The Gospel of Matthew ends with “And behold I am with you always until the end of time.” The Gospel of Luke ends with the Ascension. Most scholars today believe that the true ending of the Gospel of Mark was verse 8, “They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” It is clear that as much as choosing the first miracle performed by Jesus is important to the Gospel authors, that also the ending is important as well.

Therefore, it is beautiful to see that the final chapter of the Gospel of John takes place by the Sea of Tiberias. After the disciples catch a large amount of fish, and only when they realize that the man is their Lord, they find Jesus by a charcoal fire with fish and bread. Jesus says, “Come, have breakfast” which echoes the calling of Peter by the sea earlier in the Gospel when Jesus said, “Come, follow me”.

After breakfast, Jesus famously asks Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Each of the three times, Peter responds, “yes, Lord, you know that I love you”. Then Jesus says for a second time, “Follow me”. 

When John and Peter inquire about the disciple who betrayed Jesus, they hear in return, “What concern is it of yours? You follow me.”

The directions of Jesus could not be made more clearly. God wants us to follow the incarnate Son in all that we do. Often, that just means sitting on the seashore, feeling the sand between your toes, soaking in the sunrise and breaking fish and breaking bread together. As humans we do this (breaking bread) every day to survive. As Christians we are intentional with how we do it. We first give thanks for our daily bread. Then we break it together, as a family. We break it with even those family members who are annoying us and causing strife. We go out to the margins of society to break bread together, to share a simple meal. As we break the bread we feel the internal question arising “do you love me” and the answer is “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”