How did Jesus know? Did he have a “fish finder?” As far as I know, Jesus never fished.  He was a builder, not a fisherman. Fishing for leisure, as so many do today, did not exist in Jesus’ time. Back then fishing was all business. And coming back with empty nets was devastating. There were no social programs, unemployment checks or fast-food restaurants. It was no fish, no eat!

No wonder Peter, James and John were skeptical, and bone tired, up all night, with nothing to show but empty stomachs. And what could Jesus know? He may have never fished in His life. So it was so easy to dismiss Jesus as wishful thinking and naïve.   But something told them to try one more time, if only to show Jesus that there no fish to be had. No expectation of anything more than more empty nets.

And then it happened, not only fish, but so many that their nets were ripping apart. The call for help went out as more boats were needed. And these boats were unaccustomed to so much fish that they nearly sank.

You’d think Peter and the boys would be overjoyed. But Peter reacts in an odd way. He is so ashamed that he confesses that he is a sinful man. And what was his sin? Perhaps was a lack of trust in what he could not see. There would be more opportunities for Peter to fail again. And he did. Understandably! So like most of us.

Later, Paul would write, “We look not at what can be seen but what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.” We can’t always trust our senses. Faith goes deeper where we discover the overflowing bounty of God’s love and care. 

Perhaps the most amazing part of this story is Jesus’ response.  Jesus doesn’t berate Peter or call him out for his lack of vision. Rather, He declares that even more adventure awaits. This is so like Jesus, not to dwell on our sin but prompt us to greater challenges.