Scripture John 21:1-14
Today, we consider our final reported sighting of
the Resurrected Christ. Of course, this
wouldn’t be the last sighting, since we read in 1 Corinthians15:3-9, “6 After that He was seen by
over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the
present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After
that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles.”
In
those days, an actual count of believers was still an unknown quantity, but we
could probably assume that it was close to becoming a few thousand if not even
more, and the Church would continue to grow in amazing ways. The word
regarding Jesus Christ spread far beyond Judaism, even though, initially, gentile
believers were expected to follow Hebrew law.
But as we know from the books of Galatians and Acts, a few years later,
through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, legalism for the gentiles began to
be lifted until Judaism and faith in Jesus went their separate ways in the late
1st century AD.
For
today, though, we take a glimpse at what there was for the earliest believers
that led them to reach out to others in faith, and to testify to their
experiences with those who had yet to know Jesus.
Read John 21:1-3
As in our reading last week, this revealing of the
Risen Lord not only occurred outside of the city of Jerusalem, but in the
Northern most part of Israel, in the region of Galilee. Why were the disciples there, when they had
previously been hiding in Jerusalem? In Matthew 28, we read that the Risen Christ had told the
women who had come to the tomb to go the disciples, and tell them that they would meet with the Lord
after they go to the Galilee. Apparently,
the time had come when their days of hiding from the world’s hatred had come to
end!
The men’s decision to go fishing almost seems so
personal that it was a way to relax and to let the world go by for at least a
few hours! But it seems that this just wasn’t
the time that the Lord had established for them to meet with Him, so they head
for the lake to let down and do what had been such an important part of their
former life. And the others followed.
So why was Jesus waiting so long to meet with His
followers? We know that the Lord never
did, or didn’t do, anything without a reason.
Could the lesson that was being prepared for the men have something to
do with “fishing”? Or was it that
fishing without Jesus was to be shown to be a worthless endeavor! Remember the time when Jesus called the
fishermen to follow Him? What did He
tell them? “Follow Me, and I will
make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:18-22) The lesson for anyone who would follow Jesus,
is that we will never accomplish a single worthwhile thing, unless we invite
Jesus to lead and guide our efforts!
Read John 21:4-6
Even after Jesus revealed Himself to the fishermen,
there were still no fish until they received the Lord’s instruction, and then did
what He told them to do! This is a lesson
that is, all too often, ignored by some in the Church who believe that if they
simply claim to be going in the name of Jesus, that this will be enough!
The point that Jesus is making is that mentioning
the name of Jesus will never be enough, and it will certainly never gain
us anything of value! But when we turn the leadership of our missions, and
ministry, and various works over to our Lord God Almighty, there will be no
limit to the success that can come from it!
These words remind us of the time when the Samaritan
woman met Jesus at the well of Jacob. The
Lord asked the woman to give Him a drink from the water that she had drawn from
the well. He then told her that the
water that she had to give would satisfy thirst for only a limited amount of time,
but that the “living water” that He would give her “will become … a fountain
of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:7-15) It was a matter of which water we are seeking
– whether it will be the water of the world, or the refreshment of God!
When we can’t, Jesus always will – when we allow Him
to do it in His way!
Read John 21: 7-14
With the magnitude of their catch, it was then that
the identity of the stranger on the beach began to become apparent. First John, then Peter, and then the rest of
the disciples began to realize that this stranger was the Lord Himself! And the net wasn’t filled with small, or even
moderately sized fish – they were 153 large fish who, by worldly
standards, should have torn the net apart, allowing all of the fish to
escape! But while Jesus was leading, the
catch was larger than any of the men could ever have imagined, and nothing would
be able to overturn the miraculous victory!
And one more lesson that we need to learn, is that
it wasn’t the fishermen who provided nourishment to Jesus - it was the Christ
who fed them! The breakfast of
bread and fish were already cooking before the men reached shore! But one additional, and important point is
that while the Lord could certainly have gathered all of those fish, and far
more, all by Himself, the truth is that our God in Christ wants His disciples
to be included in His ministry to the world.
And as we prepare to receive and celebrate Communion
today, will we give the leadership for our lives over to our Lord Jesus, or
will we decide to keep some of the decision making for ourselves? There will always be some things that we can
choose for our self, but when it comes to the depth and substance of our faith,
the only authority that has any right to guide us is God Himself. Why?
Because our human understanding of what faith should entail is totally
insufficient to make informed and accurate decisions when it comes to
understanding the ways of God. In Isaiah 55:8-9 we read (and I have offered this passage
several times in the recent past!) – “8 For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 9 “For as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My
thoughts than your thoughts.”
And yet, God wants us to follow those
higher ways by stepping out in the true way of Jesus and by the inspiration of
the Holy Spirit. This will be the only
way that we will ever be able to “go fishing with Jesus”, and experience the
most miraculous catch of all time!
