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The prophet Amos in chapter 3 says, “Can two men walk
together if they haven’t agreed?” So, they are going to Galilee.
Galilee is a big place. He didn’t say where to go. He just said,
“Go to Galilee.” Galilee is a region. There’s an upper Galilee
and a lower Galilee. He didn’t tell them what city. He didn’t
say, “Meet me by the sea.” He didn’t say, “I’ll meet you at the
base of the mountain.” Where were they going to go?
I can picture these disciples discussing it. “Maybe we
should go to Cana in Galilee. That’s where he did His first
miracle.” Someone else might have said, “No, no. Maybe it’s
Nazareth. That’s in Galilee. That was his boyhood town.”
Someone else might have said, “Let’s go to Capernaum. That’s
where He did so many miracles. That’s in Galilee.” Another
might have said, “I think we should go to Mount Carmel.” Do
you see how vague that command was? He puts it in your heart,
“Go see the risen Savior,” but you don’t know where to go.
They finally came to a decision, “Let’s go to the Sea of
Galilee. That’s where He walked on water and that’s where He
multiplied the fish. It was on the shores of Galilee that He fed
the multitude. That’s where Peter caught the fish with the coin
lodged in the gill. That’s where Peter lent Him his boat and
Jesus preached from the boat.” So, they go to Galilee.
John 21:3, “Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going
fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We will also come with you.’ They
went out, and got into the boat; and that night they caught
nothing.” When they go to Galilee they aren’t sure that is the
right place. How long would you wait if Jesus didn’t show up?
Would you wait a week? Would you wait a month? Would you
think you were in the wrong place? They waited and waited
and waited and finally Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”
Many commentators think that when Peter said, “I’m
going fishing,” that he was quitting his life as a Christian. When
he first met Jesus he left his boats and his nets. Some think,
“Now he’s going back to the old vocation.” But we know why
he was there. He came to see the risen Christ. If Matthew was
the spokesman and said, “I’m going back to tax gathering,” I
would think that maybe he was giving up on being a Christian.
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