Gone Fishing

John 21:1 After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We are going with you also."

The statement is often made in Biblical teaching that we are to, “wait on the Lord.” Isaiah 40:31 put it this way, “But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.” The question is: what are we to do while we are waiting?

I really believe Peter thought he was “waiting on the Lord” when he decided to kill some time while waiting on the Lord near the Sea of Tiberias. According to Matthew’s gospel, the disciples were instructed to head to the Galilee where they were to meet Jesus. (Another name for the Sea of Tiberias.)

Once they arrived at Galilee, Jesus was nowhere to be seen. And so we have a classic “wait-mode” situation. What were they to do while they waited? I can imagine the guys kind of meandering along the seashore for a while, perhaps throwing smooth stones into the water, and generally just hanging out and killing time.

Peter, being the natural leader that he is, probably felt a greater degree of pressure about coming up with something to do. He was most likely the one in the crowd who would be looked to for ideas – as it is with most leader-follower relationships. Peter apparently went into default mode: Fishing. Fishing is an obvious time-killer. It occupies the mind in distraction. A perfect veg activity. After all, you can’t just sit around and do nothing while you are waiting...

So Peter makes the declaration he is going fishing. Since he is the straw that stirs the drink, the rest of the guys go along. They fish all night in fact, and catch nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada.

Jesus appears on the shore the next morning, unrecognized. He shouts out them, “Children, have you any food?” They answered Him, “No.” The question arises again, What are we to do while we are waiting? Is waiting simply an uncertain amount of time to kill with leisure activity, vegging out, watching TV? Mindless, distracted activity to pass time? Perhaps we are to be feeding ourselves on the Word of God, and spending time in prayer that we may have plenty of food for His use when Jesus asks us, “Children, do you have any food?” This should ring especially true when we are not just waiting, but in fact are waiting on the Lord Himself to appear.
- Pastor Bill