Encounter in Galilee

Gospel of John  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  41:04
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What have the disciples experienced? in a short time they had witnessed the Triumphal Entry, messianic expectations risen in their hearts, betrayal by one of their own and nearly arrested. They discovered that Peter, their leader, had denied knowing Jesus multiple times, then the agonizing crucifixion of Jesus and their grief that followed. They heard of the resurrection of Jesus, then the personal manifestation of the Lord Himself among them, followed by another visit from the risen Lord a week later for Thomas. How did they feel? Likely with some confusion and uncertainty of the future.
They had received the angelic message that Jesus would go before them and meet them in Galilee. So they left the confines of Jerusalem and journeyed north, to the Galilee, only knowing that this was the message they had heard.

The Setting for Jesus’ Manifestation, vs 1-3.

Jesus manifested Himself by the shore of the Sea of Tiberius, Rome’s name for the Sea of Galilee. The word manifested has the idea of revealin Jesus’ power and glory. We have no way of knowing how long after the resurrection this took place, but not likely more than a month, according to Acts 1:3
Acts 1:3 NASB95
To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.
Verse 2 names five of the twelve disciples, the other two disciples were anonymous, perhaps because they were not of the Twelve. Of these, Simon Peter and the sons of Zebedee shared a lot of history with this region, having been called by Jesus to follow Him, promising to transform them, Mark 1:17
Mark 1:17 NASB95
And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
For no less than three years, these men followed their Messiah, learning from Him and fully expecting Him to reign as King of the Jews. Then suddenly, in a matter of hours, everything changed. He was arrested, tried, judged, crucified, and laid in a tomb. When the followers of Jesus buried their Messiah, they buried their fondest expectations with Him. And when He emerged from the tomb, their dreams were left behind with His grave clothes. This long period of quiet undoubtedly became an eerie state of limbo for them. The Messiah died, but was no longer dead. Jesus communed with them on a remarkably intimate level at times, but before Pentecost, they were without daily leadership. The coming kingdom was not to be what they had all hoped, so for them it remained a shapeless, unfixed future.
Human nature cannot abide limbo for very long. So, when we cannot move forward, we cannot help but return to the familiar—even a past we were happy to leave. But, as the old adage goes, “You can never go home again.” Even if home has not changed—and it always does—you have changed.
v. 3 — “I’m going fishing” was not merely a plan to pass the unbearable meantime. Peter, ever the man of action, saw no future for himself in service to Christ, so he returned to his successful, pre-Christ vocation. Unfortunately, Peter’s efforts to catch fish fared no better than his prospects of catching men. Even with three seasoned “experts,” they worked all night and received nothing for their efforts, skilled tough they were.
John 15:5 NASB95
“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Jesus provides a successful catch, vs. 4-8.

v. 4 — As daylight was beginning to appear, John records that Jesus stood on the beach. Possibly because of the early hour combined with their distance from shore, the disciples did not know it was Jesus. But Jesus met the disciples where they were and even used their overdependence on the past to their mutual advantage.
v.5 — His question rendered in Greek expects a negative answer. Calling them “children” in this figurative use (since they were obviously not small children!) carries the sense of an undeveloped understanding but is also used in affection address.
v. 6 — The authoritative instructions from Jesus should have jolted their memory. The disciples had been in this situation before. Some of these very men had spent a wasted night on this very sea when Jesus instructed them to recast their nets.
Luke 5:5–11 NASB95
Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing, but I will do as You say and let down the nets.” When they had done this, they enclosed a great quantity of fish, and their nets began to break; so they signaled to their partners in the other boat for them to come and help them. And they came and filled both of the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw that, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, saying, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!” For amazement had seized him and all his companions because of the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.” When they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him.
After all that has happened in the intervening years, their resurrected Lord instructs them to recast their nets. Did not one of the disciples suspect that it was Jesus on the shoreline? But once the top line of the net stretched to the point of breaking, there was no question as to who He was.
Some commentators have suggested that Jesus merely saw a large school of fish from 100 yards away. But Jesus is the Creator. He made fish. And He caused those fish to be where the disciples could pull them into their nets.
v. 7 — It first dawned on John who it is on the shoreline, probably recognizing Jesus’ ability to do great signs. Note that it was John who first recognized the significance of the grave clothes in the empty tomb.
Peter’s impulsive nature comes into play here, though he puts on an outer garment over his inner tunic before Jumping into the water to be the first to get to Jesus. Remember it was Peter who entered the tomb first. This just reinforces the historical reliability of John’s eyewitness account.
v. 8 — The other disciples did not follow Peter’s example, but came in the boat dragging the net full of fish to the shoreline, a trip of about 100 yards.

