Fishing? Or Catching?
John 21:1-14
You know, I discovered something about myself a long time ago that some of you might be able to identify with. I discovered that sometimes I tend to think higher of myself and my abilities than maybe I should.
For example, when I first started playing golf, now and then I would actually hit the ball just right and that thing would fly straight and true and long, and it would actually land right out in the middle of the fairway. It’s a beautiful sight to see when it happens, but unfortunately at first, it didn’t seem to happen very often at all. It only happened enough to keep me coming back and trying again. Now, after some time passed, it did start happening more and more often. But I found that the more often that ball flew straight and true, the greater my opinion of myself would grow. And the greater my opinion of myself grew, the angrier I’d get with myself when I messed up.
Now, I didn’t know it at the time, but the truth was that I was actually playing my game. What helped me to realize this was when my son began playing with me. He had only just started playing, and from the very beginning he would get so upset when the ball didn’t do what he wanted it to do. I tried to explain to him that his expectations were overly high for someone at his experience level and that everyone plays exactly like he did when they first start out. As I tried explaining this to him, I began to see me in him. This helped me to realize that I too was playing exactly where I should be at my own skill level. In other words, I was playing my game. And once I came to this realization, the game became “fun” again. I didn’t take it as seriously as I used to and my expectations of myself became more realistic.
But you know, golf isn’t the only time this “high opinion” of myself has hit me. It happens all the time. Whatever I do, I want to do it well and sometimes I do, and sometimes I don’t. When I don’t, then I get angry with myself for not being among the best at whatever it is.
Like fishing, for example. When I was a kid, I would go out fishing all the time. I loved it. And though there may have been times when I didn’t catch anything, for the life of me, I can’t remember them. In my memory, I always caught something. I never went home empty handed.
I loved fishing. It was as natural to me as riding a bicycle, which I was also good at. But as I grew older and life began to take over, I didn’t have time or the ability to go fishing like I used to. Years went by, working, raising a family and all the stuff that happens in life got in the way. Things just began to take over in importance. So, years passed and my tackle boxes, rods & reels gathered dust and cobwebs.
Then we moved to Higgins, and I started pastoring a little Baptist church there. Since there was a lake just down the road in Oklahoma, I decided to take up fishing again. Let me tell you folks, that was a horrible idea. I couldn’t catch anything at all. All summer long, not a bite, nibble, or even a little fishy sniff came near my line. It was so bad that I was convinced that I was the worlds worse fisherman. But through it all I learned something. I learned that fishing doesn’t necessarily mean catching. And this was a lesson that the disciples also learned, again, in our text today. Once again, even though they were professionals at it, they learned something new about…
I. Fishing
Joh 21:1-5 After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: (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 are going with you also." They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. (4) But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. (5) Then Jesus said to them, "Children, have you any food?" They answered Him, "No."
Only the gospel of John refers to the Sea of Galilee as the Sea of Tiberias, and this is probably because by the time he wrote this gospel, its name had been changed in honor of Emperor Tiberias. In the other synoptic gospels, it’s also called the Lake of Gennesaret.
Now, the reason we need to know this is because it tells us that the disciples, or at least these 7 disciples, are in Galilee. They’re back home. And many people have read a lot into this. They’ll bring suspicion upon the disciples, asking why are they there, and not in Jerusalem, waiting for the Holy Spirit? Or they’ll imply or outright state that they’ve gone back to their old business, as if they’ve begun to fall away or something like that. And though this may make for some good sermons, in all fairness to the disciples, I believe this view is simply wrong.
First, they’re in Galilee because this is where the Lord and the angels told them to go. He told them in the Garden before His arrest Mat 26:32 But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee. And then the angel at the tomb told the women to Mar 16:7 …go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you. Right after the angel said this to the women, the Lord appeared to them and reminded them again Mat 28:10 …"Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."
So, the disciples were simply being obedient, but the second reason why I think it’s wrong to think that the disciples were going back to old habits is because sometimes fishing is just fishing. At least 7 of the 12 disciples were professional fishermen when Christ called them. Luke tells us that Peter and Andrew were in a business relationship with James and John. Luk 5:10 and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon.
