Zebedee's sons, and two others of his disciples.
Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing."
They said to him, "We also will come with you."
It seems the disciples were unclear on what came next. Was it now the end times, since the resurrection had occurred? Should they go back to living normal lives now that the mission had, it seemed, been finished? They did not know what to do next, and Jesus wasn't immediately proximate to ask, so they returned to the familiar. But although it seemed like they may have thought to exit their roles as disciples by the same way they entered, it was no longer possible. Jesus had forever transformed the idea of the disciples as fishermen. No aspect of their lives was untouched by him. There was no place to which they could return that was safely separate and normal. But perhaps on some level they knew this. They remembered that it was while fishing that they first gained a sense of their calling. Maybe they returned to it in hope of having a similar experience to provide them with the direction they now desired. It may have been only a semiconscious hope. But they knew that Jesus had revealed himself before even amidst their ordinary circumstances. Thus did he do again, fulfilling that hope.
When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore;
but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
Jesus said to them, "Children, have you caught anything to eat?"
They answered him, "No."
So he said to them, "Cast the net over the right side of the boat
and you will find something."
Their services as fishers of men were still needed even and especially after the resurrection. As a symbol of how this would work the other disciples struggled to bring in the massive catch of fish, but the strength of Peter was somehow enough to move the whole thing single-handedly, signaling his unique role among his brother Apostles. But Peter was as effective as he was because he was wise enough to defer to the counsel of the apparently more spiritual John who recognized Jesus first. And this kind of humility has marked our better popes through the ages. They first listen and only then act decisively.
Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them,
and in like manner the fish.
In what does the joy of the Church consist if not the bread which Jesus gives us, together with the constant influx on new disciples from every land, tribe, and tongue? It is a feast compromised of both bread and fish. It is a table that is set for us primarily by the successors of the Apostles, our bishops, and their collaborators among the priesthood. Yet we, as laity, also work together with them, allowing ourselves to become fishers of men in the ponds, streams, and rivers of ordinary life to which they might not otherwise have access. We might think that Peter was unique in how he responded to the religious authorities in today's reading from Acts. But we too have been filled with the same Spirit they guided him. With Paul we can say, "we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak" (see Second Corinthians 4:13). And we are meant to receive the same level of conviction and even boldness of speech that we see Peter had.
then all of you and all the people of Israel should know
that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean
whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead;
in his name this man stands before you healed.
He is the stone rejected by you, the builders,
which has become the cornerstone.
There is no salvation through anyone else,
nor is there any other name under heaven
given to the human race by which we are to be saved."
We need this conviction and confidence because it is so common for us to slip into believing that our earthly tasks, our own fishing in the natural sphere, are more pressing, or worse, more important than our spiritual priorities, even though we know that the former has only temporary significance, the later, eternal.
This is the day the LORD has made;
let us be glad and rejoice in it.
Hillsong Worship - No Other Name
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