In Weakness and In Strength
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If I have counted correctly, today will be the 10th time we have held communion together as a church since I started as your interim pastor.
I once heard a pastor preach that there is no biblical support for the idea that Christians can backslide.
I’ve been encouraged and even amazed at the things we have learned during this process of elevating this particular part of our worship liturgy.
I believe we have only scratched the surface of what the Lord’s Supper should mean to those of us who follow Jesus Christ in faith, and, indeed, I have come to agree with something I read recently — that there are likely theological ties between the Lord’s Supper and just about any biblically centered topic or Scripture passage we might tackle.
Such is the richness of this observance that we will join today.
Some of you might recall that when we started this monthly study of the theological underpinnings of communion last September, I talked about how it’s a sort of shared meal among Christians. In fact, in the early church, the Lord’s Supper was originally celebrated in conjunction with a love feast.
Sitting around a table together — whether it’s the family dinner table or the Lord’s Table — we build community.
And it’s significant that the Gospels record so much of the teaching of Jesus Christ about the Kingdom of Heaven as having happened during shared meals.
The Kingdom of Heaven will be a community of those who have followed Jesus Christ in faith — those who believe He is who He said He is, those who turned their lives over to Him in faith, those who recognize in faith that He is their only salvation, those who in faith are daily being made into His image.
You will recall that Jesus started His public ministry at a wedding feast in Cana. We talked during an earlier communion service about how His miracle of turning the water into wine at that feast was a sign that He would bring the prophesied blessings of the Kingdom of God.
Today, we’re going to look at the last miracle Jesus performed, and I don’t think it is a coincidence that this miracle is also connected to a shared meal.
Turn with me to the last chapter of the book of John, , and we’ll take a closer look at this incident that is probably familiar to many of you.
As usual, I want to give you some background before we jump into the passage.
This chapter gives us a sort of epilogue to John’s account of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The empty tomb has been discovered, Jesus has appeared to Mary and He has visited the disciples in his resurrected, glorified body at least twice, and John has stated his purpose for writing this Gospel.
Anybody know what that was?
He tells us in the last two verses of Chapter 20.
30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
So John’s purpose is not to convince people that Jesus was a great teacher or that He was a great philosopher or simply a great man.
John’s purpose was to prove to his readers that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Christ, and that He is the Son of God, and that, having believed what Jesus said and demonstrated about Himself, they would have eternal life.
So it’s interesting that the very next scene John presents to us is one that includes seven of Jesus’ disciples, seven of those who had already professed to believe, seven of those whom Jesus had already commissioned to be His witnesses and to tell the world about Him.
1 After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way.
The Sea of Tiberias was the Roman name given to the Sea of Galilee, and we will see some connections between this series of events and another scene we recall from that great body of water — when Jesus walked on the water and called Peter to leave the boat and join Him.
We’ll get to that in a minute, but first John tells us here who was on hand to see this manifestation of Jesus’ glorified body.
2 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.
Whenever there is a list of disciples in the Gospels, Peter’s name appears first. Jesus was their leader, but Simon, whom Jesus had named Peter upon the occasion of their first meeting, was the one the other disciples looked to as their spokesman and as their example in their interactions with Jesus.
In his book Twelve Ordinary Men, John Macarthur writes this about Peter: “In the Gospel accounts, Peter asks more questions than all the other disciples combined. It was usually Peter who asked the Lord to explain His difficult sayings. It was Peter who asked how often he needed to forgive. It was Peter who asked what reward the disciples would get for having left everything to follow Jesus. It was Peter who asked about the withered fig tree. It was Peter who asked questions of the risen Christ. Peter always wanted to know more, to understand better.”
Peter was inquisitive, and that’s one of the traits of a born leader.
But even born leaders can lead in the wrong direction, and there is some question among biblical scholars as to whether the wrong direction is exactly where Peter was leading in this passage.
3 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.
Now on the one hand, Jesus had told the disciples through an angel to meet Him in Galilee, so the fact that Peter had led them there was a good thing.
But Jesus had also made it clear to them that their former lives were gone; these were no longer to be fishermen, but fishers of men. So why were they out fishing on a boat?
We have to be careful about judging Peter too harshly. There’s no evidence in the text that he intended this to be a turning away from the job Jesus had given them to do.
Perhaps he simply needed money to pay the bills until the Holy Spirit came upon him at Pentecost, and he was simply doing what he knew how to do as he awaited a sign from God that the time had come for him to take up his new mission fully.
