It was a cool, calm evening only days after Jesus had been crucified. Although the disciples had seen the risen Savior, I imagine their hearts were still uneasy with fear and a sense of loneliness. The Man whom they had so intimately come to know... their Friend, their Provider, their Lord, was going to be with them no longer. As the sun went down over the Sea of Galilee, Simon Peter sat quietly, fighting off tears as his thoughts went back to the moment when he had denied his Savior. If only he had been stronger. If only he could relive those moments. But he knew that Jesus still loved him with a love so deep and profound that it made Peter long even more to see the face of Jesus one last time. A fisherman by trade, Peter decided to get his mind off things. We pick up the story in John chapter 23... "Simon Peter said to them, 'I am going fishing.' They said to him, 'We are going with you also.' They went out and got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus." (John 21:3,4).
This was a scene similar to three years prior... Peter recalled it in his mind like it was just yesterday. It was an all-night, fishing marathon where their efforts would come up empty. They remembered returning to the shore in the morning where Jesus was waiting for them. He told them to go back out and cast their net on the other side of the boat. Slightly amused by this mysterious Jesus, the men went along with it only to find their nets soon full of fish! It was then, that Jesus of Nazareth called them to no longer be just fishermen, but fishers of men. It was an event that would forever impact their lives as they were called to be His disciples.John continues the story in verse 5, "Then Jesus said to them, 'Children, have you any food?'
They answered Him, 'No.' And He said to them, 'Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.' So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loves said to Peter, 'It is the Lord!' Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord... he plunged into the sea..." (John 21:5-7).Jesus appeared to them one last time, and in the same way as He had done in the very beginning. All at once He stood there by the shore waiting for them... not in His glory surrounded by the angels He commanded, but by a charcoal fire that His nail pierced hands had made. He met them where they were at. He comforted them. He provided for them. He reminded them that He was the same Person who could miraculously meet their every need.
How often do we loose hope and find ourselves trapped in a sense of loneliness as if Jesus had left us? Do we find ourselves striving in our own efforts only to have our "nets," once again, come up empty? Do we sometimes see His strong hand of provision and strength one day, only to loose sight of Him the next? We can be reminded that our Savior, Jesus Christ, is ready to meet with us, comfort us, and provide for our every need. It is often after the quiet, loneliness of the night when Jesus reveals Himself to us in the morning... not unlike that evening nearly 2000 years ago on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
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