It is the Lord

After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”

They said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵ Then Jesus said to them, “Children, have you any food?”

They answered Him, “No.”

And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.

Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” (John 21:1-7)

Our text presents an interesting story of the disciples of Jesus after His resurrection. Peter and John in the company of other disciples had gone fishing, and I believe that this was due to the fact that they weren’t sure what was next in their journey of life.

First, they were fishermen, Jesus had shown up to change their career path, and they had completely abandoned their fishing profession, but now, Jesus had departed. He didn’t just depart without a plan, He left them with an instruction, but they probably didn’t know how to go about it, so they went fishing in the meantime, for that was the only thing they could easily do without external guidance.

The scripture records that that night they took no fish, and very early in the morning while they were still at it, Jesus showed up at the edge of the sea, and He instructed them to cast their net on the right side, and when they did, they had a great catch. It was then that John recognized that it was the Lord.

The amazing part of this story is that these men had been with Jesus for some time before, and after the resurrection, but when He showed up that early morning, they did not recognize Him, until He gave that instruction. Recall, that in Luke’s gospel chapter 5, Jesus had given a similar instruction to Peter, and this I believe is what made John to easily decipher that it was the Lord.

As I reflected on this story, and pondered why it wasn’t so obvious to all of them at once that it was the Lord, it occurred to me also that even today there are times that we are similarly blinded to the presence of Jesus in our lives and affairs. Things can be happening in your life that are obviously by the grace of the Lord, but you may be failing to recognize Him and His grace at work. Kenneth E. Hagin said that even if the Holy Spirit walked down the street with a red hat on, there will still be people who wouldn’t recognize Him.

Sometimes, it is that your mind is so occupied by with the failures of the past or the unproductive nights of toiling to the point that when the Lord shows up for you in the morning, it is not obvious to you that it is the Lord, because He does in a quiet and unceremonious fashion, when in fact you were expecting Him to show up with lightning and thunder. The bible says that weeping may endure through the night, joy comes in the morning. Open your eyes of faith and recognize that God is working in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Don’t focus on the unproductive nights, just look out for His intervention and be ready to carry out His instructions. Your testimony awaits – It is the Lord.