"Bedtime Bible Stories"

The Stranger by the Sea From the Book of John,
Chapter 21, Verses 1-12

esus appeared to his disciples and followers many more times after he came back from the dead. One time, was by the Lake ofGalilee. It happened this way: A group of disciples and followers

of Jesus were out near the lake of Galilee one evening working on their fishing boats. Simon Peter was there along with Thomas, John, James, Nathanael from Cana and two other disciples. Simon Peter said, "I'm going fishing." "We'll come with you," the others said, and the all climbed aboard Simon Peter's boat.

It was getting dark, but the night fishing on the Lake of Galilee was usually very good. It wasn't on that particular night. Again and again the fishermen would throw their nets over the side of the little fishing boat. They would wait for a few minutes and then haul the nets back on board. Each time they did, the nets came out empty.

Finally, as the sun began to appear over the horizon, Simon Peter decided to call it quits. He set the sail, leaned on the rudder and piloted the boat towards the shore.

As they came closer to the shore, they could see a man standing on the sand near the water's edge. They were too far away to see who it was, but they could hear him as he waved.

"How's the fishing?" he asked.

"Terrible," the fishermen answered, "We've been fishing all night and haven't caught a thing."

Then the stranger said, "Throw your nets over the right side of the boat and you'll catch some."

The disciples looked at each other. They wondered how this stranger out on the shore could spot where the fish were. They were floating right on top of the water and they couldn't find a thing. Still, since they hadn't caught a thing all night, they had nothing to lose. They threw the net into the water off the right side of the boat.

They waited a few minutes and then began to haul the net back aboard. It wouldn't budge. They looked over the side of the boat and saw the net completely filled with fish! There were so many they couldn't even drag them aboard.

It was John who suddenly realized who the stranger on the shore had to be. "It's the Lord!" he cried.

With that, Simon Peter jumped into the water and began swimming toward Jesus.

By the time the other disciples and followers of Jesus had beached the boat and joined them, Simon Peter and Jesus were seated around a fire, cooking fish and eating bread. No one had to ask the "stranger" who he was. They all knew it was Jesus.

"Bring some of the fish you just caught," said Jesus.

They dragged the net onto the shore and counted the fish. There were 153 large fish in the net, but it hadn't broken!

"Now," said Jesus, "have some breakfast."