John #83 Manifestation of Jesus

INTRODUCTION John 20:30-21:11.

Good news, tonight we come to the end of John’s gospel, sort of.

It is almost like John is toying with us.

Verses 30 and 31 of chapter 20 are a fitting end to a fine gospel account.

Truly when you read these two verses, if chapter 21 were not there, we would never know the difference.

In a sense, this is the end of the account.

Then it is as if John thought, but wait there is more.

Those experts who examine these things suggest that the official end of the book is right here.

Scholars suggest that chapter 21 is an epilogue.

That makes sense, remember we saw that the first 18 verses formed a prologue, so it makes sense that there would be an epilogue.

An epilogue is a section or speech at the end of a book or play that serves as a comment on or a conclusion to what has happened.

I share this because it does appear as this is a natural ending.

THE MAGNITUDE OF CHRIST’S MINISTRY

As our study in John draws near to the end, I want to point out how John has focused on the Christ in a magnificent manner.

For starters, John never pushed himself into the limelight.

The limelight is reserved for Christ alone.

John speaks of Christ doing so much more than what is written, and we can only speculate what those things were, or to what extent.

But it is safe to say, John was probably at the center of a lot of it.

But we rarely see him.

On many occasions, Jesus pulls Peter, James and John aside.

Sometimes for prayer, sometimes as witnesses, and sometimes for special training.

But John virtually ignores those times and refuses to lean on his personal experiences with Jesus to make his point that Jesus is the Son of God.

John was humble in that regard.

Like another John we talked about, he too knew his role and his place.

John the Baptist once said, I must decrease and He must increase.

John the apostle understood that as well.

John’s focus throughout this gospel, and even now in verse 30 is to magnify Jesus Christ.

John continues this trend by pointing out, that Jesus did far more than what is written down.

John uses an interesting word instead of miracle, it is the word sign.

You might be wondering, why does John not just say Jesus performed miracles?

Well I am glad you asked.

You are correct in assuming that miracle is a good word to describe all that Jesus did.

When Jesus healed it was miraculous, supernatural power that flowed from Him.

There was no doubt that Jesus performed the miraculous.

It was so evident in fact, that not even His enemies ever tried to deny the miracles He did.

So why then does John avoid using the word miracle here?

Signs is simply a better fit.

You see the miracles Jesus did was never really about the miraculous itself.

When Jesus healed disease, it wasn’t to eliminate sickness.

When Jesus healed the lame, it was to create new legs.

The miracles were always about something more

The miracles were like a road sign that point you in the right direction.

A sign makes a statement.

And the statement of the signs Jesus did was that I am the Eternal God.

The purpose of each and every miracle was to declare that Jesus is the eternal God.

Now if Jesus really was the incarnate eternal God, then you would expect the signs to make that evident.

Did they?

Sure they did.

Remember the first sign Jesus performed?

He turned water into wine.

This demonstrated His power over the most basic elements of the universe, the molecular structure.

Only God can rearrange the molecular structure at will.

Then Jesus healed a lame man, then a blind man.

In both instances proving Himself to have complete and total sovereignty over disease and corruption.

Jesus multiplied bread and fish.

He created as only God can create.

Next Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.

Demonstrating that He was the source and Lord of life.

Are you starting to see why John calls them signs?

Every miracle affirmed that Jesus was and is God.

Let’s take a stroll through history and talk about the miraculous.

Today there are those denominations who make a big deal out of miracles.

But have you noticed how their perspective on the miraculous always benefits people.

Always.

Those today who emphasize miracles treat God as if He is here to satisfy our lusts.

That view is inconsistent with the Bible.

After YHWH was finished creating, what was the first recorded public miracle in the Bible?

The flood.

What was the second?

YHWH confused language and scattered people.

The third?

Turned water into blood.

Then came a plague of frogs, gnats, and flies in that order.

Next came disease upon the cattle.

Then came boils, hail, and locusts.

Last came darkness and finally death.

Do you see a common denominator concerning the miracles of the Bible?

To a large extent, when YHWH performed the miraculous, it was in some way judgment.

The idea was, that these supernatural events conveyed a message, they were a sign.

One angle killed 185,000 soldiers.

No rain for 3.5 years.

Need I go on?

Not all the time, but certainly a lot of the time miracles were about judgment.

In the end, virtually every miracle from the Book of Revelation, is a judgment.

My point is this, miracles were never really about blessing human beings, they were always really about a message.

Let’s be honest every miracle was a sign.

