Good Monday morning to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Monday’s have historically been the most challenging day of the week, at least for those facing the first busy day of the work week, or first day of kids back to school etc. But what if something happened which not only made a particular Monday the best day of that week, or even month for you, but one of the best days of your entire life?
In the weeks following the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, after His crucifixion, we have a few accounts in the Bible of Jesus appearing to His friends. Each time it was unannounced and unexpected. Do you like big, unexpected surprises? Because we have two of the sudden appearances of Jesus as occurring in the Galilee area, it appears the Disciples, and we presume, the women who were from Galilee, (Luke 23:55-24:8) all returned to the Galilee region after that Passover, probably during the week after Jesus’ second appearance to them all which included Thomas. (John 20:24-29)
Normally most people who came to Jerusalem for Passover tried to arrive at least a week before and often stayed at least a week after Passover weekend. It should not be difficult for us to imagine the sense of continual festival with an overcrowded Jerusalem and hundreds of people in the Temple area, for two weeks of non stop celebration of their uniqueness as a people of God!
John tells us one of those unexpected, miraculous appearances of Jesus occurred on the Sea of Galilee and seven of the disciples had gone back to their familiar profession of fishing. I don’t know that it was a Monday, but I do know these men were frustrated, as often happens after a long Monday back at work. Even today, fishing on Lake Galilee is more often done at night rather than in the daytime.
John tells us even with seven experienced fishermen, and for whom the Sea of Galilee was the place they most often fished, still all through the night their nets were empty each time they pulled the nets up from the water.
On this occasion, it wasn’t bad luck with fishing, it was the intentional work of God to keep the fish away from their boat! How do I know that? Because of the miracle which happened that early morning, after their long night of empty net fishing. Now friends, don’t miss the significance of this: Are we willing to see God allowing challenging, difficult, painful things into our lives, which then position us for a great miracle from God?
I wonder how you respond when you’re having a hard time with something and someone comes along who first asks you if you’re having a hard time, and then without your request for help, they tell you how to do it better?
That’s what happened to Peter and his fishermen friends. John tells us that in early morning, as they were wearily pulling in the nets, once again empty, a voice called out to them. But it was barely light enough to see the figure standing on the shoreline, so they didn’t know who it was. He shouted out to the weary fishermen, “Friends, haven’t you caught any fish”? (John 21:5)
What an irritating question! I’m assuming Peter, John and all the disciples, as well as the women, had been back in their hometowns several days, perhaps two or three weeks by this time. Can you imagine all the questions their friends had for them about what had happened to Jesus in Jerusalem that Palm Sunday and especially Passover Friday? I wonder how these close friends of Jesus tried to explain it all? Obviously Jesus was absent. He had not been seen for several days, maybe weeks.
What should the disciples be doing? What was their future without Jesus present with them? So my friends, what do you do when you have those types of deep questions and heaven seems silent?
In the early morning dim light these seven fishermen could only answer a frustrated “NO” to the voice on the shoreline. I assume they expected that lone figure to simply walk away, silent. But he didn’t. Instead He gave some unsolicited advice! “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some!” (John 21:6)
We don’t know how long the fishermen debated if they should disregard the unwelcome intrusion in their frustrating fishing night and simply head for home without any fish, or if they should give it one more try?
What we do know is what John reports as an eye witness: “When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish!” Confused, excited, frustrated energized about how that guy on the beach could know where the fish were, six guys pulled hard on a net so full it was almost tearing!
I say six guys because one of the seven men in this boat, John, was paying no attention to the fish! He was peering through the dim morning light at the guy on the shoreline. Finally John spoke, maybe shouted, only three words: “It’s the Lord!”
Peter dropped his hold on the fullest net of fish he’d ever seen, spun around in the boat and joined John staring at the man on the beach. Without hesitation, Peter jumped into the water and started to swim toward the beach! That now left five pulling on the full net. It was too full to pull into the boat, so John tells us they tied it off and rowed the boat ashore, towing the net full of flapping fish! Soon they were close enough to recognize Him.
It was Jesus, the resurrected Jesus, waiting for them on the shoreline. But not alone, He had a fire and some fresh bread, and He asked them to bring some of their fish. John tells us they sat down on the beach and had what we could call ‘shoreline breakfast’ cooked by Jesus Himself!
But this was about more than a miracle catch of fish, even more than having breakfast with Jesus. This was another confirmation of the profound reality that was changing their lives: Jesus was unexplainably alive!
John writes: “None of them dared ask Him, ‘Who are you’? They knew it was Jesus. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.” (John 21:12-14)
Three times they’ve now been together when Jesus unexpectedly appeared to them. All three times He spoke with them, ate with them, allowed them to touch Him and this time He pulled a bunch of fish into their net, under their boat, even though they’d fished all night and caught nothing! The sale of these fish would care for their needs a long time! As they ate a hearty breakfast they talked as reunited friends.
And looking out across the water to the place most familiar to them in all the world, with a net full of flapping fish waiting to be sold, I wonder if maybe one of them said to the group “could life ever get any better than this”?
Oh but Jesus had some very important things to tell these, His friends, and those things would shape the rest of their lives. I’ll meet you right back here tomorrow on this beach, and we’ll listen to what Jesus said to them and we’ll see how it applies to your life and mine today, 2000 years later? OK?
Meanwhile here’s a song to help us consider the lessons available to us in this remarkable, shoreline miracle:
Today’s Scripture: John 21:1-14.
Choose below to read or listen.
 |  |
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.