Jesus Will Provide by Beth

I love reading through the gospels—especially the Gospel of John. I have spent some time recently reading back over the Gospel of John, especially during these quarantine times we find ourselves in due to the coronavirus. We read in John 21:1-14 that the disciples find themselves waiting, afraid, a little confused, and anxious. Are you experiencing these kinds of feelings today? For the disciples, they were not yet appointed to preach the resurrection of Jesus. As Matthew Henry describes it, “Their commission was in the drawing, but not perfected. The hour for entering upon action was to come. It was probable that their Master had directed them to say nothing of his resurrection till after his ascension, not till after the pouring out of the Spirit, and then they were to begin in Jerusalem.” Here in John 21:1-8 we read of a third time Jesus manifested himself to a group of the disciples early one morning, after a very unfruitful night of fishing:

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

But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. So Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you do not have any fish, do you?’ They answered Him, ‘No.’ 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. 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. But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.”

There are several things I want us to glean from this passage. First of all, Jesus knows what’s going on in our lives. He knows all that we are going through and He stands victorious in it. He knows where we are, what we are doing, and what our need is. He sees us. He is intimately acquainted with all of our ways. He has not left us to fend for ourselves. Even though our feelings may dictate how we respond in this pandemic, it has not caught our Lord by surprise. Our relationship with Jesus is not based on how we feel. It is based on the Person of Jesus Christ.

Secondly, not only does Jesus know, He also cares. He cares deeply. James 4:5 says, “…He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us.” He desires deeply to take care of us because we who are IN Him are HIS. We are his children, and He loves us with an everlasting love. Jesus is going to take care of his children. It may not look the way we think it should look, but He is going to take care of us because we belong to Him. The disciples had been fishing all night and had not caught one fish. Not one! As a small-time (very small-time) fisherman, I know the defeat of not catching anything. Jesus knew the disciples had not caught anything all night. They were defeated and tired. “…Jesus said to them, ‘Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.’”

“Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.” John 21:11

Oh sweet friends, Jesus wants us to trust him in this season. There is victory in this season. Because of the finished work of Christ on the Cross, we are victorious. So we operate in this season from a place of victory. Jesus knows what is going on in your life and mine. Let me encourage you to read His word. He speaks to us through His word. He gives us instruction on how to navigate through every season of life just like He did for the disciples that morning. Jesus is at work. He knows. He cares. He sees. He has a plan. He will provide.