There was a message attached.

Let me give you a good working understanding of the purpose of miracles.

Miracles were intended to validate the message and or the messenger.

For the most part, though not exclusively, most of the miracles fell into three very brief periods of history.

First during the life of Moses and Joshua.

Second during the lives of Elijah and Elisha.

And last during the life of Jesus and the apostles.

Why did Moses go before Pharaoh and perform miracles?

To prove to Pharaoh that he was God’s man delivering God’s message.

Why did Elijah perform miracles?

To prove to Ahab, Jezebel, and the people, that he was God’s man and had God’s message.

Now lets apply this to Christ.

Who did Jesus claim to be?

God.

Now if He is God, what would you expect Him to do?

Godly things, like miracles.

So you see the miracles Jesus performed, validated both His claim and His person.

Thus John says, Jesus performed many other signs also.

John understood, it was never about the miracle.

It was always about the one performing miracles.

John is essentially saying, if you still aren’t convinced, I could tell you more.

Last, John adds in the presence of the disciples.

In this statement we see the Jewishness coming out in John.

We are well aware, that under Jewish law, a fact is confirmed by two or three witnesses.

Deuteronomy 17:6 ESV

On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.

This Jewish law also spilled over into the NT.

2 Corinthians 13:1 ESV

This is the third time I am coming to you. Every charge must be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.

This was the very reason nobody could ever deny the miracles Jesus performed, there were simply too many witnesses that saw them

And last, John confirms the purpose of the miracles, and the discourses for that matter.

Everything John included was intended to make the case air tight.

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

That might sound a bit redundant.

But actually it is a brilliant appeal.

Messiah is an appeal to the Jews.

Believe in Jesus, He is your Messiah.

This would have had special significance for the Jewish nation.

Son of God was an appeal to the rest of the world.

The whole world was religious.

Remember, it bothered Pilot when he heard that Jesus claimed to be the Son of God.

John 19:7–8 ESV

The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this statement, he was even more afraid.

Being a religious people, even believing that the Caesars were gods, this claim got the attention of Gentiles.

So just as John grabbed both audiences, both Jew and Gentile in chapter 1, he now does so again in chapter 20.

THE MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST

Chapter 21 opens with these words, “after these things”

This is a simple literary devise used to inform us that some time as passed away.

Jesus appear to the 10 in a locked room.

Then Jesus appeared to the 11 in a locked room.

But now, after some time has elapsed, Jesus appears to them at the sea of Tiberias, or better known as Galilee.

The sea of Tiberius is the Sea of Galilee.

This is a fulfilment of another type.

Remember Jesus told them in Matt 26:32

Matthew 26:32 ESV

But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”

And then in Matt 28:10 Jesus told the ladies to pass this message along to His brothers….

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.”

And now, here they all are together, in Galilee.

We could speculate as to why, but at the end of the day, the scripture doesn’t tell us.

My best guess is that Jesus had an appearance to make there and has some final words for the disciples.

At any rate, they are all in Galilee, and Jesus manifests Himself to them, just as He promised.

Folks, don’t ever doubt that YHWH keeps His word.

He never fails to do what He said He would do.

A manifest is typically a document that describes everything on board a ship.

It makes information known.

Jesus in His resurrection form is making Himself known.

Manifest is a good word, because it fits what we know about Jesus after the resurrection.

Remember, Mary Magdalene had a conversation face to face with Jesus and thought Him the gardener?

Or the two on the road to Emmaus?

They walked and talked with Jesus for a considerable time and didn’t realize it was Jesus.

The point is, Jesus was different.

Jesus had to make Himself known, He had to manifest Himself.

That one little word manifest, just reminds us how accurate the scriptures can be.

JESUS MANIFESTS HIS FAITHFULNESS

The manner is which Jesus manifests Himself begins with Jesus seeking out His friends.

It usually plays out this way because our natural tendency is to hide from God when things aren’t right.

Such was the case this day.

Peter is still not right.

Just a few days ago, Peter had denied any association with Jesus.

That issue had yet to be resolved.

Peter may well have been remembering Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount, he who denies Me before men, I will deny before the Father.

We can’t be sure what Peter is thinking in totality.

But one thing I can say, Peter doesn’t feel worthy to be counted as one who is with Jesus any longer.

Thus, He decides to return to his old way of life.

When Peter says I am going fishing, it is a declaration that he is going back to his old life and business.

This interpretation is supported by the fact that they went and got into “the” boat,

“The” boat would have been the very boat he had once made a living with.

