How’s That
Working Out for You?
Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples
beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. Several of the disciples
were there — Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in
Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. Simon Peter said, “I’m
going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat,
but they caught nothing all night. At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but
the disciples couldn’t see who he was. He called out, “Fellows, have
you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied. Then he said,
“Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat,
and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t
haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.
Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter,
“It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his
tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to
shore. The
others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they
were only about a hundred yards from shore. When they
got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal
fire, and some bread. (John 21:1-9)
The last chapter
of John opens on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. The disciples were all in a
boat, and Jesus was on the beach watching them fish. They weren’t in Jerusalem
anymore. They were a little over 76 miles away. What’s significant about the
location is that this was where Jesus had first met Peter only three years
earlier. But by the last chapter of John, Peter’s no longer traveling with
Jesus. Peter wasn’t helping Jesus feed the five thousand. Peter wasn’t helping
Jesus heal people. Peter had gone back to the only job he knew. Catching fish. Why?
What was Peter’s motivation?
When we fall out
with Jesus, it opens a door for the Enemy to blast us to smithereens. Maybe we
make a big promise, tell God what we’re going to do, tell our friends what
we’re going to do, or somehow set ourselves up as being someone God can depend
on. But at the end of the day, we fail and fall flat on our faces and make a
huge mistake and do things we never thought we’d do. That was Peter. By going
fishing, Peter was saying that he was done. Finished. He had had his chance at
following Christ, but he’d blown it and denied him three times. And, like
Peter, we’ve done the same.
Whenever we fall
down, it lessens our confidence in God. The Enemy comes in to attack and says,
“You’ve let God and yourself down. Don’t even bother going back to God. Certainly
don’t pray about it. God’s fed up with you. He won’t listen. You’ve blown it
for the very last time.” And we believe those lies. The next thing we know, we
find ourselves going back to the place we came from.
But rather than
saying, “I’m going fishing,” like Peter, we whisper, “I’m going … back to
drinking. I mean, I can’t turn to God. What else do I have?” Or, “I’m going … back
to that old relationship. I know it’s harmful, but God doesn’t love me. Where
else can I go?” Or maybe, “I’m going … back to those poor thoughts. I can’t
ever seem to get a handle on the problem anyway, and God’s tired of hearing my
excuses by now. So I’ll just dwell on those harmful thoughts like I always do.”
In other words,
going back to those old friends, that old environment, that place where
everyone knows your name; back to all the harmful stuff you used to do. Running
to your favorite coping mechanism because that’s where you’ve always gone for
fulfillment and satisfaction. That’s where you’ve always gone to feel better.
And even though you never find fulfillment or satisfaction there, and even
though you always feel worse than when you arrived, at least it’s familiar
territory. In other words, “I’m going back to what I know.”
When Jesus
showed up early in the morning by the shores of Galilee, the disciples had been
fishing all night and had come up empty. Led by Peter, they’d gone back to what
was comfortable. But at the end of a night of returning to their old ways all
they had was a long night of nothing. Been there? Our culture constantly tells
us what we need to do to feel better. Party harder; seek happiness in the wrong
places; walk treacherous paths. Many of us have gone down that road only to
find out it’s still not fulfilling in the end. But Jesus called out to them, “Have
you caught any fish?”
That phrase, as
it’s translated, unfortunately misses the impact of what Jesus was really saying.
The phrase is actually a negative. It’s a hypothetical question. The emphasis
is placed on what isn’t there. It actually reads in the Greek, “Not any food
have you?” The modern equivalent might be, “How’s that working out for you?”
Jesus already knew they hadn’t caught any fish — that returning to their old
ways was fruitless. So he offered a solution. Jesus called out, “Throw your net
out on the right side of the boat, and you’ll get some.”
Now, to an
experienced Galilean fisherman, this advice sounded elementary. I mean,
fishermen are fishermen the world over, and if a fisherman isn’t catching fish,
then he or she’s going to have some sort of excuse. The bait was wrong; the
visibility was bad; too much cloud cover; the moon was too bright; the fish
horoscope was bad. There’s always an excuse, even for the ones that get away.
So, you can
picture these guys on the boat all night. They haven’t caught a single thing.
They’ve undoubtedly tried the right side, the left side, the front side, the
back side, even the underside. They’d already cast their nets everywhere. In
fact, you can almost hear the sarcasm coming from the boat. “Oh, the right
side! Why didn’t we think of that?”
Who knows their
motivation for following the stranger’s instruction. Maybe they were desperate
enough to try what sounded obvious. They listened to the voice, threw their net
on the right side, and — boom! Greatest catch ever. They couldn’t haul the net
in because of all the fish.
Stay on that
point for a moment, because maybe you’ve been fishing for a long time and have
a whole night of nothing to show for it. Jesus stands before you, and His
message is, “I know where the fish are.” “I know exactly what you’re looking
for, and I know exactly where you can get it.” In other words, Jesus is saying
that if you’re looking for friendship, he knows where you can find a friend. If
you’re looking for acceptance, he knows where you can find it. If you’re
looking for meaning in life, he knows where to search. If you’re looking for healing,
he knows where go for help. If you’re looking for significance, he knows where you’ll
find your greatest self. If you’re looking for security, he knows where you can
be safe. If you’re looking for satisfaction, he knows where to find fulfillment.
And right now, he’s asking you the same question he asked Peter and the six other
disciples that morning.
Jesus is looking
at your familiar patterns of living and asking, “How’s that working out for
you?” He’s not asking for any information from you. It’s a hypothetical. He
already knows how it’s working out. Instead, he’s giving you the opportunity to
form the words in your heart and mind that affirm the reality of what’s really
going on in your life. And once we affirm that reality, then God is able to
restore us. But as long as we deny our situation and continue to think that
what we’re doing is great and fun and satisfying and that we’re running the
show, then we’re still under the power of the deceiver.
However,
the moment we speak the truth and answer Jesus, “Actually, Lord, I’ve got
nothing.” Or, “Actually, Jesus, I feel miserable.” Maybe, “Actually, Savior, what
I’m doing isn’t helping at all.” That’s when Jesus says to us, “Put your net
over there.” He says, “I know exactly what you’re looking for, and I know
exactly where you’ll find it. You’ll find what you’re looking for when you
follow me.”
I love what
happens next in the story. When the disciples’ net was full of fish, John was
the first to recognize that it was Jesus was on the shore. But Peter, always
the impulsive one, takes the time to put on his sleeveless tee because he’d
stripped for work, jumps into the water and then swims to shore. The other
disciples followed in the boat, towing the net of fish — it was so full they
couldn’t heft it into the boat. So why did Peter want to get to shore ahead of
all the others? Maybe it was because he was still the hard-driving disciple
trying to work his way back into the graces of Jesus. Peter was still following
his old patterns. It’s like he was announcing to Jesus, “See those guys still
in the boat? They’re not swimming to you, but I am! I’m still your guy, Jesus!
You can count on me!”
I wonder what
Jesus was thinking. Maybe something like, “Man, Peter, do you still not get it?
I couldn’t count on you. You told me you’d die for me, but you denied me. Three
times. What I’m trying to help you understand is that I couldn’t count on you.
But here’s the good news: you can count on me! Now, go feed my sheep.”
So, how’s that
working out for you now?
Grace,
Randy
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