Children, Have Ye Aught to Eat? (Rabel)

(Back) Children, Have Ye Aught to Eat? Peter, Do You Love Me? (Next)

^21:1After these things Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and he manifested himself on this wise. ^21:2There was together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.^21:3Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also come with thee. They went forth, and entered into the boat; and that night they took nothing.

^21:4But when day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach: yet the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. ^21:5Jesus therefore saith unto them, Children, have ye aught to eat? They answered him, No. ^21:6And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. ^21:7That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his coat about him (for he was naked), and cast himself into the sea. ^21:8But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from the land, but about two hundred cubits off), dragging the net full of fishes.

^21:9So when they got out upon the land, they see a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. ^21:10Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now taken. ^21:11Simon Peter therefore went up, and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, the net was not rent. ^21:12Jesus saith unto them, Come and break your fast. And none of the disciples durst inquire of him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. ^21:13Jesus cometh, and taketh the bread, and giveth them, and the fish likewise. ^21:14This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.

What is giving thanks in advance, an expression of? Your belief. We teach in our prayer techniques, give thanks before the result is attained because that is an expression of your belief in the divine idea, and it is more blessed than waiting to give your thanks after it is in your hand.

The next thing I have chosen is a thing I have brought up before. Strangely enough, I have brought this up to every class, and it has not made the impression it made on me when I first really noticed it and tried to convey it to a class. It was met with a cold indifference, and I have even mentioned it to you previously and got the same response. You simply did not seem at all interested. I'm going to try again.

Jesus has resurrected. Jesus has already achieved the victory of His mission. Everything is great, and His disciples had been out fishing all night; we read in John 21:1-5 and then in verse 6, Jesus says, “Children, have ye aught to eat?" Now, this stunned me when I finally realized I was actually reading it. I had read it a dozen times before. But one day I read it, and the words just jumped off the page at me: "Children have ye aught to eat?" What kind of a man is this, what kind of a soul are we dealing with? Here He is in the midst of cosmic stuff, and He takes time to call these guys children. There is a world of meaning right in that. These adult men, probably older than Himself in years, he calls children; What did I say about that sentimentality, that emotionalism and warmth? It is there; even just prior to the ascension, He is still concerned if they have enough to eat.

Are you nervous before your L&O Interview? We need to express these things about each other. We need Mary Magdalenes in our midst, so to speak. Jesus was not ashamed of it. Of course, there is probably a very high-falutin metaphysical thing, but right now this is primary, that this transcendent soul called these bozos children and wanted to know if they had enough to eat; and they answered "No". I'll bet they were glad to see Him. He said. "Cast the net on the right side of the boat and ye shall find.” Anytime that anybody does what Jesus tells them to do, there are blessings beyond expectation; and here it happens again. Of course, the metaphysics is here and rather apparent, but that is okay.

Text of the original transcript at the 3rd through the 5th paragraphs of p.320.
Transcribed by Margaret Garvin on 04-16-2014