10 Apr 26 | Come Have Breakfast
The disciples go back to fishing, catch nothing all night, and find the risen Jesus on the shore with breakfast already prepared before they arrive with what they caught.
The Gospel: John 21:1-14
¹ After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. ² Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples. ³ Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We also will come with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. ⁴ When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. ⁵ Jesus said to them, “Children, have you caught anything to eat?” They answered him, “No.” ⁶ So he said to them, “Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something.” So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish. ⁷ So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. ⁸ The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish. ⁹ When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. ¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you just caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. ¹² Jesus said to them, “Come, have breakfast.” And none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they realized it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish. ¹⁴ This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead.
Today’s Focus
They had seen the risen Jesus twice and received the commission and they went fishing anyway. They worked through the dark and came up empty. At dawn a voice from the shore told them to cast on the other side and the net filled past the point of hauling in. The beloved disciple recognized him first. Peter jumped into the water. When they reached the shore the fire was already going and the food was already there. He had been providing before they arrived. He took bread and gave it to them, took fish and gave it to them, the same gesture as the feeding of the five thousand and the Last Supper. The risen Lord of heaven and earth served breakfast on a beach to the people who had abandoned him. None of them asked who he was. They knew. And the net did not tear.
In the Margins
Peter announces he is going fishing and the others follow him. They have seen the risen Jesus twice, received the commission, and are back in a boat on the lake where Jesus first called them. Whether Peter’s decision comes from restlessness or resignation, this is an echo of Luke 5, the original calls, where Peter and the others had fished all night and caught nothing before Jesus told them to cast the net and the catch overwhelmed the boat.
The night of failed fishing carries the same theological weight it carries everywhere in John’s Gospel. Night is the consistent marker of absence, of effort disconnected from the source of life. Judas walked out into the night after receiving the morsel. The disciples working through the darkness and coming up empty is John’s image of what ministry without the risen Jesus produces, regardless of expertise or effort.
Jesus appears on the shore at dawn, at the transition from darkness to light, consistent with John’s light theology throughout the Gospel. The disciples do not recognize Him, following the pattern of every resurrection appearance. He calls them children, paidia, the same intimate diminutive He used at the Last Supper in John 13 when He told them He was leaving. He addresses them now with the same word on the other side of everything that has happened since. He instructs them to cast the net on the right side of the boat and the catch is so large they cannot haul it in. The beloved disciple recognizes Jesus first, as he did at the empty tomb. Peter tucks in his garment and throws himself into the water.
The 153 fish have generated more commentary than almost any other detail in John’s Gospel. Jerome recorded that Greek zoologists of the ancient world had catalogued 153 species of fish, which would make the catch a symbol of the universal reach of the apostolic mission, every kind gathered in. Whether that reading can be established from the text or not, the Gospel emphasizes what accompanies the number. The net does not tear. In Luke 5, the first miraculous catch, the nets began to break and the boats began to sink. Here the net holds under the weight of the full catch. The first catch preceded the call and the community was not yet formed. This catch follows the resurrection and the commission. The net that holds even under 153 fish is the image of a Church that will gather from every nation without breaking under the strain.
When the disciples reach the shore they find a charcoal fire already burning with fish on it and bread beside it. The word John uses for charcoal fire, anthrakia, appears only twice in his entire Gospel. The first time was in John 18, where Peter stood warming himself at a charcoal fire in the courtyard of the high priest and denied Jesus three times. John does not use that specific word carelessly. He is signaling that what is about to happen on this shore is the answer to what happened in that courtyard. Peter denied Jesus beside one charcoal fire, but will be restored beside another. The two fires, one in Jerusalem at the arrest and one in Galilee at the breakfast, are the two poles of a single arc that Jesus is about to close.
Jesus already has fish on the fire before the disciples arrive with their catch. He has been providing before they reach the shore with what they have caught. The invitation He extends is warm and entirely unguarded. The risen Lord of heaven and earth is serving a meal on a beach. When He takes the bread and gives it to them, takes the fish and gives it to them, the gesture mirrors the feeding of the five thousand and the Last Supper.
None of the disciples ask who He is. They know it is the Lord, but the knowing operates differently than ordinary recognition. The resurrection body is real, the wounds are real, the fish is real, the bread is real, and it is all beyond the categories available to them. Their silence is not confusion, rather a particular kind of awe that comes from being in the presence of something you know but cannot fully contain. The Gospel notes that this is the third appearance to the disciples since the resurrection. Three denials. Three appearances. The third is the one that sets up what comes next, the restoration of the man who denied Him three times beside a fire exactly like this one.
A key takeaway is that the Lord provides. Even here, the disciples who were imperfect are provided for and loved deeply. This same love, the exact same perfect love, applies to each and every one of us. We will be provided for by a God that loves us. We are loved in a perfect way that is equal to the love of those that physically walked alongside Jesus, equal to those invited to have breakfast with Jesus that day.
Reflection Question
Where in your life have you been working through the dark and coming up empty, and have you heard the voice from the shore yet?
A Small Invitation
If this reflection helped you, consider sharing it with someone who may benefit from hearing this message.