Jesus shows himself before his disciples.

His disciples are scared and afraid and Jesus appears before them.

He has risen from the dead.

He gives his disciples – his peace and he gives them the Holy Spirit – the very presence and breath of God.

And after he appears to his followers in Jerusalem – the disciples are ready to do great things in the name of Jesus.

So, what do the disciples decide to do?

After seeing their Lord and Savior risen from the dead.

You do just what you would do after seeing someone rise from the dead.

You go fishing.

Well, maybe not exactly what you would do but that is what the disciples do.

Simon Peter says to his friends, “I am going fishing.”

And his friends say back to him, “We will go with you.”

Can you see the humor in this text?

The disciples have just seen the risen Lord and what do they do…?  They decide to go fishing.

They return to what they know and what they are familiar with.

But while they are fishing that night, in the dark – they catch nothing.

Now it is morning – the light is out once again.

And there in the light -stands Jesus.

He is on the shore waiting for them – even though Jesus had just appeared to them, when they were in the locked house, the disciples not only are not willing to do what Jesus wants them to do… they do not even recognize him on the beach.

And Jesus goes along with his disciple’s fear and stubbornness and he calls out to them, “Children, you have no fish.”

Notice how Jesus uses the word, children.

The disciples answer, “No.”

In other words… you got that right.

So cast on the other side Jesus says.

A simple solution that might just work.

They cast their net on the other side and suddenly they catch so many fish that they cannot haul their net back into the boat.

And then the true miracle happens – not that they catch so many fish but that now a disciple knows who this man is.

The disciple who Jesus loves says to Peter, “It is the Lord!”

When Peter hears him say that he is the Lord, he too recognizes that it is Jesus.

And what does Peter do… he jumps into the water to escape from Jesus.

He is ashamed and does not want Jesus to see him.

But Jesus says in the Bible reading, “Bring some of the fish that you just caught.”
And Peter climbs back into the boat and drags the net filled with fish to Jesus.

153 fish in total.

153 fish what do you think that number means?

I don’t know either but wouldn’t it be interesting if we did know what that number meant.

Some scholars think it could refer to the total number of fish in the Sea of Galilee.

Therefore, this number could represent the disciples’ mission work to all the nations.

This number could also point to the abundant nature of God.

Regardless, of the symbolic meaning of the number – it is a lot of fish when they did not catch anything during the night.

But in the day – in the light – with Jesus they catch more than they need.

This points to the abundant nature of God!

Now comes the wonderful part of the Bible story.

At this point in the text, Jesus invites them to have breakfast.

They share in a meal of bread and fish.

We all know how life-giving it can be to eat with others.

Just two weeks ago we brought back our tradition of sharing in an Easter breakfast together between our two Easter services.

I really enjoyed that breakfast and how we shared together in a very special meal on Easter morning.

Did you know that sharing together in an Easter breakfast has its origin in this first Easter breakfast – as the risen Lord appears before his disciples and they share together in having breakfast?

After they finish their meal Jesus questions Peter three times about his love for him.

This is very hard for Peter.

Peter feels hurt that Jesus questions him three times.

Now remember Peter already feels bad here.

When he first sees, Jesus while he is in the boat, he jumps into the sea.

Later he gets up enough courage to still have breakfast with Jesus and then this happens.

Can you identify with Peter here?

Peter denied Jesus three times before Jesus was crucified.

He jumped into the sea when he first saw Jesus.

And now he feels hurt because Jesus questioned him three times about his love for Jesus.

Peter knows that he has messed up.

He has fallen short of his call to be a disciple.

Have you been there?

I know that I can be very hard on myself and feel badly when I fall short in some area.

Peter feels awful here.

He is ashamed of his behavior and he feels that he has let Jesus down.

All of us can identify with Peter here.

But Jesus still loves Peter just as Jesus still loves us – always.

Far more important than seeing Peter as one who denies Jesus and falls short is to understand and to recognize the love and grace of Christ.

And he says to him and to the other disciples, “Follow me.”

Follow me!

Jesus doesn’t give up on his followers.

Today this Bible reading is good news for us as well – just as it was for Peter and for those first disciples.

Jesus calls us to follow him and to give witness to Jesus in the world that God loves.

The future is open for the Holy Spirit to work and to move among us.

Our congregation is not defined by the last two years of the pandemic.

God is doing a new thing.

We are Easter people who celebrate the resurrection.

Christ was crucified but now is alive.

As the Psalmist says in Psalm 30 – Weeping lasts for the night but joy comes in the morning.

In the light of Christ, we follow Jesus in wonder, love, and praise.

Amen.