Breakfast Time!
By Christy Chia
I
f you scroll long enough on Instagram, you might come across social media sensation, Judy Wang of Judy’s Family Cafe. Judy, originally from Beijing, serves American and Chinese food in Galesburg, Illinois. She’s known for her entertaining videos, tiny round sunglasses, berry medley pancakes, and her signature line: “I’m Judy. I have the best pancake. Come for breakfast!” Since gaining fame, Judy has welcomed droves of hungry visitors to this Chinese-owned diner in western Illinois; she has helped promote her city and other local businesses; and she has recently opened a new restaurant, Judy’s Kitchen, now proudly announcing: “Come for breakfast, stay for dinner!”
From my perspective as a Chinese American, Judy’s invitation is more than just a social media ploy to gain more customers. As the name of her restaurants convey, her invitation is one of generous hospitality into her family and her kitchen where she happily feeds anyone who walks through her doors. This is reflective of many of our Asian American cultures, where one of the main ways to show love to someone is through food. One of the first things we might say when we see someone is, “Have you eaten yet?” Even when the answer is “yes,” we still invite people to eat and we always make sure there’s more than enough.
Jesus’s culture was one of hospitality too. In fact, in Jewish tradition, hospitality to guests is seen as obedience to God’s will and a sacred duty. Throughout Jesus’s ministry, he practices hospitality by welcoming the sinner, the sick, and the outcast; by performing miracles of abundant wine, fish, and bread; and by calling others to authentic generosity that cares for those in need. In addition to the cross and the resurrected grave, Jesus shows up in his interactions with people and his hospitable actions towards people.
In John 21:1–17, Jesus appears to the disciples a third time after his resurrection. Here, in one of the last intimate moments between Jesus and these disciples, Jesus teaches them a lesson on how hospitality is essential to what it means to follow him. This is seen through his last miracle, exemplified in his invitation “Come and have breakfast” (John 21:12, NIV), and accentuated by his new calling for Peter.
Margaret Feinberg, in Taste and See, retells her experience watching five present-day fishermen at work in the Sea of Galilee. They toil with little clothes on except their underwear—like Peter in John 21—fishing in a similar manner as the first century fishermen would have. They go out at night so the fish can’t see their white linen nets, about a hundred yards from shore, where logs provide the fish places to hide. The fishermen throw out weighted nets, which creates a vertical net wall. Then the boats row a distance away and slap the water with their oars, scaring the fish towards the net, where the fish will get caught. When the fishermen have trouble finding or catching fish, one of them heads back to shore for a better view to guide the crew from there.
In John 21, though the disciples did not recognize him, it was Jesus who stood on the shore, watching over them and directing them. He instructs them to cast the net over the right side of the boat—to try something different than what they’d been doing. The disciples didn’t know it was Jesus, but they trusted the one on the shore who had the view of the bigger picture. In that moment of trust, they caught 153 fish despite their nets having come up empty all night. It was then that they recognized the man on shore was Jesus.
For some reason, it seems that Jesus isn’t physically recognizable here. Although the disciples knew it was Jesus, the question “Who are you?” is still portrayed as a fair question to be asked. Whatever the case, one has to know someone to recognize them. Though the disciples didn’t recognize Jesus because of his physical appearance, perhaps they knew what it felt like to be with Jesus.
This wasn’t the first time Jesus provided a huge catch of fish for them. In fact, this story brings Peter, James, and John’s time as Jesus’s disciples to a full circle. In Luke 5 Jesus went out with them on Peter’s boat so that he could teach the crowd on the shore. Afterwards, he told them to put their nets into deep water for a catch, though they hadn’t caught anything all night. Then, they caught so many fish that their nets began to break and their boats began to sink. It was after this that Jesus invited them to follow him and fish for people.
And now in John 21, after another miraculous catch, perhaps the disciples had flashbacks to their first encounter with Jesus—nets breaking, boats sinking. There was a familiarity that arose from the mysterious man on the shore. Only after having experienced Jesus’s radical hospitality again did they know without a doubt that it was him.
