Gone Fishing

But we do know that there were a great number of appearances that took place between the resurrection and when Jesus ascended back into heaven that we can read about in Acts.

And this morning we are looking at one of the very early appearances of Jesus to his disciples.

This one taking place right after Jesus had appeared to them all and told them to go and make disciples, which we studied last week.

But, instead of going and making disciples, we find a few of his disciples not making disciples, but out trying to catch fish instead.

And to be fair to the disciples, they did have to eat.

They all had families and they had to do what they could do to take care of them.

But there is also something else going on as well with these disciples, particularly Peter.

There is a sense of guilt and unworthiness that is coming into play here with these disciples.

They were feeling guilty because they had doubted.

Remember in it says some doubted, but it never tells us which ones the “some were.”

We can glean that Thomas was one of them from other Scriptures, but we are never told who the rest of the “doubters” were.

And I don’t want to overstretch the interpretation here, but I believe we may have found them, out fishing instead of following, with Peter being their ringleader.

And this doubt by this point has turned into regret and also unworthiness.

Satan had them convinced that they were unworthy because of their abandonment of Jesus.

He had Peter convinced because of his denial of Jesus.

They felt unworthy because of their doubts.

So that when Jesus appeared to them and told them to go and make disciples, they had assumed he was talking to the other disciples who, in their mind, was more worthy.

And I believe the Lord led me here this morning because we have some folks who are in the same boat.

We have done things in our past that has not been so good.

Maybe we have denied Christ.

Maybe we have abandoned him at different times.

Maybe we have had doubts about our salvation or the reality of all of this “Jesus stuff” as they like to say.

Well, this morning we are going to look at both how the disciples handled their doubts and also how Jesus handled them.

So, if you have found in your Bible, I’d invite you to stand with me.

I will be reading the first six verses, but we are going to cover verses 1-14.

John writes . . .

Scripture Focus

John 21:1–6 NIV - Anglicised

1 Afterwards Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called 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. 4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. 6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

John 21:1-

Gone Fishing (vs 1-6)

So, we now find some of the most famous disciples doing something somewhat strange after Jesus Christ had appeared to them already.

We would have thought that they would have been excited and would have gotten right to work sharing the Gospel message with others.

But they didn’t.

Instead, Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James and John went fishing.

And we know that them going fishing had to have taken place very shortly after Jesus’ first appearance to them because in verse one it says this took place by the Sea of Tiberias, which is the Sea of Galilee.

And Peter is apparently their ringleader because he declares . . .

John 21:3 NIV - Anglicised

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.

John 21:3-

And I can picture them sort of all down in the dumbs.

A good case of the mully-grubs.

Upset because of the way they felt about life in general.

But, if we are going to be honest the reason they felt that way was their own fault.

Because instead of just listening to Jesus and taking Him at his Word when he told them to get to work and he would be with them, they decided the message was for everyone else but themselves.

They had thought that they had messed up too many times for Jesus to be talking about them.

Which brings us right back to why we are looking at this passage this morning.

God has visited with us many times.

They Holy Spirit has spoken to us many, many times.

We have been called many, many, many times in our lives.

But we have always responded, “that message is not for me.”

“I’ve got too many other obligations.”

Or, “I’ve done way too much wrong for it to be talking about me.”

Or, whatever other excuse we can come up with.

Which is absolutely no different than what these disciples were doing.

Sure, all of them had families to support.

Sure, all of them had obligations.

Sure, all of them felt guilty.

But it doesn’t mean that Jesus didn’t want to use them.

It doesn’t mean that Jesus wasn’t calling them.

It just meant that they were not listening.

They were all fishermen but the problem was they were trying to catch the wrong fish.

And Jesus was going to use this as a lesson to them.

First, they went out alone to catch fish and what happened, they didn’t catch a thing.

However, Jesus shows up . . .

John 21:4–6 NIV - Anglicised

4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. 6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

John 21:4

Now, we get the great miracle part of this, but we miss the underlying message.

The miracle was the great number of fish caught, but the message was without Jesus we cannot be effective fishermen, but with Jesus the number of fish caught can only be explained by miracles.

And, we are not talking about Bluegill either.

Jesus is teaching them about faithfulness and fulfilling the Great Commission under His authority and His calling.

It’s Jesus! (vs 7-10)

And one of their main problems was they couldn’t even recognize that it was Jesus when he was standing there talking to them.

They had thought he appeared, gave his message, and was gone.

They didn’t think he would be back.

So they didn’t recognize him.

Just like when that tug of the Holy Spirit is on our heart.

We get through the service and leave, the conviction of the Spirit calms down a bit and we go on.

Then we repeat this over and over again, and sooner or later we are so out of tune with God that we don’t even recognize the Spirit’s call anymore.

But God has a way of getting our attention back.

Which is exactly what happens here . . .

John 21:7 NIV - Anglicised

7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.

And the excitement that Peter felt wasn’t just because it was his friend who he thought he would never see again.

It wasn’t even just because it was Jesus, the Son of God.

His excitement was really about the fact that Jesus had come to see him.

Remember, he and these disciples were in the place where they felt like they had messed up beyond repair and that Jesus was going to abandon them.

But now, maybe that isn’t the case.

Maybe Jesus was going to give them another chance.

There was a little glimmer of hope there.

And there have been many reasons given as to why Jesus appeared this day to these guys the way he did.

But I believe it was specifically to let them know that when he told them to go and make disciples, he really meant all of them.

He wasn’t excluding certain ones.

And today when we receive Christ and become one of his disciples, the same holds true for us.

First, he wants all of us to receive him and become his disciple.

And second once we are his disciple, he wants us to then go and make other disciples.

ALL OF US....Not just a select few.

Jesus wants all of us to do the work of an evangelist, as Paul puts it.

But again, we have to be willing to do it.

So, Peter jumps in the water and begins to swim to shore to greet the Lord.

And . . .

John 21:8–10 NIV - Anglicised

8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”

John 21:8–9 NIV - Anglicised

So, they do what people do when friends or family come for a visit.

They fellowship.

And like we do many times, they sit down and eat some food.

Breaking Bread Together (vs 11-14)

Which is a relief to these disciples because Jesus is letting them know that things are okay.

That they are forgiven.

That he is, in fact with them, even them who had abandoned him.

He’s telling them it is a new day.

Look what happens next . . . .

John 21:11–14 NIV - Anglicised

11 Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

John 21:11

And the whole thing about these fish was really that this net full of fish didn’t matter.

Except the fact that there were so many.

It was a miracle that #1 they caught 153 at one time and #2 the net didn’t break.

Because it was not designed for that many fish.

And what Jesus is trying to get them to see is again through Him, #1 the number of souls that will be saved and the spread of the Gospel be so wide that the only way it can be explained is a miraculous event.

And #2, regardless of the pressure put against the Church, the true Church, the church that Jesus established.

Regardless of the pressure from all sides, that Church will never break and will never fail.

And Jesus is calling them, and us into this type of miraculous ministry.

Altar Call

The question is, do we believe it and will we accept it?

Later on in this chapter Jesus has a conversation with Peter specifically and Jesus asks him 3 times if Peter loves him.

All three times with increasing frustration Peter answers “yes Lord!”

And all three times Jesus responds, “feed my sheep.”

This morning I ask you, do you love the Lord?

Have you accepted the Lord?

Are you his disciples?

If so, then FEED HIS SHEEP.

Make disciples.

Will you do that today?

The choice is yours to make.

If the answer is no, will you become a disciple today?

The altar is open, will you come?

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