Resurrection Appearances
Stories for Eastertide � The Great Fifty Days
A Fisherman�s Tale from John 21

1) Jesus later appeared to his disciples along the shore of Lake Tiberias. 2) Simon Peter, Thomas the Twin, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, and the brothers James and John, were there, together with two other disciples. 3) Simon Peter said, "I'm going fishing!" The others said, "We will go with you." They went out in their boat. But they didn't catch a thing that night.

It�s the morning after, the let down, the �now what?� stage for the disciples. Jesus had told them to remain in Jerusalem until they had received power from the Holy Spirit. It�s like putting an active person on bed rest. Peter got restless. So, Peter decided to go fishing as he had done for his livelihood for many years. On this day it was comforting to return to something familiar. The others went with him.

If the disciples took a stress inventory, they�d have pretty high scores (loss of a loved one, change of location, change of occupation, low income, separation from family and more). There are times in our lives when we have been under so much stress and strain we seek comfort. While I�ve heard and used the expression �comfort food� many times, my daughter and I have also identified comfort movies & comfort music. I can imagine comfort books, comfort hobbies, and I hope you each have comforting friends you can turn to in time of need.

Ultimately, I hope you can turn also to the friend you have in Jesus, carrying �everything to God in prayer.� (from the hymn, �What a Friend We Have in Jesus�) I hope prayer is one of the �comfort� zones in your life, one you can take with you into every challenging or trying situation you must face.

In this story, for comfort, Peter returned to a familiar occupation. He went fishing, and guess who joined him!

4) Early the next morning Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize who he was. 5) Jesus shouted, "Friends, have you caught anything?"

"No!" they answered.

6) So he told them, "Let your net down on the right side of your boat, and you will catch some fish." They did, and the net was so full of fish that they could not drag it up into the boat.

This sounds familiar. Have they caught on yet?

7) Jesus' favorite disciple told Peter, "It's the Lord!" When Simon heard that it was the Lord, he put on the clothes that he had taken off while he was working. Then he jumped into the water. 8) The boat was only about a hundred yards from shore. So the other disciples stayed in the boat and dragged in the net full of fish.

You�ve got to love Peter. He might seem hesitant at first (Andrew practically had to drag him to meet Jesus three years ago), but when he does jump in it�s with both feet, sometimes quite literally! I guess it�s the mom in me that thinks he should have helped the other disciples get the boatload of fish back to shore, but as in the Mary and Martha story, I would be wrong apparently. Peter�s enthusiasm for Jesus is far more important than the chores.

Now that raises an interesting point. Does your enthusiasm for Jesus outweigh the rest of your life? Are you more excited about accepting Jesus� invitation to worship than you are about attending a party with friends? Are you more concerned about spending time in God�s Word than you are about the house or yard work? I can certainly see a child, and many adults, willing to run off with a friend rather than finish the chores, but that�s not quite the point here.

The point is WHO Peter dropped everything and jumped in the early morning water to run toward. There is something significant about Peter�s total, joyful, purposeful abandon to get as close as possible to Jesus as quickly as he can. It isn�t that the fish and the boat aren�t important, it�s that being close to Jesus is far more important. That�s what Jesus sees in Peter and rewards.

9) When the disciples got out of the boat, they saw some bread and a charcoal fire with fish on it. 10) Jesus told his disciples, "Bring some of the fish you just caught." 11) Simon Peter got back into the boat and dragged the net to shore. In it were one hundred fifty-three large fish, but still the net did not rip.

You see, Peter did do his share of the work. Jesus had done plenty of work preparing the way for them as well. The firewood was gathered and burned down to charcoal. My camping experience suggests he�s been tending this fire a good while, campfires don�t begin as nice cooking fires, it�s a process. Notice also that some fish have already been caught and prepared for cooking. The first course of this feast is ready to eat as the hungry fishermen come ashore. Jesus is the perfect host.

12) Jesus said, "Come and eat!" But none of the disciples dared ask who he was. They knew he was the Lord. 13) Jesus took the bread in his hands and gave some of it to his disciples. He did the same with the fish. 14) This was the third time that Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from death.

Again, there is the symbolic sharing of bread. It is part of their routine. It may have called to mind the few loaves of bread and handful of fish that fed so many gathered on other occasions. It may have called to mind the bread broken and blessed that last meal in the Upper Room; was that just a few days ago! It may have called to mind the story of the two who went to Emmaus and recognized their Lord as he blessed and broke the bread.

Bread had become a recognizable signature of Jesus� presence with his disciples. It is that for us yet today, and not only when we share it in Holy Communion. It is the metaphor for all that God provides as we pray, �give us this day our daily bread� (from the Lord�s Prayer). You might think of it as �Give us this day your very presence in our lives.� John�s gospel talks about Jesus as the �bread of life� (John 6).

47) For sure, I tell you, he who puts his trust in Me has life that lasts forever. 48) I am the Bread of Life. (John 6:47-48)

Bread nourishes and sustains us physically. While �man cannot live by bread alone� as Jesus told Satan, bread is a minimum standard of enough to survive. It may be a ration of bread and water or the manna that appeared daily for 40 years in the wilderness of the Exodus. It may be the little �cakes� made from a never ending supply of flour and oil sustaining the widow, her son, and the prophet Elijah. Bread comes in many textures and shapes and ingredients in various cultures, but in one form or another it is a staple at most meals around the globe. Bread represents the essentials of life. Jesus is the essential of our spiritual life. Without him, our spirit goes hungry and eventually dies.

�I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again�� (John 6:35)

With bread and fish, Jesus has revealed himself to his disciples one more time, nourished and sustained them, shown them his power, promised them all they would ever need. Through the disciple�s stories of long ago, Jesus offers the same reassurance to you.

Return to Easter Menu