Jesus is Better (John 21:1-19)

Intro

It’s a joy to gather with you, a joy to share God’s word with you.

Today we are pausing from James to look at an incredible account in the gospel of John.

This is a story that will help to frame a lot of the challenging words we have heard in the book of James.

Really we come to sort of an unusual story.

It’s important we understand the context of what happens here and in order to do so I wanna back track for a moment and go to Matthew 28.

In Matthew 28 we have another account of the resurrection.

We see the Mary’s worshipping at the feet of Jesus and then Jesus says to them in verse 10

Matthew 28:10 (ESV)

Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Here we get why the disciples are no longer in Jerusalem but in Galilee.

A little bit further down we see in verse 16:

Matthew 28:16 (ESV)

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them.

So the disciples are on a mountain in Galilee waiting patiently on the Lord.

Then Peter get’s a little impatient…and we read in verse 3 of our text:

John 21:3 (ESV)

Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

You ever been impatient when you have to wait?

Sunflower Field

Gave up when I was a quarter of a mile away because I was impatient.

Ok so here we are, Peter get’s flustered with waiting.

Peter’s always known for being a man of action, so he goes to what he knows…fishing.

Since Peter is a leader some of the guys decide to go with him.

Here they are on the sea, seasoned fishermen.

They went out at night and caught nothing…

This morning we are gonna zoom into this strange story at the end of the gospel of John.

We are gonna look at this interaction between Jesus and his disciples.

Here is our Big Idea:

Big Idea: Jesus is better than our best effort as he frees us from shame and calls us to follow him

There’s so much to see.

So let’s start by going back to our text and see what happens when Jesus shows up:

John 21:4–8 (ESV)

Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

1. Jesus is Better

So right off the bat we see first that Jesus is better.

I’d say he was a better fisherman than the disciples right?

They had labored all night and then through the fog they hear a voice asking about their catch.

Tired, frustrated, perhaps humiliated they fess up that they’ve caught nothing.

Look this isn’t your Dad on a fishing trip here…these are professional fishermen.

They know what they’re doing.

They don’t need some guy telling em what to do.

Yet they drop the net to the side of the boat and it fills with fish!

Jesus is Better

- Better than our best efforts

There’s a great lesson here for all of us who follow Jesus.

We can’t do it on our own.

Regardless of our best laid efforts.

I don’t care how capable you are.

How talented you are.

It doesn’t matter how strong you are.

You and I, we are unable to follow Jesus apart from his work in our lives.

Look Back at the story…

As the net began to fill…John knew that the stranger on the shore was his Lord.

Peter knew it too…so much so he dove in the sea to swim to him.

I wonder if the words of their teacher still rang in their head:

John 15:5 (ESV)

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Listen believer, any effort to serve Jesus in our own strength will be as effective as the disciples fishing here.

We’re really good at making instant gratification our ultimate goal.

We can be great self promoters, making much of ourselves.

But when it come to giving up our personal comfort for someones eternal good, our efforts fall short.

If you want to be a godly wife, a content Mother, you will fail in your own strength.

If you want to be a faithful husband, a present Dad you will stumble on your own.

If you want to be the best employee, the most supportive friend, on your own you will have miss steps.

If you look at the besetting sin that is overwhelming you, if you think you can beat it by trying harder…you will fail.

Listen…hear me.

All the good you do will be empty and short-lived apart from the effective power of Jesus Christ working in you and through you.

That’s why this fishing story, the disciples empty haul, is so encouraging.

If we follow Christ, we don’t need to rely on our own strength.

He will provide exactly what we need exactly when we need it.

When it comes to you and your strength here is the truth you need to hear: Jesus is better.

He is better in every way. And if you follow him then have him as your greatest possession.

I just want to speak as someone who struggles with this.

I often think it’s all up to me.

Here is what I want to say to you.

Stop trying so hard.

Stop trying to live this life without Jesus.

Best case scenario you fail and it leads you to the reassuring voice of Jesus.

Worst case scenario you have some kind of cheap victory and you convince people you are awesome or that you have it all together.

The pressure weighing on you is more than you can bear.

The yoke is hard and the burden is heavy.

Hear me Jesus is better…he is better than your best effort.

Will you come to him today, will you believe that truth?

Not only is he better than our best effort,

Jesus is better than our failure

There’s a reason the disciples didn’t catch any fish.

They caught nothing so Jesus’ power could be demonstrated.

