Ep. 148 — A God of Restoration + “There Was Jesus”
There Was Jesus.
This morning, I started reading John 21, and in just the first few verses, God ministered to me so deeply.
John shares the story of how “Jesus shewed himself again to His disciples at the Sea of Tiberias…”
Verse 2 lists the cast of characters: “There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas, called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.”
Peter says, “I go fishing,” to the group, and they say they’d like to go along.
This scene unfolds after Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. It plays out after Peter swore and denied Jesus. It’s scripted after Thomas has doubted… after thy had slept in the garden and cut off ears, and ran away in fear… Matthew wrote, “But all this was done that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook Him and fled.” (Matthew 26:56) This scene is after things have not gone as expected…after they’ve all seen their own inherent weakness…after they’ve seen their propensity to run away when the pressure is high, and the heat is up. This is after Jesus rose, but things are…different.
And now, their fishing trip is not as expected. Once they decide to do a fishing expedition, the Bible says, “They went forth and entered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing.” (John 21:3) Some have said that when Peter said, “I go fishing,” he was returning back to his old life; his previous line of work. Scripture really isn’t clear. He may just have lead this group on a fishing trip as therapy after the crazy unfolding of events. We don’t know. But I can say one thing with some confidence. Peter and the others likely expected to catch some fish, or, at very least hoped to catch some fish. (I’ve lived with a fisherman long enough to know that expectation and hope are always present when someone says, “I go fishing.”) And three of these men were not novice anglers; they were professional fishermen who had left nets to follow Jesus. (Mark 1: 16-18, Mark 1: 19-20) But, as the old Sunday school song says, “They fished all night, but they caught no fishes.” Seven men—Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James, John, and two other disciples—with nets, all night, and not one fish. This is pretty much an abysmal failure. Their world has been rocked—they’ve been following Jesus, assuming he was going to set up a kingdom at some point and now this crazy and unforeseen set of circumstances has unfolded. He’s alive again. They’ve seen Him. But it’s thrown them all for a loop. And their attempt to either make a little money or get their minds off their problems has gone downhill…completely fallen off the rails. “They caught nothing.” Both expectations and hopes disappointed.
But… THIS LINE…
“But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore…” They don’t recognize Him. “The disciples knew not that it was Jesus.” (21:4)
THERE WAS JESUS.
After everything that had happened.
After all their questions that were largely still unanswered. After they’d disappointed Him and themselves.
After they felt like cowards.
After their world was toppled and upside down.
After all the inconceivable circumstances.
And now, after their futile fishing attempts…and empty nets…
THERE WAS JESUS.
As soon as I read that line, the song, “There was Jesus” came to mind,
“In the waiting,
In the searching,
In the healing and the hurting
Like a blessing buried in the broken pieces
Every minute, every moment,
Where I’ve been and where I’m going
Even when I didn’t know or couldn’t see it.
There was Jesus.” (Jonathan Smith, Casey Beathard, Zach Williams)
This was a low moment for the disciples. Whether on the “small scale” of “they caught no fishes” or on the “grand scale” that they may still have had concerns that their association with Jesus could put their own lives in jeopardy, they are reeling.
But…THERE WAS JESUS.
I’ve experienced this so many times. In the lowest of moments; the worst of days. THERE WAS JESUS. When the chaos of unfolding events has been far beyond what my human imagination could’ve scripted. When I’ve had those fresh glimpses of my inherent human weakness and my propensity to wander from Him. When the pressure of trials has been nearly unbearable. When my human efforts have been futile.
THERE WAS JESUS.
He’s showed up time and again. He’s been “on the shore” when my little boat has come back with an empty net and my own expectations and hopes are disappointed, He’s been there. Over and over. Time and again. There…was Jesus.
And Jesus wasn’t just “there,” for the disciples, though that is a beautiful comfort on its own, but He does for them what they couldn’t do for themselves. They don’t yet recognize this figure on the seashore, but the Man says, “Children, have ye any meat? They answered Him, ‘NO.’ And He said unto them, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the ship and ye shall find.” (V.5-6) “They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.” “When God show up!”
John tells Peter it’s Jesus and Peter throw’s his fisherman’s coat over his naked body and “cast himself into the sea (read it! It’s there :)) to get to Jesus as quickly as he could. (Random side note, but stuff like this is why I love Peter. LOL!) The other disciples follow in a “little ship for they were not far from land, but as it were 200 cubits dragging the net with fishes…” (v. 8) “Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of great fishes an hundred and fifty and three.” (V. 11) There was Jesus, and there was miracle power and provision. At His command and their obedience 153 fish! I adore the record of this specific number! And, I adore this detail: “And for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.” (v. 11) In one moment, Jesus did for them what they couldn’t do in seven men’s effort for an entire night.
Ok. Wow. I just realized something.
This was not the first time Jesus had miraculously filled their nets. At the very outset of His ministry, Luke 5 records the story of Jesus “borrowing” Peter’s boat to preach in. Peter’s at the seashore washing his nets and Jesus asks if he can “thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people out of the ship.” (Luke 5:2-3) When he’s done speaking, he looks at Peter and says, “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” Peter’s response is very reminiscent of the story recorded in John 21… “Master, we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing:” (v. 5) An entire night of fruitless, fishless labor: bucking the waves, pulling the nets, only to find them empty. But Peter continues on with a word that will change the story and the rest of his life: nevertheless: at thy Word, I will let down my net. And when they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. And they beckoned to their ship partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came and filled both ships, so that they began to sink.” Laughing! After this, Peter falls down at Jesus feet, “astonished,” and Jesus says, “Fear not, from henceforth you shall catch men…” James and John—his partners (v. 10) are there, too, and the passage ends by saying, “And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.” (Luke 5:11)
My mind is blown. This makes John 21 all the more incredible. Jesus performs a mirror miracle (with some exceptions) in the lives of Peter, James, and John. After a night of fruitless labor, he proved Himself to them and gave a call they followed. And now, after all that’s transpired, “after these things,” he does a miracle that is wildly reminiscent of the day they “forsook all and followed Him.” That is mind-blowing!!!
There was Jesus. Not only there. Not only there with miracle power and provision, but there to re-call and re-commission and re-store after things got crazy…after nothing had gone as expected…after they’d proven weakness instead of strength…after they’d failed Him and themselves. THERE WAS JESUS.
And He wasn’t just there with power and miracles and restoration. He was there with breakfast.
“As soon as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread… (v. 9)
“Jesus saith unto them, ‘Come and dine…” (v.12) “Jesus then cometh and taketh the bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.” (V.13)
There was Jesus. In their incredibly moment, He was there. He was there for them. Period. He was there with miracles. There with a fresh reminder that they were still called. There with provision and there with breakfast.
There was Jesus.
“In the waiting. in the searching.
in the healing and the hurting.
THERE WAS JESUS.”
WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW!
Thank you for joining me for this journey!
Go grab your Bible and your journal!
I look forward to the power of this habit in your life. This is Unedited.