Acts 9:1-8; Psalm 30; Revelation 5:11-14; John 21:1-23
As we finally get to springtime, the thoughts of many young men and women turn to …fishing. For many people, there is nothing more relaxing than taking a fishing pole, sitting beside a riverbank or a creek, tossing the line in the water, and waiting for the fish to strike the bait.
Fishing is a good time to think about life, about God, about what is important in life. Time itself seems to flow at a different speed. Fishing, for most Americans, is the exact opposite of hard work.
You see, when you fish, you cast the line out in the water. Plop! It hits the water and then you let it sink for a minute. A dragonfly buzzes near the line. The water sparkles as the tiny waves move away from the line. You begin to reel in the line slowly, slowly, just enough to entice that bass to hit the bait. Isn’t it pleasant how the water moves past those rocks over there? Whoa! Did you see that fish jump ten feet from your line? Let’s try throwing over there! Let me sit up a bit higher in my chair. Let me grab a drink and then cast my line again.
But fishing isn’t that way in much of the world. There is a tremendous difference between the world of the recreational fisherman and the world of the commercial fisherman. For you see, the commercial fisherman isn’t looking to catch a fish or two today. He is looking to catch dozens and hundreds of fish, because he will sell those fish and from the profits he will keep his boat operating, feed himself, and feed his family. A good night’s catch is the difference between living well for a month and going hungry.
Simon Peter – his name was originally Simon, but Jesus renamed him “Cephas”, an Aramaic word that meant “rock”, and so when the Gospels were written in Greek, Cephas was now named Petros (rock), or Peter. Simon Peter was a commercial fishing boat captain on the Sea of Galilee, what was sometimes known as the Sea of Tiberius, a large freshwater lake about 700 feet below sea level in Northern Israel. Galilee is fed by the snows and rains on the Golan Heights and it sends its water into the Jordan River, where the water falls another 700 feet down to the Dead Sea.
In ancient times, the Sea of Galilee was home to a group of Jewish fishermen, about 230 boats in all. Men like Peter They practiced net fishing for tilapia. They’d drop the net into the water, let it settle for a while and then, using their muscles, they’d pull the net out of the water, hopefully catching some fish in the net. Their goal was never to waste time on the water; their goal was to catch fish, lots of fish, for that was how they lived.
They mostly fished at night, because at night they could use the light from their oil lanterns to attract groups of fish to the boats. Plus, the cooler night temperatures made the hard work of lifting the nets easier.
After Peter and the other disciples, including Thomas, had seen Jesus a couple of times, they traveled back to Galilee. They’d been gone from Galilee for several months, and the lake and the boats were calling to Peter. It was time – about this time of year – it was time to get on the boats and spend a night out on the water, talking quietly about what they had seen, what Jesus had done, how their entire world was now different because Jesus had died and come back alive after claiming to be God Himself walking upon the earth. After Easter, it’s time to think about what Easter means to us in our lives. What does Christ’s Resurrection mean to you?
And so that evening in Galilee, Simon Peter said, “I’m going out to fish” and James and John, the sons of Zebedee said they’d go too. Of course, they were fishermen just like Simon Peter. Nathaniel of Cana, the studious one, decided to go along, a couple of other disciples – probably one of them was Andrew, Peter’s brother – and Thomas, Doubting Thomas went along.
Each of them went for different reasons. Thomas had learned his lesson – He was not going to go his own way again and miss a blessing. James and John, the two brothers, they were probably missing the wind and spray in their faces, as was Andrew, since they had grown up as lake fishermen.
Nathaniel of Cana had finally found that there was a man from Nazareth who had no deceit – he had long ago questioned whether or not anything good could come from Nazareth and he had found the answer in the person of Jesus Christ. And so each of these seven disciples decided to go on the lake together that evening, perhaps looking for Jesus to come walking to them again across the water like He had a couple of years before. And it was fitting that there were seven of them, for seven is the complete and good number in Hebrew thought, just as six and thirteen are evil numbers.
