Lately, I have become aware how much the rhythms of my day depend on others around me staying in the rhythms of their day. When someone who is in my normal mix throughout the day is missing for some reason or they change it up a bit, there are ‘empty spaces’ created and I need to think how I want or need to fill those spaces. A friend whose spouse was killed in a tragic accident put it this way, “Two years after the accident, I finally woke up one morning and felt ‘normal’ again.”
John kind of ended his message with John 20:31, summarizing his purpose for writing the book. But then it seems he has a couple of more things he wants to tell us.
“Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ‘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.’” John 21:1-3 I imagine that the disciples were pretty much wondering around looking for a ‘new normal’ as they could no longer just find Jesus and follow him around every day. When we feel lost, the tendency is to go back to something that is more comfortable or ‘normal’ for us. It had been three years since these disciples had fished on a regular basis, but when their world came unglued, it was still the most comfortable place to go back to.
“Early morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’ ‘No,’ they answered. He said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did that, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. John 21:4-6 Since the disciples were not aware that it was Jesus, I wonder why they chose to follow his suggestion to try the other side. Why didn’t they just give up and say, “No fish today”? Jesus seemed to understand their need to go back and fish. He didn’t tell them, “Hey, I didn’t teach you all those things in the last three years so you can get back into a boat and fish for stinky fish. Now get out of that boat and get back to the work I taught you!” In fact, he told them how to catch fish so they would experience success again.
“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. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from the shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’ 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. Jesus said to them, ‘come and have breakfast.’ John 21:7-12
Peter jumped out of the boat and waded to shore – the others finished the task of landing the boat. Typical Peter – can’t wait for the boat to land. But when Jesus asks for some of the fish they caught, he is the first back into the boat to get the fish. I wonder if Peter is thinking about how he let Jesus down and denied knowing him those three times. I wonder if he wants badly to please Jesus and if he is thinking about how he wants Jesus to know that he loves him and would do anything for him. He won’t ever betray his friend again! He just can’t do enough fast enough to try to please Jesus.
Jesus made breakfast for them. “Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.” John 21:13-14 Jesus once again served his disciples. I wonder what was going through their minds as they sat there eating with Jesus. Jesus seems to be coming and going with them – totally unpredictable. He doesn’t seem to be saying to them, “Come on guys, get it together. You have work to do.” But rather, he seems to be giving them space to figure out what the new normal is going to be. He is breaking it to them gradually – giving them time to absorb that he is indeed risen from the dead – before getting them back into their leadership positions he has groomed them for. He seems to understand that they need time to assimilate all the new and different information they have been subjected to over the last couple of weeks.
Gone fishing! Yes, they turned to something familiar while they were processing everything. Fishing has lots of opportunity for the mind to wander, dream, think, and process information. When life gets tough, I’m going fishing! I think Jesus will meet me there, give me a good breakfast and help stabilize my world again.
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