The Right Side of the Boat

John 21:1–19 CEB

1 Later, Jesus himself appeared again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. This is how it happened: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two other disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter told them, “I’m going fishing.” They said, “We’ll go with you.” They set out in a boat, but throughout the night they caught nothing. 4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples didn’t realize it was Jesus. 5 Jesus called to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said, “Cast your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” So they did, and there were so many fish that they couldn’t haul in the net. 7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard it was the Lord, he wrapped his coat around himself (for he was naked) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they weren’t far from shore, only about one hundred yards. 9 When they landed, they saw a fire there, with fish on it, and some bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you’ve just caught.” 11 Simon Peter got up and pulled the net to shore. It was full of large fish, one hundred fifty-three of them. Yet the net hadn’t torn, even with so many fish. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples could bring themselves to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He 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. 15 When they finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” Simon replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Simon replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 He asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was sad that Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” He replied, “Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 I assure you that when you were younger you tied your own belt and walked around wherever you wanted. When you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and another will tie your belt and lead you where you don’t want to go.” 19 He said this to show the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. After saying this, Jesus said to Peter, “Follow me.”

The Right Side of the Boat

I took a huge sign of relief last Saturday when I submitted my last assignment for my degree. I was officially graduated yesterday.

I have to be honest, I panicked a little on Thursday. In my mind I was still in the education mode and I thought I had homework due. I had to remind myself that I was done.

My schedule has changed so much over the past almost 3 years. I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with myself. Darlene has a long list of things that need done. It was nice to sit in my office on Friday just contemplating what I needed to do. Part of what I was thinking about was routine. What is my new routine going to look like. I’m going to continue working 4 10 hour shifts at work each week so that I have more time for ministry work through the church. I’ll have some extra time to work on our retirement home. Although with the price of lumber and building supplies I don’t think I’ll ever be able to afford to finish it!

There is something comforting and reassuring to have a routine that you go through on a daily basis. I think we are all pretty much creatures of habit. Sometimes it almost seems we are stuck in a rut because routine become comfortable.

In our scripture today we see that for Peter and some of the disciples they needed the old routine, the routine that they had before they began to follow Jesus. After what they had experienced with Jesus crucifixion and death and now his resurrection everything had changed. Their entire world had been turned upside down and they needed something to hold onto during this time of transition and change. Peter and several of the disciples turned to the old routine of fishing.

John tells us there in verse 3 that Peter said:

John 21:3 (CEB)

3 Simon Peter told them, “I’m going fishing.”

Peter is saying that he’s going back to what he knows and that is fishing. You’ll remember from Matthews Gospel what Peter was doing. Matthew wrote:

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. (Matthew 4:18-20)

Peter and Andrew and many of the others were fishermen. That is an occupation that they probably learned from their fathers. It was all they knew. So after 3 and half years spent with Jesus they returned to the routine and the familiar.

The idea that Jesus had planted in their minds when he first called them must have seemed like a distant memory in light of what had happened to Jesus. Jesus told them that they would fish for people. Now that everything had been turned into turmoil they went back to their old lives.

Do we ever do that when life gets challenging? Do we ever turn back to the familiar, to the routine? What else could they do?

They should have listened to Jesus. Do you recall the scripture from last week? When Jesus appeared to the disciples the first time he said to them:

John 20:21–22 CEB

21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Jesus had commissioned them as sent people. They were no longer fishermen of fish, but they were to be fishing for people.

Many Bible scholars speculate that they were being disobedient to the will of God by going out fishing. Jesus had already told them that he was sending them. We don’t know exactly in the chronology of these days if Jesus had already given them the great commission. But clearly Jesus had commissioned them to go.

It is interesting to read there in verse 3 that they spent all night fishing and they caught nothing. Nothing more disappointing than spend hours fishing and to not catch anything.

One writer put it this way:

They were not the first fishermen to spend a night fishing without success! They illustrate the uselessness of human efforts apart from divine help, especially in the matter of fishing for souls.[1]

One thing that I have learned the hard way is that when I attempt to do something that it outside the will of God or without consulting and praying about it is this. I end up making a mess and become a failure. It is very important that we seek the will of God in everything that we do in life. Peter and the other disciples had yet to learn that lesson but they were learning it that night.

