Now what? The disciple of action just had to have something to do. Peter and the others had been told to wait in Galilee until they were clothed with power from on high (Luk 24:49). But it wasn’t happening, and Peter likely wondered what to do next.
Filling the Time
The old way of life may have been tugging hard at him. Or perhaps a fishing excursion was simply a way to fill the time. Either way, Peter made up his mind that he was not going to simply sit around and do nothing. “Simon Peter saith unto them [the disciples], I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately” (Joh 21:3).1 Apparently, it didn’t take too much arm twisting to convince some of the others to go along. After all, at least two of the others were fishermen – James and John.2
We must not be overly critical of the disciples here. After all, the Lord wasn’t. We should try to appreciate their difficult position in the interim between the Lord’s resurrection and His ascension. Forty days is a long time. What were they to do? Where were they to go? At least a fishing expedition would give them something to do and put food on their tables. Remember also that the disciples had been obedient to the Savior’s message forwarded to them by the women – “Go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me” (Mat 28:10; see 26:32). They had seen the Lord in Jerusalem and had obediently traveled to Galilee. But they had not yet seen the Savior there – thus this fishing trip to the Sea of Galilee.3
It would be after a long, frustrating and fishless night that Jesus would appear to them. There are likely many reasons why He chose this moment and this place for His appearance, but one might simply be that the Lord revealed Himself on this occasion to save them from the pull of the old life. It was Peter’s passion, as well as that of the sons of Zebedee, and Jesus knew it. He made sure the old pull wasn’t too strong – “that night they caught nothing” (Joh 21:3). The Lord knows how to keep fish out of nets as well as how to bring them in. The incident would take them back in their minds to empty nets in these same waters, the instruction of Christ to cast those nets on the other side of the boat, the miraculous catch which occurred at His direction, His call to make them “fishers of men,” and their decision to forsake all and follow Him (Luk 5:1-11). After this miracle, which was so incredibly similar to the earlier one, the disciples could conclude that their calling remained unchanged. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.
Filling Their Nets
After a disappointing night, “when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus” (Joh 21:4). There are probably at least two reasons why they failed to recognize Him. First, note that the Greek word for “morning” indicates the time before sunrise while it is still dark. John used this word in 20:1, adding this description: “when it was yet dark.” Second, 21:8 indicates that the distance from the ship to the shore was approximately 200 cubits (or nearly 100 meters). The distance combined with the darkness made it difficult to recognize the Savior.
But notice also that “Jesus stood on the shore.” He did not appear on the boat with them, nor did He come out to them walking on the water. He remained a good distance away and in the darkness. Is the Lord giving them another lesson in trust here? He will soon be physically absent, but they will need to learn how to recognize His presence, His voice and His ways after His ascension.
Eventually, the disciples heard the “stranger’s” voice: “Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No” (21:5). The Greek construction of the sentence expects a negative answer, translated nicely by the NET: “Children, you don’t have any fish, do you?” Perhaps they wondered, How does this stranger know about our failed mission? How does He know our nets have been empty? And so the Savior told them how their net could be filled. “Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find” (v6). Did some of them roll their eyes or shake their heads? After all, experienced fishermen are not likely to take instructions from total strangers, particularly one standing on the shore. To their credit, they obeyed without argument. “They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes” (v6). As the great fish which swallowed Jonah, so did these fish obey their Master, swimming into the disciples’ net. And John records this as the final “sign” in his Gospel, showing that the Lord Jesus is indeed sovereign over all, “the Christ, the Son of God” (20:31), who must be believed to receive eternal life.
John’s reaction to this sign is recorded in 21:7: “Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord.” As John was the first of the disciples to believe in the resurrection (20:8), so was he the first to recognize the Savior on the shore. But unsurprisingly, Peter yet again was the first to take action. “Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea” (v7). Peter’s actions imply that he was hurrying to where Christ was. If only he could have walked on water again he would certainly have beat all the disciples to the shore! His reaction to the Lord’s miracle is altogether different from his response in Luke 5. There he had asked the Lord to depart from him. Here, he hurries to Him.4 Meanwhile, the other disciples were doing all they could to drag the net which the Savior had filled to the shore.