They loaded up the boat, manned the oars for a couple of minutes, and then the breeze took them out as a beautiful orange-red sun set behind them and they headed east. It was a quiet night – they were mostly alone with their thoughts, the stars overhead, and the full moon, for it had been a couple of weeks since the Passover and the day of Jesus’ death. They were quiet that night, for the fish were not swimming near the boat, they were swimming somewhere else, so they repeatedly put the nets in the water and pulled them up, but there were no fish found in the nets.
Dawn approached. In the grey light of dawn through the light mist that rose from the lake they saw a man on the shore about a hundred yards away. The world is very quiet at that time before the birds wake up, and this was centuries before the noise of automobile traffic was ever heard. No lights moved in the sky, for there were no airplanes. No satellites twinkled in orbit. No contrails ran overhead. No guns fired in the grey dawn, for gunpowder had not yet been invented. And since the Sea of Galilee is a small lake, an oval only about 13 miles by 8 miles, the waves are small, especially when it has been a quiet night and this was a quiet night, with no storms.
And so, when the man on shore shouted at them “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” they heard him distinctly and yelled back at him: “No. We haven’t caught any.”
Maybe it was the angle as he looked at the water, maybe the light was hitting the surface just right, maybe it was some power much deeper involving the life-giving ability of the man, but the lone man on shore shouted back to the tired, exhausted men in the boat: “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.”
It had been a long night. It was a warm night, and the work made them sweat, so they took off their robes and worked in their underwear. At least twenty times they had dropped the heavy nets and pulled them up empty. At least twenty times they had been disappointed with a net filled with nothing but algae and driftwood. At least twenty times they had tiredly lowered their arms and net and hoped for a few fish that they could share for breakfast, maybe one for each of them, six or seven, was that too much to ask? Or fourteen, so they would have some food for another meal that afternoon. Fourteen fish for a night’s work? Was that too much to ask?
The twenty-first time they untangled the net. The twenty-first time they tossed the net overboard. For the twenty-first time they waited. And then for the twenty-first time, they began to haui in the net. And a fish jumped up. A few more fish broke the surface. In fact, the net was downright heavy, the men were straining, they were struggling, the weight of the fish was pulling the boat over to the side, they all grabbed the net and pulled the fish into the boat and there were too many fish, so they had to grab fish and pull them in because they could not lift the net, it was so heavy, so full of fish, it was the greatest catch they had ever had and then a light came on in John’s brain and he turned to Peter and said, “It is the LORD!” and Peter grabbed his robe and dove into the water and began swimming in his robe toward the shore as fast as he could, leaving behind the greatest catch of fish he’d ever seen behind him, he left fish, food, and friends behind because in front of him was the Greatest Man He’d ever met, God Himself was standing in front of Peter, God Himself was laughing as Peter swam in strong but rough strokes toward the shore, God in the person of Peter’s friend, His Master, His teacher Jesus of Nazareth was standing there as Peter came in through the light surf and stumbled wet and out of breath onto the shore. And they smiled at each other.
The other disciples were right behind, with the net closed up behind them, towing it because they could not lift it into the boat, and they let the morning breeze blow them the hundred yards toward shore and when they grounded the boat they saw that there was a fire already burning with hot red coals and laying on those coals were some fish already roasting and some bread and they remembered the time he had fed 5000 people with about the same amount of fish and bread, and they also remembered that last night they were all together when He said broke a loaf of bread and said, “This is my body. As often as you eat it, remember me.”
And Jesus, standing on shore beside the fire, said, “Bring some of the fish you have caught”, so Peter went back into the water and dragged the net up onto the beach. They counted the fish – there were 153 fish in the net, each of them large enough they couldn’t slip out through the holes in the net, and the net was still in great shape, it wasn’t torn, it wasn’t damaged, and that was another miracle, for those nets weren’t made of anything tougher than plant fibers twisted together, natural ropes that could and did rot, yet the net was fine, it was full of large fish, everything was wonderful, and they took some of the fish and brought them to the fire.
