My Way or the Highway - Calvary Chapel Greeley
Notes
Transcript
Intro/Background
The gospels record for us a few different encounters that the disciples had with Jesus after His resurrection
We know the book of Acts in Chapter 1 tells us that Jesus was with the disciples for 40 days after the resurrection before He ascended into heaven.
At some point, Jesus tells His disciples to go from Jerusalem - where Jesus was crucified, where He rose again, and where He first appeared to His disciples - up to the area of Galilee
10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
The region of Galilee around the Sea of Galilee is about 75 miles north of Jerusalem
Jesus spent a large chunk of His life in Galilee while He was living in Nazareth, and He spent most of His ministry in that area.
Many of the disciples were from Galilee and that’s where Jesus called most of them to follow after Him
It would be during this time in Galilee that Jesus would start to lay the foundation of his church
These disciples had a big task ahead of them. Luke’s gospel tells us that Jesus would show them evidence of Himself and the plan of salvation from Moses through the Psalms and the prophets.
But He needed them to take things one step at a time
Step #1 - Go to Galilee and wait
So that’s where the disciples are at, in Galilee waiting for Jesus, and that is where we pick up our text this morning
Lesson - John 21:1-14.
Verses 1-3
Here in Chapter 21, we read that 7 of the disciples are hanging out at the Sea of Tiberias, which is another name for the Sea of Galilee, waiting for Jesus to show up as He instructed
While they’re waiting, and Peter decides that He’s going to go fishing
Now, think about this in context of events that had happened recently.How had Peter’s walk with the Lord been lately? No so great
Just a couple of weeks before, the disciples were at the last supper with Jesus.
At that meal, Jesus revealed that one of them would betray Him
Peter told Jesus that he would never deny Him, that he’d be willing to lay his life down for Jesus
But just a few hours later, after Jesus had been arrested and was standing before the Sanhedrin, Peter denied that He followed Jesus 3 different times
“Hey, aren’t you one of the guys that followed Jesus?”
“No, that’s not me, you must be thinking of somebody else. I’m not a follower of that Man”
3 times Peter denied his Lord publically after bragging about his faith
After the 3rd time, Jesus, who had just been beaten by the officers of the high priest, comes out and Peter sees Him and realizes what he had done.
All 4 gospel accounts say that Peter left and wept bitterly for what he had done
Peter is so sorrowful that he wasn’t at the cross
And while he had visited the empty tomb, and had been with the disciples the last two times they saw Jesus, I’m sure Peter was filled with shame, with regret, with doubts
He had abandoned His Lord in His greatest hour of need. He wasn’t living up to his namesake - Peter - rock
His original name was Simon, but when he met Jesus in John 1, Jesus changed his name
40 One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus. Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).
Jesus reaffirmed this name change in Matthew 16 after Jesus asked the disciples “Who do people say that I am?”
The disciples answered, “Some say you’re John the Baptist, others Elijah or Jeremiah”
Jesus then asked, “But who do you say that I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
“Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah, for knowing who I am. I am the Christ, the Messiah, the promised Savior of the world. You are Peter - rock (petros or little stone in the Greek)- for knowing that, and on that rock (petra or large rock/cliff), the rock of your confession, I am going to build my church”
Peter had a lot to live up to. He was supposed to be this man of strength. Jesus had changed his name, he was supposed to be a leader.
And yet Peter had failed so miserably. He probably thought the Lord couldn’t love him anymore. Jesus couldn’t use a man like him. He messed up. He had too many flaws. He wasn’t worthy
So while all that’s going on in Peter’s mind, as he’s waiting for Jesus, he decides to go fishing
I’ve heard this taught two different ways before
The first way I’ve heard it taught is that Peter was just trying to kill time waiting for Jesus
He had grown up as a fisherman, that was his career before Jesus called him to be a disciple, and once a fisherman always a fisherman
I know my dad and Pastor Jeff, seems like every time I talk to them they either just went fishing or are going fishing the next day. They’re obsessed.
Maybe that was Peter’s attitude. Spare minute? He’s going to go fishing until Jesus finally shows up
The second way I’ve heard this taught is that Peter had given up on being a disciple and was going back to his old career of being a fisherman
That’s what Peter was before he met Jesus - a commercial fisherman.
