Treis Hēmeras

This is how it happened.

Friday dealt hard loss - the devastating blow of hardened hearts and suffering.

Eyes which awakened Saturday were filled with tears; hearts were filled with grief.

For those who labored long with Him the hurt struck deepest.

For those who recognized their falling short...even deeper still.

So back to the beginning they went - tear stained; grief stricken; mourning by morning.

They exhausted this night of their youth with no yield.

Feelings of endless Saturdays plagued their empty vessel,

As they planned and plotted, formulated and figured:

How on earth to get Him back?

In the throes of things so wrong, however could they know of the right;

The side with sweet returns, with good harvests, with plentiful yields.

Who could expect them to do it alone?

Who could blame them for retreating;

Taking off the armor of battle and forging new coverings for their shame out of labor and toil.

Then dawned the eighth day - the Sunday of new beginnings.

He had been waiting on them to arrive, calling out to notify them of His coming.

This day was met with skepticism - an unknowing still shadowing the mind, clouding the judgement.

But He forged on in assurance, instructing of the things Saturday had failed to inform them.

Yields came once again, just as they had many weeks ago.

The fog was lifted and eyes were cleared - a knowing was returned, recognition restored.

Armor was again embraced with open arms and they ventured into the deep with new confidence.

Rest had been waiting for them; He'd made a table to recline at, a feast to dine upon.

The catch brought forth a fresh communion, a service of Saturday's victims by Sunday's Victor.

This is how it happened.

---

Biblical Context

Treis Hēmeras is a Greek word meaning "three days" and comes from the Gospel account according to Matthew where Jesus spoke of the sign of Jonah, indicating His prophetic destiny to die for the sins of man and to be raised from the dead on the third day.

"For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." ~Matthew 12:40

This story is one I wrote with the Lord after receiving a word regarding John 21:1-14, the account of Jesus' visiting His disciples on the beach after His resurrection from the dead. The Lord showed me a new side of this story, a disciple's point of view that I hadn't considered previously. How desperately alone and hopeless these men must have felt after the death of their Brother and Messiah? How despondent their hearts must have been to see Him taken from them after being nailed to the cross. They'd listened to His foretelling of this destiny many times throughout their journey with Him, but who could imagine the pain endured when these prophecies came to pass? I can't fathom what it must have felt like to see the Man you know to be the Savior of the world and your life one day murdered in horrific fashion. In moments of despondency and confusion, we often retreat to our most comfortable safe havens -for these 11 that haven was a fishing boat. For many of them this was the place they first encountered their King and where He performed countless miracles along their journey together. It was a connection to who they'd been before Him - but Jesus refused to leave them as they once were. He wrecked every plot formed by the enemy in leaving them with a final miracle right where it all began - resurrection. Amen and amen.

'Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night. At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied. Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it. Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yard from shore. When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread. “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said. So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn.“Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.' ~John 21:1-14

---