Tonight at One Hope Church Small Group, we were studying through John 21:1-14, a story that I have heard many, many times. It is after Jesus has been raised from the dead and appeared to the disciples a few times. This time, the disciples are fishing in the Sea of Tiberius (Galilee) all night and have caught nothing! (Sound familiar? That's because it is; a very similar instance takes place at the beginning of Jesus' ministry. It is recorded in Luke 5). Then Jesus enters the scene and, as usual, everything changes.
Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciplesdid 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.
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. [John 21:4-14]The first thing I notice is that Jesus' command is specific...and borderline ludicrous. Seven professional fishermen had been working all night and had only caught a couple of goose eggs. So when the stranger says, "cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some," there must have surely been a moment of frustration. "Left side! Right side! What difference does it make? The fish aren't biting today!" they might have said. This was definitely their thought the first time the situation happened back in Luke 5. In fact, Peter even tells Jesus then, "Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing." However, he goes on to say: "but I will do as You say and let down the nets" (5:5). We see that Jesus is teaching them to obey, and in John 21, they obey without even one mention of complaint. They follow Jesus' command specifically. Why the right side? Only God knows (see what I did there?). Maybe Jesus in His omniscience knew the large school of fish would be swimming by that side of the boat at that moment. Maybe He commanded them to do so. Maybe He brought the fish in from one of the surrounding rivers. Whatever the case, it is extremely significant that Jesus says "on the right side," and the disciples obeyed.
Their obedience is rewarded. Big time. "they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish." When we do what Jesus asks, when we follow Him just as He has instructed, there is great reward to be had. Typically it is not a monetary. In fact, most of the time when we obey Jesus, there is suffering. But we always know reward is coming--reward of surpassing greatness.
As a side note, I love John's reaction! He hears God's commands, obeys what he has heard, sees that God has blessed their obedience, and therefore recognizes Jesus. John saw Jesus clearly because of His work & His blessing. I have found the same thing to be true in my life. When I hear, obey, and receive blessing from God, I cannot deny who He is! It is so beautiful.
So finally to the main point: the food. The disciples arrive on shore (I think it's funny that John doesn't mention when Peter got there. As far as John is concerned, he beat Peter to the tomb and that's all that counts!) and Jesus has a fire going. The next sentence is extremely significant. John recalls that the charcoal fire had "fish laid out on it." In English this statement is ambiguous--how many fish? But the Greek lends a little help: fish is singular. Translation: a fish. One.
(Now it is entirely possible that the neuter singular noun fish can be used qualitatively to describe the type of thing that was on the charcoal fire, but I think Jesus' next statement reinforces the point: the fish on the coals was not sufficient to feed all the disciples.) Immediately, Jesus says to them, "Bring some of the fish which you have now caught." Though Jesus does not explicitly say it, I think He means, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught so we can prepare them and have enough for breakfast."
It's strange, isn't it? Jesus, the God-man who made from 5 loaves & 2 fish plenty of food for 15,000+ people, did not come prepared for this little breakfast club of 8? He needed the fish the disciples had caught? Doesn't He have charge over everything? Obviously the answer is yes! But even as we look back on the feeding of the 5,000 in Mark 6:30-44, we see Jesus uses "starter materials" brought to Him by men. Why? Could He not have simply created what He needed from nothing? Could He not have turned rocks into bread as Satan believes He can do? Of course He could. Jesus, intimately involved in the creation and design of everything had absolutely no need of the resources of others to perform these miracles. But what I find truly miraculous, is that He chose to use them!!
And that is exactly what we see here in John 21. Jesus tells the disciples to go gather some of the fish they had just caught, and then He tells them, "Come and have breakfast!" Jesus used what they brought Him to do the work He had started! The implications of this are huge!
