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1Afterward
Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened
this way: 2Simon 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.
As
usual, Peter was the leader, never one to be backward in making suggestions.
For some reason these apostles, thinking their apostleship had terminated,
had returned to their old life as fishermen. For three years they had been
away from their boat. How easy it was to find the old boat again.
4Early
in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize
that it was Jesus. 5He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you
any fish?” “No,” they answered.
Jesus does not use the affectionate teknia (“children”) but the
familiar and colloquial paidia (“boys”). His question was like
that of a stranger or neighbor who wished to buy fish. The brevity of their
reply discloses their disappointment at having a purchaser, but nothing to
sell him.
6He
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. 7Then 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.
It
is said the movements of large bodies of fish in the waters of Galilee are
frequently visible to one standing on the shore. Supposing the stranger thus
saw fish upon the right side of the boat, the disciples readily obeyed his
command, without suspecting who it was that gave it. Even the wonderful draught
of fish did not at once arouse the disciples to the realization that a miracle
had taken place. They were not aware it was Jesus who stood upon the shore.
Since the first resurrection appearance the disciples had many opportunities
to reflect on all that He did and said. John probably had thought much of
that other night when they took nothing, and of the day that followed and
how the Lord filled their nets for them. At any rate, the similarity of the
two occasions now flashed through John’s mind, and he recognized it
was Christ who had now told them to cast the net on the right side of the
boat. The arduous task of fishing had caused Peter to lay aside his upper
garment; but as he prepares to meet the Lord he puts it on, moved by reverence
and respect for the Master, though it encumbered him greatly in his efforts
to swim.
Failure
is one of the hardest things we have to deal with. I remember someone saying
the greatest failure in life was not failure but giving up trying, to quit.
Do you ever feel like quitting? One of the most discouraging aspects of church
life is how many people just give up. They walk away from marriages, they
walk away from ministries, they walk away from churches, and many of them
do so because they feel like failures. Peter is given to us as an example
of one of the first church workers who ever wanted to quit through failure.
In Matthew 28:7 the resurrected Christ had told the disciples to go to Galilee
and He would meet them there. They went to Galilee and waited . . . and waited
. . . and waited, but there was no sign of Jesus. Waiting is one of those
pastimes we all dislike. Waiting leads to thinking. Thinking leads to drawing
our own conclusions. Peter’s thinking led to the conclusion, “Maybe
Jesus will not come because of me and my failure the night He was arrested.
It is my fault that Jesus is not here.”
Peter,
disappointed in the delay, announced that he was going fishing. Now there
is nothing innately wrong with going fishing, but it could be interpreted
as a sign that he was drifting away from the calling of God upon his life.
Jesus
had prepared a fire on the shore. Interestingly, there is only one other place
in the book of John were this particular word for fire is used: 18:18. It
is described as a small, charcoal fire, by which Peter warmed himself in the
courtyard of the High Priest. How Peter must have felt when the crowing of
the cock accompanied his third denial of knowing Jesus. Here by the charcoal
fire it was almost as if Jesus was taking Peter back to the scene of the denial;
taking him back to the fire so Peter could face up to his failure. But Jesus
was not only taking Peter back to the point of his failure; through the miraculous
draught of fish, Jesus was taking Peter back to where it all began. Jesus
was taking him back to the day when He preached from Peter’s boat and
when they had filled the boat with a miraculous draught of fish, and Peter
heard Jesus say, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch
men.” That day they pulled their boats up onto the shore, left everything,
and followed Him. Sometimes when you have fallen, it’s good to go back
to where it all began. Here Jesus is going to offer Peter another starting
point, a second chance to make things right.
(For
the full manuscript of this sermon go to www.preachersmagazine.org and click
on “Sermons”)
One of the
most difficult things I have to cope with is failure. Failure triggers different
emotions in me: disappointment, anger, and embarrassment. Yet people fail
in every area of life. We fail in school, we fail in driving, we fail in marriages,
we fail in families, and we fail in business. The most debilitating failure
a Christian has to deal with is spiritual failure, letting the Lord down.
What do we do when we have failed?
There
are always reasons why we fail. Here are some of Peter’s:
John
18:15-16: John goes into the house but Peter stays outside; he did not go
in. He was not close to Jesus physically. I wonder, does that indicate where
he was spiritually? Probably the number-one reason for spiritual failure is
not being in close contact with Jesus.
Mark
14:54 makes the point more poignantly: “Peter followed Him (Jesus) at
a distance.” In John 18:16, John brought him in. He was brought in but
I wonder where his heart was? He was in the house but his heart was not there.
Thank God for those whose ministry is to bring people on the outside into
the house.
John
18:18: Peter chose to stand with those who were hostile towards Jesus. His
real downfall was that he was found in the wrong company.
John
21:3: He went back to his old profession. He had been called from his boat
by Jesus, but was able to find the old boat again. We need to remember that
failure affects not just us but those around us. John 21:3: [The disciples
with Peter] said, “We will go with you.” A Christian who quits
following the Lord, who gives up on a calling, who bails out of a church,
who resigns a ministry affects others. Like a stone thrown into a pond, the
ripples go everywhere. Peter found there was no satisfaction in the old life.
John
21:3: They caught nothing. The empty nets for me are a symbol of what was
going on inside Peter. His life was empty. In verse 5 Jesus asks, “Have
you got any meat?” What a question from one who had told them He was
the Bread of Life. “Any meat”—what have you found to take
My place? There is no one who can satisfy like Jesus. There is no satisfaction
outside of Jesus. There is existence but no satisfaction.
John
21:1: Jesus showed himself again. He is the Lord of the Second Chance. The
One we follow is the One who reveals himself to us again and extends a second
chance.
John
21:4: Jesus stayed near. He is never far away from us. He was within hearing
distance of the disciples. He is within hearing distance of us today. He is
only a prayer away.
John
21:5: He called out to them. If you have failed and you have quit, have you
found anything to replace Jesus? He is calling out to you today. He is calling
you back. You are valuable to Him and to the Kingdom.
John
21:6: ‘Throw your nets on the other side.’ They were only a boat’s
width away from blessing. When they did so their nets were full of fish. They
could not handle the fullness. That’s where we are this morning—one
boat’s width from fullness. He can turn defeat and failure into success.
John
21:7: Excitement returned to Peter’s life. This is reminiscent of the
night Jesus came to them walking on the water. Peter could not contain himself
that night. He was over the side of the boat and walking toward Jesus. Here
he is again over the side of the boat. ‘It is the Lord!’ The adventure,
the joy, the excitement are back in Peter’s life.
You
can stare your worst sin or your greatest failure in the face when you hold
the hand of Jesus. Are you holding the hand He extends to all of us this morning?
Why not put your hand back into His?