The sceneAs Written:scence with which our text is connected opens on the shore of the sea of Tiberus the Sea of GalileeAs Written:Gallilee. The night was dark, the clouds hung lowering over the dark abyss of waters, the silence was profound naught was heard but the startled call of the lone night-bird among the boughs along the outskirts of the pebbly shore. The silence is broken by approaching footsteps and we behold seven men with sad dejected countenances, seven disappointed, mistaken men walking slowly to the dull dark shore They have with them the paraphernaliaAs Written:paraphenalia for a fishing voyage and there lies the old leaky boat so long unused but they enter it again fasten their light to the bow, hang their net to the stern and launch into the dark depths of waters They go forward & backward & in the darkness even as Job said of his experience "I go backward & He is not there & forward & cannot perceive Him"Job 23:8 Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him: . The very fishes avoided their They would not be caught in their company. They will not be duped by dupes. "They toil all night but catch nothing"Luke 5:5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. . They whom Jesus called away from their nets, are now ensnared in them. The teachings of Jesus that had made them fishers of menMatt 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Mark 1:17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. are cast aside. The allurements of the world have won them into bye paths. They had promised to Christ more than they had given hence their present loss.
The disciples must have realized this in their vain toil & remembered how great a thing it was to be made "fishers of men", able to draw all men after them. To heal the sick & reform the sinner & comparing this great gift with the fallen sense of getting gain where there was only loss, they turned their boat toward the shore. It was the darkest hour before the dawn. This high resolve saved them. The Christ had not departed from them but they had left him, and lost him because they would not watch & work in the hour of his crucifixion. In the days of his prosperity they followed him afar off and forsook him when they lost the hope that he would restore the kingdom of the Jews. Lessoned by their afflictions they would now retrace these false footsteps with this preparation of heart. At this moment of self-surrender & consecration they hear from over the dark wave the loving call of their Lord asking "Children have ye any meat" And They answered him, No". And he said "Cast your net upon the right side of the ship & ye shall find"John 21:5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. John 21:6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. .
But this was the point to be gained to know which was the right side, was it a material or a spiritual life that they should seek to attain and strive more devoutly than they had done.
Here man's extremity was God's opportunityAs Written:oppertunity & the students of Jesus chose for the first time without a single consideration of self the right side the spiritual side and now they could trust the loving Father to crown their labors with a rich reward This was the same as say we are now convinced of our folly and will return to Truth and follow Christ nearer and more faithfully than we have done. So the impulsive Peter leaped into the cold wave, not attempting this time to walk over it when his Master was not by his side to help him but he was willing to beat the wave and swim for the shore to find to work, watch & pray until himself had risen so as to behold the risen Christ and gain a higher sense sense of Truth & Love
[*]Archival Note: The rest of this document is in the handwriting of Mary Baker Eddy, some of it written on top of the lightly erased hand of Calvin Frye.⇉ Handshift:Mary Baker EddyThis could now be done when he sought Truth not for the loaves & fishes but for truth's sake and willing to bear the cross before receiving its crown Thus prepared for a blessing he found it and lo the barley loaf and him on the shore Christ the Truth of Life always gives us enough to begin with when we are ready to serve Him We shall the truth when we are ready to receive and then the truth shall make us free
Now they were made willing in the day of his power to work with small support they would now begin with fish and one loaf to work who once had basketfuls left of their supplies They could sup with the SaviorAs Written:Saviour on humbler terms than they would once This last lesson that Jesus taught his students was the most advanced one and this was that repentance humility and self consecration This was our Lord's last supper with his students and it commemoratedAs Written:commenorated a higher experience than the feast of the passover to remind His people of the passage of the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage It was his last human act that showed the divine love for man in a higher sense
It was the disciples first & last spiritual supper with their great Teacher. This supper of with their Lord was the perpetual PassoverAs Written:pasover. It pointed the way to everlasting victories of the final destruction of sin sorrow sickness death victories spiritually by through that held no fellowship with material modes, the crucifixion of the flesh and the faith that cometh by works. the demonstration of the divine Principle that governs [?] Unclear or illegible order of Science The moral of this brief sea voyage is plainly this