In fact, 7 of the 12 disciples were fishermen before they left that job and became disciples
Considering all that had happened recently, maybe Peter felt like he had blown it so bad that Jesus would never want to use him again, so his only hope would be to go back to his old life
Maybe Jesus wasn’t going to show back up in his life, so he’d better figure out what to do with himself because God wasn’t going to be a part of it
Whichever reason it was that caused Peter to go fishing, we see that he was impatient, he wasn’t waiting on what the Lord told him to do
“Go to Galilee and wait for Me”
Peter takes things into his own hands, goes fishing all night long, and ends up empty handed - no fish
Verse 3 says they spent all night out on the lake and caught nothing
One clue that tells us that Peter may have been going back to his former occupation, and not just killing time, is that they fished at night
Don’t picture dudes with fishing poles on the edge of the lake, this was a commercial fishing operation
As a commercial fisherman, you’d use a boat and cast nets out. You’d be in the middle of the lake, not close to shore. You’d fish at night. You’d need a crew to run the fishing boat.
Peter used to run a fishing operation with his brother Andrew and their friends James & John before they met Jesus. I’m sure they still had the boat lying around somewhere. But there probably was some work associated with getting it back up and running
Do you know someone who owns a boat?
I’d love to own a boat, check that, I love the idea of owning a boat
Being able to take it out on a lake. Pulling a tube behind a boat might be one of the funnest things you could ever do. The idea of owning one sounds so great
But the reality is if you own a boat, it’s your entire life
Now you have to have a truck to pull the boat. Where to you store it? You have to maintain it, winterize it, repair it.
Boat owners talk about boats like its one of the members of the family.
So picture Peter and the boys here, this was not a quick endeavor to just get the boat and put it out on the lake.
It took time. They probably needed to untangle and mend the nets. They need to patch some holes in the sails. Make a few repairs to the hull. Get it all working again and then get the crew ready to work a night shift.
I personally believe Peter is returning to his old life before Christ
What was your life like before Jesus?
Was it filled with alcohol? Drugs? Broken relationships?
Were you an angry person? Or a gossip?
Were you greedy or a slave to money?
Were you filled with anxiety or depression or loneliness?
Have you had seasons where you’ve returned to that old life?
Maybe like Peter, you messed up. You stumbled in your walk and you thought God didn’t love you anymore or that He wouldn’t want to use you.
Or maybe the fire in your heart went cold and you’ve just felt distant from God and slowly started to return to the old way of life
Or maybe Satan has been tempting you, “Remember how good it used to be? Remember how much money you had then, or how many more friends you had? Or that relationship that you had, wasn’t it so great?”
You’re trying to patiently wait on the Lord’s direction but this pull from the old life causes you to get in the boat and go fishing again.
Peter’s decision even caused 6 other disciples in this group to go astray
We see Thomas, Nathanael, James and John (the sons of Zebedee), and 2 others go with him as his crew
Our decisions can impact others’ walks.
Your decision to go back to your old way of life can impact your family, your spouse, your kids, your co-workers, your classmates, your church family - it can pull others down with you
Peter’s decision to go back to the old way instead of doing things God’s way leaves the group empty - they catch no fish
Verses 4-6
So these guys are out all night fishing and they come up empty handed.
And as they’re headed back to shore, they see a man standing there
Verse 4 tells us that it’s Jesus, but the disciples couldn’t tell that yet
Maybe they were too far away to make out who it was, maybe the sun glare off of the lake made it hard to see, or maybe they were just tired from working a night shift
But whatever it was, they couldn’t see Jesus clearly because they weren’t expecting Him
This is true when we choose to go our own way rather than to wait on the Lord. Its so much harder to see Jesus because we’re not looking for Him. We’re just going about our own business, doing things our own way, not looking for Jesus to show up
Jesus calls out to them in the boat, “Children, have you any food?”
I picture Jesus, not as a disappointed master, but as a loving Father as He says this
“Hey, My children, did you find what you were looking for?”
“You went out fishing, you spent all night on the lake, did you find what you wanted?”
“Did you find purpose? Did you find meaning? Did you find direction/satisfaction/fulfillment?”
