Yes, they did, but not because of his voice or appearance. Let’s remember, these were men who had spent the better part of three years living and working with Jesus. Yet they hadn’t recognized his voice from the shore, though they had heard him preach many times. Now up close, even though they had encountered him twice before since his resurrection (John 21:14), there was something different about the way he looked and sounded. What clued them in to who this was? The fish! When John saw the nets fill with fish, it hit him: “It is the Lord!” (John 21:7).
John doesn’t elaborate at all on why Jesus was hard to recognize. So why is it important?
Let me just give one reason: the disciples’ experience of not recognizing Jesus corroborates other independent post-resurrection reports. Think of Luke’s account of Jesus’s appearance to Cleopas and another unnamed disciple on their way to Emmaus in Luke 24:13–35. Jesus walks and talks all afternoon with these two men, who also knew him well, yet they didn’t recognize his voice or appearance — not until he revealed himself in a familiar act: the breaking of bread.
Do you see the connection? What happened in John 21 is similar. The seven disciples didn’t recognize Jesus until he revealed himself in a familiar act: filling empty fishnets. They are two independent, different reports that corroborate testimonies, increasing the credibility of both reports.
Pay Attention to the Oddities
Pay attention to the oddities in the Bible — and there are a lot of them. Seemingly extraneous things are not extraneous at all. What they have to say is important because God chose to include them.
The odd details in John 21:1–14 are not the main points of the chapter. Nor are my observations the only things to see in these details. But they do illustrate that God is not sloppy in what he includes in Scripture. The details are there for a reason. Look carefully. Ask questions. See more.
Tonsils, appendices, and “junk DNA” are not anatomical nonessentials. And God doesn’t waste words.
