December 13, 2023

Paying Attention To The Voice

“But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. So Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you do not have any fish, do you?’ They answered Him, ‘No.’” John 21:4-5 (NASB)

            When I was about 13 years old, my parents took us to a German/ American carnival on base. While we were there, I saw an arm-wrestling arcade machine. It allowed you to arm wrestle the machine to determine your strength. I was unaware my dad was watching me at the time. I didn’t see him behind several people who were standing in front of him. I got frustrated with the machine after a few attempts. I said some things I probably shouldn’t have at the time (they were foul-mouthed). If I would have known my father was listening, I would have never said such words. When he called my name, I didn’t recognize it at first. I told whoever was calling me to shut up. It was drowned out by all the noise of the carnival rides around us. When his hand grabbed me by the shoulder, I knew who it was calling me. I had a complete revelation of whose voice it was then...

             “But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.” Commentators vary widely on why the disciples did not recognize Jesus. However Robertson, in my opinion, gives the most sensible reason, “(πρῳας ἠδη γινομενης [prōias ēdē ginomenēs]). Genitive absolute and note present middle participle (dawn coming on and still dark). In Matt. 27:1 the aorist participle (γενομενης [genomenēs]) means that dawn had come.”[1] What he is saying here is when the dawn is coming, it is still dark, which leaves the ability to only see a limited distance. For the disciples, they may not have had a clear view of who was speaking to them. It was not the disciples did not physically recognize Jesus’s face at the time, but that they did not have proper eyesight in viewing who it was. Perhaps even the disciples did not recognize Jesus due to the distance from the shoreline, with a mist over the water in the early morning. “So Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” The term “children” is an interesting usage for Jesus referring to His disciples in this passage. But there is a deeper meaning: “Into this new morning Jesus appeared on the shore, but the disciples did not seem yet to understand the significance of this new morning because they did not recognize that the person on the shore was Jesus. This stranger, Jesus, called out to them ‘children’ (paidia, the NIV and NLT have the less satisfactory ‘friends’). This term, paidia, can at times be an expression of intimacy as between a parent and children or a leader and followers. John will later use it when he addresses his young Christian community in his special letter to them (cf. 1 John 2:18). Although the term does not always necessarily carry such intimacy, it may be that the evangelist here remembered it with a sense of fond intimacy.”[2] It becomes later in Scripture a term used while referring to younger believers.

            There was no doubt left in my mind the day my dad set his hand on my shoulder that day. I had a complete knowledge of who was speaking to me at the time. My dad used proximity to help identify who he was while speaking to me. It was a lesson I learned well from that day on. In Jesus speaking to the disciples, they would also realize who was speaking to them when they experienced another miracle after giving them further instructions on how to fish.

[1] Robertson, A. T. (1933). (Jn 21:4). Broadman Press.

[2] Borchert, G. L. (2002). (Vol. 25B, p. 326). Broadman & Holman Publishers.