Fishermen have a way of exaggerating the truth. A 3 pound small mouth bass has a way of turning into a 5 pound small mouth bass. A northern pike that took 5 minutes to land turns into the battle of the century between man and fish; by the time the story teller gets his fish into the boat, you would have thought that he had caught Moby Dick. The way some fishermen talk, you’d get the impression that their basket of crappie could have fed the 5,000. Fish stories – every boat, bait shop, camp site and cabin is full of them.
We find a story about some fish in the
Gospel reading appointed for today, the sermon
text, from John 21 – words that we read earlier
in the service. In the sermon text Peter said,
“I’m going fishing.” John tells us about
that fishing trip. John, however, unlike most
fishermen, did not exaggerate his story. This is
no fish story. John tells us about a miraculous
catch of fish – 153 large fish to be exact.
Those 1.) 153 fish reveal Jesus’ almighty power.
Those 2.) 153 fish demonstrate Jesus’ gracious
care.
Some time after Jesus had appeared to Thomas the week after Easter, Peter and six other disciples decided to go fishing. There’s no surprise there. These men were, after all, fishermen. We’re not told that Jesus had given them anything specific to do other than, perhaps, to wait for him or for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit or for further instructions. This was a good way for them to pass the time. The fishing, however, was not so good. The men went out during the night when the fishing was supposed to be good, but they caught nothing. They got skunked.
In
the morning, Jesus called out to them from shore. “Friends,
haven’t you any fish?” We might
loosely translate Jesus’ question: “No fish,
huh?” Typical question asked of fishermen –
“How’d you do? Any luck? Get anything?” No fish stories from the disciples. Swallowing their pride –
still not knowing that it was Jesus – they
simply said, “No.” The man on shore – Jesus
– offered them some advice. “Throw
your net on the right side of the boat and you
will find some.” What did they have
to loose? It’s not like they had caught any fish
doing what they were doing. Why not give it a try?
Still not knowing it was Jesus, they took his
advice. The result? “When they did, they were
unable to haul the net in because of the large
number of fish.”
Interesting.
Fishing all night without Jesus = 0 fish. One
cast, we would say, with Jesus = 153 fish. Is
there an illustration or an application there? I
think so. Without God we can’t do anything. With
God, we can do all things. John was the first to
figure out what was going on here. Perhaps he
thought back to the time three years earlier when
something similar had happened; when Jesus had
blessed them with a separate miraculous catch of
fish. John said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!”
Peter couldn’t help himself. He grabbed
his shirt, jumped into the water headfirst and
swam the 100 yards to shore that had separated him
from his Lord.
Is
that our response to our Savior? Is that our
response to Jesus’ almighty power? Is that our
response to life? – To jump in headfirst like
Peter did? “It’s the Lord! All is good! I want
to approach him in prayer, listen to him in his
Word, embrace him in the sacrament and trust him
in life. I’m jumping in to whatever is ahead of
me knowing that in his time and according to his
will God will bless me with his version of
success.” Or do we do what many people do when
they go to a swimming pool or to the beach? Do we
test the waters of life with our big toe before
jumping in? “I guess the water is warm enough. I
guess it’s okay to jump in. I guess the water is
clean enough. There’s not too much muck or
seaweed.”
The
waters of life will not always be bath water. They
will not always be warm and comfortable. They may
be cold, choppy and filled with salt. 153 fish
remind us, however, of Jesus’ almighty power.
Jesus used that almighty power to defeat sin and
death and hell. None of those things can harm us
now. His victory is our victory. But as our
living, all-powerful Savior, there are other
victories that Jesus gives us as well. He gives us
the power to overcome any bad day of fishing.
(I’m speaking figuratively.) On our own = 0
fish. With Jesus = so many fish that we can’t
even haul in the net. Jesus has the power to turn
getting skunked into rich blessing. True in our
evangelism efforts. True in our congregational
life. True in our own lives of faith. The God who
has the power to save us from our sins is the God
who has the power to bless us in life. The God who
used his Son to save us from sin is the God who
uses his Son to bless us in life.
Peter
made it to shore. The others followed in the boat
with the fish. John tells us, “When they landed, they saw a fire of
burning coals there with fish on it and some
bread.” Jesus had not only provided
them with the miraculous catch of fish he even
made them breakfast. See the willing service of
our living Savior! Jesus asked them to bring some
of the fish that they had caught. Like little boys
who had just caught a bucket full of blue gills,
they dragged the net ashore and began counting
those fish one by one, all 153 of them. Not only
had Jesus provided breakfast for them, he had
provided extra meals for their families and
additional fish that they could sell or trade with
others. Jesus was alive. He showered them with his
love. He graciously cared for their physical
needs.
How
neat is that! Yes, they had a living Savior who
paid for their sins with his death on the cross.
They had a living Savior who rescued them from the
punishment of hell. They had a living Savior who
assured them of their future lives in heaven. But
they also had a living Savior who took an active
interest in their lives – “Any fish?” They
had a living Savior who offered them advice when
they needed it – “Throw your nets on the right
side of the boat.” They had a living Savior who
blessed them beyond what they could have ever
imagined – 153 fish! They had a living Savior
who took care of their basic needs – Breakfast
on the beach. They had a living Savior who made it
clear to them who he was – John said, “None
of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’
They knew it was the Lord.”
Is it any different with us? Don’t we have the same Savior? Don’t we have the same Lord? Our living Savior paid for our sins too with his death on the cross. Our living Savior rescued us from the punishment of hell that we deserved for our lack of faith. Our living Savior assures us of our future lives with him in heaven. But if those spiritual blessings weren’t enough, we too have a living Savior who takes an active interest in our day to day lives. Why else would he invite us to pray? We too have a living Savior who offers us advice when we need it. We find that advice in his Word. The faith that the Holy Spirit has given us encourages and enables us to follow that advice. We too have a living Savior who blesses us beyond what we could ever have imagined – families, homes, cars, furniture, computers, toys, recreational activities. We too have a living Savior who takes care of our basic needs – the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breath.
We
too have a living Savior who makes it clear to us
who he is. He makes that clear to us in his Word.
He gives us the Spirit-worked faith to know and
believe that. All of the resurrection appearances
recorded in God’s Word are for our benefit. Last
week we heard Jesus say to Thomas, “Blessed
are those who have not seen and yet have
believed.”
Then John went on to say,
“These
are written that you may believe that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you
may have life in his name.” This,
this morning, is no fish story. 153 fish reveal
Jesus’ almighty power to us. 153 fish
demonstrate Jesus’ gracious care for us.