Scripture Daily

Context No. 366 of 4322 · John

Context · Reflection

John 21:6-10: in context

6He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” They cast it therefore, and now they weren’t able to draw it in for the multitude of fish. 7That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his coat around himself (for he was naked), and threw himself into the sea. 8But the other disciples came in the little boat (for they were not far from the land, but about two hundred cubits away), dragging the net full of fish. 9So when they got out on the land, they saw a fire of coals there, with fish and bread laid on it. 10Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.”

This is a resurrection morning by the Sea of Galilee. The disciples have fished all night and caught nothing, and a figure on the shore, whom they do not yet recognize, tells them to cast the net on the other side. Suddenly the net is so full they cannot haul it in, and John says the words that name everything: it is the Lord. And here the two disciples respond in the two ways people do. John perceives, and Peter acts. The moment Peter hears it is Jesus, he wraps his coat around himself and throws himself into the sea to swim to shore, unwilling to wait for the boat. This is the same Peter who had denied Jesus three times, and his love for the Lord he failed is so undimmed by shame that he cannot get to him fast enough.

Then comes a detail easy to rush past. When they reach the shore, there is already a charcoal fire burning, with fish and bread laid on it. Jesus has made breakfast before they arrived. He did not need their catch; the meal was already cooking. And yet, standing over a fire he had already prepared, he says to them, bring some of the fish you have just caught. He has provided everything, and still he invites them to add what they have to the table. Their contribution was not necessary to feed anyone, and he asked for it anyway, folding their work into a meal that was ready without it.

That small request holds something worth sitting with. I tend to swing between two errors, imagining either that God needs my contribution, that it all depends on me, or that my contribution is worthless because he can do it all without me. The scene on the beach says neither. Jesus had the breakfast made, and he still said, bring some of yours. Do I let him provide fully and receive my offering gladly at the same time, bringing my few fish to a table he has already set, not because he needs them, but because he wants me in it?

Sources