“Fish”
[John
21:1-14]
September 10, 2017, Second Reformed
Church
We saw John reflect on Jesus’ words to
Thomas that those who do not see Him in the flesh and believe savingly in Him
based on the witness of the Word of God – and the working of God the Holy
Spirit in them – are blessed. And John
explains that not everything Jesus did – by a long shot – is recorded in his
gospel. John records the signs he does
so those who read his gospel would be convicted and believe that the signs
presented in the Gospel can only be understood to mean that Jesus is the Christ
– He is the Messiah – He is the Promised Savior, and Jesus is God, the One True
God, come to earth in a real human, and the Only Salvation is to believe in and
receive the truth of Who Jesus is and the work that He accomplished in history
to save all those who will ever believe in Him.
John then returns to the history and
narrates what happens the third time that Jesus appears to His disciples after
His physical resurrection.
And we see, first, God created
humans to work.
“After this Jesus revealed himself again
to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way.
Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons
of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon 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.”
Jesus appears a second time to the Eleven
– now with Thomas in their midst – and proves again His physical Resurrection
to them, and then Luke records:
“Then he said to them, ‘These are my words
that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about
me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then
he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, ‘Thus it
is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the
dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in
his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these
things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in
the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:44-49, ESV).
Jesus removes the veil from the
Eleven and allows them to understand the Scriptures and that they say that the
Savior has to suffer and die and rise on the third day for the salvation of His
people. They now understand everything
that happened. And Jesus tells them to
wait in the city for the “promise of my Father upon you…power from on high” –
that is, the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit.
Jesus tells them that they are going
to bear witness to the Gospel throughout the whole world, proclaiming the Name
of Jesus as the Only Name by which people may be saved, but they are not to
start until God the Holy Spirit indwells them and empowers them to do this
work. They are to wait.
Jesus doesn’t tell them how long
they have to wait. We know they had to
wait fifty days. What were they to
do? Sit in front of their TVs and wait
for Jesus to return?
Peter, never bring the shy one of
the Eleven, said, “OK, I going fishing – I’m going back to work until Jesus
returns.” And six others joined him.
The commentators take various views
of Peter going back to fishing, but we shouldn’t think that he has done
something wrong – he has not.
Moses tells us that God created Adam
from the dust, and then: “The LORD God
took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis
2:15, ESV).
God did not create us to stand
around looking pretty.
Why did God create us?
God created humans to bring glory to
Him – to show how great He is. And one
of the ways we do that is by taking care of the Creation – by working – by
tending the Garden – by doing whatever it is that God has given us the gifts
and inclination to do to provide for ourselves and those in our care and to
give some away in thanks. God gives us
work to reflect His Image as Creator, Caretaker, and Provider.
Some twenty years after Peter says,
“I’m going fishing,” Paul has to correct some of the Christians at the Church
in Thessalonica, who are sitting in front of their TVs, refusing to work, and gossiping
about their neighbors, because they are waiting for Jesus to return – they are
waiting for the Second Coming.
Jesus says He will return “soon,”
but we know that “with the Lord, a thousand years are like a day, and a day
like a thousand years.” What is a
thousand years or a day to the Eternal and Everlasting God Who exists beyond
and outside of time – always and forever – (whatever that means)?
Some of the Christians in
Thessalonica thought that since Jesus is going to return soon, there is no
reason to go to work. They told their
bosses off – quit their jobs – and waited for Jesus – while they talked about
the awful things “those people” were doing.
Paul writes, “For even when we were
with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let
him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at
work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord
Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living” (2
Thessalonians 3:10-12, ESV).
Of course there are people who are
unable to work, and the church is instructed on how to provide for them, and we
have systems in our country that provide for them, as well. But most people can and should be working.
And all believers, whether we are working
in a paid job or not, are to be using our gifts in the church: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve
one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who
speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that
God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus
Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter
4:10-11, ESV).
Peter, and the six who went fishing
with him, did the right thing. While
they waiting for God the Holy Spirit to come, they worked their jobs to make
money – to pay their bills and help those in need and thank God through their
giving to the work of the Church.
So they went out on the sea and fished
all night – using all their years of skill as professional fishermen – and they
caught nothing. Nothing.
God sovereignly kept them from
catching a single fish to prepare them for what would happen.
Second, God Sovereignly owns
everything and distributes from His storehouse as He wills.
“Just as day was breaking, Jesus
stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus
said to them, ‘Children, do you have any fish?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He
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. That 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. The 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.”
After fishing all night and catching
nothing, the Seven begin to return to shore.
They are about a hundred yards off the shore when Someone – we are told
that Jesus has appeared on the shore, but they can’t tell it’s Him – calls out
to them in a loving, fatherly way, “Children, do you have any fish?”
Calling them “children” is not an
insult, but a loving term – just as when John calls Christians, “little
children” in his letters.
“No.” They hadn’t caught any fish – after a full
night of toiling on the sea.
Jesus does not ask them if they have any
fish because He doesn’t know. Jesus
knows they haven’t caught any fish. That
was God’s Will, so a point could be made.
“Cast the net on the right side of the
boat, and you will find some.”
We might think Peter would yell back,
“Look, Mister, don’t you think we know how to fish? We have been at this our whole lives; we know
what we’re doing.” But he doesn’t.
