Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. John 21:4
The resurrection had taken place, confusion, discouragement and the loss of the man with whom they entrusted their lives was gone — Peter decided to do the only thing that seemed normal — he went fishing. So all night he and a few others went into the boats, not far from shore and caught nothing. I’m not sure if you’ve ever been fishing before, but when you spend just an hour on or at the lake without a single catch it stinks. But they remained all night. Without a catch. They just returned to life as they new it — they went back to the grind.
And then, as though on cue, Jesus walks along the shore right in front of them . . . yet, they do not recognize him. It must have been a hot evening on the lake for Peter had removed his outer garment — I would imagine to stay cool. As Jesus called out to them, they responded as any fisherman would, even to this day. They tell the fisherman’s story — “haven’t caught a thing all night!” And in true Jesus fashion, he tells them to cast their nets to the other side. And when they do . . . more fish than they could imagine. And in an instant, Peter knew! Wrapping his outer garment around him, he wasted no time to see his Lord and jumped into the water. The others followed in the boat bringing in their catch.
There is much to this event that has a great deal of meaning to believers, but to spend time on them all would be too much for one post. Instead, I can’t help but think of the similarities between how so many will live today, the day after celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and how Peter responded to Jesus’ departure. Life as usual — back to the grind.
Lord Jesus, may I not just return to “normal.” I want to see you in all things, live you in all ways, experience the power of your resurrection and the beauty of your life in me. I want to walk on the shore, sit with you and dine, walk and talk, fish and catch exactly 153!