Breakfast with Jesus
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Introduction
We are nearing the end of the Gospel of John
Last week we looked at the purpose of this Gospel - that John wrote it so that you would believe the Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through His name you may have eternal life.
Today we are going to look at an amazing day.
It’s often bed said, that a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work.
We are going to look at a day of fishing that started out bad - then turned amazing.
John 21:1-14
After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way:
Simon Peter, Thomas (called “Twin”), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples were together.
“I’m going fishing,” Simon Peter said to them.
“We’re coming with you,” they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus. “Friends,” Jesus called to them, “you don’t have any fish, do you?”
“No,” they answered.
“Cast the net on the right side of the boat,” he told them, “and you’ll find some.” So they did, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish. The disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer clothing around him (for he had taken it off) and plunged into the sea. Since they were not far from land (about a hundred yards away), the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus told them. So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish—153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.
“Come and have breakfast,” Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Let’s Pray
John 21:1
John 21:1-2
After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way:
Simon Peter, Thomas (called “Twin”), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples were together.
Seven of the disciples are at the Sea of Galilee
Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, Zebedee’s sons (John and James), and two other unnamed disciples.
We are not told where the other four disciples are at
John 21:3
John 21:
“I’m going fishing,” Simon Peter said to them.
“We’re coming with you,” they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
This is one of my favorite sections of scripture.
There are three theories to Simon Peter going fishing.
1. They went fishing while they were waiting for Jesus in Galilee
2. They went fishing to make some money (Peter, Andrew, James, John were all fisherman)
3. Peter wanted to go back to his vocation of fishing.
Jesus had just died on the cross for the sins of the world, he rose from the dead, and had visited the disciples on two separate occasions.
Four people that think the first theory is correct, that they were going to wait for Jesus in Galilee they get this theory from three scriptures, , , and
Matthew 26:32
, ,
But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”
Now the disciples are in Galilee - maybe waiting on Jesus to appear again. So what do you do?
Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there.’ Listen, I have told you.”
Matthew 28:10
Then Jesus told them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”
2. Some scholars think that Peter was going to make some money
Matthew 4:18-19
“Follow me,” he told them, “and I will make you fish for people.”
As he was walking along the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter), and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. “Follow me,” he told them, “and I will make you fish for people.”
I can not find any indication in scripture that this is a valid theory.
3. Peter was returning to his vocation.
“I’m going fishing,” Simon Peter said to them.
“We’re coming with you,” they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
John 21:3
You go fishing.
After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way:
Simon Peter, Thomas (called “Twin”), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples were together.
“I’m going fishing,” Simon Peter said to them.
“We’re coming with you,” they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way:
Simon Peter, Thomas (called “Twin”), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples were together.
“I’m going fishing,” Simon Peter said to them.
“We’re coming with you,” they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus.
7 of 11 disciples are in Galilee
Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, John and James (the sons of Zebedee) and two unnamed disciples.
I love this because Peter, Andrew, John and James were all fisherman.
Jesus told them that he was going to Galilee -
Matthew 28:10
Then Jesus told them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”
Some times we wait on Jesus.
The disciples knew that Jesus was going to meet them in Galilee.
But where was he?
So what does Simon Peter do say?
John 21:3
“I’m going fishing,” Simon Peter said to them.
“We’re coming with you,” they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
I love fishing. But I’ve had days like this.
In Hawaii - I took an 8 hour deep sea fishing tour. The day was absolutely beautiful. The ocean was nice and calm. The dolphins were following our boat. It was a gorgeous day for fishing.
We went all the way around the island of Maui and after 8 hours - no fish.
In Costa Rica, on my honeymoon, I went deep sea fishing. We had a hurricane on the Pacific side of Costa Rica and I was fishing on the Atlantic side. So we were catching the rain bands. The ocean was so stirred up that when the boat went down into the trough of the wave, I couldn’t see over the wave behind us.
Think about that - I am over six feet tall, the boat is three feet out of the water, that is 9 feet and I couldn’t see over the waves.
Guess what - 8 hours of fishing - we caught nothing.
Peter, John and James, were all professional fisherman and they caught nothing.
These disciples, healed the sick, drove out demons, but when it came to fishing - they got skunked too.
Life can be that way - we try everything we know to do. We do the best that we can, and at the end of the day there are days where we have nothing to show for it.
We can work all day, or in the case of the disciples all night, and have nothing to show for it.
So what does that tell us?
John 21:4-6
When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus. “Friends,” Jesus called to them, “you don’t have any fish, do you?”
“No,” they answered.
“Cast the net on the right side of the boat,” he told them, “and you’ll find some.” So they did, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish.
:
When it comes to scripture we need to be careful.
If we read scripture too literally - we would only fish on the right side of the boat.
