AM May 10th John 21

May 10^th            John 21                        Sign 8. The Catch of fish. (Liberty)

1: After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself. 2: There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. 3: Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing. 4: But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. 5: Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. 6: And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. 7: Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. 8: And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. 9: As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. 10: Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. 11: Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, and hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. 12: Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. 13: Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. 14: This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.

John records another appearing of Christ at the Sea of Galilee. Peter had the idea to occupy himself of doing some fishing. There was Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James and John and two other disciples, five in all. All night they worked and caught no fish. When morning broke Jesus stood on the shore but they didn’t recognise him. He called to them, ‘Have you any fish’? They answered no. Then he said, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the ship and you will find fish’. They did as directed and immediately they took a huge shoal of fish. Now they were unable to draw the net to the shallows. John immediately caught on that this was Jesus. And he said, ‘It is the Lord’. Peter on hearing that put on his outer coat because he had stripped off and he threw himself into the water and made for the land. The other disciples came in a little ship dragging the net. They were about a hundred yards from the shore. When they reached land they found Jesus with a fire of coals and fish and bread ready for breakfast. Jesus said bring the fish that you have caught. Peter went and helped to land the net and they counted the fish – there were 153. Even though there were so many yet the net didn’t break. Nobody asked who are you because they all knew him. Jesus as was his custom took and gave thanks and also for the fish. This was the third appearing of Christ after the resurrection. This final sign that John records demonstrates that Christ is the Messiah of Israel. He is the one who will direct the fishermen of the future they will under his direction land a huge catch in preparation for the kingdom of God. Christ will be king of Israel and the Apostles will have a part in the great harvest of souls. He will set them free to serve him.

Sign One          Water to wine

  Sign Two          Healing of the son

    Sign Three        Healing of the lame man

      Sign Four          Feeding of 5,000

      Sign Five          The Lord walks in water

    Sign Six            Sight to Blind man

  Sign Seven       Lazarus raised from death

Sign Eight         Fish from Galilee

You will notice that this is an introversion. The first relates to the last and the second to the second to last etc. The first four relate Christ to OT characters, Moses, Elijah, Joshua and David. The second four demonstrate Christ as the future Messiah of Israel. Between four and five Christ is absent from his people and they are on Gentile waters with the wind against them. This is the present state of Israel. Next the Lord comes first to be with them in the storm. They he brings light, life and lastly liberty. Christ is the Prophet who brings light, the Priest who brings life and the King who brings liberty.