For whatever reason, they were moved to do
as the Stranger on the shore suggested – and the cast the net on the right side
of the boat.
Immediately, 153 fish jump into the net,
and they are too heavy to haul into the boat.
God Sovereignly calls the fish into the net and sustains the net so it
will not break.
John, who understands things faster than
the rest says, “It’s the Lord!” And
Peter, who never finds a leap too far to jump, puts his clothes on, jumps into
the sea, and swims for Jesus, while the rest of the Seven sail the boat to
shore.
What just happened?
Jesus shows the Seven that He is the
Creator and Owner of all of Creation, and He distributes what He owns to be stewarded
as He wills. Every fish they ever caught
was God’s Will for them to catch, and every fish they did not catch was God’s
Will for them not to catch. God is
Sovereign over the distribution of all that He owns.
That means we need to recognize that
everything in existence belongs to God.
Everything we have is only given to us by God on loan to be used in a
way that glorifies God.
Yes, Peter was a trained fisherman
with many years of experience, but the only fish that he ever caught were those
that God sent and allowed Peter to catch.
In whatever job you work in, even
though you do the work you are called and employed to do, you only receive the
paycheck that God wants you to receive, you only receive the benefits that God
wants you to receive, you do not receive anything that God forbids you to have.
That means we have a duty to be
thankful to God for all that we have – even what we work for – and to recognize
His ownership and control over all of Creation – using and giving what He has
given us in a way that pleases Him.
Do we receive our paycheck, or
social security check, or pension check – whatever – and pray, thanking God for
it and asking God what we should do with it?
Do we seek God’s guidance for how to use what He has given us to use for
His glory? Do we pray that our use of
God’s property would please Him? Do we
consider what God thinks when we waste what He has given us and use it for sin?
Our God and Savior – the God we
worship and serve – is the God Who owns everything and lovingly gives to His
children.
Malachi records God’s promise to
Israel, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my
house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not
open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there
is no more need” (Malachi 3:10, ESV).
James, the brother of Jesus writes,
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the
Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James
1:17.ESV).
I’ve mentioned before, I had a
friend who was ranting to me about how she had nothing to be thankful for, and
when I questioned her on it, she said that everything she had she earned – that
no one ever gave her anything – therefore she had no need to be thankful to
anyone.
Beloved, everything you have and
everything I have we have received as gifts – one way of another – from the Hand
of our Loving Father. Let’s not forget
that, but be thankful.
Third, God provides for our daily
needs.
“When they got out on land, they saw
a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish
that you have just caught.’ So 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. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’
Now none of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the
Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and
gave it to them, and so with the fish.
This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples
after he was raised from the dead.”
The Seven arrive on the shore, and
Jesus is making them breakfast – fish and chips after a fashion – cooking over
a charcoal fire. Jesus invites them to
bring some of their fish, and Peter drags the 153 fish in the net onto the
shore. And Jesus invites them to eat
breakfast. And they join Him without
asking any questions.
This is Jesus, their Lord and
Savior, Who just physically rose from the dead, and here He is again, making
them breakfast and eating with them. Ghosts
don’t eat. Jesus is physically alive.
Why did Jesus make them breakfast?
Certainly to show – once again –
that He is a real physical human being raised from the dead – alive! But something else, don’t we suppose?
Imagine, if you will, seven men on a
boat on the sea all night long, using every strategy they know to catch fish,
but coming up empty. Forlorn, they sail
into shore and are met by their God and Savior Who tells them to cast their net
again, and they pull in the incredible – and heavy – load of 153 fish, which
they drag to shore. What might these men
need at this moment?
Suppose you work a long day – a
frustrating day – and you get home, what might you need? (Besides a drink – I knew someone would say
that!) What would satisfy you?
Perhaps a meal?
Jesus instructs us to pray for what
we need for this day: “Give us this day
our daily bread,” (Matthew 6:11, ESV).
“Father, give us what we need to be the man or the woman You would have
us be this day.”
Again, Jesus teaches:
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious
about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body,
what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than
clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather
into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value
than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span
of life? And why are you anxious about
clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil
nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like
one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is
alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O
you of little faith? Therefore do not be
anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall
we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after
all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But
seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will
be added to you.
“’Therefore do not be anxious about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is
its own trouble” (Matthew 6:25-34, ESV).
God will provide everything we need for
today – that’s why He tells us to ask Him for what we need for this day – so we
will know it comes from Him and that He loves to provide it for us.
Now, we may not receive everything we want
or even what we think we need, but God, Who knows everything and knows what is
best for us, will give us what He knows we truly need this day to bear His
Image to the world and spread His Gospel.
So, let us remember that working – earning
an income – is a good and God-honoring thing to do – and we ought to be
thankful and use what we receive in prayer.
And let us recognize that everything
belongs to God and He sovereignly distributes His property as He wills, and He
provides for our daily needs.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, our Loving Father, we thank
You that we can come to You as Your children and ask for what we need each
day. Thank You for sending Your Son to
invite us to pray for our needs and for promising that You will fill them. Help us to recognize Your ownership of all
things. Cause us to be thankful and to
seek to please You with how we use all that You have given us: the air we breathe, our bodies and souls, our
clothes, our homes, this church building, food and drink – everything we know
in all of existence. We ask this in
Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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