John 21:1-15
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Instant Gratifier- Patient Postponer
Instant Gratifier- Patient Postponer
Jesus is going to challenge Peter in the chapter and we wont get through it all.
It normally cost us something for us to forgive.
Sometimes its money, sometimes its other things.
The majority of the time for us when we forgive, the greatest cost is pride.
bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.
But essentially the challenge is this-
Lack of forgiveness breeds a lack of service in the church, and in reality, we are acting like foolish children.
Don’t trade the temporary for the eternal.
In order for their to be restoration, there must be forgiveness. We are commanded to forgive.
Don’t leave what is comparatively greater to chase after something clearly lesser.
This passage we see Jesus model this for us.
John ends his book differently the other Gospels.
Matthew ends it in the commission- The Great Commission
Marks ends it with the resurrection
Luke ends his Gospel with the Road to Emmaus- Ascension- which he will pick back up in Acts
John ends his Gospel with a commissioning, but his commissioning is a restorative commissioning. There is something that has to be dealt with.
Peter’s sin and the other disciples sin.
John records the restoration of Peter. We won’t get through all of this today.
After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way.
We are in a bit of a transitional period.
The disciples at this point know that Jesus is alive, but his appearance to them were more periodic than continuous.
The first time, ten of them are in the room together and he appears to them.
The second time, we discussed this at length last week, Thomas is with them this time as he appears to the whole 11.
Now he manifest himself to them again.
Manifest means to reveal- key term in the life of Jesus
Here is where you should know that Jesus’s entire ministry is about manifestation.
He came to be Emmanuel- God with us.
He came dwell with us. To manifest God to us.
The beginning of John tells us this.
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The goal of these manifestation is that we would see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ has come in order that he may reveal or manifest the Father in this world.
And He does this for a purpose. Its not because he is bored in heaven.
Jesus is manifesting Himself after the resurrection not merely because Jesus wants to see the disciples.
Sure they are his friends, but more so than that, he manifest himself to them that they would be his witnesses. There is a purpose behind every appearance.
the purpose- he makes himself known as the resurrected Savior to empower their present faith and their future ministry.
The same is true today. If by God’s grace, the Spirit of God has opened your eyes to see, appreciate and trust in the resurrected Christ, then he does so not merely to entertain.
Reading the Bible isn’t about entertainment. Its about encountering the resurrected Lord in order to empower and to embolden us to go and do the will of God. Read your Bible.
Logically then, an encounter with Jesus will inevitably lead to two distinct and separate responses.
We’ve seen this through the book of John. We see it today.
Two responses.
Repentance, Belief, and Submission- this is the correct response to a resurrected Lord.
In fact this is the only response that makes sense in light of the resurrection.
If he is raised from the dead, then I should listen to what he says about sin. If there is sin in my life, i ought to repent- I ought to turn
If he is raised, I ought to believe he is who he says he is. I ought to follow him faithfully.
If he is raised from the dead, then I ought to serve him with my life.
And this is the response we have to call for in the Gospel message. We call people to repent- to turn from their sin. We call people to believe- to trust in Christ alone for salvation. We call people to submit to His Lordship. We don’t just ask them to ask Jesus in their heart, sign a card, and go get baptized so that we can have a better report at the convention.
The response we must call for is the biblical one. That is the only biblical response. Everything else would fall into the second category.
The second response is completely opposite. This the response of someone still dead in their trespasses and sin. It really is the opposite of the other.
They refuse to repent. “Yeah I believe in Jesus, but they are living completely opposed to the will of God.”
Stated belief + Actual Practice=Actual Belief
They love their sin.
They refuse to believe. Biblical belief is more than a mental assent- The Demons believe and shutter.
They refuse to submit. One day they will though.
So moving forward in this passage and really any passage of Scripture we come to the goal of Jesus revealing himself for us is that we would repent, believe, submit.
That’s why he manifests himself to the disciples, and thats why he manifests himself to us.
Knowing this, this account and every other account we come to, the application of every passage will fall into the category of eliciting repentance, belief, or submission.
Look in verse 2-3
Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.
Peter, often if not always is mentioned first with regard to the disciples.
He is the leader within the disciples.
His leadership in this chapter is evident as well.
He is the one that leads the disciples to go fishing.
He is the one described as the one who will throw himself into the water to go meet Jesus first.
He is the one who Jesus will speak to at the end of this chapter and book and challenge and restore.
Peter is a leader within the disciples, but his leader ship has suffered under the weight of three denials.
So, Peter decides that he will go fishing.
The people I have read seem to disagree as to why Peter decides to go fishing.
Some suggests that he is killing time while they are waiting for Jesus. This is entirely possible.
Some suggest that Peter, having betrayed Jesus and feeling unworthy to ever serve Christ faithfully again, decides to go back and do what he had previously done before he met Christ.
He was a fisherman. This was his job. he felt like he could be successful at that. Having denied Jesus, he goes back to fishing. This is possible as well, in light of Jesus’s conversation with him in verse 15 and following.
Both of these are speaking beyond what the passage gives us, but it is interesting, that even after seeing Jesus alive, and after he has called them to drop their nets before, they return to their fishing nets.