Filling Their Stomachs
It had been a long night and they were hungry. Normally, it would take hours to clean the fish and cook them before they could have their stomachs filled. But ever the servant, Christ had already thought of their need and worked to meet it. “As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread” (v9). Not only was Christ Himself a welcome sight, but so was what He had prepared! He cared about their physical needs, and He cares about ours also.
Amazingly, He then gives them credit for the catch. “Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught” (v10). How gracious the Lord was with them. Simon Peter volunteered to bring them. He “went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken” (v11). Earlier, they were not able to haul in the net (v6), but now Peter does it himself, which tells us something of his strength. No doubt he was energized by this appearance of the risen Lord.
The number of the fish is noted. Rather than calling for some symbolic interpretation of the number 153, John’s recalling of the exact number simply authenticates the eyewitness account. John is simply saying, “I still remember how many fish were in that net. It was 153!”
And so they all sat down to eat after the Lord’s call to “Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? Knowing that it was the Lord” (v12). After He filled their stomachs, John notes that this was “the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead” (v14). The first two appearances were recorded in chapter 20 (vv19-25 and vv26-29). But note the word “shewed” (or “manifested”) here. It is the same word used twice in 21:1, but there it is found in the active voice, here in the passive voice, meaning literally that Jesus “was manifested.” John may be implying something remarkable here. It is possible that the Lord was present with His own for long periods of time after His resurrection but was not always seen by them. On certain occasions, the veil was lifted for them to see Him. Regardless, John recorded this third manifestation, where lasting lessons were given about the disciples’ future work. Their calling remained unchanged as fishers of men (vv1-14). But added to that responsibility was their call to shepherd God’s sheep (vv15-17). These are still the highest callings in the world twenty centuries later.
Serviceable Lessons About Service
We end the chapter by noting some valuable lessons left by our Lord about our service for Him. First, note that effective service requires divine life. The previous chapter ended with the disciples believing that the Savior was indeed risen. It is implied that they too believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and by believing they received life in His name (20:31). To serve the Lord, we too must receive divine life, which only comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We need His life, His power to serve Him effectively.
Second, observe that effective service requires divine direction. The seven men aboard that vessel in the Sea of Galilee caught nothing without the Savior’s guidance. In fact, the disciples never catch a single fish in the Gospel records without Jesus’ instruction. He told them here to “cast the net on the right side of the ship.” Unlike what occurred in Luke 5, there was no argument. They received the Lord’s direction, obeyed it, and He blessed their actions. Fittingly, Christ told them in the upper room, “Without me ye can do nothing” (15:5). It’s not that we can do a little without Christ and even more with Him, but that we can do nothing without Him! Rather than rushing along in our work for the Lord, how important it is to get His direction for all that we do.
Finally, it might be helpful to remember that effective service requires divine fellowship. The Lord Jesus commanded them to “Come and dine.” And He didn’t simply lead them to the fish and bread and disappear from their midst. He stayed with the disciples, spending valuable moments with them, challenging them and teaching them. They needed time with the Lord to enable them to serve Him effectively. To all who serve our risen Savior, let us never forget that we must be fed ourselves before we can feed others. We must have our hearts warmed by His presence before we can bring blessing to anyone else. We must see the Lord ourselves if we expect others to see the Lord in us.
We, too, have an unchanged calling. It is true of every believer that we “serve the Lord Christ” (Col 3:24). Don’t let the pull of the old life distract you. Don’t let the attraction of the present world entice you. Don’t let the lies of the Devil discourage you. And don’t let the pride of your own flesh deceive you. To effectively serve the Lord Christ, we need Him – His life, His power, His direction. For without Him, we’ll always find ourselves on the wrong side of the ship.
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the KJV unless otherwise noted.
2 John names those on the expedition as Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael and the sons of Zebedee (21:2). Two others accompanied them but are unnamed, something not unusual for John (see 1:35-39; 18:15-16; 20:2-8).
3 John refers to it as both the Sea of Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee (see John 6:1).
4 His eagerness to get to Christ implies that his private restoration had already occurred when the Lord appeared to him personally on resurrection day (see Luk 24:34; 1Co 15:5).
