John 21:9-14 - We need the Lord

Miracle happens when a human encounters God. Christ chose to work through human channels. Several miracles Christ did confirm this truth. In the first miracle in Cana of Galilee, the water containers were filled up with water by men before Christ turned them into wine. In the miracle of the loaves of bread and fish. It was a lad who co-operated by giving up his lunch. It turned out to be a mighty miracle where 5,000 and more were fed with so little. Now we see this final miracle Christ had done. A few of the disciples laboured all night and caught nothing. At the word of the Lord, they cast their nets to the other side of the boat and caught a huge catch of 153 fishes. 

In the account in John 21:9-14, when they came to shore Jesus had already started a fire. Amazingly, John tells us some fish and bread were already laid over the charcoal-lid fire. It assumed that the Lord had placed them there. He then invited them to bring some of the fish they had caught so that they could eat something. This could be telling us that every moment of real fulfilment in life begins with Him. It is He who has invited us to collaborate with Him with what we have. Every meaningful Christian venture is a result of our willingness to work with Christ. This is God’s grace in operation. He allows us to participate in His work. Every fruitful and fulfilling venture can only be experienced when the grace of God operates through human channels.    

Notice that Peter, who at the word of the Lord, was the first to move. He hauled the net in and discovered a total of 153 fish yet the net did not break. What does this tell us? We may not fully understand God’s intention in the figure of 153. But we do know that they were large fishes, probably of different kinds. It could be God’s way of saying that the Gospel He came to give is for everyone regardless of race, color, gender or status. His Gospel is designed for everyone on earth. It is a universal Gospel. No matter what kind of fish one may be, they can be netted by the Gospel.       

Here we also see that the work of fishing will bless the fisherman. As Jesus gathered these disciples on the shore, He also invited them to come and feast with Him. They would certainly remember that on several occasions He had multiplied bread and fish, and fed them till their physical hunger were met, and they want no more. As fulfilling as fishing may be, it will not be as fulfilling as fishing men for the Kingdom of Christ. If we are to be truly satisfied, we must begin to evangelize.

But the main emphasis of this passage is to show us that success cannot be attained without the power of God. We can rely solely on human strength, but only to find our effort fruitless. We can employ human wisdom without consulting with God, the result will be a big fat zero. But if we start our plan by consulting God, we will find limitless possibility in the work He had entrusted to us. The reality of Christian life is this: we can never find great meaning and fulfilment without the Lord. So in the darkness of boredom and emptiness, like Peter, we need the Lord. When life seems fruitless and we are finding “no catch” in our careers, we need the Lord. Even when our nets are full and we cannot contain the abundance, we still need the Lord. Remember, in every situation, positive or negative, we can never do without the Lord!