If Their Net Didn’t Tear, Yours Won’t Either

Sometimes, we hear or read passages in scripture so often that we overlook their significance.

The third time Jesus reveals Himself to the disciples after being raised from the dead is one of such simplicity that I’ve overlooked it for quite some time. 

It’s the story of some of Jesus’ disciples going out to fish together, and trying to catch fish all night, only to come back empty-handed, and then told to go out AGAIN right as they return to shore...in which they do without question. And then Jesus reveals Himself to them when He breaks the bread for the meal. 

Let me explain to you why this isn’t just another few verses to read over, and why it matters to you so deeply today. Why it is a reason to have hope in whatever situation you’re in right now.

First, if you could picture spending all night trying to catch fish out in the ocean.

It’s cold, it’s dark. Likely very wet from all the waves. And you are repeatedly pulling in a net that is empty. No fish. At all. You FINALLY come in at dawn, I would assume tired and beat and kind of done fishing for at least a few hours.

And then you see a man who meets you on shore, and who tells you—before you’ve even had a chance to put your feet back on land again—to go cast your net once again (John 21:6). Would you do it? Or would you say, “Nah, bro. I don’t know if you can tell or not by my appearance, but I just spent all night fishing, and I’m telling you, they aren’t biting.”

But these guys just go and do it. Scripture doesn’t say if any groaned or hesitated, so perhaps some of them could have. All it says is, “So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish.”

They were not able to pull their net in because of how many fish were in the net. 

Can you imagine?

HOURS of fishing and trying to be successful at something you’ve had years of practice at, and then this happens to you. I would have been speechless. 

There were seven men on the boat. SEVEN. And they couldn’t get the net in. Can you imagine what that would have looked like? Seven grown men not able to pull their net in because of how full it was?

They ended up dragging the net of fish in from the side of their boat for about the length of a football field (John 21:8) back to shore. One hundred yards! What strength, what persistence, to hold on, and row that boat in. To not let go of the net. What awe to see all those fish in front of you after a whole night of not catching one. 

And what does Jesus casually say to the men upon their return?

“Bring some of the fish you just caught.” (John 21:10). No “oh wow you have a lot,” no “can I help that looks heavy,” no “are you surprised? Does this make you happy?” Just, bring some over to eat with me. 

And then Scripture explicitly says, “So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.” (John 21:11)

The net that seven men could not muster to bring onboard their ship, they dragged on rough shore to Jesus. The weight alone, no longer suspended by water, should have busted open the net the minute all the fish were brought on land. Or at least after being dragged across the rough terrain of the shore, with all those fish flipping this way and that like crazy, some part ought to have ripped. 

But it didn’t. In bringing the net to the side of the boat, dragging it in water 100 yards to shore, and then up the shore bank, it never tore. Why would that be pointed out to us? Why include such a seemingly small detail? Isn’t the miracle of catching all those fish amazing enough?

Because the Lord works in the small details, too, friend.

Jesus told them to go out, knowing all the fish they would bring back in, and so He gave them the means to bring those fish in. He wasn’t going to send out His disciples to go get a ton a fish, only to let the tools they brought with them falter and ruin the outcome. 

And the same goes for you and me. Jesus knows where you are, where you want to go, and where He wants to send you. He has all the details. And He is not going to send you without the graces and means to be successful. He is not going to send you out and let you come back empty-handed, nor is He going to send you out unprepared to return. 

Because of this appearance, we can be assured that the Lord will never send us out to do something without the proper means to do it. He doesn’t set His children up for failure. You are placed here and now for a reason, with a purpose, and He will provide all the graces to get through. Trust in the Lord. If their net didn’t tear, even though it had every opportunity to, yours won’t either.