John 21

Oil on linen, 4' x 3'

The inspiration for this painting came to me as I was praying in a chapel at Seton Hall University after Easter, dwelling on his death and resurrection. In this meditation, I considered how Jesus had finally accomplished his heroic task of saving the world. Death itself, defeated. The ultimate hero of all time, on the other side of the greatest anguish and the greatest triumph known to man. “It is finished.” So… what happens next? It occurred to me that, whatever Jesus did next would tell me a lot about what kind of person he is. Would he go visit Mount Everest? Take a relaxing cruise to the Bahamas? … Jesus chose to be with his friends. And I think that says a lot about the kind of person Jesus is. He created an environment where they could all be together and enjoy each other’s company. And this also created a window of opportunity to restore his relationship with Peter. This painting focuses on two themes, that Jesus is relevant, and that Jesus is relational. The same Jesus that wanted to spend quality time with his friends is alive and active today, looking forward to his next moment with you.

Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples

John 21:1 - 14 NLT

Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night. At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. He called out, “Friends, have you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied. Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it. Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore. When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread. “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said. So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn. “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead. John 21:1-14 NLT