Breakfast at Tiberias
Fortifying the Foundation # 46
John 21:1-14[1]
9-12-04
Intro
The video clip you are about to see is from the movie, The Pink Panther Strikes Again[2]. Peter Sellers stars as the bungling Chief Inspector Clouseau who has set out to stop a mad man and save the world. The mad man, Charles Dreyfus has escaped from the mental asylum and is in possession of a Doom’s Day machine that can wipe out the world. When Clouseau learns that Dreyfus is holding up in certain old castle he goes there disguised as a professor of ancient castles. Watch the clip and see how determined he is to get into that castle and stop this mad man.
Play CLIP (01:19:18 to 01:23:55)
If tenacity alone would have gotten Clouseau into that castle he would have had it done by the end of that clip.
In our text[3] this morning in John 21 the disciples also had a frustrating experience. We begin with their
1. Experience of Failure (verses 1-3).
The story begins with the disciples obediently waiting for the Lord in Galilee. Even before his death Jesus had said to the disciples in the upper room (Matt. 26:32) “But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” That’s directive was confirmed by the angels who appeared to the women at Jesus’ tomb in Matthew 28. In verse 7 they told the women, “Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” Later, in verse 10 Jesus himself told these ladies to tell the disciples to go to Galilee. The Customs of the Passover Feast forbade their instant compliance with that command. And the Lord accommodated that even appearing to the group twice in Jerusalem[4] as recorded in John 20.
So here they are in Galilee—waiting and waiting and waiting—just as they were told to do. Nothing was happening. No one seemed to know exactly how long they were supposed to wait there. Some may have begun to wonder if they had misunderstood the instructions. Surely he would have come by now. These disciples are no longer depressed and defeated as they had been right after Calvary. The tragedy of the cross had been turned to the triumph of the resurrection. They have seen the resurrected Christ. Their recent experiences with the Lord had been wonderful. But what exactly did all this mean? What were they supposed to do? I think they were very uncertain as to what they should do next.[5]
Have you ever been in a place like that when it seemed like something needed to be done? You were tired of doing nothing so you did something. Back in 1982 I was briefly without a job. God had provided a season of rest and even told me not to look for a job. I did that for a few days and then couldn’t take it anymore. So I went out looking for work. I finally found a job transporting railroad crews in the middle of the night. Jeanie kept reminding me what the Lord had told us to do. I wasn’t purposefully being disobedient. It just didn’t seem reasonable to sit there doing nothing. So I managed to get the worst job in town. When it was all said and done I didn’t even make minimum wages. And when God opened the door for my next assignment I sure wished I had rested when I could. I think my mental state during that experience may have been a little like what these disciples were experiencing. I don’t think they were directly rebelling against God’s calling on their lives. But they were a little confused about what God was doing and perhaps very restless.
So Peter just blurts it out, “I’m going out to fish.” An amplified version of that statement might sound something like this, “I can’t take this sitting around any longer. Do whatever you want to do but I’m going to work. At least something productive will be going on. I’ve got a family to feed[6] and I’m going to feed them.” There were at least six others feeling the same thing so off they went.
The place they went is called in our text the Lake of Tiberias. Luke 5:1 refers to it as the Lake of Gennesaret. But you and I know it best as The Sea of Galilee—13 miles long and 7 miles wide.[7] These disciples knew this lake very well. James and John had probably grown up helping their dad fish on these waters. If they could do nothing else they could fish. And they certainly knew how to fish in these waters.
Then what I call “a miracle in reverse happened”. To their absolute amazement they were catching nothing at all. They were fishing during the night, which was the best time to fish. They were working hard at what they had done successfully many times in the past. But nothing is working. What I picture going on in that boat is a bit humorous. Can’t you just see these disciples about 2:00 am in the morning pulling the empty net in one more time? With a puzzled expression on his face, John looks at Peter and asks, “What in the world is going on?” They inspect the net closely to make sure the fish are not somehow slipping through an unobserved tear somewhere. They try again and still the net comes up empty. They pick up the pace and work even harder. Nothing is working. By 5:00 am they are totally frustrated and baffled. The sun is beginning to come up in the east but still they have not caught one fish.
Has anybody here ever had “a miracle in reverse”? In 1988 I decided to get out of the ministry for a while and make some money. I wasn’t opposing God’s call on my life like I had done in my younger days. It just seemed to me like a good idea. We had used up our money planting and pastoring a church in the inner city. It had been exciting six years earlier stepping out in faith and starting the church from scratch. We had experienced some amazing miracles during that time. But the church was now established and everything was far more routine. It didn’t seem like much was happening so I decided to go back to my old profession as a CPA and build our finances back up. I had kept by CPA certificate just in case I needed it. I had a good work record. I never even considered I could not make that happen. Just to give myself plenty of options I sent out scores of resumes and applications for jobs. To my utter amazement I did not receive one offer for a job. I couldn’t believe it. I got a couple of interviews but when I wouldn’t promise to never go back into the ministry they decided not to hire me. I called about one job and asked why I wasn’t considered for the position. The Personnel Manager said, “I have never seen this happen. We were at the board meeting deciding how to fill the Controller position for the company. You were the only qualified applicant and everything was moving in that direction. Then the Chairman of the Board simply said that he didn’t feel right about it so they decided not to bring you in.” I could give more examples of pulling in an empty net but the whole experience could be summed up in these words, “they caught nothing.”
