At the Lake

April 22, 2012


John 21:1-14
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.
4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
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.
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. 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."
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. 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.

Peter said gIfm going out to fish,h and six other disciples said, gWe will go with you.h We are not told why Peter wanted to go fishing, but we can guess. We make our guesses based on our own experiences. You see, we are like the disciples. We are like them because we too are disciples of Jesus. Everyone who has confessed their faith like Thomas is a disciple. gYou are my Lord and my God.h We too are disciples and we too have gone fishing. And it is for disciples like us that this story is in the Gospel of John. As the last verse of chapter twenty says, gThese are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.h

Why would you go fishing? Because life is boring? Maybe it would be good to do something different. Perhaps Peter and his friends were bored waiting for six weeks in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to come on Pentecost. But if they were just bored, then Jesus didnft need to come to them when they were out on the Sea of Tiberias (that is, the Sea of Galilee). They didnft need Jesus to cure their boredom. I donft think Jesus would have come to them just to make their life interesting. So, letfs look for a different reason to go fishing. And letfs look for a different reason for Jesus to appear at the lake.

How about to relieve stress? With the arrest, trial, crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus, the disciples were under a lot stress. Maybe fishing would be relaxing. But their way of fishing doesnft seem relaxing to me. They have to fish at night, all night. Concerning stress, Jesus had once said, gCome to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give your rest.h I do not think that Jesus went to the lake just to calm their nerves.

Maybe Peter and his friends were running out of money. If they went fishing and caught a lot of fish to sell at the market place, then they could survive. A lot of modern-day disciples have full time secular jobs. This is how they feed their families and support their church and mission. This is how they work in society to keep the commandment to glove your neighbor.h But Peter was not a good fisherman, even though that was his original occupation. Do you realize that in the New Testament, Peter never catches a single fish without the help of Jesus? There are about 3 miraculous catches of fish, but only after the disciples couldnft catch anything by themselves. So finally it is necessary for Jesus to come to the rescue of Peter and the disciples. It was early in the morning, in the early dawn. It was still too dark for the disciples to recognize that it was Jesus on the bank. They were about 100 yards off shore. He knew their situation, but still he shouted out to them, gFriends, havenft you any fish?h He knew that they didnft. gYou havenft caught any fish yet at all, have you?h gNoh they answered. gThrow your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.h Now, they were on a small boat. The right side and the left side were not very far apart, and fish can easily swim that far. The important thing here is not about where the fish are, but where the disciples are. Jesus told the disciples where they should be. They should be where they can follow the commands and leadership of Jesus. And when they did as Jesus said, then they could catch 153 large fish in their net. Then the Disciple John realized who the person on the shore was. It was Jesus. gIt is the Lord!h he said. And then Peter realized that the best place for him to be was not on the boat fishing, but there on the shore next to Jesus. So he jumped into the water and swam to shore. Peter was not a good fisherman, and so Jesus changed his occupation. Jesus makes him a shepherd, gFeed my sheep,h he says. So, Jesus had to come to the disciples that morning at the lake in order to give them a new way of life, and a new meaning to life. And with the help of Jesus, they could become shepherds and apostles to preach the gospel and bring many people into the Kingdom of God, not using nets to drag them forcefully onto the shore, but using the love of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit to bring them to Jesus.

There is another reason why modern-day disciples go fishinf. It is because they have given up on the Lordfs mission. To go fishinf means not working for Jesus. And this is really the biggest problem. It is not a result of boredom or stress or lack of money. It is the result of a lack of faith. Success in fishing, or whatever your career is, is not going to give you faith. And if you donft catch any fish or if your business fails, it will not necessarily lead you even further away from Jesus. The disciples were fishing at night, in the Gospel of John, this means fishing in the darkness of sin and unbelief. And that is when the Lord calls out to the apostles and to us. gYou donft have any fish, do you? You cannot make it on your own, can you?h He knows our situation. And then he tells us to change our way of doing things. gThrow your net out on the right side of the boat.h There is a great pun here in the English Bible. gCast your net on the right side. Cast your net on the correct side.h In other words, doing as the Lord commands is the right thing to do. In another place Jesus said it this way, gRepent and believe in the Gospel.h And when we start to follow Jesus in our lives, we realize that he really is gour Lord and our God.h We know that the right place for us to be is there beside Jesus. Jumping in the water with Peter is like Baptism. Our sin is washed away and we come to Jesus. Just as Jesus prepared a breakfast of fish and bread for those disciples by the lake, he prepares a meal to nourish us in the Lordfs Supper of Holy Communion.

If we go off fishing because of unbelief, we need Jesus to come to us. Because of sin, we cannot recognize Jesus as our Savior. And so he must reveal himself to us. We see his love and concern for us. He knows that we need relief from boredom and stress and economic worries. And he also knows our need to be saved from despair and death. He reveals himself to us in the Bible and in the sacraments. Then we see that his death on the cross forgave our sin. We see that his resurrection gave us eternal life. Then like John and Peter we know that gIt is the Lord!h We give up fishinf and start on the mission.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church


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