Do whatever Jesus tells you to do!

John 21:1-14

Jesus showed himself again to the disciples. It was by the Sea of Tiberias, and it happened like this: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two more of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said, ‘I’m going fishing.’ They replied, ‘We’ll come with you.’ They went out and got into the boat but caught nothing that night. It was light by now and there stood Jesus on the shore, though the disciples did not realise that it was Jesus. Jesus called out, ‘Have you caught anything, friends?’ And when they answered, ‘No’, he said, ‘Throw the net out to starboard and you’ll find something.’ So they dropped the net, and there were so many fish that they could not haul it in. The disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord.’ At these words ‘It is the Lord’, Simon Peter, who had p ractically nothing on, wrapped his cloak round him and jumped into the water. The other disciples came on in the boat, towing the net and the fish; they were only about a hundred yards from land. As soon as they came ashore they saw that there was some bread there, and a charcoal fire with fish cooking on it. Jesus said, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’ Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore, full of big fish, one hundred and fifty-three of them; and in spite of there being so many the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ None of the disciples was bold enough to ask, ‘Who are you?’; they knew quite well it was the Lord. Jesus then stepped forward, took the bread and gave it to them, and the same with the fish. This was the third time that Jesus showed himself to the disciples after rising from the dead.

Food for thought!

Imagine this. Simon Peter announces

 to his friends: "I'm going fishing." The rest of them reply, "We're going with you." And off they go into the sea. It must have been a while since Jesus called them to leave everything and go after him. But today, they go back to fishing. Peter is in the lead; he is giving orders and the rest just follow him! As they follow Peter, they work all night and catch NOTHING. As if not enough, Jesus appears to them and they don't recognize him. They are too busy in their business to recognize Jesus.

From yesterday's Gospel

*In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.’ *

Yes, even disciples of Jesus miss him. Thanks to Jesus, if and when we miss him, he does not give up on us. Jesus appeared to them in yesterday's and today's gospel reading. Jesus came and gave them new rules. It is no longer Peter giving orders; it is Jesus in the driver's seat. Peter's driving leads to the wrong side, that is, on the left side of the boat; and as always we cannot get much if we keep going and working in the wrong; from the wrong we don't get a right.

Fortunately we have JESUS, who shows us what's good and right: "Throw the net off the right side of the boat and see what happens." And they obeyed. The disciples did what Jesus said. And because they obeyed, all of a sudden there were so many fish in the net that they weren't strong enough to pull it in.

This Gospel tells us that sometimes, like Peter and his friends, we make wrong decisions in life; we throw the nets on the wrong side. All of us, we are where we are because of the decisions we have been making all along; it is our decisions that brought us to where we are! We are the way we are because of the decisions we make. As they say, "We make the decisions, and the decisions make us!" That is the bad news.

The good news, is that Jesus can undo our bad decisions; Jesus knows where we can fish best. And when he tells us to do so, WE SHOULD OBEY and see what happens. Even when he tells us to fish against tradition or custom or others' expectations. Jesus knows best what's best for each one of us; what he says is always the best course of action. We do well to follow Mary's advice at the wedding at Cana: "Do whatever Jesus tells you to do." (John 2:5). That's the rule of thumb.