Then these disciples have an
2. Experience of Success (verses 4-8).
As the morning breaks a stranger greets them from the shore. It was common for the fish-traders to come early in the morning and buy fish from the fishermen to sell that day in the market. So they naturally assumed that was the situation here.[8] “Friends, haven’t you any fish?"[9] “No” was their curt answer. Then came a suggestion, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” I can’t tell you why they obeyed. At this point, they did not know that the stranger was Jesus. Maybe they just thought, “Why not” and gave it a try.
When they obeyed that directive—bingo, the net filled with fish—so many fish they could not pull them into the boat. One hundred and fifty three fish—I prayed and asked the Lord, “One hundred and fifty three—why one hundred and fifty three—a hundred plus fifty plus three—what does it mean? Why does John tell us it was a hundred and fifty three?” And then the answer came, I want to share it with you. John tells us it was a hundred and fifty three because—that is how many they counted! When you read the Bible don’t get weird. You wouldn’t believe all the strange interpretations people have come up with concerning the one hundred and fifty three. When you read your Bible just take it for what it says.
What a contrast between this and their experience during the night. They went from complete failure to complete success in a moment’s time. The secret was obedience to the Lord’s directives. Earlier they had relied upon their own understanding. Earlier they had applied themselves diligently. Earlier they tried hard and then harder. But now they were simply obeying. And that’s what worked.
It was at that point that John put the pieces together. Deja vu. Three years earlier almost exactly the same thing had happened in these very waters. Luke 5 tells the story. I am reading from Luke 5:4-11
“When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch."
5Simon answered, "Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."
6When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" 9For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, "Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men." 11So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”
Recall with me that prior to Luke 5 these disciples had met Jesus. In John 1 they received the call to follow Jesus. They were excited about all that but somehow just reverted back into their old fishing profession. That situation had been very much like the one they were experiencing in our text. But notice what Jesus had said to them in Luke 5:10, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” That would now be their primary purpose in life. How did they respond to that call? The next verse, “So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”
Now we are in John 21 and they have found those boats. They have gone back to what was familiar and comfortable.
As disciples of Jesus Christ we all have this primary objective of catching men rather than fish. One sows, another waters, and God gives the increase. We do not all have the same function in that process. But collectively we are all called to go into the world and make disciples of all nations.[10] We are all privileged to have a part in that. For every follower of Christ it should be our main objective in life.
I am persuaded that it is very easy to fall back into old patterns (the way the disciples did in our text) without changing jobs at all. Have you had times in your life when you went to your job, you did your job faithfully—but that was not the principle objective on your mind? You were primarily fishing for men—looking for opportunities to share Christ with others. Maybe it was during a time when you were very conscious of the Lord’s presence. But then there came a time when you were still going to the same job. Nothing in that realm had really changed. But your evangelistic zeal had waned. You were available if someone wanted to talk with you about the Lord. But that was not your conscious pursuit. You were just toiling away at doing your work. Fishing for fish, not men.
John looks at Peter and says, “It’s the Lord! It’s the Lord, Peter!”
Peter threw on his outer garment and jumped in the water heading for Jesus. I don’t know if Peter gained much be that impulsive act. But I have to admire what he did. He was excited about the fish they caught; but more excited about Jesus. He left the catch of the day to get to Jesus as soon as possible. He put forth effort to get to the Lord. Do you see his zeal for the Lord? I want that kind of zeal in my own heart.
This story reminds me of my first fishing experience. We lived close to an oversized mud hole called “Martin Road Lake”. I think the only kind of fish that could survive there were mud cats. I was about ten or eleven and Darrell, my youngest brother was about five or six. We got old tree limbs and some string and put a fishhook on the end of each pole. There we were at this lake about a mile from our house. Suddenly there was a tug on my little brother’s pole. He yanked it up and (low and behold) on the end of that pole was a catfish about ten or twelve inches long. Darrell held the fish in his hand as I got the hook out of its mouth. As soon as the hook was removed, my little brother looked at that fish in his hand and then started running home with it. He ran all the way home to show mom what he had done.
Well Peter was more excited than that. He was excited about the presence of Jesus.
When they arrived at the shore they had an
3. Experience of Companionship (verses 9-14) with Jesus.
There is Jesus with a warm fire and breakfast cooking. Have you ever awakened on a cool fall morning to the smell of bacon and eggs being cooked? It gets real close to heaven. These guys are tired and hungry. They are cold and wet. Just imagine Peter walking up on that shore with water dripping off him looking at that warm fire--smelling the Jewish version of bacon and eggs. It’s a warm invitation to companionship with Jesus.
Twice in verse one of our text John uses the word “efanerwsen” (the aorist indicative form of “fanerow”) to describe what’s happening in this story. My translation does not bring this out very well but faneroosen means to make manifest or visible.[11] It’s not just that he appeared—it’s not just that he showed up—but this story is about him revealing himself.[12]
What do we see about Jesus in this text? We see the same care for his followers that he had before his death and resurrection. We see the Lord of glory still willing to stoop down and prepare a meal for those he loves. We see one who cares about our practical needs. The same Jesus who had washed their feet before his death now serves them breakfast. He has not changed. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. We take that for granted but we have a lot of hindsight that these disciples did not have at that time.
Surely they wondered what their relationship with Jesus would be now that he was resurrected and glorified. Jesus has just conquered death and hell. He is the glorified Lord of Glory, the God of all flesh, the Master of the Universe, the King of all kings. How would you expect such a one to appear—perhaps sitting on a golden throne, surrounded by angle and demanding that all his servants bow and kiss his feet. No, he is bowing. He is serving even now, even in his glorified state. Let that revelation of Jesus soak in. It is a model for the call on these disciples life. If this glorious, mighty God-Man would stoop to serve others, is it beneath his follower to do the same?
Notice the amazing blend of natural and supernatural in this manifestation of Jesus. Jesus could have snapped his fingers and breakfast appear. But we see him cooking it on a fire. Jesus could have supernaturally moved the net of fish ashore. But instead he told the disciples to do it. This is very instructive as to the way God works. Jesus doesn’t do magic shows. He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities and miraculously meets the needs. But there is humility in the way he does that and it is usually not very showy. As people born from above and filled with the mighty Holy Spirit we are to operate in a blend of the supernatural and the natural. In fact, the supernatural operations of the Holy Spirit should be such an ongoing part of our daily lives that we naturally function supernaturally.
In the later part of this chapter, we will see how all of this leads into full restoration of Peter into his calling. But even here Jesus has orchestrated events to teach them some very important principles for the future.
1. Good ideas and lots of effort alone may prove very futile and frustrating.
I titled this message, Breakfast at Tiberias. But I almost gave it this title: Trying harder may not be the answer. If you’ve been working hard with very little results, maybe you should cock your ear toward the shore and listen for the voice of Jesus. Isn’t it amazing how little toil was involve in casting that net once under the guidance of the Lord compared to fishing all night and catching nothing.
2. Real success and fruitfulness is found in obeying his directives.
3. He’s got your needs covered. At least some of the disciples’ motivation was probably the very practical matter of making a living. They were out there trying to do that without much success. But Jesus provided bread and fish for breakfast and one hundred and fifty three more in the net. If we will obey him he will see to it that we don’t perish with hunger.[13]
4. His call on your life remains steadfast. Notice the initiative Jesus took in our story toward his disciples. Notice the invitation he extended to them with the warm fire and breakfast. They had reverted back to their old job of fishing for fish—but he is affirming his call for them to be fishers of men.
For anyone here this morning, who has lost heart in your calling, Jesus says to you, “Come join me for some companionship and see what I have in store for you!”
Invitation
TEXT John 21:1-14
21:1 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 "I’m going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We’ll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, "Friends, haven’t you any fish?" "No," they answered. 6 He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. 7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, "It is the Lord," he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. 10 Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught." 11 Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. (from New International Version)
Richard Tow
Grace Chapel Foursquare Church
Springfield, MO
www.gracechapelchurch.org
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[1] Text was presented earlier in the service using DVD from Visual Bible International (www.gospelofjohnthefilm.com). Text is provided at the end of this message for easy reference. All quotes are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
[2] Metr-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. 1976
[3] Most agree that this chapter is an epilogue or postscript to John’s gospel. But as Leon Morris points out the style remains much the same as the first twenty chapters and “we know of no manuscript that lacks it.” Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit John added this story to the first twenty chapters.
[4] F. B. Myer, Gospel of John (Ft. Washington, PN: Christian Literature Crusade, 1983) p. 367
[5] Leon Morris, Reflections on the Gospel of John (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2000) p.725
[6] Mark 1:30
[7] GALILEE, SEA OF (from International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1996 by Biblesoft)
[8] Myer, p. 369
[9] A question designed for them to awake to their current reality just as God often does with us.
[10] Matt. 28:19
[11] [UBS] fanerow make known, reveal, show; make evident or plain; pass. be revealed or made known; be evident or plain; appear, reveal oneself. (from United Bible Society dictionary in BibleWorks 6).
[12] G. Campbell Morgan, The Gospel According to John (Los Angeles: Fleming Revell Co.) p. 324-325.
[13] Matthew 6:25-34
