I don't know what your pre-meal prayers are like. At different life stages and in different settings, I've experienced the "God is great, God is good..." variety. I've also done the "Bless us oh Lord in these Thy gifts which we are about to..." thing as well. Sometimes in recent days one of the kids will want to pray before dinner and the younger two tend to simply go through each item and thank God for it. They do this while looking around the table at each item and just naming it. They include butter, and pepper, and utensils - everything! I love it - I think it is a beautiful and simple reminder that God deserves credit for everything. His provision for his children is wonderful.
Before communion at the staff retreat this past week, I shared some insights from the story of Peter's restoration in John 21. I'm convinced that this encounter with Jesus was hand-crafted for Peter and was filled with a bunch of flashback moments for him. One of the details that I found interesting was that there were significant similarities between the breakfast on the beach that Jesus served in John 21 and the last time the disciples had eaten with Jesus at the Last Supper. Especially the verbiage used in verse 13 to talk about the serving of the meal, "Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise with the fish." Sounds like the Last Supper minus the wine.
But there is another noticeable difference in the two scenes. On the beach Jesus didn't return thanks before serving the meal like he did in the upper room. My hunch is that Jesus was already taking on his glorified form - he was "fully God" at this point and no longer "fully man." He didn't need to ask "a blessing" - his hands on the bread and his presence at the meal was "the blessing."
Any other theories out there about why Jesus may not have said his prayers on the beach?
2 comments:
One of my students last year said, "Teacher, my dad prays like this- Good food, Good meat, Good God, let's eat! Pass the gravy."
amen and amen
Post a Comment