When I think back on my life, I’ve spent a lot of time around water. I was born in North Beach, Maryland, and lived two blocks from the Chesapeake Bay. Some of my earliest memories are of my family walking down to the beach to swim. I can still remember the smell of the water-soaked creosote beams of the wooden pier that extended out into the bay where people would catch fish and blue crab.
Later we moved to Macon, Georgia where my dad ran the concession stands at Lake Tobesofkee. Part of his business was a small marina with a dock and 2 gas pumps where boats would fill their tanks for day out on the lake.
My dad needed something to occupy me while he ran the marina. So he taught me how to catch brim off the dock with a cane pole by using stale bread. I would roll up a little do ball and stick in on the hook. It would only stay on a few seconds, but that's all you needed to catch the hundreds of small, hungry brim that congregated around the dock.
John 21:1-14
1
Later,
Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee.[a] This is how it happened. 2 Several
of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin),[b] Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the
sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.
3
Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”
“We’ll come, too,” they
all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
4
At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach,
but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. 5 He called out,
“Fellows,[c]
have you caught any fish?”
“No,” they replied.
6
Then he said, “Throw out your net on the
right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they
couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.
7
Then the disciple Jesus loved said to
Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on
his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to
shore. 8 The others stayed with the boat and pulled the
loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards[d]
from shore. 9 When they got there, they found breakfast
waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.
10
“Bring some of the fish you’ve just
caught,” Jesus said. 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and
dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t
torn.
12
“Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus
said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was
the Lord. 13 Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. 14
This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he
had been raised from the dead.
Over the centuries, the meaning of this passage has been interpreted many ways. But today, the Lord has given me 4 primary lessons to share with you.
In our story today, Jesus reenacted Peter’s calling. Again, the Disciples are in the boat and haven’t caught anything all night. The resurrected Christ comes along and says, “He fellas! Have you caught anything?” “Nope.” “Well, throw your nets on the other side!” And when they do, they have miraculous success, just like they did the first time Jesus called them to follow Him and be fishers of men.
Through this miracle, Jesus reminds the Disciples and us what we’re supposed to do. Jesus called us to fish for people. What are you known for? Are you a fisherman? Are you a lake person? Are you a teacher, a nurse, an electrician, a mother, a father? You may be all these and more, but if you are a follower of Jesus, you are called to invite people to follow Jesus.
Stark Methodist is known for a lot of things: chicken stew, River of Life, Lovin’ Lunches, and so many other caring ministries. But all these wonderful ministries are meant to be avenues for us to fulfill our true mission: to make Disciples of Christ who worship passionately, love extravagantly, and witness boldly.
Another important lesson this story teaches is a lesson in dependence. Peter, James, and John were experienced fishermen. But even the best fishermen can get skunked. But when Jesus shows up, an unlucky night for the Disciples turns into a net full of abundance. Jesus presence ensured miraculously abundance.
When it comes to the mission of the Church—to fish for people/to make disciples—we cannot do it on our own. We need Jesus. Walking closely with Him brings success.
Sometimes, we focus so much on what we do and how we do it. We’re like the fishermen who master all the right fishing techniques but still come up with empty nets. Then Jesus comes along—a carpenter, not a fisherman—and He says something really annoying like: “throw your nets on the other side of the boat”. (What does a carpenter know about fishing?) But when we listen, all of a sudden our nets are so full we can’t pull them in.
If you spend more time recognizing the presence of Jesus, listening to His voice, and staying in tune with Him, then you will experience more of the miraculous abundance that comes when you walk closely with Him.
But don’t think following Christ only about work. Walking with Jesus is a joy!
And that’s why I love another aspect of this story. It gives us a picture of Jesus and the Disciples
simply enjoying breakfast together. The
Disciples have lost their way of life.
They know Jesus is still alive (they’ve already seen Him twice), but
they don’t know what to do with themselves because their lives and routines have
changed after the resurrection.
Isn’t that the way it feels sometimes when you lose some close to you? You know they are alive in heaven, but you miss them and you miss living life with them. I bet the Disciples felt like that. They know Jesus is alive, but it doesn’t feel like He’s there with them telling them what to do.
Then Jesus comes along and they know it’s Him, and He says, “Come, eat some breakfast.” And He reminds them that He is with them. And He reminds them of what they’ve always done. They enjoy life together. They eat, they laugh, they live a joyful life together.
Oh! What would you give to just eat some breakfast again with someone you love who’s gone? This, in some way, is the glory of living in the Kingdom of Heaven. It’s not just a place we go to when we die. It’s a Kingdom we start living in now the moment we say yes to Jesus.
Jesus is with us now—walking with us, eating breakfast with us, living life with us. And we believe in the “communion of saints”—that we are in fellowship with all the saints who have gone on to be with the Lord. Hebrews 12:1 says we are surrounded by “a great cloud of witnesses” of the saints who’ve gone before us. And you get the picture of a crowd of people cheering us on as we run our race of Christ.
So, this story in John 21 reminds us, we are not alone. Jesus is with us. The saints are with us.
And there can be joyful fellowship—even as we do the ordinary things of life,
like eat breakfast.
Finally, John's story shows us something powerful about what happens after we die. We have physical and live in physical world. This story is full of physical elements. Imagine the sights and sounds of it.
The disciples are in a boat, fishing. Can you hear the water lapping against the hull? Can you feel the chill on the air as the first rays of sunrise break through? How about the smell of the charcoal fire burning on the beach as Jesus cooks fish for breakfast? Imagine how the cool sand felt between Peter’s toes as he walked up to join Jesus.
And Jesus and all the Disciples eat together. Now that may seem insignificant, but it tells us that after we die, we aren’t just spirits floating around playing harps. Jesus had a physical body—He cooked, ate, wore clothes, spoke and was heard by the people He loved. And He knew them and they recognized Him.
If you want to know what eternal life is like, this story of the resurrected
Jesus is a clue. Jesus, resurrected, represents what we will all experience when we rise to
eternal life like He did. There will be
eating, dancing, fishing, and we will have a body to experience it all.
But not a broken, corrupted body like the one we have now. It will be perfect. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, believed our resurrected bodies would be real, recognizable, and physical—but no longer weak, broken, or dying. You’ll no longer have get tired. You’ll have ears that hear perfectly and eyes that see everything with full clarity. We will have an increased ability to experience pleasure, beauty, and delight and live in a world more vivid because it is no longer broken.
So, if you want to experience this glorious resurrection to eternal life promised to Christ’s followers, then I pray you will make a decision to follow Jesus. Surrender your life to Him.
Not just part of your life—all of it.
Your plans, your identity, your future—place it in His hands.
Because this story reminds us of something very important: Jesus isn’t just preparing a place for you someday, He’s inviting you into a relationship with Him today.
He’s standing on the shore of your life right now calling out to you:
“Come… and have breakfast.” Come and
know Me. Come and walk with Me.
Come and trust Me. Come and live life
with Me.
And for those of you who already follow Jesus, maybe you’ve been out in the boat for a while, working hard, doing your best. But if you’re honest, the nets have felt empty. Maybe you’ve been trying to do life—or even ministry—on your own strength. This morning, Jesus is calling you back too. Listen for His voice. Trust His direction. Walk closely with Him again. Because when Jesus is there, empty nets don’t stay empty.
The same Jesus who cooked breakfast on the shore… is inviting you to walk with Him today—and dine with Him forever.
