He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
-John 21:6
Context
This is the last chapter of this book and it takes place after Jesus has been crucified for “claiming” to be the Son of God and the King of the Jews. Prior to that, Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, had denied Jesus three times. At this point, Jesus had already risen from the dead (crazy, right?) and had appeared to his disciples twice. This is the culminating point - the last encounter before Jesus ascends to heaven (recorded briefly in the Gospel of Mark). This is the last time Jesus is a physical character in the Bible but it’s not the last time he is mentioned.
John 21 (New International Version)
SECTION 1: Verse 1-14
Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Study
The study will start with noting the literal happenings of the passage (denotations), followed by “connecting the dots” and interpretation (connotations), and finally, applying the passage to our personal circumstances.
SECTION 1
Application
Stick to your God-given "occupation" or calling, especially when it's hardest. When it feels like Jesus has abandoned us, it’s easy to go back to doing what we did before we met him. It’s easy to go back to “fishing” and to doing things without him. But when we stray away from the calling Jesus has for us, things don’t work out for the best. The disciples caught NO fish without Jesus. This scripture is a reminder to us to follow through with what we have been asked to do by Jesus.
Do life with Jesus. Sometimes it feels like we are working for nothing. We are toiling incessantly and having sleepless nights trying to “catch fish”. The problem is we’re trying to do it on our own. Jesus knows what we need. He told the disciples to cast the net to the right. Not to the left. Not backwards. He gives us a specific direction and if we take it, we realize that we aren’t working for nothing. We are working and trusting that we will catch something, not by our own works, but through Jesus’ authority.
Finally, Jesus provides for us. He provided what the disciples needed to eat, to sell, and to feed their families. Not only did he provide what they needed, he provided extra. He made breakfast for them! He didn’t even use the fish that they caught; he already had fish waiting for them! Spiritually, it can feel like we’re constantly trying to feed other people, but no one is feeding us. Jesus tells us not to worry, because he feeds us. When we are drained from work, we can trust that, at the end of a sleepless night, there will be food for us.
“No,” they answered.
He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Study
The study will start with noting the literal happenings of the passage (denotations), followed by “connecting the dots” and interpretation (connotations), and finally, applying the passage to our personal circumstances.
| DENOTATIONS | CONNOTATION |
| It’s worth noting that these men were fishermen, that was their livelihood. | |
| Jesus had said he would make them fisher of men or fisher of people instead. When Jesus had called them, he asked them to give up everything and leave their jobs but now they had gone back to it (Matthew 4:18-22). | After Jesus died, they went back to what they had been doing before they had been called. This shows a lack of trust. We can also assume that they were probably discouraged. It had taken a lot of courage to give up everything to follow Jesus and now, Jesus was gone. |
| This night they caught nothing – no fish at all! | How sad! So, they went back to their normal jobs and now they couldn’t even catch any fish (probably because that’s not what they were meant to be doing. Jesus had called them away from being fishermen). They must’ve been even more discouraged. |
| Jesus calls them "friends". | Despite the fact that Peter had denied him. Jesus doesn’t hold grudges. |
| They trusted this random person (who they didn’t know was Jesus) and did as he said. | They must’ve cast the net because they lost all hope and they thought, “Why not? We have nothing to lose.” |
| Peter recognized it was Jesus only after they had caught so many fish. | There was something about this miracle that could only have been a Jesus miracle. Wow! |
| Peter jumped into the water when he realized it was Jesus. | He was excited to see Jesus! He had denied Jesus just before he was crucified. He must’ve felt awful. Now he had the chance to see the man who he had shunned and possibly make up for it. |
| Where did all those fish come from?? What the…?! Wow! | I have no answer! But Jesus is so cool! |
| 153 LARGE fish! Can you imagine that? They had caught NOTHING at all that night (they had probably been fishing all night because they were still out on the water the following morning) but then Jesus told them to throw their net and when they did, they caught 153 LARGE fish! | I can only imagine how they felt after catching nothing: tired, worn out, frustrated. They couldn’t do their jobs! It was through Jesus and by Jesus that they were able to catch something. |
| Jesus had breakfast waiting for them. In fact, fish and bread was what Jesus had fed the 4000 and 5000 with. In that story, it was the disciples who handed out the fish and bread and they didn’t get to eat any. But this time, it was Jesus who fed them. He prepared the food and he handed it to them. He didn’t just feed them though, he gave them extra (the fish that they caught). | Jesus is caring. The disciples were probably tired from fishing the whole night and not catching anything! But not only did Jesus enable them to catch a lot of fish, he prepared food for them. It was Jesus who did the work that produced results. They were probably more than happy with the fish they caught. Jesus had to put the cherry on top, by cooking for them and then serving them. |
Stick to your God-given "occupation" or calling, especially when it's hardest. When it feels like Jesus has abandoned us, it’s easy to go back to doing what we did before we met him. It’s easy to go back to “fishing” and to doing things without him. But when we stray away from the calling Jesus has for us, things don’t work out for the best. The disciples caught NO fish without Jesus. This scripture is a reminder to us to follow through with what we have been asked to do by Jesus.
Do life with Jesus. Sometimes it feels like we are working for nothing. We are toiling incessantly and having sleepless nights trying to “catch fish”. The problem is we’re trying to do it on our own. Jesus knows what we need. He told the disciples to cast the net to the right. Not to the left. Not backwards. He gives us a specific direction and if we take it, we realize that we aren’t working for nothing. We are working and trusting that we will catch something, not by our own works, but through Jesus’ authority.
Finally, Jesus provides for us. He provided what the disciples needed to eat, to sell, and to feed their families. Not only did he provide what they needed, he provided extra. He made breakfast for them! He didn’t even use the fish that they caught; he already had fish waiting for them! Spiritually, it can feel like we’re constantly trying to feed other people, but no one is feeding us. Jesus tells us not to worry, because he feeds us. When we are drained from work, we can trust that, at the end of a sleepless night, there will be food for us.
Jesus truly loves you.
With love,
Mandile
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