It is easy to miss what happens next. Jesus is standing on the shore or the lake. Peter and the others are still in their boat out on the water.

John 21:5 CEB

5 Jesus called to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.”

It’s almost like a statement rather than a question. Jesus knew they didn’t have any fish so he is asking the obvious. Have you ever had anyone ever ask you an obvious question? You’ve probably heard this one. A guy was changing a flat tire on his car and someone stopped and asked him if he had a flat tire. The guy looks at him and says “No, I was driving and the other three tires just swelled up on me.” Don’t call me when you get that.

Jesus asked them “have you caught any fish.” That too the disciples is an obvious question. The disciples don’t recognize him as Jesus.

Jesus next says to them:

John 21:6 (CEB)

6 He said, “Cast your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.”

Jesus, the one who created the fish of the seas knew exactly where the fish were and he tells them to toss their net over on the right side of the boat. I can only imagine how frustrated the disciples were at that point. They had been fishing all night and hadn’t caught anything and this guy on the beach yells out to them to toss their net out again but on the other side of the boat.

It’s important to remember that Peter and the others were experienced fishermen. They had grown up fishing, they had spent their early lives fishing. Two of them were at least second generation fishermen. They had lived and breathed perhaps their entire lives fishing. I think it’s safe to say that fishing was in their blood. They knew all there was to know about fishing.

Some guy that they didn’t recognize is telling them to toss their nets out again on the right side of the boat and they’ll catch something. I’ve never fished with a net before, but can imagine it must be very tiring tossing a net out and then dragging it back in all wet. I’d think that would make for a very long night.

For whatever reason they gave it another shot and tossed the net out and they were unable to haul it into the boat because it was full of fish. I wonder if in that moment that Peter and the others had a flash back of an incident that happened several years before. Luke recorded it in his Gospel when he wrote:

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. (Luke 5:4-7 NIV)

There is a saying that is used in Alcoholics Anonymous. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

There is a principle in this encounter that I think is applicable for today here at this church. The principle is this. If we’ve been doing the same thing over and over again and not achieving any results, then maybe we need to rethink what we’re doing and go to the Master fisherman and ask Him what we should do.

To often we do what we are comfortable with doing. We get in a routine. We come to church on Sunday mornings. We sing a couple of songs, hear the Scripture read, give a little money, the preacher preaches a sermon, sing another song, receive the benediction and we go home. We come back next week and do the same thing. We wonder why we are not reaching anyone.

We need to get out of our comfort zone. We need to toss the net over on the right side of the boat. We need to listen to God.

There is an important point to understand about Jesus words and the disciples’ actions. When we follow Jesus directions there are no empty nets. When we are following and being obedient to the will of God in our lives we will be successful in all that He asks us to do.

The disciples toss the net into the water one more time thinking what harm is there. Maybe we’ll get lucky this time. John tells us that there was so many fish that they were unable to haul the net in. It was then that Peter recognized who it was that was on the shore talking to them. Peter recognized it was Jesus, it was the Lord directing them.

Dr E. Stanley Jones a great missionary in the Methodist church back in the early 1900’s tells about attending the Methodist General Conference reflected on a letter he had from a young woman from China who had come to saving faith in Jesus. Her letter reminded him of the necessity of conversion. He wrote about that and said:

When the church loses its power to convert, it loses its right to be called a church. Unless it is making bad men into good men, weak men into strong men, uncertain men into certain, selfish men into unselfish, and men lacking the God-consciousness into men radiantly realizing God, it is failing as a church of the living Christ. And nothing can take the place of this fact of conversion.[2]

In the words of John’s Gospel, it’s time to toss the net over on the other side of the boat.

Peter in that moment recognizes that it is Jesus standing on the shore. Jesus didn’t need the fish from their nets, he only needed their obedience to Him.

