NOTES: 1] Moving back to Galilee from Jerusalem, the apostles seem caught between life getting back to normal (ha ha!) & not knowing where to turn next. 2] Some commentators think this is the same incident as LK 5:4-11 transferred to the post- Resurrection period. 3] For a very selective list of Jesus' post-Resurrection appearances see 1COR15:5-8. For whatever reasons Paul omits the appearances to Mary Magdalene (JN20:14+) the women (MT28:1+) & the road to Emmaus (LK 24:13+) 4] 15-17 contain a play on Peter's 3-time denial (forgiven at I COR 15:5?) & on Greek words for 'love'.

WARMING UP: Do we dress differently according to whom we expect to meet / be moving among?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Afterthoughts from, follow-up to last week’s Group, or since?

EXPLORING GOSPEL:

1-3        Are we ever in a dilemma between wondering what we're going to do next & knowing exactly what we're going to do? Can we identify anyone with the kind of leadership to say, "I'm going to do such & such" & have others follow them? Or has the committee system put a stop to all that kind of thing? Do 'pre-emptive strikes' apply only to government policy? As church members called to be 'fishers of people', can we empathise with the apostles' failure to catch anything that night?

4-8        Metaphorically speaking, are we as disciples aware of whether we're 'casting our nets' on the 'right side of the boat' or not? (Right here = 'right hand side') Is the great catch of fish just a red herring? Can we learn anything about working together as a Body from this fishing expedition? How important is it that we recognize Jesus in today's life situations? How do we go about that? Where are we most likely to find him? Least likely? Do we need to dress accordingly?

9-14      If sitting down & eating with people was so important to Jesus, how come it doesn't seem to have a high priority in our churches (except for fund-raising!)? How important is it to us as disciples today that we eat with each other? How come a taste of bread & a sip of wine in the Eucharist, or a 'cup of tea & a biscuit', have taken over from eating meals together? If it's important to us to eat together with friends in society (e.g. have lunch together, hold a birthday or dinner party) why is it no longer important to do the same as the Body of Christ? For instance, how would a simple 'bread & fish' meal go down in our group / congregation? Might it help us more easily recognize Jesus among / in each other?
Given that it seems likely v.14 is referring to group appearances, what do we make of the seeming discrepancies between the various Gospel accounts of Jesus' appearances? How much do the discrepancies matter? Enough to confuse / make doubtful / give the lie to what really happened? Are they, or something else, what convinces us Jesus was / is raised from the dead?

15-19   How would we describe the quality of our love for: God? Each other? How much does the quality of our love affect our capacity to 'shepherd' others as lambs or sheep? Which others? To what degree does our love for God depend on our understanding - or lack of it - of our own forgiven-ness? What about our love for others & our forgiveness of them, or theirs of us? Are we ever playing word games when it comes to talking about loving God & others?
Are we really following Jesus (God), can we keep on following, if we reserve the right to call the tune about where we're prepared to go, what we're prepared to do, under what circumstances, etc.? If we were asked (by Jesus?) to define what we mean by 'following him' how might we answer?