Faith In Spite of Failure: John 21:1-14

We have come a long way in our year focusing on John’s gospel, and during this year, we took time to focus in on many miracles. However, as John begins to wrap up His gospel, the last chapter details a special miracle and event where Jesus shows up in a special way to a smaller group of disciples. While we don’t know where the other disciples were during this event, I wonder if this event and miracle helped reunify the disciples after they all may have felt like failures for abandoning Jesus on the night He was betrayed and arrested.

Let’s read about what happened, and about how Jesus showed up to this smaller group of disciples. Our passage is found in John’s gospel, chapter 21, and we will read it using the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 1, John tells us that:

¹ Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: ² Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ³ “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.

⁴ Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

⁵ He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

“No,” they answered.

⁶ 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.

⁷ 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. ⁸ The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. ⁹ When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” ¹¹ 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. ¹² Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴ This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Let’s stop reading here for this episode. We can finish the event and chapter in our next episode. In this first portion of John’s last chapter, several things stand out in my mind.

The first thing to stand out in my mind was that this entire fishing adventure was prompted entirely by Peter. Part of me wonders if Peter had been struggling with his failures on the night Jesus was arrested, and if Peter was having doubts if Jesus really would take Him back. I suspect that this doubt prompted Peter to try going back to the only other life he knew, which was fishing.

While I don’t think Peter would have done anything crazy that night if left on his own, I also suspect that the other disciples who were with Peter wanted to be with him if they sensed he was struggling with his failure.

However, while Peter tries to go back to his former life of fishing, the end of verse 3 summarizes the result of their trip nicely: “So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.”

If Peter felt like a failure for abandoning and denying Jesus, failing at fishing likely didn’t prompt him to feel any better.

It is at this point in this event where we see the powerful truth that without Jesus, we cannot be successful.

While some people might claim success without having belief or faith in God, the only success that comes into a person’s life is success that God allows to come. The only success that lasts for eternity is success that comes from placing your life and your faith in Jesus’ hands!

However, while Peter and the rest of the disciples are floating on the water feeling like failures, Jesus shows up on the shore with a rather dumb sounding suggestion: Jesus tells the disciples when He learns they haven’t caught anything to try the other side of their boat.

It is at this point in the event where a skeptic would simply discount the suggestion of the stranger on shore as entirely unhelpful without even trying it. However, these disciples were not skeptics, at least on the surface. When we hit rock bottom, we may be willing to try anything, and these disciples were not above trying dumb sounding ideas. These disciples, through trying Jesus’ illogical suggestion, demonstrate that they still have a little faith, and their little faith results in a large catch.

While we don’t know how this catch of fish compared with the miraculous catch of fish at the start of Peter’s invitation to be a disciple, there is no denying the similarities that exist between these two events. While both miracles are very distinct, both are very similar as well.

I don’t believe this is an accident or a coincidence. Instead, I suspect that Jesus is setting the stage to re-invite Peter and to forgive him. When John, the disciple who simply described himself as the one Jesus loved, comments that the Man on the shore must be Jesus, Peter abandons the fish, his fellow fishermen, and the boat entirely to swim to shore. I suspect that Peter knew that being near Jesus was exactly what he needed to chase his doubts away.

Before closing out this episode, a phrase John includes in this event is worth drawing our attention to. While John emphasizes that this was the third time Jesus appeared to His disciples after being raised from the dead, John tells us in verse 12: “None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord.”

This is a very strange detail to include, because they all had seen Jesus at least one time prior to this, and many of them had seen Jesus twice. I wonder if this detail is included as a way to suggest that sometimes Jesus will show up in ways that we might not recognize at first.

Perhaps Jesus didn’t look the same that morning in some way, but everything about how Jesus acted reassured these disciples that this was Jesus. The detail John includes about none of the disciples asking who Jesus was tells us that all these disciples had faith, even if the Person eating with them didn’t look like the Jesus they remembered.

These disciples had faith in Jesus and the faith these disciples had in Jesus ultimately leads them into the next big part of God’s plan for their lives. Through faith in Jesus, these disciples received the Holy Spirit, and with the Holy Spirit’s help, these disciples launch the Christian movement, spreading the news about Jesus to the world. The only reason we know anything about Jesus today is because these disciples accepted God’s call on their life and spread the great news of Jesus to the world.

It is the same with us. Even if we feel as though we have failed God, He is willing to invite us back and to empower us to live the life He created us to live. Our lives with God will be built on prayer and faith in Jesus, and on leaning on the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance to live the life God created us to live as He leads history towards eternity!

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and choose to place your faith, hope, trust, and belief in Jesus. Choose to lean on the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance in your life and choose to have faith in God even when you might not recognize how He is working in your life. Trust that God loves you and that Jesus has a plan for your life that includes eternity in heaven!

Also, pray and study the Bible for yourself to learn, grow, and move closer to God in your life. A personal relationship with God works best when it is personal, and God wants a relationship with you that isn’t based on having a middleman like a pastor or priest between you and Him. God loves you personally, and He wants to have a personal relationship with you!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!