Look there at verse 9:

John 21:9 CEB

9 When they landed, they saw a fire there, with fish on it, and some bread.

When the men got on shore John tells us there was a fire burning and there was fish and bread. Jesus had everything prepared for them. Jesus didn’t need the fish that the men caught. He had a fire going and there was fish on the grill cooking and Jesus bread for them. He did tell them to bring some of the fish they had caught, but he already had breakfast ready.

Jesus did say to them:

Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.

This reminded me of the time that Jesus fed the five thousand with the five little fish and two loaves of bread from a young boy’s lunch. Jesus took the bread and the fish and gave it to them.

I think it’s important to remember that Jesus is here with us today, right now. We talk like Jesus is distant from us, that He’s just sitting in heaven biding his time until the rapture. He is there in Heaven, interceding on our behalf to the Father, but He’s also here with us.

He’s here in the busy times of life, he’s here when we walk through that valley of dark shadows, he’s here when we experience the joys and highs of life. He’s here and he knows the disappointments and the struggles we face, the times of laughter and the times of tears. He is as that old saying goes “the silent listener to every conversation and the unseen guest at every meal.” He’s here.

Jesus said “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” One of the choruses we sing has these words:

He is here, Hallelujah, He is here, Amen

He is here, Holy Holy, I will bless His name again

He is here, listen closely

Hear Him calling out your name

He is here, you can touch Him

You will never be the same

He’s here this morning. He’s inviting you, if you’re not a Christian, He’s inviting you to know Him in a very real way through salvation that He has brought. He’s here and he’s inviting all Christians to follow him, to be obedient to him. He is here, Hallelujah, He is here!

Jesus said to the disciples, come and dine, one of these days he’s going to say to the church, come and dine at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Are you ready for that day?

There are a lot of things that I would like to see the church doing but we need to make sure we are doing not what I want, but what God wants us to do. We can get involved in a lot of activities and programs that are good. They may be good, but they could be outside of what God’s will is.

The disciples’ nets came up empty because they didn’t seek God’s will on what their next steps should be. They went fishing when they probably should have been waiting on God.

One thing that I have learned is to expect the unexpected when I am obedient to God and I follow His plan rather than coming up with my own plan. When I come up with my own plan I find that my nets always come empty or with just poor results. Back in chapter 14 of John’s Gospel Jesus is talking to the disciples about the Holy Spirit and he says to them beginning at verse 11:

John 14:11–14 CEB

11 Trust me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or at least believe on account of the works themselves. 12 I assure you that whoever believes in me will do the works that I do. They will do even greater works than these because I am going to the Father. 13 I will do whatever you ask for in my name, so that the Father can be glorified in the Son. 14 When you ask me for anything in my name, I will do it.

Jesus said “whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these.” That promise was not just for the disciples, but it is for us today. He’s not talking about the so called prosperity gospel that is being peddled today. That to me is a false hope for people who believe it. Jesus is saying that they things that He did because he was obedient to the Father that we will do. We will accomplish great things for God if we are obedient to the Father just as Jesus was obedient to the Father.

In verse 10 of that chapter Jesus said that it wasn’t him. He said:

John 14:10 (CEB)

The Father who dwells in me does his works.

These greater things that Jesus promised are really not about us, but it is about the Holy Spirit at work within our lives.

Something I’ve learned in my life is that I often make a mess of things. I have attempted to do stuff for God but I never check and see if it is His will for me. I rush off and attempt to do whatever for Him and make a mess of it and then I would complain to God that He wasn’t keeping His part of the bargain by blessing what I was trying to do.

The problem with that is that I never even checked with God to see if He even wanted me to do that in the first place. That is the problem that the disciples go into when they went off fishing when maybe they should have stayed and waited on God to show them what He wanted them to do.

This passage for us today is a reminder to be faithful to God’s calling in our lives and in the life of His church. We need to be listening to what Jesus is saying to us today and toss the net on the right side of the boat. The fact is that where Jesus is, is the right side of the boat. We cannot afford to waste time trying to attempt to live this Christian life apart from complete obedience to God’s call in our life. Toss out your net and watch as God blesses you more than you could ever imagine!

[1] MacDonald, William. Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments. Ed. Arthur Farstad. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995. Print. [2] E. Stanley Jones, Christ At the Round Table, 1928, The Abingdon Press