After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself. There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes. As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.
Jesus showed Himself to the disciples; and there was a reason why He did so. This is why I think so ...
Fishermen by trade the disciples headed out to fish. Though they fished all night they had ZERO success. They had tried. All night they had tried. Exhausted. Cold. Surely frustrated. Feeling discouraged. Ugh! Such a hard place to be! BUT when the morning came Jesus was there standing on the shore.
Why? Well, for several reasons.
#1 He revealed that He knew where they were. He always knows where we are. There is nothing that escapes His eye.
#2 He already knew that they were not going to have success. He was prepared for their discouragement. He was prepared to alter the situation. He was there in the moment of their discouragement.
#3 He showed them that He was willing, able, and compassionate to not only give them direction, favor, blessing and success, which he was about to perform … but …
#4 He had already prepared to sup with them WHEN the blessing came. Ahead of time, during their failure, He was preparing for their success.
#5 He revealed that He alone could bring about their success. He alone could alter dismal failure.
God says in John 5:31 Search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life; and they are they which testify of Me.
So what does this story tell us about Jesus?
He knows. He knows what you are facing. He can see you. He isn’t preparing for your failure; he is preparing for your success. He already has the coals on the fire, fish frying, bread ready for you to come and dine with him, to share that moment of joyous feeling when you have secured the blessing from His favor over you. He loves you. He watches over you. He can guide you, direct you, favor you.