And Jesus said, “Come and have breakfast.” And although He looked different, although He spoke a bit differently, none of the disciples asked Him “Who are you?” because they knew that this man, this man who looked and sounded a bit different was the same Jesus who had died and been resurrected and whom they had seen twice before since His resurrection.
And Jesus took the bread and split it among them once again, just like He had that evening in the upper room before His arrest. And then He took the fish and did the same. And they shared a meal of bread and fish that morning with God, sitting on the beach of the Sea of Galilee, and for them, the world was right that morning.
As far as those men were concerned, everything was right in the world, and they were at peace, the seven of them complete, for that is what happens when you are with God, that is what happens when you see God take care of you, that is what happens when you know that God will always be there to take care of you…your fears are gone, your worries are gone, you can sit beside the fire He has given you and be warm and fed. And their common Spirit that He had shared with them was joined with their common fire, just as that Holy Spirit that we still share with those men still blazes from time to time in a common flame.
After breakfast, Jesus spoke to Simon Peter, Peter, the man who had originally declared Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. Peter, the man who had declared that he would never deny knowing Jesus. Peter, the man who had let his fears overcome his mind and who had denied knowing Jesus, not once, not twice, but three times that awful night when Jesus was arrested. Jesus spoke to Peter, the man who had denied knowing Jesus when the tough times came.
Pointing to the fish, Jesus said, “Simon son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?” And Jesus used the word agapas when he said love, meaning “do you have a self-sacrificing love for me more than these?”
And Peter replied, “Yes, Lord, you know that I have affection for you.” Peter couldn’t quite bring himself to commit that far to Jesus as a self-sacrificing love, but he certainly had brotherly affection for Jesus. So Peter used the word philo, meaning "brotherly affection". Jesus said,” Feed my lambs.”
A second time, Jesus said, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you have a self-sacrificing love for me?”
And Peter replied, “Yes, Lord, you know that I have affection for you.” Peter still would not commit. He had learned his limits that awful night when he promised to never deny Jesus, yet denied him three times, and now he did not want to promise more than he could deliver.
Jesus said, “Shepherd my sheep.”
And a third time, Jesus said, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you have affection for me?” Jesus now said phileis, "brotherly affection". The God-man Jesus took pity on Simon Peter, no longer pushing him further than he could go at this point, but accepting the big fisherman just as he was – a weak man who wanted to follow Jesus, to do what Jesus asked, but who just simply could not fully commit on that morning at the beach. But Jesus knew the future, and Peter’s affection would be enough for now.
And Peter the Rock began to lose it. The big fisherman who had denied Jesus three times was struck to the heart with grief, because the third time Jesus asked, “Do you have affection for me?” and he understood now that Jesus truly loved him.
And so Peter said back, “You know all things. You know that I have affection for you.”
And Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”
Very few of us would truly want to know our destiny, even if it could be told to us. The world’s literature is filled with stories of the deaths of fortune tellers and prophets who were dangerous not because they were fakes, but because they could be counted upon to tell the truth. And that day, Jesus told Peter how Peter would die.
Jesus Continued: 18 Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
Despite his death which was coming in the far future, Peter was confirmed that day as the leader of Jesus’ people, His chief follower, the shepherd for Jesus’ flock.
John, the disciple who always felt that Jesus truly loved him, was following a few steps behind the two of them. Peter turned around and saw John. The burly fisherman then said to Jesus, “What about him?”
Jesus said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” Peter realized that Jesus had just told him that our concern is about our relationship with God, not what God chooses to do with other people who also have a close relationship with God. And from that day onward Peter focused upon his relationship with God, with Jesus His Lord, with the Holy Spirit that now dwelt within him and Peter truly did follow Jesus.
