John 21:6

Their nets had been hanging over the left-hand side of their fishing boat. The unknown authority on the shore now promised that if they would cast their net on the right-hand side they would catch some fish. Such a suggestion must have seemed ludicrous to these seasoned fishermen. The idea that such an insignificant change would accomplish anything was laughable. Yet amazingly the disciples followed Jesus’ orders.

Why did they do so? Perhaps they remembered another night of unsuccessful fishing when Jesus had told Peter, James, and John to lower their nets. They had encountered such a large school of fish that their nets began to break (Luke 5:1-11). That had been the time when Jesus first called those disciples to follow Him. They had responded by leaving their fishing trade to follow Jesus full-time as His disciples. Nevertheless it seems clear that even after they obeyed the unknown armchair fisherman on the shore this dark morning they still did not realize that He was Jesus.

The reason for the disciples’ obedience is not as important as the fact of it. Had they not obeyed Jesus’ command they would have failed to catch any fish. However because they obeyed, they experienced overwhelming success, success far exceeding their natural ability. They even had trouble managing the results of their success because it was so great.

These men would reflect on this experience and realize that Jesus had been teaching them how important it was to obey His word. Obedience to Jesus was the key to supernatural success. Indeed obedience to His word, even though they did not know it was His word, yielded an unbelievable reward.