But I wonder if they realized that in the moment.

Maybe you're like the disciples right now.

You don’t feel like a self-promoter or a perfectionist…you just feel like a failure.

As we follow Jesus there may be days, weeks, months, even year when it feels like we are failing.

You may be following Jesus this morning, doing what he says, and yet feel like everything is going wrong.

Maybe worse yet you don’t see the purpose in this obedience.

It’s been said this way:

“Christianity, from Golgotha onwards, has been the sanctification of failure.” _Malcolm Muggeridge

Here is what I want to say to you: Jesus is better.

Jesus is better than our failing.

Our failures bring us face to face with the weaknesses and inadequacies that lie within, so that God’s strength can be made perfect in our weakness.

2 Corinthians 4:7 (ESV)

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

It is in the breaking of these jars of clay, in our failures, that the riches of God are exposed for all to see.

Listen it is primarily our failures that create in us a poverty of spirit and make us fit vessels for the blessings of the kingdom of God.

That’s why God allows suffering that at moments feels overwhelming…

because he is producing in you and I a peculiar glory that showcases to a watching world that Jesus is better.

We live out a great tragedy when we won’t even admit our failure, whether that’s in our relation to God, to on another, or in our failure to serene.

Failure brings us face to face with the reality about ourselves and the broken world we live in.

We have to face this truth.

Jesus knew his disciples hadn’t caught any fish.

He knew everything about them.

It’s to their credit that they admitted their failure, that they caught nothing.

But look what happens when Jesus shows up.

Empty nets are filled.

As long as we put the spot light on our failure and wallow in self defeat, we will think moments of weakness are meaningless.

But when we see that Jesus is better, failure can be an out pouring of God’s presence in our lives.

When we have the grace to admit failure, we can have the humility to see how God is using it, even our brokenness to reveal his glory!

Sitting on that boat was someone whose failure was at the forefront of their mind and that’s Peter.

Let’s look back at our text:

John 21:7–17 (ESV)

That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

2. Jesus frees us from shame

We’re gonna see second, that Jesus frees us from shame.

No doubt running through Peter’s mind when the net begins to fill was his first interaction with Jesus.

Luke 5:3–11 (ESV)

Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that 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 be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

Now he dives in to swim to Jesus, his risen Lord.

He arrives on the shore and there’s Jesus with breakfast.

They haul their huge catch to the shore.

And here’s a side note just because I love Jesus so much.

He asks them to bring some of their catch.

Jesus honors our labor for him…knowing full well that it’s because of him we are even fruitful.

How awesome is that?

Now they are sitting around the fire and Jesus turns the attention to Peter.

Now before we look at this interaction between Peter and Jesus we need to understand the context.

While breakfast with Jesus sounds awesome, this isn’t quite the interaction it seems at first.

Let’s rewind a bit.

If you remember, they were supposed to be in a mountain waiting for the Lord, but Peter decided that he was going to abandon his call to ministry, if you will, and go back to fishing.

There were reasons for that.

He had denied the Lord on three separate occasions.

I think he felt inadequate.

I think he felt guilty.

I think he felt weak.

He also was a man who didn’t have a lot of patience.

He had not yet, along with the apostles, received the Holy Spirit.

They were doubtful of their own power, their own ability, to sustain a ministry he knew that he had failed so many times.

So what does Peter do?

He goes back to what he knows. He goes fishing.

Again I think we miss the cultural context that this isn’t a leisure trip to pass the time.

Fishing was an occupation.

It was work.

Christ has just risen from the grave, the one who called Peter to follow him and fish for men and Peter doubts himself,

he’s ashamed…and he goes back to fishing.

Have you ever felt ashamed?

Pastor and author Tim Chester shares four characteristics of God that help us battle idolatry in what is called the Four G’s

It’s that God is

Good, Great, Glorious, and Gracious.

These truths about God push against the idols of Power, Control, Comfort and Approval.

You see shame is a funny thing.

When we feel shame we typically run to what we know.

We go to the place that feels familiar and safe.

Usually, we don’t run to Jesus.

Think about what you do when you experience shame.

Do you blame yourself? you start self loathing and playing small.

Maybe you try to crucify the feeling as it were, “I’m the worst, I messed up again.”

You’re probably running to approval.

Or maybe when you feel shame you try to turn the feeling off.

You binge watch Netflix or play video games for hours, like a child grabbing their favorite blanket.

You’re probably running to comfort.

