Catching Fish

My last blog talked about “Setting Up our Campsite” or in other words, laying a proper foundation for our walk with Christ.  Jesus IS the foundation on which we are to build our life upon, and we talked about the 2 greatest commandments that He gave us was to love God and love others.

 I was thinking about another aspect of a fun camping trip…fish catching!  Which lead me to Jesus and His disciples.

Matthew 4:18-22 says, “While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.  And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.  Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.”

I wanted us to look at the fact that Jesus called these fisherman at the beginning of His ministry, to follow Him and He would make them “fishers of men.”

Because they were fishermen, He used wording that they would understand. He called them to now be catching fish instead of men.  Meaning, they were the ones going to spread the gospel or the good news of Jesus Christ.

Jesus had called these guys to be fishers of men, and they followed Him around for around 3 years.  When they saw Jesus die, they didn’t know what to do, so they went back to doing what they knew best….fishing!

In John 21:1-19, “Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way.  Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.  Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.  Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.”  He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.  That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.  The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread.  Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.”  So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.  Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.”

Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.  When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”  He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”  He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.   And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Now…..this “fish fry” happened after Jesus had been crucified and resurrected.  He had appeared to many people at different times. 

Jesus came looking for them again!  Found them trying to catch some fish…

They had been at it all night and caught nothing.  When Jesus showed up, He said, “hey! Try the right side of the boat!”.  I find it interesting that they immediately did what He said.  It also cracks me up that they knew there was exactly 153 fish….

Anyway, the point of the story is that they didn’t know what to do, so they went back to doing what they knew best.  Jesus came along and reminded them what He had called them to do. 

We are called to the same purpose. 

To be fishers of men (go and make disciples) and feeders of sheep (teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you).

That, my friends, is “catching some fish”.