You didn’t go down to the lake to fish for fun and take out this boat.

This particular boat was rigged for night fishing with nets.

That was commercial fishing.

And that is exactly what we see, they went out at night, like all the other commercial fishermen.

We mustn’t miss the fact that Peter was a natural leader.

Peter makes a decision to go back to fishing, and all of the rest of them follow.

Like a bunch of pigs in a rut, they all fall in line and follow Peter.

The reality is this, Peter, like all of us had some good qualities about him.

But those qualities have to be tempered and focused.

Peter was a leader, but that quality had to be shaped, tempered, and refocused for kingdom work.

And even now, the Lord is working to that end in each of us.

We all have natural talents, and they aren’t to be confused with spiritual gifts.

A natural talent is something you are born with.

But because of our fallenness, we channel that talent into the wrong things and in the wrong ways, usually selfish things.

The Lord redirects those talents so that He can use the man to accomplish His purposes.

Peter is a real leader, people will follow.

But fishing has no eternal value.

Jesus is going to use Peter to lead His church.

The first few chapters of the Book of Acts are mostly about Peter as he begins to fulfill his Christ chosen destiny.

But a lot had to change before Peter is ready and qualified to do so.

Thus the lesson resumes.

One problem that night, they caught nothing.

Now folks, if Peter really was feeling unworthy of Christ, and then goes back to the only thing he knows, and fails there, well he is probably in pretty bad shape mentally.

Let me suggest to you that this is the providence of our Lord Jesus.

He is not about to let Peter return to fishing.

And to prove it to Peter, and remind Peter that He really is sovereign, they caught no fish.

I would suggest that Peter is at an all time low, he has hit rock bottom.

Peter’s confidence in himself is destroyed, he can’t even catch fish.

And that is exactly where the Lord Jesus Christ wanted him, rock bottom.

Now the rebuilding process can begin.

The words of Jesus in verse 5 are more of a statement of fact than a question.

Jesus is affirming a fact, one that He shouldn’t necessarily know at this point.

They are way out there on the water, Jesus is on shore.

There is only one way He knows the hull of that boat is empty, He is omniscient.

His omniscience is further demonstrated when He tells them where to cast the net for a catch.

Not to mention His sovereignty over even the fish.

Fish would not have been near the surface and near the shore .

During the day they went to deeper water in the middle of the lake.

This is why they fished at night.

At night the fish came to the surface and into the shallows, this made night fishing ideal, they could get to the fish with their nets.

Under normal circumstances, there wouldn’t be any fish where Jesus said to cast the net.

Unless, unless Jesus is sovereign over even the fish.

I believe that the fish are there because Jesus willed them to be there.

Jesus is illustrating a great truth He had taught those men, apart from Him they could no nothing.

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.

Peter had gone back to the one thing he knew, and the night was a failure.

The lesson was this, Peter there is only one path of success for you now, and that is to do what I tell you to do.

So they obey Jesus, who has come and sought them out, and boy what a catch of fish.

They catch so many fish that they can’t get the nets pulled into the boat.

The nets are so heavy, they are fearful they might break, that is implied by the statement the net was not torn, almost surprisingly.

In this there are some important teaching principles.

First, obedience to the Lord results in blessings.

They did it their way and caught nothing.

But when they obey Jesus, everything changed and they hauled in a bounty of fish.

The moral is, we are always better off when we obey Jesus.

Second, why does John mention how many fish?

153 fish, large fish more specifically.

Stacy’s grandfather owned a shrimp boat in Texas.

When they put down the nets to catch shrimp, they caught every thing.

They caught crab, flounder, shrimp and every other sea creature that happened to be in the location.

Some small and some large.

In fact, in the natural realm, there are more small than large, even in a specifc species.

This also reminds us of the incredible power of Christ to accomplish great things.

But the number is striking, I mean who counts how many fish are in the net.

But they did, and there were 153, not about 150, not a couple of hundred, but John is very specific, 153 fish.

Guess what, I have read that it is now known that there are 153 species of fish in the sea of Galilee.

Jesus called, 1 of every species of fish to their net that morning.

Now why would Jesus do such a thing?

I think the answer is seen in the bigger picture here.

Peter has decided to return to fishing, but the Lord had already determined and told them, you will be fishers of men.

We all know what is coming, Jesus is about to restore Peter in that great feed my sheep conversation.

But I would suggest that the restoration has already begun.

