It is the Lord!

It is the Lord!

Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” (John 21:7)

After the disciples told the Lord they had caught nothing, He tells them to “cast the net on the right side of the boat”, assuring them they would catch fish. And remarkably, they obey without question. This incident always reminds me of the simplicity of our service for the Lord. We are here to be His witnesses, and He is in heaven as our Lord and Saviour. He wants to guide us, both individually and in fellowship with one another into where and how He wants us to serve Him. The big difference between a fruitless night of fishing and a net full of fish was listening to and following the direction of the risen Saviour. The Lord had told them on more than one occasion where they would catch fish. He even told Peter to catch one fish (Matthew 17:27). So often we have an exercise to serve the Lord, and we put our heart and soul into the work, but sometimes we forget it is the Lord’s work and we need His constant direction. David understood this when he wrote of God:

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will guide you with My eye (Psalm 32:8).

To be guided by someone’s eye, we have to be looking into their faces. Paul also reminds us in 2 Corinthians 4:5-7: “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” We are not preaching ourselves, but the Lord, and to do this, we must be guided by Him. We need to cultivate the habit of asking the Lord to direct our service precisely and then to follow Him in obedient and energetic faith.

When John witnessed the Lord’s blessing, he said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” John is always associated with nearness to the Lord. He describes in four words the joy which was in his heart at the moment. He didn’t keep this to himself; he shared it with his friend, Peter. We should never keep the impressions we have of the Saviour to ourselves, because by sharing them, we bring others close to the Lord. Peter was still burdened by his failure. But John’s words did not cause him to say again, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” No, those words drew him to the Saviour, as he dragged the net to land in all the energy and purpose which would later mark him at Pentecost and in the house of Cornelius.

In John 1 we see the Lord in all His deity, and full of grace and truth. In the final chapter of his Gospel, we trace Christ’s divinity in the guidance of simple fishermen who He was transforming into ministers of His grace and truth. To do this, he works in their hearts to teach them that He was the source of all power and blessing. As the lowly Nazarene He had manifested His grace and truth. And, in resurrection, He demonstrated the same beautiful features as He prepared a simple meal and invited His disciples into His presence: “Come and eat breakfast.” John was later to write the Lord’s words in Revelation 3:20: “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” May we never cease to understand that it is in His presence we learn to serve Him better and He teaches us how to witness to His love and saving grace in this world.