Arguably the easiest time to recognize Jesus is when there’s an abundance of provision. Yes, Jesus is in the provision, but he is also in the preparation. Jesus is near, watching over and directing us even and especially when we’re empty-handed. He can see the bigger picture. Though we might not realize it, Jesus is there preparing us and preparing for us.
As the disciples came closer to shore, perhaps they could better see and smell the bonfire Jesus had created. The wafting scent of fresh bread and cooked fish might have made their stomachs growl and their mouths water after a hard and unproductive night’s work.
As mentioned earlier, food is one of the primary ways Chinese culture conveys love. Alongside “Have you eaten yet?”, “Let’s eat!”—or in my Cantonese household, “sik fan la!”—is a mealtime call shouted loud and clear throughout the house, reaching all the hungry stomachs and drawing them near. It’s an invitation to partake at a table full of food that has been prepared with the utmost love. And after a prayer is said, we might repeat together in encouragement, “sik fan!” For me, the feeling of knowing that someone has prepared a meal (or even, cut fruit) with me in mind is hard to beat. As I read Jesus’s words, “Come and have breakfast” (John 21:12, NIV), I can’t help but recognize Jesus’s anticipation of the disciples’ needs and his preparation of a simple, yet thoughtful meal made with love. I imagine the disciples’ delight, knowing that Jesus cared especially for them. In the disciples’ abundance and in their lacking, Jesus was there all the while, preparing what they needed. Jesus expressed his love in ways as miraculous as a huge catch of fish and ways as simple as making breakfast.
The hospitality of a Chinese meal extends beyond preparation, gathering together, and provision, to continued service. The proper etiquette is to serve others – especially elders, honored guests, and those sitting next to you – before yourself. A Chinese allegory of heaven and hell depicts this value for hospitable service: in both heaven and hell, people are seated around a large round banquet table with plenty of delicious food in the middle. Each person is given a pair of long chopsticks (think as long as the table) with which to eat however much they would like. In hell, everyone is starved as they only try, quite unsuccessfully, to feed themselves. However, in heaven, everyone is full because they used their long chopsticks to feed one another. This Chinese vision of heaven is filled with overflowing love and care for others.
Jesus’s love in John 21 didn’t end with his disciples, nor does it end with us. After breakfast, Jesus asks Peter three times “Do you love me?”. Peter replies each time: “You know that I love you” (John 21:15, 16, 17). After each of Peter’s responses, Jesus instructs him “Feed my lambs” (John 21:15), “Take care of my sheep” (John 21:16), and “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). The proper response to Jesus’s love and hospitality is to do the same for others—not out of obligation, but out of love for Jesus.
This is easier said than done. Hospitality found in Asian cultures and Asian American practices is often expressed through feeding, especially towards people close to us or like us (though, admittedly, at times, through obligation and habit). That is the easy part for those of us who already value hospitality. What is much harder (and which Jesus calls us to) is to go beyond—to expand our hospitality to holistic care, to do so out of genuine love for Jesus and for others, and even to love beyond those who are comfortable and convenient to love. Jesus challenges and empowers Peter, a fisherman by trade, to do and think beyond what he is used to. First, Jesus (not a fisherman) instructed these expert fishermen to re-cast their net after a long night of no fish. Then, Jesus broadened Peter’s perspective from his previous calling to “fish for people” (Matt 4:19; Mark 1:17; Luke 5:10, NIV) to now feeding and caring for sheep. Loving as Jesus did draws people to Jesus and embodies Jesus’s ever-expanding care toward others. Just as Jesus invites, challenges, and empowers us, will we follow him by extending his tangible hospitality so that strangers become family and everyone’s needs are met?
Christy Chia is a PhD in Intercultural Studies student at Fuller Seminary and a Research Fellow of Faith and Justice for Fuller's Asian American Center researching at the intersection of Asian American studies and lived theology. She received her MDiv from Fuller, has served as a pastor, and is passionate about helping the Asian American Church understand and live out their faith holistically. When she's not deep in her research, Christy enjoys playing with her dog, working with her hands, and attempting to keep her houseplants alive.
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