Jump

John 21:1-14 (and Luke 5:1-11)

¹After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. ²Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. ³Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. ⁴Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” ⁶He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. ⁷That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. ⁸The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. ⁹When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. ¹⁰Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” ¹¹So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. ¹⁴This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Today we have two texts to examine. At the end of John’s Gospel we find that for John and for Peter the story has come full circle. The Gospel of Luke records an event that occurred at the very beginning of Jesus’ public ministry as He was gathering the men who would become The 12 Disciples.

Luke 5:1–11

¹On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, ²and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. ³Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ⁴And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” ⁵And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ⁶And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. ⁷They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ⁸But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” ⁹For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ¹⁰and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” ¹¹And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Now that you’ve read both passages, just imagine that you are Peter. The events of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus are incredibly clear in your mind. You’ve actually laid eyes (and hands) on the risen Lord. Now, as you are still processing these amazing events you do what you’ve always done – you go back to work. It’s time for some fishing. As the story of this fishing trip unfolds it is remarkably similar to the one you were on 3 years earlier when Jesus called you into full time training as His disciple. The catch of fish that John records - and we must assume the memories of that earlier catch - prompt in Peter an excitement that moves him to jump from his boat and swim to shore because He simply had to be in the presence of Jesus. He cares about nothing else. Getting that boat to shore will take too long. I get it. I want to jump from that boat right along with Peter.

Every single day we have opportunity to jump away from our regular everyday life and spend some time with Jesus. He’s standing there on the shore just waiting for us to see Him. He’s even prepared exactly what we need; whatever that is. In Peter’s case it was as mundane as a little breakfast. And, as we shall see tomorrow, it was a little forgiveness as well. Recognizing that Jesus is there constantly waiting to fulfill all of our needs is huge. Looking away from our distractions for just a few moments is precisely what this blog is all about; five minutes with the Lord to see what He has for you today. When Peter bowed before the Lord and declared his sinful state at the beginning of his time following Jesus we see but an inkling of what is to come. Peter doesn’t have a clue Who stands before him after that first miraculous catch of fish. In this second event, he knows that Jesus the Lord of Life and he jumps at the opportunity to spend time with Him. We know that same Jesus and we jump from the boat too.