John 21 v 1 - 14

Seven of the now eleven disciples decided to go fishing and often the best time to fish is at night; but they couldn't catch anything. Jesus appeared at dawn on the shoreline, but they didn't recognise Him. However, they did obey His instruction and caught many fish. We must ask ourselves, why does John write about this event when it appeared that he had finished his writing? The early believers were under threat by those who told them that the disciples only had a vision of a risen Jesus, He hadn't physically come to them. John makes it clear in this story and in the previous descriptions of the appearances of Jesus that He was not a ghost. Yes, He could seemingly walk through walls, but He could be touched and here He could cook the disciples a meal and sight a shoal of fish near their boats. Remember that these early Christians had to be prepared to die for their faith and if the resurrected Jesus had just been a phantasmagorical creature, then they would be fools. As Paul wrote: 'If Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost!  And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.' (1 Corinthians 15 v 16-19) Our faith depends on Jesus Christ being raised physically, able to do all that we can do and so much more! Our resurrected bodies will be so much greater than the ones we have now!