John 21 Failure Isnt Final 21 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee.[a] It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus[b]), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 “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. 4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. 6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. 7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.[c] 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. Everyone loves to accomplish tasks; perhaps this is even more true for men. Men typically hate open ended jobs. So Peter takes a few of the disciples fishing. Perhaps due to his denial of Jesus, he may have been tempted to think his future as a disciple, and certainly the leader of the disciples was over. Perhaps Peter just did what he knew what do – commercial fishing. Regardless of what Peters motives were, they caught nothing; a very humbling and frustrating experience no doubt. But do we see what happens here? Jesus pursues them (particularly Peter) and tells them to cast the net on the other side. They did what Jesus said and they caught 153 fish. Jesus then took some of the fish and freshly broiled it right on the beach. I can’t imagine how fresh that fish must have been! However Jesus’ primary goal wasn’t to feed them. Jesus primary goal wasn’t to have them have a success in the catch – it was to bring Peter back into the fold (as we will read). How many times have we have committed some type of failure where we felt, ‘it’s over, God is truly done with me,’? Failures may be the very vehicle where God will demonstrate His faithfulness and grace. It did with Peter. In a short time Peter will be preaching at Pentecost and over 3,000 will respond to the gospel. In short, failure never has to be final. Even in our failure, Jesus pursues us and desires to restore us.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 12:10:10 +0000
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