Perhaps while they waited, Peter simply grew restless and wanted to do something he considered to be constructive.
Still, though, in the words of one writer, “this fishing expedition and the dialogue that ensues do not read like the lives of men on a Spirit-empowered mission. It is impossible to imagine any of this taking place in Acts, after Pentecost.” [D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 669.]
One other thing to note here is that, while Peter had already seen the risen Jesus prior to this episode, he was still, as we shall see in a moment, ashamed of his denial of Jesus three times during our Savior’s trial.
this fishing expedition and the dialogue that ensues do not read like the lives of men on a Spirit-empowered mission. It is impossible to imagine any of this taking place in Acts, after Pentecost.
D. A. Carson, The Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 669.
He likely thought he had failed at being a true disciple of his Lord, and now, after having fished all night and caught nothing, he had failed at his previous occupation.
But this latest failure would teach Peter and the other disciples an important lesson, as we shall soon see.
4 But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
John 2
5 So Jesus said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.”
Daylight was breaking, but it was still too dim to see, and so some random stranger on the shore calls out to the boat with a question that might even have sounded like a taunt.
“Boys, you haven’t caught anything, have you?”
“Well, no.”
So Jesus makes what must have seemed to be a perfectly unreasonable and silly suggestion:
5 So Jesus said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.”
6 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.
It’s a bit of a mystery to all of the commentators I have read why the men would have complied with this suggestion from a stranger. After all, they would have been casting their net on BOTH sides of the boat all night. They were tired and discouraged.
Why would they expect the results now to be any different than they had been all night?
What was different that they did not yet understand was that now Jesus was with them.
Jesus had told them once before that without Him they could do nothing. Now, he was giving them an object lesson that would reinforce those words.
Peter had been sincere and had worked hard all night, but he had seen no results of his labors. Jesus had not been with him.
It’s a lesson we would do well to learn. We can work as hard as we want, thinking that we are doing service for the Lord, thinking that we are doing His will, but if we are not receiving our direction from the Lord, our work will be in vain, and we will not find blessings in it.
So now the disciples have a net so full of fish that they cannot pull it into the boat, and suddenly John, who always describes himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved,” realizes what is happening.
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.
Characteristically, John had the quick insight. But just as characteristically, Peter was the one who was quick to act, throwing himself into the water to swim to Jesus after having put on his outer garment to make himself presentable for the greeting.
When Jesus had walked across the Sea of Galilee, He had called to Peter to come and join Him on the water. This time, though, Peter came without having been called.
He had denied Jesus three times during his Lord’s trial before the crucifixion, but Peter was definitely a believer, and he loved Jesus intensely, and we can imagine that he still wanted to prove that love after his previous failure.
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.
8
These fishermen had been unable to catch even one fish during a whole night. Now Jesus shows up, and their net is full.
Recognizing that He had commissioned them to be “fishers of men,” I think we can conclude that there is significance not just to the great haul of fish, but to the fish themselves.
Warren Wiersbe put it this way: “To be a ‘fisher of men’ in that day meant to seek to persuade men and ‘catch’ them with the truth. A fisherman catches living fish, but when he gets them, they die. A Christian witness seeks to catch ‘dead fish’ ([those who are] dead in their sins), and when he or she ‘catches’ them, they are made alive in Christ!” [Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 397.]
To be a “fisher of men” in that day meant to seek to persuade men and “catch” them with the truth. A fisherman catches living fish, but when he gets them, they die. A Christian witness seeks to catch “dead fish” (dead in their sins), and when he or she “catches” them, they are made alive in Christ!
Warren W. Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1996), 397.
9 So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread.
9
Now this mention of a charcoal fire is one of two that can be found in the New Testament. The only other time these words are used are when Jesus was being tried by the high priest.
Peter had been warming himself near a charcoal fire outside of that house when he was confronted three times about being one of Jesus’ disciples. And three times he had denied that he knew Jesus.
So this charcoal fire is significant. Whereas the last one had been the place of Peter’s denial, this one would be the place of his reinstatement.
What we see in the exchange between Jesus and Peter later in this chapter is a picture of the restoration of a repentant sinner. Jesus requires that Peter publicly repent of his sin of denying the Christ before others, but He then immediately affirms and accepts him.
For our purposes today, though, we are going to concentrate on the meal that Jesus will share with His disciples.
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have now caught.”
11 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.
Throughout the centuries, many people have tried to attach some significance to the number, 153. None of their theories, however, are compelling, and so I think we should just conclude that John was writing a historical account that would benefit from the point that fishermen always count their catch.