First, the fact that Jesus chose to have the disciples participate in His work is extremely telling of His view of the Kingdom. As we have said, He had absolutely no need of their resources, but He saw something valuable in including them. In leadership, we call this stake-holding. Stake-holders are people who have contributed to the vision, mission, and execution of a project, and therefore are tied to it. Stake-holders as passionate about seeing the project or initiative succeed because they have invested themselves in it. Stake-holders invite other to be part of the project because they healthily proud of it, have been changed by it, and want others to receive the benefits. Stake-holders are key in creating a community that works together to succeed. But stake-holders are hard to develop. To become a stake-holder, the followers have to literally be up to their knees in the project, which means the leader must release some responsibility to them. This is not done in foolishness, and always with the leader's guidance, but if stake-holders are to be developed, responsibility must be entrusted to the followers. And the responsibility must be significant; it must be directly related to the vision and engage the followers in what the leader is about. And it has to start with the leader. This is exactly what Jesus did: "We're having fish and bread for breakfast. I've already got some started, but I need you guys to go get some more." But even on a much more significant scale, this idea is all over the NT:
- "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." [John 20:21]
- "The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world." "The light has come into the world." "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." "As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world." "I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not walk in darkness." "You are the light of the world." [John 1:9, 3:19, 8:12, 9:5, 12:46; Matthew 5:14]
- "And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." [I Peter 2:4-5]
And those are just a few examples. Implication: as Jesus was, [to some extent] we are now to the world. I think this is a major part of what Paul means when he says that we as believers are the hands & feet of Jesus. He is not longer physically present Himself, but through us, the Son of God is still very present in the world. So we are called to join Him in what He is doing.
As we see in the fish story in John 21, the meal was not complete until the disciples had fulfilled their responsibilities. Without their contribution, Jesus would not have accomplished His "mission" of eating breakfast with the. God has invited us to join Him, to become stake-holders in the Kingdom, and is waiting on us to respond. Does that mean He is paralyzed if we don't act? Absolutely not! But it does mean that He has chosen His way of working, and it includes us. So we must be very attentive and intentional to obey and join Him in the good works He has prepared for us beforehand [Ephesians 2:10].
This first implication is of extreme significance. I won't belabor the point. I am sure there is much more to be explored here, and I pray the Holy Spirit continues to teach me. But as significant as the first implication is, I think the second might surpass it:
The disciples only caught the fish because God provided!! Remember the beginning of the story? They had been fishing all night and had caught nothing! Then Jesus comes along and miraculously they have one of the largest catches of their life (and the net doesn't break this time!). So when Jesus tells them to go "bring some of the fish which you have now caught," He is not instructing them to bring of themselves. He is not asking them to work really hard to please Him so maybe, just maybe, He can do what He wants to do. He is not looking for them to impress Him with what they have done on their own. Quite the contrary! He tells them to bring the fish which He had given to them!!
How beautiful is that?! Jesus is essentially saying: "I have given you everything you need. It has all come from me! See all those fish? I provided them to you. And now I'm asking you to take of what I have given to you and bring it to Me. I will take it and join it with what I am working on, and together, we will have a magnificent breakfast!" He is adding to what He has said earlier in this gospel: "My Father works. And I work. And now you must work too. But not independent from us! We are all working together! I am the one who is enabling you to work on the things I am working on. I am asking you to join Me!" Jesus has invited us in to be a part of what He is doing, namely, reconciling the world to Himself. We are ambassadors for Him on that mission. Paul says we are co-laborers with Him; "God's fellow workers" (I Corinthians 3:9). We have been asked to join Jesus in God's great redemptive work, the great story of the glory of God. And we must work hard at at. We must pour ourselves out of it. We must give our lives up to it. We must be completely spent for the good news & kingdom of Jesus! Knowing that our strength and resources and talents and gifts do not come from us, nor do they depend on us. And in this, I take great comfort! I am not in this alone. I am simply joining Jesus in doing His work. And that is enough for me.
So what do you think? How has Jesus called you to join Him in what He is doing in your sphere of influence, in your radius? I would love to hear about he ways you are joining Jesus to bring the good news & hope of His kingdom to your world. Comment & let me know.
Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant" [II Corinthians 3:5-6].
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