Peter took on the responsibility that had been given him to lead the large group of disciples. In a few weeks, Peter the fishing boat captain would stand up in the middle of the group of 120 or so Jesus followers and insist that Judas Iscariot, the traitor, be replaced with a new disciple, one who had also seen everything that the others had witnessed from the wedding at Cana to the Resurrection. A week or so after that, Peter the uneducated fisherman was the man who understood first what was happening when the great wind of Pentecost struck the disciples, when the tongues of fire danced on their heads, and when they began to praise God in dozens of different languages. Peter the rough fisherman was the man who stood up that day in front of the people of Jerusalem and preached a sermon so strong, so convicting, so LOUD that over 3000 people were baptized that day and joined the newborn church. And soon after that, Peter the fisherman from the country lake, arrested by the big city authorities, continued to preach to the crowds and his judges that Jesus was the Messiah, that he had been executed, but had come back alive, proving that God was with Jesus.
Over the coming decades, Peter paid careful attention to the Old Testament Scriptures. He learned their meaning, he listened to the Holy Spirit, and Peter led the church through many difficult days, eventually making his way to both Babylon and Rome, where he was arrested and executed by crucifixion. Legend has it that he asked to be crucified upside down, because he never felt worthy to die in exactly the same manner his Lord had.
Through all his travels, through his beatings and imprisonments, through the days he had to stand in front of rulers and proclaim the Risen Christ, Peter never forgot that he himself had denied Jesus three times, but that Jesus had reinstated him to his leadership of the church three times. History does not record Peter ever pulling fish out of the lake again after that night – but Peter became a wonderful fisher of men, eventually becoming the founding bishop of Rome, the first of the line of men who would be known as Il Papa’s – the Popes. Even today, the Popes wear the fisherman’s ring as their badge of office. And legend has it that the last Pope will also be named Peter.
And what about you and I?
As we stand on the beach, basking in the warm glow of Christ’s presence and the Holy Spirit’s fire, what does He ask of each of us? Peter had one mission – to lead the infant church, to act as the first shepherd of the flock of Christian believers. John had a different mission – his was the task of becoming the leader of the new churches in Western Turkey, many of which were founded by Paul, but John took those infant churches and established them as strong, vibrant churches which lasted a thousand years until they were overrun by the Moslem Turks around the year 1000. And John also took care of Jesus’ mother Mary until she died in Ephesus, the principle city of Western Turkey – what was called Asia – still cared for by John. And John, alone of the disciples, died of a peaceful old age.
Each of the other disciples had a different mission. Thomas traveled to southern India, where he baptized several people, founding a group of Christians which is still present and rapidly growing today. There, on a mountain outside present-day Chennai – the city once known as Madras – Thomas was martyred while proclaiming the Risen Christ.
Nathaniel, also known as Bartholomew, is said to have journeyed to Babylon, then the mountains of eastern Turkey, and to have converted the king of Armenia, resulting in the first Christian country. And it was there that Nathaniel was rewarded by the Armenians with death.
Similar things happened to the other disciples. They traveled to various places, founded churches, converted key people, and died martyr’s deaths. They were burnt, strangled, crucified, put in sack and thrown in the river, killed by the sword, or beheaded. Each one of them was ordered to retract their testimony about the Resurrection of Jesus – in return they were given a chance to live. But each of them had seen the Lord alive, and they knew that He holds the keys to life and He has conquered death, it is not the man who would kill the body, and so the disciples continued to preach until they were killed, knowing that only the body was killed, and that they would be resurrected one day by their leader, their king, their friend, Jesus Christ, the God who loves them more than His own life.
And what shall we each do?
Jesus asks each of us to be fruitful. He asks us to consider the grain of wheat, which when planted grows up and gives back a hundred or more grains of wheat, wheat that can become the bread of life that may be shared by friends. Are we fruitful?
Are we willing to throw our nets of love deep in the water of life all night long, in the hopes that eventually the Lord will lead fish into our nets? Are we committed to Jesus in this life? Have we understood just how deep His love is for us and what that means for our lives? Do we realize that He has already met us where we are on the beach, broken, tired, guilty of a sinful past, and restored to us a full fellowship, a fellowship which will grow stronger, but today He’ll accept whatever you can commit right now, even if it is only a bit of affection for your Lord. Today He doesn’t ask for your martyrdom, only your affection, only your choice to follow Him as you learn to trust Him in growing confidence, to listen to His Spirit, to love Him because He is always there for you, putting little presents into your life like your children, your spouse, your friends, the sunlight on the flowers, the birdsong when you awake, the $20 you found in your coat pocket, the song on the radio, a phone call you didn’t expect, a few minutes alone with Him.
