Jesus Loves You
(Children's Version)
Jesus appeared several times to the disciples after He rose from the dead.
This is a story of one of those times...
Peter said to some of the other disciples, "I think I'm going to go
fishing." The disciples that were there said, "Wait up, we'll go with you."
It was getting dark outside but the disciples thought they would catch more
fish at this time of day. They got into the boat and went out onto the
water, and were out there for a long time. The time passed and it was almost morning and they
still hadn't caught any fish.
Jesus knew where His disciples were and went out to meet them. He was
standing on shore, but the disciples didn't realize who it was. Jesus
called to them, "Friends, haven't you caught any fish?"
"No," they answered. So Jesus told them, "Throw
your net on the other side of the boat and you will catch some." What
happened next was amazing. The disciples who had been fishing all night
without catching anything, threw the net over to the other side and within
minutes the net was overflowing with fish.
Then one of the disciples realized who had been talking to them, "It is
the Lord!" As soon as Peter heard this he jumped out of the boat to
go to Jesus. (They weren't that far from shore).
The other disciples stayed in the boat, and worked hard to tow all the fish
to shore. When they met up with Jesus, there was a fire started with some
bread laying close by. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish
you have caught, we'll have breakfast together."
Peter helped the rest of the disciples to get the fish out of the boat.
There were so many fish and they were all so big that they all needed to lift
together to get the fish out of the boat because it was so heavy.
Then they all sat together in front of the warm fire and Jesus took the bread
and the fish and gave it to them. This was the third time Jesus had met
with the disciples since He rose from the dead.
After breakfast Jesus asked Peter some important questions. He asked
him, "Peter do you love me more than your parents and all your
friends?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Again Jesus said, "Peter do you truly love me, no matter what?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Then Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?"
Peter's feelings were hurt because Jesus kept asking him, but he replied,
"Lord, you know the answer, you know that I love you."
"Then follow me," Jesus said.
***
We have learned that Jesus died on the cross because He loves us, no matter
what bad things we do! Now we need to love Jesus no matter what.
Here are some questions to think about:
Would you still love/follow Jesus if...
