The Name Explained

Sometimes, perhaps most of the time, we think we have a lock on the best way to do things. Being a disciple of Jesus doesn’t make me exempt from this; it actually opens me up to outside attacks from the enemy to take things into my own hands, rather than to depend on the loving instruction of my Master, the Author of all truth.

Peter was a fisherman and it’s more than fair to assume that this guy knew how to fish. He and his cohorts were doing nothing wrong in the way they were fishing. Did it actually make more sense to merely cast the net over the other side of their boat? I’m thinking not. Any fish at all, merely a hull’s distance away from the net’s current placement? But that distance might have well as been a thousand miles away, for it was the expanse between their finite understanding and the infinite knowledge and perfect will of the Creator of themselves, the wood their boat was made of, the water they were afloat upon, and the very fish they purposed to catch. That very Creator who stood a short distance away onshore.

Many times over the lifetime of one who follows Jesus, he is going to ask us to by faith, to rely on his grace and truth to accomplish what he wills for us. Sometimes those tasks will be the ones we need to do in order to serve him in humble obedience. Other times, it will be to relinquish our own “expert” understanding of something we are most familiar with, in order that he may simply provide for us in ways that will simply amaze us. I’m not merely referring to the material requirements of life, but of the spiritual requirements as well. If we open up our fists, clenched around our own efforts, and instead embrace the grace of God, he will never cease to provide our every need and to amaze us in doing so.

Peter, in all likelihood, was a tough dude. Being a fisherman is not an easy task. He was at times stubborn and unfaithful, but it’s easy for me to imagine him as a big guy, sometimes making big mistakes, with a big heart. Personally, I can’t wait to hang out with him in heaven. I love the fact that as soon as he discovered that it was his Lord on the shore, he couldn't restrain his urge to get to Jesus. He jumped in and headed for the Master. Peter simply had a heart that lovingly thrilled to the person of Jesus. I want to thrill to Jesus like that. I want that jump in the water and swim a football field to get to the feet of Jesus kind of passion every moment of my life.

Peter was pumped. After the boat arrived, he pulled the net to shore; this is the same net so full they collectively couldn’t pull into the boat, due to its abundant catch. I’m guessing it’s easier to pull the net through the water than up into a boat, but it was still no easy task. And the net didn’t even tear. It probably should have, most likely under normal conditions would have. But not then. We are told that the net was full of large fish, not puny, dinky ones. Not the throw ‘em back kind. So take note, OK? But John’s account also says that there were 153 of them.

Now I just dig this 153 thing! No, I don’t think it has any special, mysterious, spiritual meaning. And for me, therein lies the coolness. For me, it’s tremendous that in the recording of this miraculous event, God decided to mention the exact number of fish there were. Amazing! Our God is a God of details; he knows the exact number of hairs on our heads. He’s concerned for the tiniest little sparrow. He doesn’t miss one single solitary thing.

When Peter had arrived onshore, Jesus already had fish cooking and bread to accompany it. After the others arrived, the Lord invited them to breakfast and fed them. Our King is all about relationships. He sat down and visited with them. What better way to hang out than a feast on a beach. He was even inclusive about the blessing they had just received by his grace in asking Peter to bring some of the catch over.

The world has its own whirlwind of patterns, belief systems, models, values, and assumptions. They are not of God. They do not honor his truth. Sometimes, but rarely, they may very dimly reflect a small bit of the truth they have so greatly distanced themselves from over millennium. They each have their own idols they bow down to. And their end result is loss and death.

The paradigm of the God-Man Jesus is in direct contradiction to these. For those of us who partake of the grace and truth of the Lord Jesus, he offers delights beyond our own feeble ways and understanding. He provides all of our every needs. The blessings are huge, mind boggling, and life changing. He can make our hearts leap with joy and amazement. The Holy Spirit empowers us with the tools for a dynamic life with him, and those tools, unlike ours, don’t tear. He wants to sit with each of us, individually, and collectively, and feed us. He wants to delight with us in the excitement of his blessings. He is concerned with every last detail of our very lives which he has designed for his own glory. The Jesus paradigm. The only one of truth and love. The only one that answers the questions of life. The only one that offers exciting, abundant, eternal living. That is what this miraculous account reminds me of. And so therefore the name of this blog.