When we realize that Jesus is God – and the Resurrection is the proof that Jesus is God – then this lifts the words of Jesus to an entirely different level. When we hear Jesus speak, we are hearing GOD speak. When we read the words of Jesus, we are reading the words of God. When Jesus spoke those words of friendship to Peter, God was speaking to Peter. When Jesus made breakfast for Peter, God was making breakfast for Peter. And when Jesus spoke those words of redemption after breakfast to Peter the broken, tired fisherman, God was accepting the Peter just as he was. And Peter understood this. And so Peter’s entire remaining life was a grateful response to what Jesus, what God, had done for him.
Peter changed that day. As a Jewish fishing boat captain, Peter could read, but Peter relied upon his arms and his back more than his book knowledge. But in his new role as chief shepherd of God’s people, we see that Peter is now always studying Holy Scripture. Eventually, he writes part of the New Testament, not as smoothly as as the more educated John or Luke the physician, but he writes in the rough Greek of a fisherman who has learned a new language, because, you see, with God all things are possible. Peter changed. He got serious about God. He left fishing for fish behind – he spent the rest of his life fishing for men and women.
Jesus has saved you from an eternal death without God. Are you ready to get serious about God? What do you spend time on today that you should leave behind? Is it your hobby, is it your house or property, is it some television, is it sports, is it your day job, is it building up your retirement account? Peter left behind his boats and nets.
But leaving something behind is not the point. Instead, are you ready to run toward Jesus and replace what you have left behind with the serious study of Scripture, of God’s Word, of understanding what the Holy Spirit would have you do? Which sheep will you shepherd? Which sheep will you feed? Which dozen or so people, children and adults, will you lead to become disciples and apostles and followers of Jesus the same way you have been led?
He has asked all of us to fish for men – to find men and women and teach them what He did for us and them. He has asked us to teach them the Good News, the Gospel of God’s love.
Let’s go fishing.
When we realize that Jesus is God – and the Resurrection is the proof that Jesus is God – then this lifts the words of Jesus to an entirely different level. When we hear Jesus speak, we are hearing GOD speak. When we read the words of Jesus, we are reading the words of God. When Jesus spoke those words of friendship to Peter, God was speaking to Peter. When Jesus made breakfast for Peter, God was making breakfast for Peter. And when Jesus spoke those words of redemption after breakfast to Peter the broken, tired fisherman, God was accepting the Peter just as he was. And Peter understood this. And so Peter’s entire remaining life was a grateful response to what Jesus, what God, had done for him.
Peter changed that day. As a Jewish fishing boat captain, Peter could read, but Peter relied upon his arms and his back more than his book knowledge. But in his new role as chief shepherd of God’s people, we see that Peter is now always studying Holy Scripture. Eventually, he writes part of the New Testament, not as smoothly as as the more educated John or Luke the physician, but he writes in the rough Greek of a fisherman who has learned a new language, because, you see, with God all things are possible. Peter changed. He got serious about God. He left fishing for fish behind – he spent the rest of his life fishing for men and women.
Jesus has saved you from an eternal death without God. Are you ready to get serious about God? What do you spend time on today that you should leave behind? Is it your hobby, is it your house or property, is it some television, is it sports, is it your day job, is it building up your retirement account? Peter left behind his boats and nets.
But leaving something behind is not the point. Instead, are you ready to run toward Jesus and replace what you have left behind with the serious study of Scripture, of God’s Word, of understanding what the Holy Spirit would have you do? Which sheep will you shepherd? Which sheep will you feed? Which dozen or so people, children and adults, will you lead to become disciples and apostles and followers of Jesus the same way you have been led?
He has asked all of us to fish for men – to find men and women and teach them what He did for us and them. He has asked us to teach them the Good News, the Gospel of God’s love.
Let’s go fishing.