12 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.
12 After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and His brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.
They could see this was Jesus, but they could hardly believe their eyes. Still, nobody wanted to ask, “Lord, can it really be You?”
13
13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise.
14 This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.
So on this third time that Jesus came to His disciples after His resurrection, He again came as a servant, preparing breakfast for them on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Every time Jesus is recorded in the Gospels as having been present at some banquet or other special meal, there is always a Kingdom purpose to His presence.
He still had some things to teach them about what it would mean to follow Him, and He still would restore a repentant Peter and describe Peter’s new pastoral role.
But every time Jesus is recorded in the Gospels as having been present at some banquet or other special meal, there is a Kingdom purpose to His presence.
And, though this meal of fish and bread was not a picture of the Eucharist that we will celebrate today, it nonetheless reminds us of communion.
This meal eaten by the disciples reminds us of communion, because communion is limited to a community of believers.
Jesus had fed fish and bread to two different groups of multitudes of people who had come to hear Him teach during His pre-cross ministry.
But this meal was only for His disciples. This meal, like our communion observance, would draw them closer to Him and closer to one another.
It reminds us of communion, because just as Jesus provided the fish and bread for the disciples, He provided the body that is represented by the bread we will eat, and He provided the blood that is represented by the fruit of the vine that we will drink.
Just as this meal by the side of the Sea of Galilee gave the disciples an opportunity to commune with their risen Savior, our observance of the Lord’s Supper gives us an opportunity to commune with Him, too.
Jesus Christ is present in this communion — not in the physical manner that some Christian traditions hold, whereby the bread becomes His flesh and the wine becomes His blood. Instead, He is present in the symbolism He gave to these things and in the Holy Spirit, who dwells within each believer here today.
And this meal by the seaside reminds us of communion, because it involved repentance on the part of a Christ-follower who had sinned against Jesus.
Peter loved Jesus, but his words and actions by that first charcoal fire had hurt his witness and they amounted to a betrayal of Christ.
What about your words and actions, fellow believer? Do they demonstrate love and obedience to Jesus, or do they speak of some other motive, however much you might dress them up in spiritual-sounding niceties?
The Apostle Paul warned that partaking of the Lord’s Supper with an unrepentant heart was physically dangerous. Bringing bitterness, contempt, unforgiveness or sanctimony to this table will, at the very least, spoil the meal for you. It will surely not draw you closer to Jesus.
As we prepare to take the elements of this Lord’s Supper, I urge you to come to this table with hearts set on repentance. Take this time before we distribute the bread to seek forgiveness from God — and even from one another — for any of those things that damage the community God is building here.
Now, as we prepare to distribute the bread for today’s communion observance, please remain seated and take the bulletin insert and join in singing “Above All.” When we have finished, the deacons will join me at the front and distribute the bread, and then one of them will come up here for prayer and a Scripture reading. Then we will all join together in eating the bread that represents the body of Christ, torn for our transgressions.
SONG/BREAD
Can you imagine the kind of love that it took for God to send His only Son to die for our sins against Him?
We deserve the penalty for our rebellion against the rightful King of the universe, but He came Himself, in the Person of Jesus Christ, to shed His own blood as payment for the debt we had incurred.
And can you imagine the love that it took for Jesus Christ to give up His place by His Father’s side in heaven, to make Himself a servant of those He had created and then to suffer and die for the very ones whose sins made His sacrifice necessary?
In the scene from The Passion of the Christ in which Jesus is being nailed to the cross, Mel Gibson filmed his own hands driving the nails into the hands of Christ. He was making the point that he was no less responsible for spilling the blood of Jesus than the Roman centurions who were there that day.
You and I bear the same responsibility. We might as well have been holding that hammer and nail.
But Jesus, hanging there on the cross, said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
His blood was the means by which we are saved. But it was His immeasurable grace, empowered by His great love and that of His Father, that moved Him to make the sacrifice.
Now, as we prepare to distribute the juice that represents Christ’s blood, shed for our sins, remain seated, and we will sing “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us.” The lyrics are on your bulletin insert. When we’re done, the deacons will distribute the juice. One will then join me on the dais and read a Scripture and pray. Then we will all drink together.
SONG/CUPS
One day in heaven, we will join the banquet to which this Lord’s Supper points. I like to think there will be fish and bread.
Until then, we partake of these elements each month, proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes.
Maranatha! Lord, come!
Now, join me on the floor here, and let’s join together to sing “Bless’d Be the Tie that Binds.”