Maybe they killing time. Maybe they are working trying to make money. Maybe Peter doesn’t know what else to do. Maybe he feels unqualified.
Whatever the case, they go fishing and they go at night.
Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.
This wasn’t for lack of knowledge or ability with regard to fishing. These men are experts.
They knew this was the best time to go fishing.
They get into the boat. They go fishing, and they are unsuccessful in catching any fish.
Providentially unsuccessful.
They catch nothing. Not one.
This isn’t a bad day fishing. This is the worst day fishing.
And I think we can safely say that their fishing efforts are providentially hindered by Jesus, the one who created the fish
And I believe he is teaching them a lesson, that they will only be successful in doing what he has called them to do.
He had before called them to drop their nets Do you remember this? It really is very similiar to this passage.
In , when Jesus had first called his disciples?
Turn with me to
When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 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.
Providentially, before (Jesus knew the disciples he was going to choose) they had been hindered from catching fish, and then in a miraculous event Jesus had filled their boats.
He did this the first time To show them that he would not only determine their ability to catch fish, but he would also determine the course of their lives.
He calls them, after he has filled their boats with fish to the point of sinking, he asks them to follow him.
And they did. tells us, they drop everything and follow Jesus. And in the Gospels they are there with him.
But now they have picked them back up.
I believe wholeheartedly that Jesus is giving them a reminder here. I THINK THERE IS A REASON WHY THIS EVENT IS SO SIMILAR TO THE LAST EVENT. He is reminding them of their calling.
He has called them to a task for the rest of their days, and he will not grant success to them doing anything else. This is why they catch nothing in both passages.
Back in verse 4 ,
But then.
But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
Jesus is standing on the beach. They are in the water on the boat, far enough where they don’t recognize them.
Listen to what Jesus says.
So Jesus said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.”
A dreaded question for any fisherman when they haven’t caught anything is “Y’all catch any?” “How’d you do?”
But that isn’t what Jesus says.
Jesus doesn’t need to ask. He knows they haven’t caught anything. Furthermore, he has planned this orchestrated this and they weren’t going to catch anything.
Because he is the Creator of the fish, he is also sovereign over the fish. The disciples could have Bill Dance, Hank Parker, Kevin Van Dam, and every other Bass Master Classic winner in history and they wouldn’t have caught anything that night.
So he says “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” Again, he knows.
They answered him. No. A frustrated “No” no doubt.
So look what Jesus does.
And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.
They do as the stranger on the beach says, and once again, as before, they are hauling in fish like they had only seen one other time before. When they were previously called.
This leads them to properly and immediately recognize and identify the “stranger” on the beach.
look in verse 7
Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea.
It is the Lord.
How did he know?
Because he had seen this amount of fish only one time before. When the Lord had spoken.
Only Jesus has the power to bring fish where there are none. This is a creative act or at the very least a sovereign summons of every fish in that area to the congregate on the right side of their boat.
John rightly concludes “This is the Lord.”
Indeed it was.
He is Lord over the fish. He is Lord over all creation. He is Lord over the disciples. He is Lord over us. It is the Lord.
And this knowledge provokes Peter to do what Peter does.
He robes himself after having been stripped for work, and jumps into the sea.
John may have beat Peter to the tomb, but he won’t beat him this time. Peter leaves a successful catch to go see the Lord of the catch.
The other disciples come in verse 8.
But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.
They aren’t even able to hoist the net its so full. They come by boat dragging it.
The most fish they’ve seen since their previous calling.
So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread.
I can’t say this for sure, but i will say this. Jesus has proven once before that he doesn’t need to fish to get fish to eat.
He doesn’t need wheat to grow to produce bread.
Breakfast is ready, and it is served by the Creator of all fish and bread.
Served over a charcoal fire.
Now take this for what its worth. I do think its interesting which is why I will mention it. Only two times in the New Testament do we see a charcoal fire.
The first was was in where Peter will deny Jesus standing over a charcoal fire. Now, we will get to this next week, Peter is about to be restored and reinstated again over a charcoal fire.
The Lord has brought him back to where he betrayed him in order to restore him.
Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have now caught.” Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.
The miraculous nature of this event continues. John mentions this because the net should have ripped, but Jesus is sovereign over the fish and the net and them.
And together they eat breakfast.
Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples ventured to question Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.
Now again, this really introductory material, but we can learn something from the first 14 verses.
Don’t neglect the commandment and calling of God for a lesser thing.
Don’t neglect the eternal for the temporary.
Where you gonna be at during the weekend of VBS?
The river and that boat will be just fine after.
The yard and the garden will keep it self for that weekend.
The house will be just fine if its not completely in order for a couple days.
Stop making excuses for why you can no longer serve
Well i just don’t like the way they doing it now.
I like having my weekend.
They ain’t got any where for me to serve- Yes, we do.
Well, I haven’t been asked. I just did.
Well, I’d rather do this and do what I have planned. Who is God is that scenario?
Jesus shows up here in this passage to reveal to us that he is Lord over Creation. He has called us to serve him faithfully. Drop whatever net you got, and go to work for him.
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