So, when we take these things into consideration, along with our knowledge of everything they’ve gone through recently, it’s not hard to understand that maybe they just wanted to do something familiar, maybe even therapeutic, to relieve stress and anxiety of waiting for Jesus to appear again. They had been on a roller coaster of emotions recently. Not a week or so earlier, they thought they’d be able to conquer the world when they entered Jerusalem in triumph. But then the downward spiral began with the betrayal of Judas. Then the arrest, the trial, the torture, the crucifixion, the death, the burial, and then up to the heights again with the joy of the resurrection.
A final reason why I don’t think the disciples were really falling away or going back to old habits is because patience, calm demeanor, and a willingness to just “hang out” and do nothing isn’t the picture that the Bible gives us of Peter. Our impression of him is that he’d rather do something, anything, than nothing. So, it makes perfect sense that we hear him say Joh 21:3 …"I am going fishing."
Of course, he’s going to go fishing! They’re in Galilee. They’re home. Their boats are right there. G.R. Beasley-Murray once said about this, “Never has a fishing trip been so severely judged!” I tend to agree with him. So, the other disciples go too. No sense just sitting around twiddling our thumbs, right? But just like on another occasion, at the very beginning of their discipleship with Christ, they spent all night out on the water, and just like me—they caught nothing!
They caught nothing! It’s interesting that this gospel ends the same way their discipleship began. On the same lake. In the same boats. Fishing, not catching. But this time, instead of being in the boat with them, Christ was outside and on the shoreline. That alone speaks volumes as a picture of the change in the relationship that the Lord has with His disciples now. He’s not physically with us anymore, but He continues to direct us from a distance, from the shore, so-to-speak.
And then when the disciples see Him on that shoreline, they didn’t recognize Him. Now, I don’t read a lot into that. They were 100 yds out on the water. It was just becoming light, and at that time of the morning, there might even have been a mist or a haze coming off the water. You know, I probably wouldn’t be able to recognize my own mother under those conditions. But then there’s the fact that on other occasions since His resurrection, He kept His identity hidden, until He revealed Himself. And in this instance, even when they were sitting with Him around the charcoal fire, He didn’t look exactly like Himself because John made a point of saying Joh 21:12 …Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, "Who are You?"—knowing that it was the Lord.
So, when they see Him, He asked Joh 21:5 …"Children, have you any food?" Now, in the original language this is asked in a manner that expects a negative answer. So, it would have been more like, “Children, you don’t have any fish, do you?” I’m thinking that Jesus knew they hadn’t caught anything because He probably had directed all the fish away from that boat that night because He had some important lessons to teach them, and us.
Lessons such as all our efforts are futile when they’re not directed by Him. Earlier, He told them that Joh 15:5 …without Me you can do nothing. And that’s exactly what happened. They had been out in the boat all night, doing something they all knew very well how to do. Fishing was second nature to them, and because it was second nature, they were relying on their own skills and their own experience rather than trusting in the Lord. And folks, when we try to serve the Lord in the energy of the flesh, we will experience the same frustrating failure.
This fishing trip they went on may have been just a fishing trip, but it could also symbolize our Christian ministry to the world today. We are to be “fishers of men”, and when we go out and cast our nets into the sea of lost and unredeemed mankind, if the Lord has been left out of our planning, if He isn’t guiding our every move, then we will fail.
We may have spent weeks planning. We may have got all the necessary materials together and at the ready. Our financing is in order, and we may even have a program all lined up that practically guarantee to bring in the lost, but if we aren’t relying on the Holy Spirit empower us and direct us, then all our efforts are futile and vain.
Paul said that 1Co 2:4-5 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, (5) that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
It is the power of God that draws men and women to Christ, not our vain and fleshly efforts. We, you, and I, are only tools in His toolbelt, and tools don’t wield themselves, they are wielded by the Master. The hammer never just starts hitting nails by itself. It will only do this in the Carpenter’s hands. And the sooner we come to understand this, the sooner we will be able to move away from fishing to…
II. Catching
Joh 21:6-14 And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. (7) Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea. (8) But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging the net with fish. (9) Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. (10) Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish which you have just caught." (11) Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. (12) Jesus said to them, "Come and eat breakfast." Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, "Who are You?"—knowing that it was the Lord. (13) Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish. (14) This is now the third time Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.
