and for me, as well as
for the first disciples of Jesus.
After these things, the eleven disciples went away to Galilee, and
waited for Jesus to meet them there.
One day Thomas and Nathanael, and James and John, and two other
disciples, were together by the side of the Sea of Galilee. Peter was
there too, and he always liked to be doing something, so he said to the
others, 'I go a-fishing.' And they said, 'We will also go with you;'
and at once they all jumped into a little ship, and pushed off into the
lake. But that night they caught nothing.
[Illustration: The Sea of Galilee.]
Next morning Jesus came and stood on the shore. The disciples could
see Him, because the little ship was now pretty near to the land, but
they did not know Him. Jesus said to the men in the boat, 'Children,
have you anything to eat?'
They thought, I suppose, that this stranger wanted to buy some fish,
and they said, 'No.' Then Jesus said, 'Cast the net on the right side
of the ship, and you shall find.'
And the disciples did what Jesus had said, and at once the net became
so heavy with fish that the fishermen could not pull it into the boat.
Then John said to Peter, 'It is the Lord.'
When Peter heard that, he jumped into the water, so as to get quicker
to land. The other disciples stayed in the boat, and dragged the fish
along after them. When the boat got to land, Peter helped the other
men to pull the net in. It was full of great fishes--a hundred and
fifty and three. Jesus had got a fire of coals ready on the beach, and
some bread; and some fish were broiling on the fire. And now Jesus
said to the tired fishermen, 'Come and dine,' and He waited upon them
Himself.
After that day by the Sea of Galilee, the disciples went to a mountain
which Jesus told them about. And Jesus met them there, and said to
them, 'Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. AND LO I AM WITH YOU
ALWAY, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE WORLD.' There is another splendid
missionary text.
[Illustration: The Mount of Olives.]
Jesus stayed on earth for forty days, and when the forty days were
over, He went for a last walk with His disciples. He took them the way
they had so often gone together--over the Mount of Olives, and so far
as Bethany. There He stopped, and lifted up His hands, and blessed
them. And it came to pass, that while He blessed them, He was taken
from them, and
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