One of my favorite stories in the Bible is found in John 21, when Jesus returns in His resurrected body to where Peter and the disciples have been fishing all night in the Sea of Galilee, and have caught nothing. He’s come to call them to discipleship and to reveal that He’s the living, miracle working God – just as He promised. A few years earlier, something similar happened. After fishing all night with no results, Peter and the disciples followed Jesus’ instruction to cast the nets again—and caught an abundance of fish along with an understanding of Jesus’ identity as Lord and God. It was also here that Jesus first called Peter to discipleship.
These two stories form an inclusio over Peter’s life and are connected by the truth that our position and calling in Christ are based on His righteousness and sovereign plans – not our own. Though Peter’s sin threatened to block him from a relationship with the sinless Savior and his failure in denying Christ seemed to disqualify him from his new identity in union with the Lord, he remained who God declared him to be – His forgiven, beloved, chosen son who was called to be much more than a fisherman.
The first catch
Fresh on the boat and in a new relationship with the disciples, Jesus encouraged them in Luke 5 to cast their nets even lower after a very long night of catching nothing. They respond that they’ve already tried everything, but that because it’s Him asking they will do it. As they trust and obey His command that goes against human reason, they not only catch a few fish, but the catch is so enormous that both boats almost sink.
While they were all amazed at the power God displayed in this miracle, we get a glimpse of Peter’s awestruck vision in seeing Jesus as Lord. He realizes that Jesus is completely different from himself, even though they both have human bodies and look very similar on the outside. And his response is one of shame and the need for separation as he says, “Get away from me. I’m an unclean man.”
Interestingly, Jesus does not respond in agreement, which He could have justifiably done since what Peter said was completely right — he was an unclean man, a sinner who deserved to die. But Jesus wanted him to see beyond his identity in union with Adam to his new identity in union with Christ that would come with regeneration. Peter, He said, “You’re going to be a fisher of men.” He calls that which is not yet as if it were, exactly like God did with Abraham, calling him the Father of many nations when he had not yet had a son. Jesus was pointing his gaze to the greater reality of redemption, where Peter would be transformed from a man who was dead in his sins and made alive in the very righteousness of Christ -- to live for the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom (2 Corinthians 5:15).
The second catch
As we fast forward to John 21, it looks like everything has changed, since Peter has denied Christ three times. This fulfilled another solemn word the Lord had spoken over him, reminding him even more of his need for the cleansing, healing blood of his Savior. After his denial and Christ’s crucifixion, a great silence loomed over his life — one that left him feeling shamed and disgraced. After all, he had done the very thing he swore he would never do, opening his mind to the accusation that he was destined to be the man of unclean lips and hands who was unworthy of any service to the Lord.
Again, Jesus responded with hope -- though not denying his sin and failure. He saw Peter as one who now had a new identity, just as He had prophesied in John 5. He looked past the sinful patterns and the tendency to make impulsive decisions, past the unstable sin nature that had characterized this fisherman all his life and instead saw a shepherd -- one he entrusted to care for his flock.
In beautiful parallelism, Jesus arrives once again on the fishing scene — this time some distance from the boat where Peter and the disciples were fishing. Like before, they had fished all night and caught nothing. And just as He had done before, Jesus called out with instructions for them to try catching the fish on the other side. Once again, they listened, trusted and obeyed, which resulted in an overflow of catch from the net (John 21:6). And like before, but perhaps in the most climactic way imaginable, Peter’s spiritual eyes were opened to see that this was the same living Christ he had encountered on the boat years before. In a bold demonstration of hope, he threw himself into the water and rushed to meet the Lord – running toward His grace.
Restored to his true identity
In my opinion, this is one of the most beautiful illustrations of our unshakable new identity in Christ in the New Testament. Though everything in Peter’s life was shifting, he learned that he was eternally joined to the living Lord so that nothing – even his worst failures – could tear him out of His love (Romans 8:28).
Like Peter, every believer in Christ heard His call to discipleship and has heeded the call to follow Him. At this moment of surrender and trust, our lives were transformed, and we were transferred from our union with Adam to union with Christ-- eternally joined to the Lord in His death and resurrection. We became a new creation by His life-giving, indwelling Holy Spirit. Then sadly, along the way, like Peter and all believers, we also sinned and experienced failures and disappointments. Some of us lost important battles that began to redefine us – not as victors in union with the Lord but as those who had failed and done the very things we said we would never do.
Thankfully, the Lord beckons us to remember who we truly are and to return to Him – running toward His grace. He reminds us through Peter’s life to leave behind defeat, disappointment, and the lies that we’ve been disqualified—and return to the One who promised: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine” (Isaiah 43:1). He assures us when we doubt this could be true: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to bear much fruit...” (John 15:16). And He guarantees: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). When Jesus declared us His sons and daughters, that promise was sealed by His blood (Hebrews 10:19–22), through His Spirit (Ephesians 1:13–14). Not only so, He vowed to finish the good work of redemption He began in us (Philippians 1:6), so that “those He…called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified” (Romans 8:30).
Even now, the risen Christ is making intercession for us and sustaining us by His power (Hebrews 7:25). Through every tangled thread of sin, discouragement and failure, He declares the greater reality that we are now, at this very moment, His beloved children who have been made fishers of men (1 John 3:2). And because of our vital, unmovable union with Christ He assures us that “Nothing will ever separate [us] from [His] love.” (Romans 8:38–39).