Breakfast with the Lord, vs. 9-14.

In verse 9, John include three significant details:
Jesus had prepared a charcoal fire. This is a deliberate literary allusion to Peter’s failure in the courtyard, which occured over a charcoal fire. refer to John 18:18
John 18:18 NASB95
Now the slaves and the officers were standing there, having made a charcoal fire, for it was cold and they were warming themselves; and Peter was also with them, standing and warming himself.
2. Jesus had fish cooking on the fire. The Lord does not depend upon the efforts of humanity to accomplish His will.
3. Jesus had loaves of bread waiting. The wilderness in which Jesus fed the multitude with five loaves and two small fish lay just behind them.
v. 10 — Jesus invited the disciples to contribute some of their fish to the meal. This is significant. The Lord can do all things without help from anyone, yet He invited them to contribute the fruit of their efforts. The Lord wants to enjoy the victory we accomplish together, not because He needs us, but because He wants us!
v. 11 Peter returns to help his comrades and processed the extraordinary results of divine help given to human effort. After all, Jesus did not command the fish to jump into the boat!
This historical detail of the number of the fish was a common activity of fishermen: They counted their catch and then were to divide it among themselves. There was 153 large fish, yet no damge to the net John records—and he would know.
v. 12 —The invitation is extended to the disciples to “Come and have breakfast,” a welcome invitation to share a meal together in what truly for John’s gospel is the “last Meal” shared with His disciples.
John clarifies for us that these men knew they were in the presence of the Lord. Mary Magdalene did not immediately recognize Jesus; neither did the two disciples on their way to Emmaus. However none of these questioned who this was, His identification by them is certain.
The image of Jesus the bread and the fish is no accident—it is a clear allusion to the abundance He created in the wilderness, John 6:11
John 6:11 NASB95
Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted.
Later, Peter refers to this resurrection manifestation in
Acts 10:41 NASB95
not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead.
John notes that this is the third time Jesus was manifested to the disciples. The first was the evening of the resurrection without Thomas present. The second was eight days later with Thomas present. This third time was with a few of the disciples on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius.
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In Christian circles, we tend to think of full-time vocational ministers as “called” by God. However, they are not the only people called by God to fulfill a divine purpose. Each of us, all believers, have been called to bring glory to God in whatever we do. We should extend the range of “calling” to include any vocation a believer chooses to pursue. But how do we come to terms with our calling?
We must come to terms with our limitations. We should do our best, we should pursue excellence in what we do but ultimately, never forget that success is not up to us. Peter and his partners for all the advantages they possessed in the fishing business still came up with empty nets. It was only with the Lord’s help did they find success. Without the Lord’s help, our expertise and diligence will come to nothing.
Second, we must come to terms with our priorities. All believers have been called as disciples. All believers are commissioned to “make disciples”, regardless of how we earn a living. We have been called to bring God glory in whatever we do 1 Cor 10:31
1 Corinthians 10:31 NASB95
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Colossians 3:23 NASB95
Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men,
Commit every aspect of your job or your day to the Lord for His purposes and His glory.
thirdly, we must come to terms with our imperfection. As we labor, failure will be a part of our labors. But the Lord is never surprised when we fail. After all, He does know the future and He knows us! But with the penalty of our sins paid in full by Jesus, failure for the believer is merely a reminder to depend upon Him rather than ourselves—to replace our self-confidence with Christ-confidence.
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