John 21:1-14 (ESV)

¹ After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. ² Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. ³ Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. ⁴ Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵ Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” ⁶ He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. ⁷ That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. ⁸ The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. ⁹ When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. ¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. ¹² Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. ¹⁴ This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Seven of the now eleven disciples got together, and led by Peter, they decided to go back to fishing. Clearly, Peter was still discouraged. The last time we saw him, he adamantly denied being a follower of Jesus three times. Jesus looked at Peter, and then the rooster crowed. Peter had carried the pain of this guilt and shame since that incident. Peter was a fisherman, so he decided to fish. Although the disciples spent the entire night fishing, they caught nothing. Standing on the seashore, Jesus yelled out something like “Hey, guys, did you get anything to eat?” They told him they didn’t. So he instructed them to throw their net out again on the right side of the boat. They did as he instructed, and the net filled with fish. The light bulb went on! John said, “It is the Lord!” When Peter heard it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (possibly tucked in) and jumped into the sea. When Jesus initially called Peter, the incident was similar. Peter caught nothing after fishing through the night. Jesus told him to cast his net in again, and reluctantly, Peter did. When the net was full, Peter knew he was in the presence of someone greater than he, and Peter asked Jesus to depart from him. He was convicted, and he wanted distance between himself and Jesus. But this time, Peter rushed to be near Jesus. He didn’t care about the fish. All Peter wanted was Jesus!

The disciples caught nothing after fishing all night. When they listened to the words of Jesus and threw their net to the right of the boat, they had a full load. In a moment, Jesus did for them what they couldn’t do on their own after working all night. So who caught the fish? The disciples? Jesus? It seems the answer is Jesus. He told them to throw the net back in, and he clearly directed the fish to their net. But verse 10 tells us Jesus directed, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” Jesus said the disciples caught the fish. In the same way, Jesus works through us and rewards us for the work he does. This should cause us to bow before him in humble gratitude, and it should motivate us to work more for the Lord than ever before. Jesus brings the fish, and yet he recognizes our “part” in the process. What a gracious and generous God we serve!