1) Jesus comes upon the disciples, who have been fishing all night with nothing to show for it. But when Jesus tells them where to cast their net, a miraculous bounty of fish is hauled up out of the water. The parallel I see here: We are indeed fishers of men (Matthew 4:18-19), obeying God and doing the work of the gospel, but salvation — the “catch” of men, if you will — is completely of God. We have no room to boast of any who are saved. If we are granted the privilege of having been a small part of what God has done to redeem a sinner, it is a gift of God to us that we would be allowed to see the fruit of our obedience! It is only by His grace and mercy that ANY of us are granted repentance, that ANY of us trust in Christ, that ANY of us are saved. The Scriptures testify to this truth over and over again.
2) The scene where Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him in John 21:15-17: While I’m no Greek scholar at all, and I realize a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous, I’m intrigued by the different Greek words for “love” used by Jesus, and the words for “love” Peter uses in response. If this is intentional, it’s no wonder that Peter’s heart breaks (godly sorrow) as the exchange goes on. Because when I say I “love” Jesus, what does that mean, really? It’s easy to say I “love” someone, in this case that I “love” Jesus, but what kind of love do my actions reflect? Are they empty, shallow words? Words spoken in haste, recklessly, as a platitude? Words spoken out of an emotional response and without substance?
Peter proclaimed his love for and devotion to Jesus at one time and then abandoned Him. This exchange in John 21 must’ve been heart wrenching for him, then, as Jesus presses him not once, not twice, but three times. “Do you love me?” And then Jesus, in His tender mercy, commissions Peter to be a shepherd of His sheep. I’m certain this changed Peter forever, humbled him, and gave him a sense of just how much Jesus loved HIM…not the other way around.