“Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’ ‘No,’ they answered. He said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. … Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.” John 21:4-6, 11

There are two amazing aspects to this miracle. First, the disciples had been fishing all night without catching anything, but then Jesus appears and they catch 153 big fish. The numerical size of the catch was clearly inspiring to John. Second, the net did not tear under the stress of such a large catch. I believe that was equally as inspiring to those who were eyewitnesses of this miracle.

One of the arguments I have heard against laying our lives down for God and his mission to evangelize the world is that if we do, it will destroy our families. Because of this fear, so many disciples have retreated into a cocoon with their families and simply are not determined to love their neighbors as themselves (Matthew 22:39). The pendulum has swung so far away from the compassion Christ had on our lost world. Being on this mission team, Theresa and I have been incredibly challenged by how far we had personally drifted from our daily focus to fish for men. I believe that God wants us to be willing to fish all night, that Jesus will bring a miraculous catch and that the nets (our families) will not tear under the strain. Today, we are going to focus on the numerical size of the catch. Next week’s article will focus on how God will miraculously strengthen our families when we decide to trust and obey his word and his plan for our lives. My hope and prayer is that many will be inspired to make changes in their personal and family life. Then we will confidently set about our campaign to make ourselves slaves to everyone so that we might win as many as possible (1 Corinthians 9:19).

The Numerical Size of the Catch
A fisherman knows how many fish he catches. Why? This is what he lives for. This is what thrills him! Recently Pat Boea has been going fishing with his youngest son. Whenever they come back from a fishing trip they have a story to tell. They will tell you who caught the first fish and who caught the most fish. Then they will proceed to tell you about the size, color and any other distinguishing features of the fish. They will tell you details about their fishing rods, the bait they used and even facts about the weather. And don’t forget to ask about the food and conversation they had - they will tell you in detail.

In Luke 5:10, Jesus tells his “fishermen disciples” that they would now “catch men.” After his resurrection Jesus appears to the Eleven and charges them to “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15). Good news cannot be kept silent! Consider the Samaritan woman who we read about in John 4. She is the first person, male or female, to whom Jesus reveals his messiahship (John 4:25-26). Even Jesus’ chosen apostles are “out to lunch” (John 4:8) while Jesus discloses this revelation to this “unfaithful” woman (John 4:9,18). “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony” (John 4:39). It doesn’t take long for the good news about Jesus and his kingdom to spread.

Nobody wants men to be “caught” more than God. He draws us out of the empty waters of this crooked and depraved world (Acts 2:40) with cords of love and kindness (Hosea 11:4). The kingdom message is made real as disciples display this same kindness, patience and forgiveness toward one another (John 13:34-35). This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:3-4). God reveals his heart to us in the parable of the lost sheep where he teaches us to leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost one until we find it (Luke 15:4).

After Peter learned the lessons of John 21, he went on to take part in another miraculous catch. On the day of Pentecost we learn that “Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd” (Acts 2:14). Later we read that “those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day” (Acts 2:41). This was truly a miraculous catch of souls. I believe that every time a man or a woman decides to make Jesus lord of their lives, repents of their sin and is baptized in the name of Christ Jesus, that is a miraculous catch. The miracle on the day of Pentecost has been preached around the world for almost two thousand years because of the incredible number of people who were baptized that day. Imagine if Peter stood up with the three thousand and eleven were baptized. It wouldn’t be quite as miraculous would it? The numbers define the magnitude of God’s miracle.

Yes, when we are unspiritual, we can use numbers in unspiritual ways. However, numbers in and of themselves are neither good nor bad. God wanted us to know it was 153 large fish that were caught by Peter and the Eleven in John 21. He also wanted us to know that when those same few men stood up on the day of Pentecost, they caught around three thousand souls. We are going to count every soul that God catches through the work here in Chicago because every soul counts to God. And God will be the one who gets the praise and thanks for every miraculous catch.

Chris Broom

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