[This reflection by David Makanjuola was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 19/Apr/2026]
‘Twas the time after Easter and all through the night, not a fishy was biting, not even a trout’. This is the story of what the disciples were doing after Easter. It must have been a confusing, if not mind-blowing time for them. So much had happened in such a short span of time. Peter decided to go back to something he was familiar with – fishing, and he took a few of the disciples with him. John, one of the disciples, tells the story in his gospel as follows;
Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
John 20 v1-6
A few points come to mind:
1 – They were doing something they were undoubtedly skilled at but not having any success. Sometimes, indeed, often, when we rely on our skills, hard work and effort, we fail. We need God’s grace and guidance.
2 – They didn’t recognise Jesus when he appeared. God often shows up and guides us or lends a hand, and we only recognise him after the fact. Think about the 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus.
3 – They obeyed, and it led to great rewards. This required humility on their part. They could have told the stranger on the shore that they were seasoned fishermen. Who was he to tell them how to ply their trade? They were humble however, and obeyed his instructions, and this yielded great results.
We won’t often understand why God leads us down certain paths, but if we have asked for his help in prayer, it is important that we trust him and do things his way.
Psalm 127 verse 1 states that “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain”.
We have come together as a Church for the Beacon project, and this, as with many other things we endeavour to do in our individual lives will succeed if we continue, as the song says, to ‘Trust and obey’. Let’s listen to Christ and cast our nets on the right side when he asks us to.
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Previous reflection: Hollow Eggs and a Full Hope by Dazz Jones
Contributed by David Makanjuola; © David Makanjuola