Or maybe you don’t try to numb or turn the feeling off, maybe you run entirely.

You go somewhere to be alone.

You’re the one that always leaves in the fight.

You wanna isolate yourself, to hide.

You’re probably running to control.

Or maybe none of that is you.

Maybe when you feel shame you get defensive.

It’s not your fault, it’s theirs. You scapegoat the feeling.

You’re probably running to power.

Power, control, comfort, approval…all of these are empty cisterns that we’ve drunk from.

Here is Peter confronted once again with his failure.

He is staring into a fire remembering the last fire he sat by…and how he denied Jesus

Now here he is siting across from him again.

Smoke is wafting through the disciples and Jesus locks eyes with him and asks:

“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

Note that Jesus does not address him as Peter, the rock,

Simon had failed to live up to that name.

Jesus is facing Peter with his own limitations so that he might entrust himself in a new way to Christ’s leadership.

Simon on his own will always be Simon.

He has no capacity to rise beyond that.

But Simon trusting in Jesus is Peter-the-rock, from whose witness and leadership the church will receive its earliest foundation.

“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”

The question stings.

Do you love me more than these.

Undoubtedly Peter looks around and sees the other disciples and remembers his own words to Jesus like a flashback scene:

John 13:36–37 (ESV)

Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.”

Matthew 26:33

Matthew 26:33 (ESV)

Peter answered him, “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.”

You can almost see the tears welling up in his eyes as he remembers his denial.

The question stings even more because the word Jesus uses for love here is a love that is perfect ,unconditional, sacrificial, and pure.

Peter responds: “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”

The word Peter used can be translated affection or friendship.

He couldn’t bring himself to profess a full love, so he said, “Lord, I have an affection, a brother love for you…but I can’t say “Love” Lord, not after all my failures and disgrace.”

The Lord then charged him, “Feed my lambs” in other words, “Then serve me.”

Jesus then asks him again, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

Again he’s asking Peter, do you truly love me.

Peter again responds, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”

Again stating a brotherly, friendship affection.

He follows it up again, “Tend my sheep.”

Finally Jesus asks him a third time but this time he meets Peter where he is.

“Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

He uses the same word Peter had been using for love, He says, Peter do you really have a friendship love for me?

This time Peter is hurt.

Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

Peter is grieved…because he remembers his own failure.

How he denied the Lord three times.

You see what Jesus is doing here is wonderful.

He is restoring Peter.

For this to make sense you need to understand the difference between conviction and condemnation.

Condemnation says, “You’re not good enough. Look at you you failed again, you’ll never get it right. You’re the worse.”

That’s the voice Peter had heard, the voice that caused him to weep bitterly after his denial of Jesus.

The voice the stirred him to be restless and head back to his old comfort.

But the voice of conviction is different:

Conviction calls us out of our shame to see our identity.

Conviction says, “I’ve called you a son, I’ve called you a daughter, so live that way!”

Conviction calls us back.

Jesus is essentially restoring and recommissioning Peter.

He is saying. Don’t run away from the call.

Don’t run back to fishing…feed my sheep.

Notice the order here too.

It’s love then service.

Sometimes we hear condemnation and sit in shame because we have to “do more.”

But it isn’t in our doing.

It is in our loving that Christ is honored.

He turns duty to delight.

We love the Lord, so we want to serve him.

God wants us to be doers, to feed his sheep, but he wants us to BE before we DO.

Love first

See the restoration of Peter…he calls you from shame.

He calls you to see who God is

He is..

He is great – so you don’t have to be in control

He is glorious – so you don’t have to fear others

He is good – so you don’t have to look elsewhere

He is gracious – so you don’t have to prove yourselves

Let’s look back to see Jesus’ words to Peter:

John 21:18–19 (ESV)

Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

3. Jesus calls us to follow him

Jesus calls Peter to count the cost and follow him.

There is no sugar coating it.

Jesus tells Peter that following him will make him a martyr.

Legend says that when Peter was crucified he felt unworthy to die in the same way as his master and was crucified upside down.

I don’t know if that’s true.

But what I do know is from this moment Peter fearlessly followed his master and sought to lead the church faithfully.

You see Peter heard the call to commit his life to Jesus and he knew that meant a life in the church.

Commitment to Christ involves commitment to the church of Christ.

Jesus Christ is not a ‘single’ person in the sense that he comes to us without other attachment.

He is a ‘married’ person; he comes to us with a bride, whom he loves and for whom he sacrificed himself (Eph. 5:25).