Their simple answer is, “No”
That’s a pretty incredible answer for fishermen - we all know how they like to embellish their stories
The “correct” fisherman answer would have been, “I had a monster on the line but he got off at the last second”
But they realized that as they were trying to find purpose and direction in life, their own works/choices led to nothing. It was empty. “No, we don’t have any fish”
Jesus then tells them to cast their nets out on the right side of the boat
This would have been a very odd request, especially from a stranger
All commercial fishermen knew it was better to fish at night than in the day
They knew it was better to fish out in the deeper part of the lake rather than the shallower part they were in
There was no rhyme or reason as to why one side of the boat would be better than the other side
But I think this request triggered something in their minds
3 Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. 4 When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking.
I just wonder if they thought back to another day where they had come up empty handed. They got skunked and had no fish even though they worked so hard
Jesus tells them to go back out on the lake and let down their nets in the middle of the day
They obey Him and have this incredible catch - so many fish that their nets were bursting, they could barley haul it in
What’s interesting about that moment in Luke is it is monumental in Peter’s faith
In John chapter 1, Andrew, Peter’s brother, introduced Peter to Jesus - we read that account earlier
Jesus gives him a new name, Peter instead of Simon, but there’s no record of a call to follow Him yet.
So this relationship with Jesus is starting to grow, but Peter’s still fishing with James and John and on this morning, after a particularly bad day at work, Jesus asks to use Peter’s boat, maybe even the same boat they’re using here in John 21?
Jesus teaches from the boat, then performs this incredible miracle, and afterwards calls Peter into the ministry
8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; 10 and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” 11 So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.
Jesus had so radically changed Peter’s life that he forsook everything, left it all behind, to follow Him.
Now here, back on the same lake, maybe even back in the same boat, Jesus has a similar request. “Peter, cast down your net”
Their response? “That doesn’t make sense, nevertheless at Your word I will do it”
I was listening to a pastor teach on this section of scripture this week and he said that, “sometimes its hardest to hear Jesus talk to us about the things we consider ourselves to be experts in”
It can be hard to hear the Lord speak to us when we think we know what we’re doing
“I’m good at my job, I know how to run my business. I’m successful”
Or “I’ve read all the books. I know how to best parent my kids” or “how to be the best spouse”
Or even “I’ve been a Christian a long time. I know how to do ministry/how to lead a Bible study group or how to serve God”
And in our expertise, we don’t take the time to wait on God’s direction. We do things our way
Yet if we change our hearts to wait on the Lord, to seek His direction, and then say, “Nevertheless at Your word Lord, I will do that”, you will see blessings
The disciples catch so many fish that their nets are breaking
Its crazy to think about, they had just been fishing and caught nothing. It probably felt like there were no more fish in the entire lake. Yet God was preparing a group of fish to be at this location at this precise moment so He could show the disciples His blessings
God is doing that in our lives. He is always working and moving behind the scenes, and what the Lord is calling you to do might sound crazy. It might seem counter culture. It might be costly. Yet He is working, preparing the way, lining things up perfectly so that when we step out in faith and obey Him, there is blessing in it.
When the Lord gives us direction and tells us to do something, its always fruitful when we obey
Verses 7-9
John figures out that it was Jesus on the shore.
He was at that miracle recorded in Luke 5, he figured out it couldn’t have been anyone but Jesus standing on the shore
He tells Peter, “That’s Jesus” and typical Peter, he jumps into the sea and swims to shore
Peter has a reputation for being a “Ready, fire, aim” kinda guy
The rest of the disciples follow in the boat. They get out and are trying to drag this net to shore
It’s heavy, we’ll learn in a minute it has over 150 fish in it
Galilaean tilapia, also known as St. Peter’s fish, is one of the most common species of fish in the Sea of Galilee
When I went to Israel, and if you’re scheduled to go on Calvary Chapel Greeley’s trip in just a few weeks I think you will get to do this too, but we got to go out on a boat on the Sea of Galilee and afterwards they served us a lunch of these St Peter’s fish - they’re pretty big
An average one weighs about 3 1/2 lbs, so we’re talking over 500 lbs of weight they’re trying to pull plus the weight of the water soaked nets
And when they get to the shore, they find Jesus cooking a breakfast of fish and bread over a fire of coals
The very thing the disciples were looking for, Jesus already had
What are you looking for right now?
Love, acceptance, identity?
Purpose or meaning?
Direction?
