I am going fishing!

John 21:1-14

WHAT IF THIS IS YOUR LAST MESSAGE THAT YOU WILL

EVER HEAR? WHAT IF THIS IS YOUR LAST

MESSAGE FROM GOD?

If you have spent the last months going nowhere in the Lord! Can I invite you today, to have a NEW vision and purpose in the Lord!This was the SEVETH appearance of Jesus after His resurrection. These few verses can easily be broken up into THREE points:

Jesus the Stranger (Verses 1–4). When Peter returned to the old life, he took six other men with him. Their work was in vain because the Lord was not with them. How good it is when Jesus comes to us when we have disobeyed Him and have failed in our work!

Jesus the Master (Verses 5–8). When Jesus takes charge, failure is turned into success; and the difference was only the correct side of the boat, cast your net on the RIGHT side of the boat! You never know how close you are to victory, so admit your failure and obey what He tells you to do. He never fails.

Jesus the Host (Verses 9–14). It took six men to drag the net (verse 8), and Peter (verse 11). We should always remember that “God’s commandment is God’s enablement.”

JESUS THE STRANGER, VERSES 1-4. 1 After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: “Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples.”

This was the third time Jesus appeared to His disciples, when all or most of them were together. He appeared to TEN of them in John 20:19; again to ELEVEN of them in John 20:26; and at this time to SEVEN of them in John 21:2. But, we shall find that this was the SEVENTH time in which he had manifested himself after He arose from the dead.

“Sea of Tiberias”Notice that Jesus is again at the “Sea of Galilee,” Galilee means = wheel or circle. They had gone in a circle! They had gone BACK to the very place that Jesus called them from, (Matthew 4 “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”) no wonder they are at Galilee! The place of a circle.

When the Lord had first called them they where fishing, now they are fishing again, they are back right where they started from, they had gone in a complete circle. How you are in Christ today, are you back at your “sea of Galilee”? The “Sea of Galilee” is not a sea but a lake, a lake that is 12 1/2 miles long, and from 4 to 7 1/2 miles wide.

Note Matthew 28:7, 10, “Go to Galilee and where they shall see Him,” note verse 16 “to the mountain” The meeting place was on the mountain on higher ground, but instead of being on higher ground with Christ, they went fishing instead! They where all at sea, the sea of trouble waters.

When Jesus meets His disciples they are “all at sea.” Some times when people are confused we may say that “they are all at sea.” Well these disciples where all at sea physically, mentality, emotionally, and maybe spirituality. See they had just lost the one that they loved, their master and saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. They had lost their way, lost their purpose and may have lost hope.

Peter, James and John had been on the Mount of Transfixion, they had seen and experienced the great miracles of Jesus, and had heard His teaching, yet now we wonder where these are in Christ. Because they all denied Christ! Now they maybe wonder if they can ever be used of the Lord again. You may feel that way yourself, maybe the devil is saying to you “you are finished,” well note, this is where Jesus meet them again.

2 Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the (James and John) sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples (unnamed) were together.

The seven.FIVE men went fishing, plus two others, giving a total of SEVEN, they had gone fishing. Note SEVEN men, if they would be ladies it may have read “I am going shopping.” Yet it was SEVEN men that went back to their old secular occupation, these men where told by Jesus to be “Fishers of men” Matthew 4:19, yet went fishing for fish instead.

This is an amazing group here. Here is Simon Peter, eager but failing, warm-hearted, yet walking afar off; he is impulsive and hotheaded.Then here is Thomas, the doubter, who has a question mark for a brain.Nathanael, the wisecracker, who was also a doubter at the beginning.The sons of thunder, James and John.Two others who are not named. Perhaps these two represent you and me.

3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.

“I am going fishing.”When Peter said “he was going fishing.” When he said he was going back to his old ways, notice he took others with him “we are going with you also.” The backslider often takes others with him! Not only did he let himself down; he also took SIX other men with him. Men who should have known better, men that walked with Christ, men that sat under the ministry and teaching of Jesus, yet when ONE went back, he took others down with himself.

Some we may know are out of touch with the Lord, BUT what of the others, the ones that you take down with you. You see you may fail before the Lord, BUT what of your family and friends that you take down with you. These are the others! Who are the others in your life? To walk in the Lord and then to walk away is terrible, BUT what of the others you have testified too. 

“They went out and immediately.” Without thought they went. These are the men that once left their nets “immediately” to follow Jesus, now return to their old ways “immediately.”

“They fished ALL night.” Can you see something in those few words, when you walk from the light, you walk in the darkness! They fished in darkness, and caught nothing. You see instead of being the “light of the world” they are in darkness themselves.

They fished all night and caught nothing. This may be the only true fish story that has been told! The disciples are no longer walking in the light but in darkness, with that darkness came the nothing! They left the light and are now in the darkness. Some of you may now we walking in the darkness, your life is dark and you have nothing! They had empty hands, empty nets, an empty boat and empty hearts.

They failed to catch anything because they are now outside of God’s will and purpose, Jesus told them to be “fishers of men,” not fishers of fish. Not only did they fail in God’s work, now they failed in their own work. They lost out of grace and now lost out of works.

Is this the same Peter of Luke 5:11 “So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.” Peter left all to follow Jesus, BUT soon he was back to his old ways. The disciples, not fully knowing how they were to be employed, purposed to return to their former occupation of fishing.

They were not the first fishermen to spend the night fishing without success! They illustrate the uselessness of human efforts apart from divine help, especially in the matter of fishing for souls.

4 But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. “But when the morning had now come.”

When the day was now breaking.” Yes, a new day was dawning for these men and more so Peter. When the morning came, see when you labour all night and gain nothing, you are every so glad to see the light of day again. I did a few weeks of nights a few years ago over Christmas, boy I was glad to see the morning sun and light again, knowing that my shift was coming to an end. But to labour all night, without anything to show is so down hearting.

This can be a dawn of a new day in your life. Christ can now give you light and purpose for your life. After a night of nothing I believe the disciples where glad to see the dawn and the light of the new day. It was going to be a good day for them because Jesus stood on the shore, to welcome them back again.

“Jesus stood on the shore.”It was the same Jesus, but they did not know Him, they lost sight of Jesus in TWO ways.They no longer followed Him.Now they no longer knew Him.He was in His glorified body and He could be recognized; yet they would have been a distance out on the lake, and in the early morning it would be difficult to identify people on the shore.

This can be the dawn of a new day for you, for Jesus said “come and

dine.”

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