John 21:4-5 NKJV
[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.”

Why did John choose to record this specific event among everything Jesus did during His remaining forty days on earth before He returned to the Father?

Uncertainty, unfinished business! Yes, Jesus had revealed Himself to His disciples after the resurrection. He had shown them His wounds, convinced them that He was alive, not just a spirit among them. He had calmed them with His declaration of peace…but doubts still lingered. What now?

They had treated Him badly in His hour of need. They had deserted Him, even denied Him. What did He think of them now? Were they still His disciples after such cowardly behaviour?

They had been instructed to meet Him in Galilee. Why Galilee? They were in Jerusalem. He was in Jerusalem. Why not in Jerusalem?

Jesus did nothing without a purpose and everything thoroughly.

Galilee was the scene of their calling…by the lake, away from father, family, and familiar things…into unknown and uncharted waters. The lake was often their classroom, learning the ways of their Master. Storms…the fear of drowning…bread and fish miraculously multiplied…a demoniac delivered…pigs drowning in their thousands…Jesus walking on water… it had all happened on and around the lake.

So, seven of the disciples decided to return to the lake. It was, for some, a familiar place, comforting in their time of confusion and uncertainty. At least some of them could do something they knew to do well…fishing.

John 21:2-3 NIV

[2] Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as 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.”

What a let down! Even the pleasure of catching fish failed them when they needed it most! As dawn broke over the lake a figure, shrouded in the early morning mist, stood on the shore. He called to them…

John 21:5-6 NKJV
[5] Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?” They answered Him, “No.” [6] 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.”

How important that Jesus take them back to where it all began…to remind them of their calling. The scene was strangely familiar…a night of fruitless fishing, Jesus on the shore instructing them to try again. A catch so big that it threatened to capsize their boat.

Children? Yes, “paidia”, little children, little ones, by implication immature young boys.

Was this meant to be an insult or an honest evaluation of who these men really were? Why would Jesus view them as immature young boys? Their very attitude betrayed their mindset. They had returned to fishing, their old life, as though the years of interlude when they walked with Jesus, was just that…an interlude, forgetting that He had called and trained them for their life’s mission.

Did their failure disqualify them? Would Jesus need to start all over again, find other men and train them to carry on His mission? No, that’s not how He works.

How important that these immature young boys learn to think as Jesus thought! Nothing disqualified them from fulfilling His will except unbelief. They had to learn that He takes fallible humans, forgives and cleanses them from all unrighteousness, fills them with His Spirit, and sends them out equipped to do His work.

Jesus does not expect perfection. He looks for faithfulness and perseverance. Peter, always the ringleader, was tested and restored, not to perfection, but to the love of his Master that would motivate and steady him through every trial.

John 21:15 NIV
[15] “When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Three times the denial! Three times the question, “Simon (not Peter, the stone, but Simon, the one who hears…but not necessarily listens), do you love me?” In this cryptic question lay the heart of his calling, not to success or fame but to love. Why love? Why not trust, or obedience, or some other qualification? Love is a motive so powerful that, when every other motive fails, love holds steady.

The same Peter, who ran away from a servant girl, would later stand before the Sanhedrin and fearlessly declare, knowing well the possible consequences…

Acts 4:8-12, 18-20 NIV
[8] Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! [9] If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, [10] then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. [11] Jesus is “ ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ [12] Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”…
[18] Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. [19] But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! [20] As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

What if Jesus had blotted out every detail of Peter’s future by disqualifying him from discipleship? What if He had demoted him to fisherman for the rest of his life? What if He had sent all seven, and the other four not with them, back to their humdrum old lives?

Let this be a lesson for all who read God’s Word…that He is God, not man, that His grace takes care of every failure, all imperfection, all weakness… that His light shines through cracked vessels. No one is disqualified, despite the worst of our sin except the refusal to repent.

Like Judas Iscariot, remorse does not heal the breach, but repentance returns us to the place where the parting of ways happened. Let this closing story in John’s Gospel prepare us, too, to trust in the Jesus who forgives, restores, and heals the breach, and let us go on, despite our failures, to loving and faithful service of the Master who gave His life for us.