Have you ever caught yourself waiting in the wrong line? There’s a comic that shows two lines — one for “comforting lies” and one for “unpleasant truths.” The line for comforting lies stretches out the door. The line for unpleasant truths has no one in it. It’s a funny picture, but it hits close to home. We all prefer the comfortable path, even when it’s not the right one.
That’s exactly what we’re talking about today — two crucial moments in the relationship between Jesus and His disciples. These are the bookends of Jesus’s ministry to them. The first moment when they dropped everything and followed. The second moment when, after Jesus rose from the dead, they went right back to fishing.
Who Were These Disciples?
Before we dive in, let’s understand who these disciples were. They weren’t a homogeneous group — they came from completely different walks of life.
Five of them were fishermen: Peter, Andrew, James, and John (the “sons of thunder” — an awesome nickname), plus Philip. These were blue-collar workers, professional fishermen with calloused hands and sun-weathered skin. They worked in family businesses, often with hired men and multiple boats. This was hard, dangerous work.
Then there was Bartholomew (also called Nathaniel), likely a businessman and merchant — someone who came from wealth and expected everyone to know it. And Matthew, the tax collector. Now in first-century Israel, being a tax collector meant something very specific: Matthew purchased the rights to collect taxes in his region. He paid the Romans upfront and then charged whatever he wanted to his fellow Jews. It was a notoriously corrupt profession. Matthew would have been despised by his own people.
So in this group of twelve, you had everyone from wealthy merchants to working-class fishermen to a man everyone hated. Some were jump-first-figure-it-out-later types like Peter. Others were cautious analysts like Thomas, who wanted every fact before believing anything. They panicked. They fell asleep when they should have prayed. They argued about who would be greatest. They doubted. They forgot. They abandoned Jesus.
In other words, they were just like us.
The First Encounter — Following Jesus
Let’s look at how this journey began. In John chapter 1, John the Baptist points to Jesus and says, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” Two of John’s disciples hear this and immediately follow Jesus. Jesus turns and asks them what they’re looking for. They ask where He’s staying, and He says, “Come and you will see.” So they spent the day with Him. That afternoon, one of them — Andrew — finds his brother Simon and says, “We have found the Messiah!” He brings Simon to Jesus, who looks at him and says, “You are Simon… you shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
The next day, Jesus finds Philip and says, “Follow me.” Philip finds Nathanael and says, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law — Jesus of Nazareth!”
In Matthew 4 and Mark 1, Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilee. He sees Peter and Andrew casting nets. He says, “Come follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.” Immediately, they left their nets and followed. He sees James and John in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. He calls them, and without delay, they left the boat, left their father, and followed Him.
Notice something important: these were professional fishermen. Fishing was their family business. They had boats, hired men, and expertise. And yet when Jesus called them — even without a miraculous sign yet — they dropped everything and followed.
But then we get to Luke chapter 5, which tells the story differently. Here, Jesus gets into Peter’s boat and asks Peter to put out a little from shore so Jesus can teach the crowds. After He’s done teaching, Jesus tells Peter to go into the deep water and let down the nets for a catch.
Peter’s response is revealing: “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
When they do, they catch so many fish that their nets begin to break. They have to signal to their partners in the other boat to come help. Both boats become so full they nearly sink.
Now Peter sees this and falls at Jesus’s knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man!” He recognizes who Jesus truly is. And Jesus says, “Don’t be afraid. From now on you will fish for people.”
This is different from the first calling. Here, Peter has an encounter with the holiness of Jesus. He sees the miraculous provision and his own unworthiness. And then — after this — they left everything and followed for the next three years.
The Second Encounter — Back to Fishing
Now we jump to the end of Jesus’s ministry with the disciples. John chapter 21. After Jesus rose from the dead, the disciples had already seen Him at least twice. But here they are together, hiding, afraid. Their whole world had collapsed. Jesus — the one they thought would restore the kingdom — was crucified. Everything they knew was gone.
Look at verse 3: “Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.'”
When times got tough, Peter went back to what he knew. His companions said, ‘We’ll go with you.’ They went out in the boat and fished all night. And they caught nothing. Not a single fish.
Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore. The disciples didn’t recognize Him. Jesus called out, “Children, do you have any fish?”
They answered, “No.”
He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.”
Now think about this. These were professional fishermen. Five of them. They had been fishing all night — their livelihood, their trade — and caught nothing. And now a stranger on the beach is giving them fishing advice? “Try the other side of the boat.” Any reasonable fisherman would say, “We’ve tried everything. We’ve worked all night. What makes you think—”
But they did it anyway. And when they did, they couldn’t haul the nets in because of the large number of fish.
The disciple John — the one Jesus loved — looks at Peter and says, “It is the Lord!”
Peter, still impulsive, wraps his outer garment around himself (the King James says he was “naked” — he’d taken his clothes off to work in the heat) and jumps into the water. The others follow, towing the net full of fish.
When they get to shore, Jesus already has a fire going with fish and bread on it. “Come and have breakfast,” Jesus says.
Think about that. The Creator of the universe, the One who made fish and bread, had already prepared a meal for these men who had abandoned Him, denied Him, and gone back to fishing. And He says, “Come eat.”
What Does This Mean for Us?
Here’s what strikes me most about this story: the disciples went back to what they knew. When following Jesus got hard — really hard — they retreated to their comfort zone. They went back to fishing.
And we do the same thing, don’t we? When life gets difficult, when God seems distant, when prayers go unanswered — we go back to what makes us feel safe. We retreat to our version of “fishing.” It might be control. It might be work. It might be busyness. It might be old habits, old sins, old comforts.
But here’s the beautiful part: Jesus didn’t abandon them. He came to them. He met them on the shore. He prepared breakfast. And He asked Peter a question that cuts right to the heart: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Three times Jesus asks Peter — three denials answered with three declarations of love. “Feed my sheep.” “Feed my lambs.” “Feed my sheep.”
Following Jesus isn’t just about acknowledging Him as Savior. It means leaving our past behind. Forgetting what we’re comfortable with. What makes us feel safe. What we’re good at. And committing our future to Him completely.
God in His love will try to get our attention. Sometimes it’s with a bountiful catch. Sometimes it’s with empty nets. But either way, He’s trying to get us to recognize that He has been there all along.
The question is: will we recognize Him? Will we jump out of the boat and swim to shore — not to go fishing for meat anymore, but to feed His sheep?
Because the fish is already on the fire. He’s already provided. He’s waiting for us. The only question is: will we leave our nets and follow?
Scripture References
- John 1:35-51 — The first disciples follow Jesus
- Matthew 4:18-22 — Jesus calls Peter and Andrew, James and John
- Mark 1:16-20 — The calling of the fishermen
- Luke 5:1-11 — The miraculous catch of fish
- John 21:1-14 — Jesus meets the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias