To Encourage You

John 21:1-6 “Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as 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. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, do you have any fish?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.”

Have you ever thought much about the men that Jesus called to be His apostles and what their lives might have amounted to if Jesus had never entered their lives?

In the account above we have the third appearance of Jesus to His apostles as a group after His resurrection.  We know that some of these men, notably Peter, James, and John, were fishermen from other accounts in the Scriptures.  Here we see that apparently Thomas and Nathaniel were fishermen as well, or at least they were in this instance.  There were two other disciples with them, but they are unnamed in John 21.  It is likely that these men would have continued to live the lives of fishermen if they had never met Jesus.  But now they were much more than fishermen, for Jesus had changed their lives so that now they were also fishers of men (Matthew 4:19). 

When we think of the men that are named in the passage above, our minds can go quickly to certain negative accounts that the  Scriptures tell us about each of them. Peter denied Jesus three times after he had assured Jesus that he would be willing to die for Him (Matthew 26:69-75). Nathaniel, because of his prejudices, had strong doubts that anyone from Nazareth would ever amount to much, let alone be the Messiah who would save the world (John 1:43-51).  James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were known for their brashness in asking Jesus if they could sit next to Him in the kingdom, one on His right hand and one on His left (Mark 10:35-45).  In other words, they wanted to be the most important ones in the kingdom, and for this they were rebuked.  It’s interesting how all of them thought higher of themselves than they should have. And then at the cross, they all abandoned the One whom they had called their Lord. 

Here, in John 21, we see them doing something for which they were known to be experts, but they failed completely on this day until Jesus entered the scene.  Then, in obedience to His Word, they caught so many fish they couldn’t pull them into the boat.  What limitations these men had either individually or as a group until Jesus touched their lives.  Likewise, what limitations any of us have without the hand of Jesus in our lives. 

It is Jesus and Jesus alone who “upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3).  Absolutely no one is a “self-made man” whether they think they are or not.  Some people think they are a little better than others because of their superior intelligence, work ethic, and financial success in this world.  However, the Bible reminds us that “You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18).  We are all, whether we recognize it or not, totally dependent on our Creator, “since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything” (Acts 17:25).  We couldn’t even breathe unless God gave us the breath, so obviously we couldn’t do anything beyond that without the strength and ability God gives us. 

This applies to our spiritual life as well as Jesus made clear with these words: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).  The farther we get from the vine, the weaker we get and the less able to glorify our Lord and Savior with our lives.  Yet with Him, what a transformation is possible.  Who could have thought that people like Peter, Nathaniel, James and John, with all their limitations, would in short order “turn the world upside down” with their preaching (Acts 17:6)? Likewise, in dependence on Him, we can live a life that glorifies God, as we do all things that we do “through Christ who strengthens us” (Philippians 4:13).  And just like the fishermen who caught more fish than they could have ever imagined through their submission to Christ, we are told that in our submission to Him, He “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” No wonder these wonderful words are followed by these: “to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).