Divine Power

"[Jesus] said to them : Throw the net on the right side of the boat and you will find. Simon Peter went up and fetched the net, full of a hundred and fifty-three big fish. Jesus said to them : Come and eat." John 21. 6-12

After the Lord's death, his disciples were anxious to leave Jerusalem and his hostile atmosphere to find him in Galilee as he had told them (Mark 16: 7). And it was there, on the shores of the lake of Gennesaret, on which they had made so many experiments with their Master, that the Lord appeared to them for the third time. He will be with them again in Jerusalem until he ascends to heaven (Acts 1).

It was on the shores of this lake that the Lord had called Peter and Andrew his brother at the beginning of his ministry : "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishermen of men." (Matthew 4.19). The moment was to come, at Pentecost, for this word to find for Peter its true fulfillment (Acts 2).

Before his disciples really enter into this mission, the Lord shows them, through a practical lesson, that all power comes from him. They went fishing but, despite their professionalism, cooperation and the work of a whole night, they did not take anything. The Lord makes them touch the finger that they can not even feed themselves : "Do you have something to eat ?" "No," they answer !

As soon as the disciples discover their incapacity, the Lord intervenes, gives them precise instructions to cast their net, and allows the latter to not tear despite the abundance of fish. What a lesson of dependence for the disciples ! "Separated from me, you can do nothing" (implying "good, or effective") (John 15: 5). But on the shore they find, near Jesus, all that is necessary to feed themselves. The Master did not need them, and it is he who invites them to a meal already prepared !

Let us also learn the lesson : when we understand the necessity of being led by the Lord in all the decisions of our life, when we do not rely on our human intelligence or on our personal experience, efficiency in our service. Peter, after having recognized the Lord, was able to do what seven had not been able to accomplish before : to shoot the net full of one hundred and fifty-three big fish.

Source (To pleasing the Lord)