“Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “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. Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. 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.”
John 21:1-6 NIV
Jesus had already appeared to His disciples after the resurrection, twice, in a startlingly convincing way. He appeared through a locked door. Only ghosts could do that! Was He a ghost? No! He ate fish. Ghosts don’t eat! He showed them the signs of His recent crucifixion. Again, ghosts don’t have physical bodies with the visible scars of their humanity.
So, the disciples, even Thomas the skeptic, were convinced that the Jesus who appeared to them in the upper room was really their Jesus, but in a form they found difficult to understand.
It happened this way.
He told them to meet Him in Galilee. Why?
Apparently, the disciples forgot His instruction. They went back to the lake to fish, the old occupation that had provided for them before they met Jesus. Did they think that He was finished with them? He still came and went in a mysterious way but He was no longer permanently with them, leading and teaching them as He had done before his death.
What were they supposed to do? They couldn’t just sit around aimlessly waiting for something to happen. They had no permanent home or occupation in Jerusalem. It made sense to them to go back to Galilee to pick up the threads of their lives.
And so, they were in the right place at the right time when it happened all over again! They had fished all night! They caught nothing! Morning came and they were empty-handed.
Tired and disappointed, they were about to pack up and go home when they saw a figure on the beach. They couldn’t make out who it was in the early morning mist. Who would be out so early in the morning…standing on the beach…watching them bring in the empty boat?
As the boat neared the shore, a strangely familiar voice called out, “Caught anything?”
“No,” they replied, in unison.
“Try the right side of the boat,” called the stranger. Tired and disillusioned as they were, there was an authority in the voice that they chose to obey. When they did, the result was outrageous. So many fish in the net that the boat began to sink as they hauled in the catch!
Recognition dawned. Memories came flooding back. Of course, it must be Jesus. Hadn’t the same thing happened on the fateful day when He had called some of them from fishing for fish to fishing for people?
Everything began to fall into place. He hadn’t abandoned them. Didn’t this gesture mean that His call was still real to them? After all, there was nothing in their failure to disqualify them from a lifelong call to follow Him. They had not renounced their faith in Him.
He had promised them, only hours before His death, that He would send His Spirit to be with them forever. He was leaving in body but would still be with them in the Spirit, accompanying and guiding them throughout their lifetime of following Him.
How joyfully they welcomed Him, ate breakfast with Him as His gesture of forgiveness, reconciliation, and oneness with Him. Best of all, they heard His loving words to Peter, the ringleader in their failure, restoring the fellowship of love and trust, the bond that would see him through many trials until he suffered the same fate as his beloved Master.
What better way to cement the union of these weathered disciples with Jesus than to trigger the memories of their first encounter and the call that bound them to Him forever! He had displayed His sovereignty in the miraculous catch of fish…then and now…to convince them that He was still Jesus, the son of God, who had called them then and still called them now.
So, John concludes his story…with Jesus’ characteristic refusal to allow human failure to derail His plan. He had worked with these men for years. He would not allow their lapse to throw him off course. They were His choice. He had entrusted to them His mission on His return to glory. The Holy Spirit in them was His legacy and His guarantee that they would not fail.
They were the bridge between Him and every future generation to record His story and to pass it on intact. All who believe in Him through their witness, in person and on record, would receive their testimony and the gift of eternal life provided by the One who gave His life for us.
“Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
John 20:30-31 NIV