I’ve always assumed that Mary did not recognize Jesus because the sight of him after being crucified was being compensation. I’m certain that not expecting to see Him impeded her recognition but I realized today that she was also crying. Through her tears it would have been hard to recognize anyone.
Simon Peter went fishing after Jesus was crucified because he didn’t imagine that he could put should carry on after Jesus was gone—after all, there was no precedent for him to follow. I think that Jesus showed him the sign (again) of bringing him an abundance of fish as a sign that He was the Lord, as a reminder that He could supply whatever Peter might need, and as a symbol of the abundant success that Peter could have by following His instructions. That was the precursor to giving Peter the mandate to “feed My sheep.” Peter knew Christ well enough by now to know that the Jews were His sheep and that feeding them mean teaching them the doctrine. Later Peter would be taught that all men were His sheep.
Leave a Reply