John 21:1 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

This passage records the resurrected Jesus appearing to seven of his disciples. Having been witnesses to Jesus’ death on the cross, their hopes that Jesus was the long-promised Messiah are dashed. So what do they do? They go back to what they knew before: fishing. What else would they do? They’ve gotta eat, right? But then Jesus meets them on the seashore.

There’s no question the disciples failed to live up to their promises of standing by Jesus “no matter what”. In his hour of need they fled in fear. I couldn’t fault Jesus if he wrote them off and found another way to move forward the mission of the Kingdom of God. But Jesus didn’t give up on these men. He called them back to himself and, before ascending to heaven, sent the Holy Spirit to lead and guide them in their ministry. Two key thoughts come to mind for me this morning:

1. I’m reminded that Jesus doesn’t give up on me, even when I mess up in a major way.
2. As a disciple of Jesus I’m called to do likewise for others.

This morning I’m asking myself if there are cases when I have been too quick to write someone off who didn’t live up to my expectations. How can I extend the kind of grace Jesus extends to me all the time?