The very fact that Jesus sought them out at this moment and intervened into their personal affairs leads me to believe Jesus has a purpose in mind.

And again, we know that purpose is that they would become fishers of men.

Does one fish from every species remind you of anything from the Great Commission?

How about every tribe tongue and nation.

These men, especially Peter, are going to be used of God to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Restoration has begun, especially in the life of Peter.

In fact, it really began on resurrection day, John just didn’t record it.

But Mark does, Mark 16:7

Mark 16:7 ESV

But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”

Peter, go to Galilee.

Jesus already knew the plan of restoration, just how He would bring Peter back into the fold.

And so Jesus makes sure Peter is instructed to go to Galilee.

Folks, in those words “and Peter” Jesus was saying in effect, Peter I am not finished with you yet.

I have not thrown you aside.

That is the way we treat failure, we throw them aside.

But honestly, if Jesus threw every follower away who failed Him, well the church would be empty.

So now Jesus has Peter where He wants him, back in Galilee, I would even suggest it was part of Jesus’ plan for Peter to go back to fishing.

That opened the door for a powerful object lesson.

This topic gets suspended by John, he comes back to it in a few verses.

But John quickly takes us to a different object lesson.

JESUS MANIFESTS HIS BODY

Jesus intentionally brings about the topic of breakfast.

Bring some fish, and come and have breakfast.

There is only one reason Jesus wants breakfast, to show them that He is not just a Spirit.

Jesus was not necessarily hungry, nor did He need food.

These men need to know, the resurrection was a bodily resurrection.

This is so important to the gospel ministry.

Jesus has promised them back in John 11:25-26

John 11:25–26 ESV

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

In these words we see both the spiritual and the bodily resurrection.

On this day, on the shore of the lake of Galilee, Jesus manifests His bodily resurrection, again, as He eats a meal with them.

We don’t necessarily understand the importance of these manifestations, and certainly they didn’t either at the time.

But later, when the heresy began to appear, these moments became very important.

One of Satan’s most aggressive tactics is to dispute something about Jesus.

Sometimes it is His deity.

There are many cults that deny Jesus is the eternal God.

Sometime they deny His humanity.

They claimed Jesus was never a human being, He didn’t really have a body.

They believe He was a Spirit only.

So you can imagine they love those passages where Jesus passes through walls.

But the truth is, Jesus was and is fully God and fully Man.

He passed through walls to remind them He was God and a Spirit.

But He also ate meals with them to show that He had a body.

Look at verse 12 again, they are finally starting to get it.

It is really sinking in, Jesus is alive, both as the eternal God, and the Son of Man they were so familiar with.

This is the third time Jesus has appeared to them, and it is well established in their mind finally.

This will be the cry of the apostles and of the early church, Jesus is alive, the Son of God live through a bodily resurrection.

And so can you.

CONCLUSION

We err if we think these men easily convinced of the resurrection and what it really meant.

They began believing He was dead and needed further anointing with spices.

But Jesus patiently and with great compassion manifested Himself to them, until He brought them to the point of conviction.

Chuck Colson was so impressed by their conviction, that he says this is what convinced him that the gospel was true.

His analogy was this, he partners in crime in Watergate could not keep a lie for even a short period of time.

But these 11 apostles, they kept the faith, held fast to the resurrection even to their dying breath.

Most of them died a Martyrs death, John the exception was imprisoned on the island of Patmos.

None of them ever recanted the resurrection claim.

For Chuck that was conclusive evidence the resurrection is true.

It is really quite logical, when you know a friend has died and been buried, and then you spend time with Him, talk with Him, eat with Him, and observe Him do this with others as well.

Then there is no possible way you are going to deny it.

The evidence for the resurrection is overwhelming.

It is one of the most defensible truths of the ancient world.

There is more reason to believe in the resurrection of Jesus than the writings of Plato or Socrates.

Paul lays out the bulk of the evidence in 1 Cor 15.

First, His death and resurrection were foretold in the scriptures.

Second, Jesus appeared to Peter.

Third, Jesus appeared to the rest of the disciples.

Then to more than 500 eye witnesses.

Fifth, to Jesus appeared to His brother James.

And last, Jesus appeared to the Pharisee named Saul.

You know him better as Paul the Apostle.

It is on the foundation of the testimony of these eye witnesses that the resurrection is affirmed.

The very foundation of the gospel is the resurrection.

The foundation of the church, is the resurrection.

For if Jesus is not raised from the dead, then our faith, our preaching, our purposes are in vain.