"21 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. 8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.
9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead."
John 21:1-14
Here, then, are the disciples at the sea of Tiberias, and alongside, tied up at the shore, the fishing boats which they used to work, with the fishermen putting out to sea, one by one, in the evening. And here is the drama of the situation: for in this picture two worlds are meeting, each of them claiming the allegiance of these men: on the one hand, this almost unbelievable new world that had laid hold upon them and devastated them with the absolutely unlooked-for drama of the situation, a world that must have felt almost like a make-believe world, in which they were living as in a crazy, fantastic dream; and on the other hand, alongside this, there was the world that they knew, the world of the familiar, that did not overpower them, a sane, secure world, a world of net, and boats and the tang of sea air. These two worlds were claiming their allegiance, and under the strain of the collision between them, Peter - impulsive as ever - feels that he can stand it no longer. We can almost see something snapping in him. He sees the boats going out one by one, and he blurts out, 'I am going out'. That was all that was needed; the others were with him in an instant. And the claim of that older world to which they had belonged overpowered them, and off they went in the boat, unable to resist. And they fell back into the old ways as if the past three years had been nothing but a dream, and there had been no cross and no empty tomb. Drama indeed, in such a situation, with inevitable repercussions, as we shall see in tomorrow's Note.