City Life Starter

Written by Scott Fiddler

The Word

1 After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way.

 2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.

 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.

 4 But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

 5 So Jesus said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.”

 6 And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.

 7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea.

Exegesis

He manifested Himself in this way. Peter was working. Peter was a fisherman, and on this day some of the other disciples were helping Peter work. It was one of those days at work. Things weren’t going well. Peter had hit the wall, a problem he couldn’t solve: how to catch fish on a day when it seemed there were none to be caught.

Then from the beach Jesus gave Peter and the disciples some advice on how to do their job better. Peter and the disciples didn’t know it was Jesus. Jesus told them to cast their net on the right-hand side of the boat. They followed Jesus’ advice and caught so many fish they could not haul them into the boat. When they saw the incredible success they had achieved by the advice given to them about how to perform their job they realized the person who had given them the advice was Jesus. He manifested Himself in this way. 

Application

Jesus wants to manifest Himself in our work. Why doesn’t He do so more often? “You do not have because you do not ask.” James 4:2. We won’t hesitate to pray for Jesus to heal Aunt Jenny’s Sciatica, but we never think to ask Jesus to help us do our jobs better, or smarter, or more successfully. Or we pray before going to work but never pray for guidance or wisdom once we get there. Jesus’ advice to Peter came while he was in the midst of performing his work. He manifested Himself in this way. 

Do you want to know Jesus better? I encourage you to get to know Him in the place where you spend most of your waking hours: your work. Then you will be able to say like John, He manifested Himself in this way.