John 21:2 Commentary and Bible Study

The disciples are in Galilee, they have obeyed the Lord. He gave instruction to the women and then to the disciples, after his resurrection that they must proceed into Galilee to a certain place that he had told them of and there he would appear to them. So they are now in Galilee; they have obeyed. But it seems that only seven of them had so far arrived and four were still on their way. So what were they to do? It is not unnatural that Peter, who is ever a busy man, should determine that they ought to earn something, they ought to go and catch some fish. There isn’t any sign of them being disillusioned, or of abandoning the work, or of anything like that. ‘I go a fishing.’ Why did Peter say that? Some people think that it was out of despondency. ‘Christ has gone; he has been crucified, dead and buried. We have seen him, the risen Lord, but that's just an encouragement to our hearts. The actual mission is over. Christ is alive, but it's finished. How can we do the things he spoke of? He said to us. He breathed upon us. He said, “As the Father sent me, so send I you. You are those who will go into the world, and represent me, and preach my name, and gather in a great following, and the church will be formed.” But how can this now be accomplished? Christ himself has gone.’ So Peter returns to his old occupation. Peter’s initiative is much criticised by some commentators, not so much by the old authors but by more recent ones; in this last 60-70 years it has become quite popular to say this. But the text does not say that, and it is much more likely that they are obeying the Lord. Not in that they go fishing, but in that they have returned to Galilee, as he has instructed them to do, where he would again appear to them. So now they are back in Galilee, no doubt in the Capernaum area, the area where they fished from the shore and ran their business previously, and they are waiting. It is surely a time of preparation, and they have been reflecting much and praying. It has all come home to them. His death on Calvary was an atoning death. He is a spiritual Saviour, after all, a Saviour from sin, not a political saviour, an earthly deliverer from Roman occupation. They must be grasping more and more. By the time Peter gets up to preach on the day of Pentecost, it’s crystal clear in his mind. We may think of them as in a state of tremendous expectation: how will he appear this time? How will he reveal himself? Perhaps they said, ‘Do you remember when he met us on the lake, when we were terrified? You remember how he appeared and he came walking on the water at night? Why day or night we’re waiting up for him. We’ve returned to Galilee. We’ve sought solitude. We’ll fish and we’ll keep our eyes open. He may appear day or night.’ They are experienced and skilled fishers; that is their profession for most of the seven. But though they toiled all the night long, for all their experience, they caught nothing. Then the Lord comes into the picture and we begin to learn tremendous lessons: there will be a tremendous contrast.