It is the Lord

“It is the Lord!” John 21:7

After Jesus’ death, Simon Peter decided to go back to his fishing. This shows me that he was not yet aware of what Jesus wanted him to do. Thomas, Nathanael, James, John, and two other disciples went to go fishing with him as well. But they caught nothing, zero fish.

Despondent, they rowed back to shore and caught sight of Jesus but they did not recognize Him. “Children, did you catch any fish?” When they answered no, Jesus told them, “Throw out the net on the right-hand side of the boat and  you’ll get plenty of fish.” They obeyed and went back to shore. “There were 153 large fish and yet the net had not torn.” 

John was the first to recognize Jesus. “It is the Lord!” He cried. It was curious to me that they had obeyed Jesus even when they did not know who he was. They were that desperate. They got a big catch. That was a miracle in itself because how could they find so much fish in shallow water? Another curious thing about this story is that  when Jesus asked for the fish, only Peter dragged the net from the boat to the shore. They had caught 153 large fish and yet the net was not broken. 

This event is clearly a foreshadowing of the work of Jesus’ followers. We are called to be fishers of men. We will only be successful even in the shallow water of our own inadequacies, if we follow His leading as the disciples did. The net is a symbol of God’s church and the 153 counted fish? We are each, everyone one of us, counted, important, precious in God’s eyes. 

Peter alone dragged the net to Jesus because Peter had a special role to lead the fledgling Church. After the meal of bread and fish, Jesus told Peter to take care of and feed His sheep. The people Jesus chose to start His Church show me that God does not choose the best and the brightest. He doesn’t select great speakers, or even the nicest people. They all had faults and weaknesses but they were willing to rely on Him and follow Him. If we are willing to do that, He will use us.