To be in relationship to Christ while ignoring or even despising his bride is no more acceptable than it would be if you hated your friends spouse.

Genuine conversion means not only turning to and accepting Christ.

It also means turning to and accepting his bride, the church.

Jesus’ love for his church remains undiminished even though the church is torn, broken, dirty in places, and generally malnourished and diseased.

The church is still his bride, the people for whom he died, and who are therefore the burden of his concern.

So he speaks his word today to those who will hear it: Feed my sheep,

Take care of my sheep, Feed my sheep.

I will say this.

If you think it’s just me and Jesus…you are being disobedient and you are not following Jesus.

(Not a “personal” relationship. Standing a garage makes me a car…)

If you watch a sermon online, and occasionally read your bible but have no relationship in the church, you are robbing yourself of joy.

Christ calls you to gospel community.

As recipients of God’s mercy, we remind one another of the grace found in Jesus Christ, we walk arm in arm to Jesus for healing, and we feast together on the good food of the Word of God.

No matter what our situation in life, Christ’s call to us is, “Follow me.”

Below the surface of these words was something very beautiful and meaningful for Peter.

This was Jesus first command to Peter years before when he too was fishing.

Peter was younger then. He knew little of what would be involved but he did follow.

Now the command came again.

How those words had been deepened by the years.

Peter had been in Gethsemane.

He had witnessed the sufferings of Christ at Golgotha.

He had denied Christ.

He had learned the necessity of following Christ.

What a depth of meaning the words “Follow me” now carried.

The gracious command rings out to all of us: “Follow Me!”

If you are a new Christian, this is Christ’s abiding command, and you are asked to respond at your own level of understanding.

If you have been through the wars, it is still the same - perhaps more complex, yet just as simple.

Follow me.

Do you love me? Feed my sheep. Follow me.

Conclusion

Think back to that scene.

Jesus on the shore with his disciples.

Think of the compassion and grace of Jesus filling this moment.

These are ordinary men whom Jesus invited to his table of fellowship that day;

public failures like Peter,

known doubters like Thomas,

loyal and faithful souls like Nathanael,

men with bad tempers like the sons of Zebedee,

and two others who do not even rate having their names mentioned, ‘background’ folks like the two other disciples.

To that deeply human company Jesus opens the riches of his friendship—and he opens it to us.

Imagine yourself standing on the shore with Christ, with the sea of eternity stretching behind you.

Christ looks at you with knowing eyes and says,

“Do you love me? Without comparing yourself to anyone else, do you really love me? Do you have affection for me?”

We must love him above and beyond anything or anyone else.

How do we make our love for Christ the highest priority in our lives?

First, we must be absolutely honest about the level of our love.

Second, we need to spend time with him, because the more time we spend with him the more we will love him.

How much time have we spent with him in the last month?

We spend time with those we love y’all.

Jesus is better than our best effort as he frees us from shame and calls us to follow him.

Consider again the gospel.

That Jesus went to calvary, knowing we would fail, we’d stumble.

We, like Peter would run to lesser things in our shame, and he went still.

Why? Because He is better than our best effort.

He will always pursue us.

Maybe today you would say, I’ve never believed this Jesus stuff. But I want to.

I would petition you. Respond to him.

Maybe you own that most of your life you’ve looked to your best effort and not Jesus, maybe you even thought you were a Christian, you were saved, because you’re a good person.

But today you realize that your goodness is compared to Jesus and you see that Jesus is better.

Maybe he is stirring you, calling you to follow.

We will be in the foyer to pray with you and talk to you.

Or Maybe you know Jesus but you look at your life and you see the areas, big or small where you’ve at times tried to muscle through by your effort,

or you ran to lesser things in shame

Maybe you’ve denied the importance of being with God’s people as you follow Jesus.

Today repent and come to the table.

If you want prayer, if you want to push against shame we will be in the foyer to pray with and encourage you.

But today come to Jesus.

He calls you out of the lies of condemnation to see he is better, he calls you away from shame, he calls you to follow him.

Application Questions:

In what areas of my life have I relied solely on my own efforts rather than seeking Jesus' guidance and grace?

How can I remind myself daily that Jesus' love and acceptance are not based on my performance but on His unchanging character?

What does it mean for me personally to believe that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross has already paid for all my sins and shame?

What obstacles or distractions often hinder me from fully following Jesus and His word?