A way to get rid of your anxiety, peace, or calm?
Are you looking for hope or wisdom?
Jesus has all of that. Our ways, our own direction leads to empty nets. All the while Jesus is standing on the shore with what you’ve been looking for
Do you want a relationship to fill you up and take away the loneliness? Jesus wants the closest relationship there is
Are you looking for wisdom on how to best love on and guide your kids? Jesus has that wisdom and calls on us to ask Him for it
Are you looking for a sense of purpose and meaning? There is no greater purpose than to be a disciple of Jesus and He wants to use you for His glory
Verses 10-11
Even though Jesus already has what the disciples were looking for, He still invites them to participate in His work.
“Bring some of your fish to add to the fire”
That’s incredible that God allows us to be a part of His work. He is the one who has given us any ability or talent or skills that we have, yet He still invites us to come alongside His work and be a part of what He’s doing
Our action man, Peter, decides to go to the net and drag the whole thing to Jesus
The other disciples were struggling to get it on shore a few minutes ago, but Peter goes all He-Man and drags it up himself
Church history tells us Peter was a bigger dude, but that can’t explain how he could do what the whole group struggled with
How could Peter carry this net that was 500-600 lbs? B/c the Lord commanded him to do it
The Lord’s commandments are His enablements
That stirring that God has put on your heart or revealed to you during your devotions might seem impossible. But if He’s calling you to do it, He’s going to give you the giftings and the ability to accomplish it
We see that verse 11 tells us that there were 153 fish in the net
Its interesting that an exact number is used here.
The story in Luke 5 tells us that they brought in a “great number” of fish - not a specific number
So why be so precise in saying 153 here?
Some Bible teachers try to say that this number is symbolic. They believe the 153 represents anything from Peter to fish to converting the entire world to Christianity to the church to a lot of other things
I think we need to be careful about reading into things too much or trying to play Christian mathematics and pick out the hidden meaning behind it
I personally think that this catch was so big, the biggest that Peter or John ever had, that they remember they number clear as day (“153!”)
As commercial fishermen, they’d count their fish each morning to sell in the market, that’s how you’d make your money. Counting was a regular thing
So when they counted this haul, they were blown away by how many God had provided, a blessing exceedingly abundantly above all that they could ask or imagine
Verses 12-14
Jesus invites them to come have breakfast - serving them
He had just been raised from the dead, He deserved to be put on a throne and worshipped, yet His heart is still to love and serve His disciples
Man, I would have loved to be at that breakfast.
I’m not necessarily wild about fish for breakfast, but could you imagine hearing what Jesus had to say? The closeness and fellowship they shared over breakfast
And as the disciples are sitting there, I’m sure they’re full of a lot of emotions
Amazement at the miracle they just saw. Joy that they get to spend this time with Jesus. Shame or guilt for not waiting on Him and trying to follow their own route. I’m sure Peter especially, looking at those coals, was reminded of the last time he warmed himself by the coals of the fire in the courtyard outside Jesus’ trial, and was filled with sorrow over his denial of Jesus.
There’s just something about sitting down and having a big breakfast with someone too - I think a big breakfast is the best meal there is
The philosopher Ron Swanson would famously say, “There has never been a sadness that can’t be cured by breakfast food,” and while I wholeheartedly agree with that statement, I think it was the time spent with Jesus that really cured the hurt in their hearts.
As they sat with Jesus and as He fed them, He was preparing them to take the next step in their journey of faith.
Just after this, they would head to a mountain in Galilee, the place Jesus actually wanted to meet with them, and He would tell them this:
16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
The great commission - our core mission as believers, was given to them
When they originally made the decision to follow after their own path, they came up empty handed
But when they waited on the Lord and followed His command, He blessed them with this promise that He would be with us always, that He would empower us, and that He would give us purpose and meaning in life
So what choice are you facing right now? What decision are you trying to make?
What has the Lord placed upon your heart?
What are you searching for in life?
You can either do things your way, or you can wait on the Lord and follow His way
Your way, the world’s way, that will lead to emptiness
Jesus’ way is full of blessing
Be fed by His word, wait patiently on Him, listen to what He has to say through His word and through His Holy Spirit that He’s given to you, then step out in faith, obey no matter how crazy or difficult it may seem, and watch what the Lord will do.
Close & Pray