1 Afterward 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.
This is the last appearance of Jesus that John records. It is by no means the last time Jesus appears to some of his disciples. The women who first saw Jesus were told by an angel that he was going ahead of the disciples to Galilee (Matt 28:7 and Mark 16:7). It took them more than a week to even start on the way to Galilee. John records Jesus appearing to the disciples behind locked doors after eight days. It is after this that they went to Galilee where Jesus gave them the great commission. Presumably that came after this encounter with Jesus as all eleven of the disciples were with Jesus when he gave the great commission (Matt 28:16). Some time later, they returned to Jerusalem where they were told to stay in the city until the Holy Spirit would empower them (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8).
Here we have eight of the disciples gathering together in Galilee by the sea. This is a comfortable place for them since most of them lived there before meeting Jesus. Two disciples are not named, and it may be because they were not apostles. These guys seem lost. They don’t have any direction or purpose. So, what do they do? They go back to what is familiar, fishing.
This is what many of us do when our goals and dreams are suddenly halted for one reason or another or life gets tough, and we want a break. We return to what is comfortable. It is probably why so many addicts find it hard to be completely free from their addictions. It is why many fall back into familiar sins. It doesn’t have to be additions either. It can apply to any of our sinful habits we had before salvation or struggled with later.
They caught nothing. This wasn’t the first time Peter fished all night and didn’t catch anything. The same thing happened just before Jesus called him to be a fisher of men (Luke 5:4-11). It should have reminded him of his original calling. That is something we need to do when we feel lost or unable to continue in ministry. We must remember who we are serving and that the “catch” isn’t our responsibility to make happen. We are to be faithful in doing whatever the Lord has called us to do.
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.
This is Jesus getting the attention of the disciples so that he can restore them to ministry. While it is like Peter’s original calling, this time the nets didn’t break. This time, the Lord calls them friends. Before they appeared to be strangers. Jesus is also very specific to tell them to lower the nets on the right side of the boat.
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.
Then here is the biggest difference. Previously, Peter was frightened by what he had just seen. Luke 5:8 records his response to the catch of fish, “But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’” This time, he can’t wait to be near Jesus. He jumps into the water to get to shore leaving the others behind to deal with the fish.
I always wonder about this. How deep was the water? Other versions say that Peter threw himself into the sea or plunged into the sea. That would imply it is too deep to wade. Wouldn’t wrapping his garment around him make it harder to swim to the shore? And how cold was it? He really wanted to be near Jesus. Does that relate to us in any way? How much do we want to be near Jesus. Do we brave a few discomforts to make sure we are studying the Bible, praying, fellowshipping with other Christians, worshiping every week with others? These are the way we get close to Jesus.
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."
There is Peter and then there is the rest of us. We want to be near Jesus also, but sometimes there are things we must do before we can take that extra time. The other disciples knew they couldn’t leave the boat and the fish. This goes to show that there are ways to be close to Jesus other than what I just mentioned. One of the biggest is to do our work unto him. “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ” (Col 3:23-24). In fact, when they got the boat to shore, Jesus did want some of the fish. Even though Jesus had already started a fire and had some fish and bread, he asked for more fish. He didn’t need their fish, but he wanted what they had labored for under his direction. Peter had his reward, and the other disciples had their reward knowing they had done as the Lord wanted.
Then there is the thought that Jesus was serving breakfast to the disciples. During Jesus’ time on earth as a rabbi, the disciples were the ones who looked after Jesus’ needs, but now there is this uncommon reversal. This may be a foreshadow of what the Lord said in Isaiah 25:6, “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.” It may also remind the disciples of Jesus’ promise in Luke 22:29-30, “I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” We can all look forward to the time when the Lord will care for us and wipe away every tear (Rev 7:17, 21:4).
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.
Two more difference between Peter’s first fishing encounter with Jesus and this one. The fish are counted, and the nets didn’t break. You can read into this several things. I shouldn’t say “read into” because that is me wanting the Bible to say what I want. Instead, I’ve heard theologians and preachers say, “I can speculate on the meaning.” (Is there really any difference?) In fact, others have speculated and come to the conclusion that the number and size of the fish represents the success of their future ministry. The unbroken net is then a reference to the security of those who are true disciples of Jesus.[1] While this sounds very reasonable, there is nothing here that would suggest this. This is simply John reporting the details that show this was a true historical event, just like all of Jesus’ miracles.
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.
Why would the disciple be afraid to ask Jesus who he was? Was it because he was serving them breakfast, something that would seem to be beneath the risen Savior? Was it because his appearance had changed after his resurrection? That I can understand. But this isn’t the same as when he met the two disciples on the road to Emmaus because their eyes were kept from recognizing him (Luke 24:16). Yet John had recognized him from a hundred yards away. Peter must have recognized him. Presumably all these disciples had seen him when he appeared to them behind closed doors, so his changed appearance had been seen before.
This passage raises the same questions as when Jesus met with the eleven on the mountain sometime after this. “And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted” (Matt 28:17). What did they doubt? Yet they worshiped him. Several commentaries say that this was when Jesus appeared to the five hundred, yet the context says only elven. The only reason to say the five hundred is because of the doubter, and the commentators couldn’t bring themselves to believe that any of the eleven would doubt. Yet, this is also what we see in John 21:12.
Yet here, he had already furnished proof to them with a miracle that they should have had no doubts. There simply had to be something different about Jesus now that he was risen. As Matthew Henry points out, the reason they may have been afraid to ask who he is was they were afraid to appear foolish after having seen the proof of his power and goodness. He also points out that we are not in a different position when we have such proofs of his grace to us and “we should be ashamed of our distrusts … Groundless doubts must be stifled, and not started.”[2]
I’ll have to agree with Henry. I have no doubt that Jesus’ post resurrection appearances were most likely overwhelming for the disciples. Henry said we must stifle our doubts. This isn’t to conceal or hide but to cut off and eliminate our doubts. The application for us is make sure we rely on what John and the other Gospels have revealed to us about the truth of who Jesus is and his resurrection whenever we have doubts about the identity of Jesus and our salvation through him.
[1] Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, A Commentary, Critical, Experimental and Practical on the Old and New Testaments (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1993), John 21:11.
[2] 1. Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: With Practical Remarks and Observations (Seattle, WA: Biblesoft, Inc, 2006), John 21:1-14.
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