I'M GOING FISHING!
“AFTER THESE THINGS Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We are going with you also." They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.” (John 21:1-3 NKJV).
After Jesus’ betrayal and subsequent execution, the
disciples were despondent and unsure how to proceed. Jesus had appeared to them two separate times
after His death, yet they still didn’t know what they should be doing. In this context we find Peter and six other
disciples at the sea of Tiberias and Peter declaring “I am going fishing.” The others went along with him.
Fishing is what these men knew. It was their profession before the Lord
called them. They had grown up fishing
with their dads. It had been their families’
livelihood. It was all they previously
knew. All of that changed, however, on the
day that Jesus appeared on the seashore and said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew
4:19). They had been willing to drop
their nets, leave their boats, and follow the Lord for the rest of His ministry. Now, lacking the Lord’s leadership and
direction, it was like they were (forgive my pun) in a boat without a paddle, or
even a compass for that matter! In such
a state, their default was to revert back to the thing that they knew before – fishing. All of their efforts that night brought no
results, however. Their nets were empty
in the morning.
It was at that point that Jesus appeared on the
shore. “But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the
disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered Him,
No.” (John 21:4, 5). It was as
though the Lord was shining a spotlight on the fact that they had caught no
fish and that their own efforts had yielded nothing but a night’s wasted
work. Of course, they were well aware of
their failure to produce any fruit from their labors, but they were not yet
aware of the spiritual application of it all.
“And He [Jesus] said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye
shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the
multitude of fishes. Therefore that
disciple whom Jesus loved [John] saith
unto Peter, It is the Lord.” (John 21:6, 7). What a difference it makes when the Lord
directs our efforts! Through His Spirit,
the Lord can accomplish things in us that we could never do on our own. It is true that we can do all things through
Christ Who strengthens us, but it is also true that without Him we can do
nothing. This is a lesson that is
essential for us to learn! It was an
amazing and evident miracle that Jesus performed that day. The very same waters that yielded nothing all
night now produced a multitude of fish. What the disciples could not accomplish from
the left side of their ship Jesus now accomplished from the right!
There are times when we are going through trials that
we don’t feel God’s presence like we are used to. It is at such times that we may be tempted to
return to things in our life that the Lord has called us away from. Those things may be familiar, and they may
bring us some comfort; but they will not yield anything meaningful to us or to anybody
else. We will be just wasting our time
and missing the fact that it is the Lord Himself standing on the shore. His is waiting to get our attention, and, like
the disciples, we are not recognizing Him.
God called Peter to be a pillar of His Church and lead men into a deeper
relationship with the Lord. Instead, we
find Peter influencing the other disciples to return to something that the Lord
had called them from. Even when we are
discouraged or perplexed and don’t know what direction to take, we must still stay
focused on the Lord. We must trust that
He is still with us and wants to continue to direct our path. It is then that we most need to be in the
Word, to spend time in prayer, and to seek the fellowship of other believers. Even at times when the Lord is “asleep in the boat,” He is still with
us. His eyes are always on us, and His ears
are open to our cry.
When the disciples saw the miraculous catch of fish, it
dawned on them that it was the Lord Who was with them and speaking to them. After the disciples drew the net to shore,
they counted 153 large fish, and their net didn’t rip under the weight of this tremendous
haul! Oh, what a difference it makes
when we follow the Lord!
On the shore, Jesus already had fish on the fire
cooking and bread for the disciples to eat.
Jesus said to the seven, “Come and
dine.” With the Lord there is always
a feast! He provides spiritual meat and
bread from heaven for His children who hunger and thirst for Him and for His
righteousness.
A little later, Jesus addressed Peter specifically and
said, “…when you were younger, you girded
yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch
out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.”
(John 21:18 NKJV). In this statement
Jesus was addressing at least two things.
The first thing was Peter’s decision to return to his old pursuits and
to lead others there besides. Peter was
walking where he wished – doing what he wanted with his life. Jesus inferred that this was something we do
when we are younger and immature. When
we grow older we realize that there are responsibilities that we must attend
to. We must maintain a job to support
ourselves and our families; we must care for and nurture our children; and we
must watch out for our aged loved ones, just to name a few. Our fleshly nature may not want to do some of
those things, but we do them because they are our duty and responsibility. As Christians, it is the love of Christ that
constrains us to lay down our lives for others.
Our former lives were marked by selfish and fruitless pursuits, and
there was nothing good we could show for our labors. When Christ appeared in our lives, and we
allowed Him to direct our work, we began to see miraculous results! We are learning that we don’t always get the
things that we want from life, but if we trust in the Lord we will get what is
best for us. When Jesus was in
Gethsemane just before His betrayal and execution He prayed to the Father and
said, “O My Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”
(Matthew 26:39). Jesus’ flesh was not
anxious to suffer the agony of the cross, but His spirit was willing to do what
was necessary to fulfill His Father’s plan.
How much more should we learn to pray this most powerful prayer: “Not my
will be done, O God, but yours.”
The other thing that Jesus was addressing with His
statements to Peter was his death. According
to St. Jerome, Peter was “…crucified, his head being down and his feet
upward, himself so requiring, because he was (he said) unworthy to be crucified
after the same form and manner as the Lord was.” Foxes’ Book of Martyrs, chapter 1, page
17. Peter’s later life, especially
after the day of Pentecost when the early disciples were filled with and
baptized by the Holy Spirit, was an example of service to the Lord and dying to
himself in order to minister to the Body of Christ. God has called us to no less. Choosing our own way and always taking the
path that is desirable to us is a sure way to save our life, but Jesus said, “…whosoever will save his life shall lose
it: but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it.”
(Luke 9:24). Peter was called (as we all are) to lose his
life for Jesus’ sake, and going back to fishing wasn’t going to accomplish that
goal.
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