John 21:1-8

Brothers and sisters in Christ,

This evening’s Bible passage is John 21:1-8:

¹ After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. ² Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. ³ Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. ⁴ Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.⁵ Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” ⁶ He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. ⁷ That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. ⁸ The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

This is “the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead” (21:14). It’s particularly touching that Thomas is present, since he missed the first appearance and the second had the specific goal of resolving his doubts. Jesus doesn’t punish those who have doubts; he takes special care of them.

When you stop to think of it, all the named disciples in this passage had their weaknesses. Peter denied Christ three times. The “sons of Zebedee,” James and John, presumptuously suggested to Jesus that they should “sit, one at [his] right hand and one at [his] left” when he came into his “glory” (Mk. 10:37). Nathanael had an awkward first encounter with Jesus of Nazareth, first declaring that nothing good could “come out of Nazareth” and then deciding that Jesus was “King of Israel” because Jesus knew that Nathanael had earlier been “under a fig tree” (John 1:43-51). We hear nothing more of Nathanael until he shows up here for the fishing expedition. Did he stay in Galilee with his fishing business rather than go on the road with Jesus? As for the “two others” who go unnamed, I think it’s fair to assume that they, too, were far from perfect. In other words, the disciples were much like us, flawed and in need of reassurance.

Jesus’s two earlier appearances have given them no sense of direction. They still don’t seem to understand what it all means. Jesus is alive, but what next? What are they to do with this bewildering phenomenon? Only after Pentecost will they have a sense of the mission that his resurrection has laid on them. For now, they’ve gone home from Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee (a.k.a. Tiberias). Peter, who finds it very hard to sit still, says, “I’m going fishing.” The others, with nothing better to do, say, “We’ll go with you.” I imagine them shrugging their shoulders. What else is there to do?

Their fishing trip’s a failure. They catch nothing all night. Then a stranger on the shore shouts at them from a hundred yards away to cast their net on the other side of the boat. They figure they might as well, and to their surprise they catch a huge quantity of fish. “Large fish,” we’re told, “153” of them (21:11). John realizes it’s the Lord. Peter, ever impulsive, leaps into the water and swims or wades ashore. The others follow in the boat, “dragging the net full of fish” behind them.

I wonder if Peter, James, or John remembered Jesus’s words when he first called them, on that same seashore, to be his disciples: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19). Surely Jesus had this promise in mind when he performed the miracle of this prolific catch of fish (153!). I believe it was his way of gently reminding the disciples that their call hadn’t ended with his death or even with his resurrection. Their mission was about to begin in earnest.

We’re not all called to be “fishers of men” in the same way as the disciples were after Pentecost. And I doubt if any of us land-lubbers will ever catch 153 fish in one go. But we are all called to share the love of God with our neighbors in actions and—where appropriate—in words. God calls ordinary, flawed people like us to further his mission of bringing in the kingdom. By ourselves we can do nothing, but with the Spirit of Christ leading and directing us, we can do far more than we imagine. Which of the disciples went fishing that night imagining that they’d catch so many fish?

Christ’s resurrection is not just a baffling wonder; it points us to a new and fulfilling way of life.

Your brother in Christ,

Max