factor, as a blasphemer, was indeed
the Messiah! How foolish it would
seem to tell of His resurrection They
felt that they could do nothing else
than abandon the ministry as lost
cause; and the resumption of the fish
ing business was the logical conclu-
sion.
They ToiIed All the Night.
Their first night was a discouraging
one-they caught nothing. 1t looked
indeed as though God was Furnishing
them for the course they had taken in
becoming disciples Of Jesus-that ev-
erything was going wrong. But not so;
they were merely being taught needed
lessons.
In the morning they beheld stran-
ger on the shore who beckoned and
shouted to know If they had any fish
for sale. They replied, No, they had
made no catch. The stranger suggest
ed casting the net on the other side OF
the boat. And although the suggestion
seemed foolish one, having been so
unsuccessful, yet they did so. and i'm
mediately the net was filed with fish
esi Il did not require long for them to
learn the lesson. They knew inStinc-
lively that the unknown stranger upon
the shore was none other than their
Master. They remembered very sim
Ear experience at the time they were
first called to leave their nets and to
become fishers of men.
All interest had Just centered in the
dshing business. but now boats and
fish and nets all lost their value in the
estimation of these fishermen. Here
was their risen Lord. for whose third
appearance they had been waiting now
nearly three weeks. Fearing that the
Master would disappear, even before
he could get to him. st. Peter plunged
into the sea and swan ashore. To his
surprise the stranger already had fish
and had them cooked. and all were in
vited TO join in the breakfast on the
shore of Galilee.
The stranger had not the clothing by
which they had known their Lord, nei
Their did He have the marks of the nails
In His hands and feet, that they might
thus identify Him This was a differ
ent manifestation They knew Him
as did those with whom He walked TO
Emmaus, who recognized Him in the
blessing of the bread, and not by His
features or clothing or wounds. They
recognized that none other than He
could have performed such miracle
They did not ask who He was; they
felt restraint; as we read, "None OF
them burst ask who He was" but all
knew that He was the Lord
Lowest Thou Me More7'
The stranger addressed st. Peter
particularly saying, Lowest thou Me
more than these"-these boats and
nets, etc., pertaining to the fishing
business? st. Peter answered, Lord.
Thou knowest that l affectlonately
love Thee" He used word ex-
pressing fondness Of love. Jesus re-
piled, Feed Ny lambs"
Then came the question a second
time, Simon, son of Jonas, lowest
thou MeT A great pressure was felt
by st. Peter. Why did the Master so
particularly question his love? Why
should He put this question more to
him than to the others? Was 1t be-
cause he had been the first of the
disciples to suggest the resumption of
the fishing business? Was he to blame
for this? But he answered, Lord,
Thou knowest that 1 affectionately
love Thee Jesus this time replied
Tend My sheep" For the third time
Jesus said to st. Peter, "6imon, son Of
Jonas, dOst thou affectionately love
MeT Here Jesus used the same word
that st. Peter had used, as though He
questioned the affection and depth of
st. Peters love. Ali the third time
must have sent the memory of st. Peter
back to the scenG In Caiaphas' Judgment
Hall, when he denied his Master the
third time, even with cursing. And
now Jesus for the third time had ask
ed him respecting bis love and wheth
er it was really love Of affection!
st. Peters choking reply was, Lord.
Thou knowest all things Thou knOio
est that I affectionately love TheeT
The Lords reply was, Feed My
sheep"
In harmony with these words Of the
Master to ST. Peter the chief work of
His followers has been to minister to
the needs Of the spirit-begotten sheep
1t is in full harmony with this that ST.
Paul, addressing the Elders of Ephe
sus, counseled that they feed the
flock Of God, which He had purchased
with the blood of His own Son.
There is point here that perhaps is
too frequently overlooked. If all of
the Lords followers could realize that
the message to st. Peter is the same
as comes to all Of us, perhaps it would
make change In most Of our preach
ing.
Our Mistaken Methods.
Have not Christians In general over
looked this important lesson, namely