In verse 3 we are told that the disciples “went forth and got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.” Peter and the sons of Zebedee (John and James) were professional fishers, the sea of Tiberias was large and full of fish, and night was the right time for fishing, but through the entire night they caught nothing. It was a real miracle for the disciples to fish the whole night and yet not to catch any fish. As expert fishermen, they knew that nighttime was the best time for fishing. But although the sea was full of fish, they did not catch even one. They cast their nets again and again the entire night, but they caught nothing. The Lord must have sovereignly controlled all the fish, keeping them away from the nets. Perhaps the Lord Jesus commanded the fish, saying, “Fish, stay away from this net.”
The miracle of catching no fish was a lesson to Peter and the other disciples, and it is a lesson for us today. We should not think that we can just go out, find a job, and make a living. If the Lord keeps all the jobs away, we shall never be able to find one. Do not think that you can go to the sea and easily catch some fish. If our fishing is under the Lord’s guidance and according to His will, we shall surely catch some fish. But if it is not according to the Lord’s will and we go out on our own, all the fish might be frightened away, sovereignly being kept away from us. As Christians who have been regenerated and commissioned by the Lord, we must go and do things according to the Lord’s will, even in the matter of making a living. Since we have been regenerated and the Lord has committed to us a divine, heavenly mission, we must walk according to His will. We should not think of making a living naturally. Others can, but we cannot. There might have been quite a number of unbelievers fishing in the sea of Tiberias at the same time the disciples were, and they probably caught many fish. These believing disciples labored the whole night, and only from them were the fish kept away. This was a miracle. Therefore, do not think that we can just go to the sea and catch fish. If we do this on our own, we shall probably end up with nothing.
Verses 4 and 5 say, “Now as the morning was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said to them, Little children, do you have any fish to eat? They answered Him, No.” The Lord Jesus appeared as “the morning was breaking.” The Lord did not come—He appeared. In verse 14 we are told that “Jesus was manifested to the disciples.” Before the Lord Jesus stood on the shore, He was there already. When the disciples were in the boat fishing, the Lord was already there, for He was within them. But at this particular point, the Lord appeared and showed Himself to them.
We may compare 21:5 with Luke 24:41-43. When the disciples were in the right position, as in Luke 24:41-43, they had—even inside the house—more fish than they needed, and they offered a piece to the Lord. But here they were in a backslidden condition. Thus—even on the seashore—after fishing the entire night, they had no fish, not even one piece. Not only did they have nothing to offer the Lord; they had nothing with which to feed themselves. The Lord asked them if they had any fish to eat, and they said, “No.” Their answer must have made them feel very shameful. If I had been Peter, I would have been ashamed to answer the Lord’s question.
Verse 6 says, “He said to them, Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some. They cast therefore, and they were not able to haul it in, because of the abundance of fishes.” The morning (v. 4) was not the right time for fishing, but when the disciples, at the word of the Lord, cast their net they caught an abundance of fishes. Surely this was a miracle. It must have been that the Lord bade the fish come into their net. By this miracle their eyes were opened, and the “disciple whom Jesus loved said then to Peter, It is the Lord!” (21:7). The first one to recognize that it was the Lord was John. When Peter realized that it was the Lord, he jumped into the sea and came to the Lord. The other disciples came in the little boat, dragging the net full of fishes.