Jesus is Lord

Introduction

We are working through a series looking at the resurrection appearances of Jesus. So far we have seen that Jesus has appeared to Mary in the garden, he’s appeared to Cleopas and another on the road, he’s appeared to all of the disciples twice by entering into a locked room!

And all of that was either in or very close to Jerusalem, but this time he is appearing to them by the Sea of Galilee.

It’s a little bit interesting … why are they in a different place? They’ve gone back to their homes. They’re probably still a bit confused with everything that has gone on over the past weeks. They believe that they have seen Jesus alive, so they know that he is risen, but he is not with them constantly, and so they are not quite sure what to do. The leader of their mission and ministry is no longer with them, so they are probably feeling a bit disoriented and directionless. And some of them have gone back to their old job of fishing - probably to provide for themselves and for their families - because, what else do you do?

Then after fishing all night, they haven’t caught anything, and in the cold of the morning, they see someone on the beach who asks if they have caught anything. They say that they haven’t, and then he says, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.”

Why did they do it I wonder?

Did they hear the sound of authority in his voice? Sometimes you can see a shoal of fish from a distance when you can’t see them close by, so maybe they trusted his judgement. Maybe they were weary and so were simply willing to try anything.

Then there is this miraculous catch of 153 fish, which meant that they couldn’t haul the nets into the boat but presumably had to drag them through the water to pull this catch in to land.

And as a result of this miraculous catch, the disciple whom Jesus loved said ‘It is the Lord’. He recognised Jesus through the miracle that he did.

It’s interesting that the disciples don’t recognise Jesus straight away during these different resurrection experiences. When Mary is in the garden, she recognises Jesus when he speaks her name. It is when Jesus breaks bread in front of them that Cleopas and the other disciple recognise him. And then here, it is when Jesus performs a miracle like the many others that he performed before his death and resurrection that the disciples recognise him.

And, as we’ve just said, when they recognise him, the disciples declare that Jesus is Lord.

Statement of experience

I think firstly, this is a statement of experience. The disciples time and time again have seen Jesus’ authority in his teaching, in his performing miracles and as he casts out demons.

We might think back to the Sermon the Mount, a long passage of teaching in Matthew, and at the end of that passage, it states that ‘the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority.’ (7:28-29).

When he performed miracles, the people were amazed - he healed those with leprosy, other illnesses and those who could not walk, he healed those who were blind and those who were deaf, and he raised the dead back to life. He also performed many more signs and wonders than we see recorded in Scripture (21:30).

And he also cast out demons - he commanded them to leave people and the demons left.

In all of these things Jesus had authority.

Statement of belief

But when they state that he is Lord, it means a bit more than Jesus being just a prophet or a teacher - one with wisdom and authority because he is anointed by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is all of these things and much more.

You see, there were many prophets who did wonders like Jesus did - Elisha raised a child to life in the Old Testament by lying on him. Elijah had authority in relation to creation when he called down fire on his altar in a show-down with the prophets of Baal. Moses struck a rock and water flowed from it.

Prophets were men and women to be feared because they carried the anointing of God, they carried his authority to speak words from the Lord, and they performed works of power.

Yet Jesus was much more than another prophet, and the disciples realised that and were realising it more and more after the resurrection. They had seen Jesus die on the cross, an innocent man hung on a cross until he breathed his last. He was brought down and buried in a tomb. They were all witnesses of this. And then, three days later, he is alive - he is resurrected - and this isn’t the work of a prophet even bringing him back to life, but this is a work of God giving him new life.

And when they add up all of these experiences … they come to the conclusion that this is more than just a Master or Teacher or Prophet - more than a Messiah figure who would be a powerful ruler - but this was God in the flesh - God standing in front of them.

This is why, a few verses before our passage, when Thomas sees Jesus, when he sees the nail marks in his hands, and puts his hands in his side, he says: ‘My Lord and my God.’

Political declaration

But at the time when John was writing this Gospel account, towards the end of the first century, the Roman emperor Domitian proclaimed that he should be called ‘our Lord and God’. He decided that for himself and made other people say it about him.

Imperial Cult - emperors were worshipped - some were proclaimed to be divine on their death, others were worshipped as the ‘sons of Gods’

So when Christians made the declaration that Jesus is Lord, they were making a hugely political statement - that saying that Jesus is Lord, or like Thomas - my Lord and my God - they are openly defying the Roman Emperor and the ruling bodies of the Roman Empire.

They weren’t prepared to say that Caesar is Lord or the son of God because the only one who deserved that place of honour was Jesus

Jesus was the for them the way, the truth and the life - Jesus took the only place of honour - Jesus was who they lived their lives for

For us today?

What does this mean for us?

If we say that Jesus is Lord, surely we are saying the same thing too?

That Jesus is my Lord and my God. That he is Lord over everything in my life.

Challenges … work situations - ethical decisions, friendships - how you behave and socialise