Fishing

 

3-4) “Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a-fishing.  They say unto Him, we also go with thee.  They went forth and entered into a ship immediately and that night they caught nothing.”

In typical impetuous style, Peter suggested they go fishing, rather than wait about; the others joined in as he imposed his leadership influence.  The comment says it all, “…that night they caught nothing.”  These were seasoned fishermen who knew the trade, knew when to go, and where to go to catch fish, but it was futile, they caught nothing.  It had been a while since they left their trade, but their fishing trip was a waste of time.  They had moved at the suggestion of Peter, but not under the guidance of the Lord.  They moved without Him and the results were nothing.  Jesus is about to conduct another miracle on the lake, the first was like it on a failed fishing trip on the same lake.  He is taking them back to the beginning, something He will continue doing until they get the message.  In another context He told them “…without me ye can do nothing.”   How many efforts have been made using the ingenuity of men alone in vain efforts to become fishers of men?  Campaign, after campaign is waged in vain for the Lord is not in it.  The disciples were slow to learn, as are many today.  The adage of Moses applies here, “Except thy presence go with me, then carry me not up hence.  The apostles in the successful missions in Acts were careful to seek the Lord’s guidance, to wait His time before moving, for He knows all circumstances, and His presence makes all the difference.  Paul said, after having doors closed to him, but deciding to move into Europe, “…assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel to them.-Acts 16v10.  We move in vain if the Lord is not in it, if He is in it the results will be great as we are about to learn.

5-11)  “But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore but His disciples knew not that it was Jesus.  And Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat?  The answered Him no.  And He said unto them, cast the net on the right side of the ship and ye shall find.  They cast therefore and they were not able to draw for the multitude of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved, said unto Peter, it is the Lord.  Now when Simon, Peter knew it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, for he was naked and did cast himself into the sea.  The other disciples came in a little ship, for they were not far from land, but as it were 200 cubits dragging the net with the fishes.”

All night they had caught nothing. Professional fisherman, using their know-how and practical knowledge yet they achieved nothing.  At the command of Jesus, who alone knew where the fish were, they caught so much they could barely contain the catch.  The lesson is obvious, in the Christian work of fishing for souls, we must have Him with us, we dare not move before Him, we dare not trust our own ability or ingenuity.  The results were decisive and every detail was spelt out, but we have to mark the spiritual state of the disciples-“they knew not that it was Jesus.”  Someone was standing on the shore but they did not perceive Him.  They knew He was coming, they should have been expecting Him, but they were so engrossed in their failure, they could not think straitly.  Only in chapter 20 is it recorded that the disciples had not perceived the scripture-20v9; also Mary was so grief stricken she knew not that it was Jesus-20v14.  How easily we allow things of time and sense to cloud our thinking.  The disciples have only just come through the greatest trauma of their lives in the crucifixion of Jesus;  they have been witness to the wonder of His resurrection, yet, here they are obsessed with their failure to catch fish, they don’t recognise Jesus on the shore.   They were so engrossed in this that Peter was naked as he toiled on the boat. 

Jesus cries to them in familiar terms, “Children”, an intimate term used between people who knew each other-John uses the same term in his epistle.  It is like “Lads have you caught any fish?  Of course He knew they had not, and He was about to make it happen.  They first had to be reminded of their failure.  They cast their nets as Jesus said and there was a great catch, so great they had trouble hauling it in.  There were whispers, it is the Lord!  Peter, in typical style, clothed himself and plunged into the sea to meet Him first.  The others came in by boat, and they managed to reach land with the fishes intact.  No doubt there was a little embarrassment at the whole episode, yet Jesus dealt with them graciously, but firmly.

9)  “As soon as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there with fish laid thereon, and bread.”

Somehow the Lord had made breakfast ready.  It was not His intention to embarrass them but to teach them of His sufficiency at all times. They should have known, but, like them, we are slow to learn.  Jesus uses the situation to bring about the restoration of Peter.  He used the fact that Peter had been the instigator of a failed enterprise, perhaps feeling a little foolish and somewhat guilty he had led the others astray.  The first thing they see is a fire of coals with food heating thereon.  They had attempted all night to supply food; Jesus had the food ready.  The fire of coals-anthrakia, from which we have anthracite, a kind of charcoal used for heating and cooking, must have disturbed Peter greatly.  It was by a similar fire, Peter denied the Lord three times-John 18v18.  This was a first step in the recovery of Peter.  Restoration in spiritual things begins by going back to where we went astray.  This is a biblical principle that occurs time and again.  If we would recover we must go back to the point of departure.  There are numerous examples in scripture, one which is found in Hosea 2v15, where he speaks of “…the valley of Achor for a door of hope.”  This was where Israel departed from the Lord in the matter of Achan, when they fell into sin.  Recovery will be to return to the point of evil and acknowledge it and repent.  Peter reached a low point at the fire of coals where he publicly and vehemently denied his Lord, and he must never forget it if he will be restored.  The Lord will open this up again in the course of this narrative, but it will have a benign and remedial outcome. 

Without drawing attention too much, He summons the others to bring the fish they caught, so they can all enjoy breakfast.  A description is given of the haul of fish and we learn much here:

10-14)  “Jesus saith unto them, bring of the fish which ye have now caught.  Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land full of great fishes, 153: and for all there were so many yet was not the net broken.  Jesus saith unto them, come and dine.  And none of the disciples durst ask Him who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.  Jesus then cometh and taketh bread and giveth them and fish likewise.  This is now the third time that Jesus showed Himself to his disciples after that He was risen from the dead.”

·      Although it was at His direction they caught the fish, he credited it to them-“the fish which ye have now caught”.  Only He can save souls, but He will credit them to the agents He uses.

·      The fish caught were all called “great” fishes.  Every soul won by sovereign grace is great;  every soul saved is a Divine miracle, every one precious to God.

·      Every fish was counted and none was lost!  The number is sure and known to the Lord but they were not counted until the morning on the shore.  We are reminded that He said “…those that thou gavest me, I have kept and none of them is lost…”-John 17v12.  There are many professors of faith, but in the morning, when He comes, the count will be sure!

·      153, a strange number, but significant in the time in which this was written.  It was believed back then that this was the number of species of fish in the sea, and so this number represents every species in existence, not every fish, but from every family of the entire fish stocks.  This points to the biblical truth that salvation comes to “every tribe and people and tongue and nation”-a fact that is repeated throughout scripture; Genesis 12v3-all families of the earth; Genesis 18v18 and 22v18-all nations of the earth; Revelation 5v9 and 7v9, “…a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people and tongues…”.  The message is that there is no group on earth, however we group human beings, that is beyond the mercy of God in salvation.  There will be folks saved from every conceivable category of people.  Others have applied biblical numerology to bring out many staggering facts from this number that are significant.  Enough, here to note that there were 8 people for breakfast and more than 153 fish, for Jesus had already supplied some.  Also they were great fish, so there was much more supply than they could have eaten.  No doubt they distributed what they did not eat among the local people.

·      Jesus was host to His disciples when the morning was come.  Is this a cameo of heaven when the night is over and we are with Him forever.

·      Note is made that this is the third appearance after the resurrection, another reminder to Peter of his threefold denial.