The disciples didn’t know this was Jesus at this point, yet they obeyed. Maybe it was something in His voice. Maybe they recognized the authority and power He spoke with, just like the officers who came to arrest Him did, when they said Joh 7:46 …"No man ever spoke like this Man!" Or maybe they thought whoever this was, he might have seen something from the shoreline that they didn’t see. But whatever it was, they obeyed, and the result was just like the first time—success beyond their wildest hopes. In the same way that the Lord had directed the fish away from the boat during the night, He now directed them to the boat.
The disciples were tired and probably felt much like I felt, fishing all summer without even a nibble. They could have easily and understandably said, “Naw. We’re tired and calling it quits.” But if they had, they would have missed out on an enormous blessing.
Now, another way to look at this is that the difference between success and failure is the width of a boat! It would seem that their custom was to fish from the left side, at least this could be implied from the Lord’s command to go right. And it makes me wonder what would have happened had they just thrown their nets out like they always did. Would they have failed again? I think so because true obedience follows exactly as told.
Obedience is vitally important, but not only should we obey, but we should obey exactly as we’re commanded. We can’t just take His Word and use it however we wish. We have to obey as He wishes. We must rightly divide the Word of Truth.
For example, the Lord wants us to worship, but we can’t just worship however we feel. For worship to be acceptable to the Lord it must be in accordance with His command and His direction. If we fail to worship in spirit and in truth, or in other words, from our hearts and according to the truth of God’s Word, then our worship is meaningless no matter how sincere we may be. We may think that strange fire is ok, but we’d be wrong just like Nadab and Abihu were wrong.
If the disciples had gone left instead of right, they would have failed once again. But by doing exactly as the Lord commanded, the result was a great catch! Which I’m sure made them think about that other time this happened, which then prompted John to cry out Joh 21:7 …"It is the Lord!"
Just as at the tomb, John is the first to “get it”, now in the boat he’s first to “get it” again. And also like at the tomb, when Peter just barreled right on through and entered the tomb, he now grabbed his cloak, tucked it in, and jumped overboard. He was so anxious to be with the Lord that he wasn’t worried about being weighed down with clothes during this 100 yard swim. He wanted to be with Jesus so much that he jumped into the water with all his clothes and swam 100 yds to the shore. But today, we’ve got Christians who can’t even get out of bed on a Sunday morning to be with Him in corporate worship with His Church.
Now, Peter and John are friends. They’re almost always mentioned in the same breath, but like everyone else, they’re different. They display their love and affection differently. John didn’t jump out of the boat, and neither did the other 5, but they were just as devoted to Christ as Peter was.
None of us think alike or respond alike, and that’s ok. But we should never stand in judgment over others who don’t think or do exactly as we do. Sometimes they’ll jump out of the boat, and sometimes they’ll stay in it. Those who stayed behind and continued the work are also a picture of those faithful laborers for the Lord who not only fish for the souls of men, but they stick with them, and bring them to the shore. They don’t get them saved and then move on, but faithfully disciple them until they get to dry ground and can walk by themselves.
But Peter couldn’t wait. He swam ahead, leaving the others behind. Was he wrong? No. And I say that because I’m reminded of the time that Martha complained about Mary. The Lord told her that Luk 10:42 …one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her." So, Martha was left to do the work just as these 6 disciples were left to do the work. Peter’s actions may not have been wrong, but notice how the rest of them couldn’t finish the job without him. It was only after the Lord told him to go and to bring in some of the fish, they had caught that he went back to help. Joh 21:11 Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken.
In a similar way that the difference between fishing and catching was the width of a boat, now the difference between success and failure is seen in the obedience of one man to the Lord’s direction.
Friends, each and every one of us are important to the mission of Christ in this world. He has commanded us to go into the world and make disciples. This isn’t a request. It isn’t something that we should do if we “feel led” to do it. We don’t have to feel led because we are commanded.
If we’re to be obedient Christians, then we really don’t have a choice in the matter. We are to tell others about Christ, and after that, to disciple them until they can stand on their own. And those followers of Christ who are obedient to the command will be invited, like these disciples were, to Joh 21:12 …Come and dine.
Come and dine. Enjoy the fruits of your labor. Come and dine. Are you an obedient servant? Have you faithfully obeyed His call and His command? Then He invites you to “Come and dine” with Him.
Invitation
