LEARNING DAILY

Luke 5:5, But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless, at Your word I will let down the net.  

John 21:5, Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?” They answered Him, “No”.

I have just finished a study of the Gospel of John. It ends with an account of the disciples having a rough night of fishing without catching any fish. It is similar to the account of the disciples fishing another time and again having no luck. There are differences and similarities in the two accounts. In Luke, Jesus tells four fishermen from now on they will be catching men; in John’s account Jesus is watching the disciples fish after the resurrection. In both accounts they have had terrible nights of fishing.  

I know what it is like to spend a day of fishing without catching fish to keep. Yes, it is fun to catch any fish, especially if it puts up any sort of fight. But the objective is to take some fish home to eat. There have been others fishing with me that did not catch anything and that leads to discouragement and the desire to stop and go home. Fishing at the time of the disciples did not include a nice rod and reel; it involved throwing a net from the boat. If you can imagine it was a rough way to fish. It was hard on the fingers and hands. One had to be strong and knowledgeable about the waters and certainly not fear the waves. For one to be a fisherman, to make their living this way meant he had to accept the disappointment of not catching large amounts of fish. I never would have made it – I got tired of casting my line out to reel it back in with nothing but seaweed on the hook.

Okay, the point today is on these two accounts, the fishermen had caught nothing for all their hard work. That meant no wages for all their work. For all their hard work, all the effort they put in to catch fish had failed. You need to grasp that. They caught nothing. The fish did not jump into their boat. Everything they did by human effort had failed.

But Jesus showed up. In Luke, Jesus told them to go further out in the deeper water. In John, Jesus told them to throw their net on the other side of the boat. In each account they reply, “We have worked all night. We have cast our nets and caught nothing. We are tired and discouraged and just want to go home.”  But in each case, they do what Jesus tells them to do and their nets were full of fish.

Do you see the correlation between the fisherman striving in their own strength and the follower of Christ who desires to “catch men”, to be used by God to save those around them and to help them walk the narrow way God intends? God receives great honor and glory by using common people to share what He has done in their lives. These fishermen, striving in their own strength caught no fish; but Jesus came, told them what to do. They obeyed and caught so many fish they could hardly get the catch to shore.

The church, the faithful followers of Jesus Christ can do nothing in their own power. Zechariah 4:6 confirms this, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit’, says the Lord”. When Christ’s presence is with someone success is going to result. In Luke’s account, Jesus was in the boat with Peter and instructed him to go out to deeper water. In John’s account, Jesus showed up on the shore and told them to throw the net out on the other side of the boat. It was their obedience to what Jesus told them to do that brought success. The presence of Jesus is what brought the fish to their nets.

It is the presence of Jesus Christ in one’s life that draws people to them. There is a shaking going on in the world; it is all around each of us. God is preparing His followers, His “fisher’s of men” to be ready for those He brings into their life to explain their hope in Him. Let the light of Jesus shine bright and be ready for those who are attracted to it.