Day 24: Another Net Full

4th Tuesday in Lent

Scripture: John 21:4-6

^{NRS 4} Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵ Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?" They answered him, "No." ⁶ He said to them, "Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.

Devotional: In Saint Luke’s record of the call of Peter, he depicts Jesus teaching from Peter’s fishing boat. The future Savior of the World then asked Peter to put out in the deep and let down his nets. Peter was weary after an unsuccessful night of fishing and almost done putting up his nets, but he reluctantly obeyed.  The nets became so full they were tearing and the boats were about to sink. That was the beginning of Peter’s ministry. John records a night when Peter has returned to his old life. Once again he had fished through the night and caught nothing. The one difference in John’s account was that they were still in the middle of the lake when the Savior called to them from the beach. He shouted a question that highlighted Peter’s failure in his return to his old life, “Have you caught any fish?” The reply was hauntingly full of shame in its simplicity, “No.” They hadn’t caught any fish when Jesus called him to fish for people. They hadn’t caught any people, and now their nets were empty, once again. That one simple word captured all of Peter’s shame, frustration and despair. It reverberated the sound of defeat across the surf to the figure on the shore. In the lingering darkness just after day break, the fisherman did not realize the lone figure was Jesus. They did not know that defeat, despair and hopelessness had been conquered once and for all at His resurrection. In an effort to cast light into their darkness, Jesus gave what should have been a familiar command, “Cast your net on the right side of the boat and you will catch some.” At this point, John records neither recognition nor even the exasperation that Luke recorded in the call narrative, but he does record their simple obedience. They didn’t talk, they just cast their net as instructed. Peter’s state of mind was so dejected that he didn’t recognize that it was Jesus giving the instructions. Perhaps he was resigned to the belief that Jesus was dead and the body stolen. That belief was sure to lead to the belief that his life of following Jesus was just as dead. Still he obeyed. He was rewarded with a net too full to haul aboard. Have we ever experienced the kind of despair that is so debilitating we can only follow simple commands? “Eat your dinner. Go to work. Take your medicine.” Those moments are part of life, even the Christian life, but those moments of despair never get the last word. It is in those moments that Christ shows up on the beaches of our despair to bring hope and a future. In our own obedience, we cast our nets and Jesus fills them so full of fish that we cannot even drag them into the boat. Sometimes it takes experiencing that kind of despair to really embrace the hope that is found in another net full of fish.

Prayer: Lord, today our prayer is simple. Strengthen us to be obedient to Your call amidst the situations of our life, so we may experience the hope of another net full, Amen.

Song of praise:          Your Grace Finds Me  by Matt Redman

                                                

Spiritual discipline challenge: Today our challenge involves submission. Submission is an act of obedience to God; just as Peter obediently cast the net, we must submit to the simple commands of Jesus in our life. Today listen for that call of Christ from the beach and obediently submit to what He is asking.