Gone Fishing 03/08/2021

Read John 21:1-14

John uses an interesting word to describe Jesus' appearing to his disciples. Hendriksen translates verse 1 of chapter 21 as follows: 'After these things Jesus manifested himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias; now he manifested himself as follows.' This is the Greek verb 'phaneroo' and means to make visible, clear, manifest or know. The true meaning is to uncover, lay bare or reveal.

This really means that Jesus displayed his glory. He not only made a sudden appearance to his disciples, but he again showed aspects of his power and love. He made it clear to them that he still loved them dearly and really cared for them. See the blog GOING DEEPER which delves more deeply into the meaning of the word.

Use of word Greek word phaneroo in John's Gospel

For this I am indebted to an old commentary that I was given by my brother-in-law who is now in heaven.

This is a special use of this word, however, because Jesus is providing them and, of course, us with further evidence of his resurrection (See also 21:14). We have here one of a list of post-resurrection appearances of Jesus to his disciples.

Post Resurrection Appearances of Jesus

He is a real person but he is different from before his death. He appears to them often unexpectedly and in a way that defies 'natural laws'. He is not constantly with them. They are, however, given ample proof of the wonderful truth that he is alive again (Acts 1:3).

[Photo by Anit Uikey on Unsplash.]

Peter is still not fully restored and he is unsure of his future. He seems to be going back to life before he met Jesus. He was a fisherman when Jesus met him and he is going back to that occupation - or so he thinks. He is a natural leader and he takes others with him in this fishing expedition. There is a warning to any of us who are leaders in any capacity that our conduct may lead others to follow in the wrong pathway.

But Jesus had other plans for Peter. John is the only Gospel writer who records this incident and he is describing a vital stage in his recovery as well as Peter's. They caught nothing - and that was part of the divine plan. If they had had a successful fishing trip, they might well have been tempted to continue with this as a daily occupation. There is, of course, nothing wrong with making a living from our skills and knowledge, but Jesus had other plans for them. It took much wasted effort and disappointment for them to learn the lesson. They had to follow his direction before they caught anything.

And Jesus made use of their catch to provide a breakfast for them on the shores of the Sea of Galilee or as John describes it the Sea of Tiberias. I love the detail that John provides for us -

Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught. [John 21:10 NIV]

Jesus is graciously reminding them that they had a part in this great catch of fish, even though it is evident that without the intervention of the risen Son of God they would have caught nothing at all. Instead we discover three things about this catch

1. The fish were large

2. There were 139 of them - they could be counted precisely

3. The nets remained intact despite a higher than average catch.

We could delve into these details to learn more spiritual lessons but for today we want to spell out the big lesson that the presence and power of the risen Son of God makes all the difference. We need to pray that Jesus will manifest himself to us and so transform our lives of frequent failure into glorious victory. His power and his presence will ensure that there is an abundance and a fullness in our lives. Maybe you are like the disciples on the Sea of Tiberias - you have toiled all night and caught nothing. Your life has become a burden and your service for the Lord has become a chore. We need a phaneroo - a fresh manifestation of the divine presence. This is the work of the Holy Spirit who reveals the Lord Jesus to us.