If we read scripture too loosely - we miss that Jesus is the one who controls the waves, the wind, even sometimes the animals like the Noah’s Ark story or Jonah’s story.
In scripture there are all types of literary devices.
Narratives, Epic’s, Laws, Tragedy, Poetry, Pastoral Literature, Wisdom Literature, Prophetic Literature, Revelation, Gospels, Epistles, and Apocalyptic Literature.
We need to be careful when we read scripture. At some level we need to understand what we are reading.
We can’t take this scripture literal that the only way to catch fish is to fish off the right side of the boat, because this is a narrative, not a law.
Believe me, I have tried to fish off the right side of the boat before just because of this scripture, and I have been skunked. That doesn’t mean that scripture is false, it means we need to have a better understanding of scripture.
They caught such a large number of fish that they were unable to haul in the net.
John 21:7-8
The disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer clothing around him (for he had taken it off) and plunged into the sea. Since they were not far from land (about a hundred yards away), the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish.
1:7-
Peter has been fishing in his skivvies. The Greek word means that he was naked, or nearly naked while fishing. He ties his outer robe around him and jumps into the sea for a 100 yard swim.
100 yards! 100 yards to the Savior of the World
Peter who was first to say I am going fishing - is also the first to leave the catch behind and go for Jesus
Following Jesus with reckless abandon. Leaving everyone behind.
Got to love Peter.
John 21:9-10
When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus told them.
There are only two mentions of charcoal fires in John.
The first was when Peter was standing by the fire denying Jesus.
If you come to church next Sunday we are going to look at Jesus reinstating Peter around the charcoal fire as we finish the Gospel of John.
So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish—153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.
Over the years this verse has been discussed a lot.
So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish—153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.
“Come and have breakfast,” Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
21:11-14
Some people have tried to say that 153 represents the number of species in the Sea of Galilee - but the actual number is 157.
Some people have tried to say that if you had 1+2+3…+17 you end up with 153. That may be true but what does that mean?
Some people think that if “17” is the magic number of adding 1+2+3…17 - then 10 + 7 = 17 which means 10 is the 10 Commandments and 7 is the perfect number of God.
Or maybe - there were literally 153 fish.
The guys fishing were professional fisherman - if you watch any professional fishing show - like Deadliest Catch with the crabs in the Bearing Sea - what do they do - they count their catch.
What’s the first thing that someone says to you when they come across you fishing - “did you catch anything?” or “how much did you catch.”
Let’s say they were fishing for profit - they would have split the catch betwen the 7 disciples - they needed to know how much they cost.
See it’s easy to chase rabbit holes when you look at scripture - but be careful. If you were to read the church history of this verse - great scholars have tried to rationalize what the symbolism was of 153 - what if it was just 153 fish. We miss the point of the next verses.
John 21:12-14
“Come and have breakfast,” Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Some scholars think that this a communion style breakfast. Aren’t you thankful that we eat bread and drink juice. And not eat bread and eat fish for communion.
Other than the disciples having breakfast with the risen Lord it does not appear to me to be a Eucharist/Communion style event.
Jesus served the disciples.
Even after his death and resurrection, Jesus came to serve.
What a breakfast it must have been that morning.
Jesus already had the fire prepared, the fish and bread cooking. He was just waiting on the disciples. Ready to serve.
We are called to follow Jesus.
Jesus is called the suffering servant.
We too are called to serve.
Who are you serving?
Conclusion
Sometimes we wait on the Lord - The disciples were told that they were going to see Jesus again in Galilee.
Maybe Peter got impatient and wanted to go fishing, or maybe he wanted to go back to what he knew, or maybe he just didn’t want to sit around and wait for Jesus to make his appearance.
We can be that way too.
We can pray, but then when we don’t see an answer to our prayers we can start getting busy, going back to the familiar. Staying busy, rather than waiting on the Lord.
What is the lesson we can learn from this story.
1st - this is a historical narrative -
That means - it’s not a call to fish on the right side of the boat only.
This is John’s recollection of what took place that day on the Sea of Galilee.
2nd - sometimes Jesus tells us what to do - then we need to do it.
Jesus told them He was going to Galilee
When Jesus calls you to do something you need to do it.
3rd - Jesus came to serve
Who are you serving?
Is there someone that you could visit, say hello to, encourage.
Life is tough - everyone of us could use some encouragement. Someone needs to hear that Jesus loves them today. We all need to hear that. Let’s try it. Tell the person sitting closest to you that Jesus loves them.
Jesus loves you - and know that I love you.
Life is tough - everyone of us could use some encouragment. Someone needs to hear that Jesus loves them today. We all need to hear that. Let’s try it. Tell the person sitting closest to you that Jesus loves them.
Let’s Pray