Twofold Message

A TWOFOLD MESSAGE

Jn 21:6 And he 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.

Background:

Jesus has been crucified & resurrected, showing himself to Mary & the disciples including doubting Thomas.

In Jn Chptr 21:1 it tells us that Jesus appeared to the disciples again by the sea of Tiberias.

& it’s here that Jesus does another miracle but also it’s here Jesus says something very profound!

The bible tells us that the disciples are together hanging about then all of a sudden Peter says, “hey, I’m going fishing”

In essence he was going back to do what he used to do & that was fishing, & as you know, that was his profession, & the disciples said, “well, we’ll go with you!” (Jn 21:3

- Maybe they needed some money & so they all went back to their trade, fishing!

- But the truth is they went back to their old calling!!

-It’s interesting to note that in Luke 5:11, they forsook that old calling to follow Jesus, & become fishers of men but now we see them returning to it!!

- & this as a very powerful understanding to it because many have been saved & have left everything behind (old life) to follow Jesus, & yet in the span of time & disappointment or just plain apathy, you find yourself drifting back to that old calling!!

- Vrse 3 tells us that they went out all night & caught nothing!

John 21:3 "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. (NIV)

- The bible tells us that on that morning Jesus was standing on the shore but the disciples didn’t realise that it was Him!!

-& as the disciples were returning getting closer to shore, Jesus shouted out to then, “did you catch any fish?”, & they replied, “No!”

- Jesus shouted out to them & said, “throw your nets out on the right side of the boat & you’ll find some fish!”

- Now many commentators believe that the right side of the boat was facing the shoreline, & every fisherman knows that there are no fish in the water closest to the shore!

- Maybe the norm was to cast the net out on the left side of the boat or into deeper water where the fish were! ( It did’nt make sense to throw the net out over the right = no fish)

- & so maybe they did what they always did & that was throw the net out over the left side of the boat!

- & yet they were obedient & cast their net out on the right side, & the bible says that they caught so much fish that they were unable to pull the fish into the boat!

I. FIRST MESSAGE.

1. Now, here we have a 2 fold understanding & I want concentrate on vrse 6.

Jn 21:6 And he 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.

a.) Now, the bible tells us that the disciple were out all night fishing’ but they did’nt catch any fish!

1.They were out all night, & came back empty handed!

2. They’re discouraged, perhaps afraid, confused & they are tired!

b.) The first message we get from this vrse is that Faith & obedience go hand & hand, & these two together move the hand of God.

1. If we want to see God move in a miraculous way, then we need faith to believe & the obedience to follow it thru!

-The bible teaches us that faith can bring to pass those things that seem impossible!!

Matt 17:20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (NIV)

- Jesus told the father of a boy who was possessed, to have faith & believe for his healing!

Mark 9:22-23 "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." "'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." (NIV)

-Jesus says, that if you can have faith & believe in the power of God, then the realm of possibility is open to us!!