Passage: John 21:1-14
This talk is done in three sections. It is best if you can have the readings done by three different people.
Read John 21-1-5:
The disciples were extremely experienced fishermen. Before Jesus had called some of them it was what they did for a living. And yet here they had fished all night and caught nothing. Imagine how it felt for them pulling the nets in time, after, time after time, all night. Nothing.
This story takes place after Jesus’ death and resurrection. The disciples went back to what was familiar. That is something I’m sure we’ve all done before. We go back to things that we’re used to. Sometimes those things are things that are bad for us; we go back to bad habits, routines or relationships. And sometimes they are things that used to be good, things that we were good at. If Jesus is calling us to something new then going back to the old stuff, good or bad, is fruitless.
Read John 21:6-8
If you were one of the disciples and a stranger from the shore had asked you to throw your net over the other side of the boat after you’d spent a whole night fishing and catching nothing then you could be forgiven for ignoring the request.
Throwing the net over to the other side of the boat didn’t really change anything. It wasn’t that the disciples hadn’t caught much all night – they hadn’t caught anything. But, for some reason, they were willing to give it a go and when they did there were miraculous consequences. A net bursting at the seams with 153 large fish.
Sometimes Jesus asks us to do new things, to serve him in new ways. Sometimes they may not seem logical or sensible. But when we do what Jesus asks, no matter how crazy it seems, amazing things happen.
Read John 21:9-14
When the disciples landed on the shore they were met by Jesus himself. He spent time with them, cooked food for them and ate with them. What is the significance of this though? Why does the bible spend almost as much time talking about the BBQ on the beach as it does the miraculous catch of fish?
I think it is because Jesus is demonstrating that his resurrection is a physical one. Ghosts don’t eat fish! Jesus rose from the dead with a physical body and ate with them, He isn’t just interested in feeding the disciples spiritually, he is interested in their physical needs as well.
Jesus calls us to leave things behind to follow him and into new things, And he promises that he is there for us, to care for us in all of our areas of need.
The Prayer Stations that are linked to this talk are: