Let’s go fishing

John 21:1-14

21 After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way. 2 Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. 3 Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

4 Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ 6 He said to them, ‘Cast the net to 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 there were so many fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the lake. 8 But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

9 When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.’ 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

The disciples in this moment are very much like us. We know that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead – we have sung the Easter hymns, we have said “Christ is risen!” and have responded “He is risen indeed!” But now what? How do we live on this side of Easter, how does knowing that in Jesus’ resurrection God has defeated sin and death and hell change the way we live our lives?

The disciples decided to go fishing – back to their regular lives. Were they wrong to do that? Notice Jesus never tells them they were wrong to go back fishing – instead he joins them in their fishing and gives it new depth and power. Whenever they went fishing again, they would remember that Jesus, the risen Jesus, went fishing, is fishing with them. That does not mean that there would be overflowing nets every time they went fishing – but even if the nets are not overflowing, the risen Jesus brought hope to their lives. Hope that the way things seemed to be, was not the way things really were. The presence of the risen Jesus with them gave their everyday living a new hope and deeper meaning, lived with the risen Jesus.

We are invited to that same realization, that the risen Jesus is with us in the everydayness of our lives. In his presence with us we live in hope. Even when the world is hopeless, we live in hope. Even when discouragement presses in, we have the hope that the risen Jesus brings to our everyday lives. This then is our witness to the resurrection, to live in hope that the God who raised Jesus to life again is still active in our world.

PRAYER:

Lord God, in power and majesty, you raised Jesus Christ to life again. Cause the hope of the resurrection to change us into people who live in hope, bearing witness to your power in the world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.