Simon Peter: From Fisherman To Follower

Based on a sermon preached at First Baptist Church of Glasgow, MO on July 27, 2014.

This is not an exact transcription.

Background: The 11 disciples had already gone to Galilee as Jesus had commanded (see Matthew 28:10). Nothing seems to have happened in the meantime so some of the disciples decided to follow Simon Peter and once again begin fishing. But they saw Jesus another time and that changed everything, at least for one disciple!

Introduction: The text for today’s message is John’s gospel, chapter 21. I won’t be reading the whole chapter at this time but we’ll take a look at different “chunks” or sections.

The first several verses deal with what we might call the Futility of the situation

1 After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and 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 also come with you." They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing. 4 But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 So Jesus said to them, "Children, you do not have any fish, do you?" They answered Him, "No." 6 And He said to them, "Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch." So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish. 7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord." So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.

I. Futility, verses 1-8

How many of us have ever heard the phrase, “Do something, even if it’s wrong!” Some of us remember the Popeye the Sailor ™ cartoons, and we just know that a situation is going to arise. Popeye’s lady friend, Olive Oyl, would be in a more or less desperate situation and would exclaim, “Oh, Popeye, DO something!” and expect him to save the day. And we’d watch Popeye get his can of spinach (better him than me—and if you need some spinach, I’ll trade you for a roast beef sandwich!), consume the stuff, and—you guessed it—he would save the day (until the next cartoon, that is!)

A. They didn’t wait for the Lord’s leading.

The Eleven Disciples were in a situation where they may have not known exactly what to do. According to the text, they had followed our Lord’s command—namely, to go into Galilee—but apparently hadn’t seen Jesus by this time. We’re not told when Peter made his decision to go back to fishing, but it was probably during this period of time. Some of the commentators state that there was nothing wrong per se in doing this, as though they’re commending these men for not completely following Christ’s command!

It’s possible these men relied (too much?) on their training or previous experience. Peter himself was there, as was James and John, plus Thomas and Nathanael, and two others who aren’t named. I remember reading the text of a sermon on this passage some years ago, and the preacher mentioned something along the lines of “Do you wonder who those other two disciples were, in the boat? Maybe that was you and me in the boat”.

They may have indeed known the routine, but that’s not any guarantee of success. Wouldn’t you think that these men remembered the time when Jesus asked Simon Peter to launch out into deep water, so he could catch a load of fish? Luke chapter 5 has the story (we looked at that passage last week), where Peter replied, “We worked hard all last night and didn’t get anything—but, if You say so, we’ll give it another try (paraphrased)”. He followed the Lord’s directions and do you remember what happened? The nets began to break, the boat began to sink, and Peter almost begged Jesus to leave (Depart from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!)

B. They received nothing for their efforts

And again, this time they caught no fish at all. Maybe there are times when the Lord speaks to us, not only in our successes, but in our failures. The times when we have people cheering for us, rejoicing in the good things, the accolades and “atta boys!’, sadly, might well drown out the voice of our Lord. But when we don’t have these praises, when we don’t have the cheers and noise from the crowds, then we hear the Lord’s voice, clearer than before.