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Down to Earth • Sermon • Submitted
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· 4 viewsIn the best epilogue ever, Jesus gives us a clear picture of what it looks like to live as a disciple.
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ME:
ME:
Well now that Christmas is over
presents are unwrapped
meals have been eaten
family has come and gone
Everything is in disarray
Packages and wrappers are overflowing the trash cans
Tinsel and pine needles are everywhere
Dishes are still piling up in the sink
Air beds and linens still need to be cleaned and put away
and your Christmas decorations are no longer as pristine as when they first were put up a month ago
Life is messy, chaotic, untidy, imperfect
And it’s not just after Christmas that life gets that way
In fact, life is that way more often than not
And because life is that way for so many of us
we tend to yearn for tidiness and order
That is why in so many films
we have those closing epilogues
after the movie ends, we have the main characters shown in order
and each character has a happily ever after closing
Joe went on to become a billionaire
Jane’s good name was restored and got the dream job she always wanted
Jim and Janet went on to get married and lived a long life together watching their grandchildren and great grandchildren grow up
That sense of completeness satisfies a longing in us
As we venture through the chaos and disorder of life, we can either follow our own path to satisfy that longing
or we can follow the path of Jesus
We are back in John’s Gospel this morning, finishing it up in chapter 21
Which is really an epilogue of the entire Gospel
And in this epilogue we see the message of the entire gospel summarized in two little words from Jesus
“Follow Me”
So as we prepare to look at the command to follow the One Who has come down to earth in , let’s come together in prayer
WE:
WE:
Let’s begin with our confidence in the sovereignty of Christ in ;
After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, 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 go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
This is the conclusion of His appearances during the resurrection narrative of Jesus in
And it begins with this fishing tale.
What is the purpose of this fishing tale at the end of John’s Gospel?
John’s Gospel has been on this progression
back in chapters 13-17, Jesus was with His disciples the night before He died, notifying them of His coming death, while also encouraging and instructing them
Then in chapters 18-19, we saw the betrayal of Judas, leading to Jesus’s arrest, trial, torture, and crucifixion
Before we got to chapter 20, where we see the miraculous redeeming grace of the resurrection of Jesus
and really, chapter 20 seems to be theconclusion of John’s Gospel
The closing verses, , say;
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
But God had John pen this 21st chapter, the epilogue
That brings order to our disordered lives
And John begins this epilogue, with this fishing story that serves as a portrait for us
With the main character being a disciple who has fallen from a man ready to die with Jesus
to a man who three times denied even knowing Jesus
The Apostle Peter
Who we see at the beginning of this epilogue
gathered together with a group of the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias
And why do they all go fishing?
vs. 3 says, Peter says, ‘I am going fishing’
He didn’t even say, let’s all go fishing
or want to join me?
No, he simply said he was going fishing
and the rest of the disciples with him decide to follow his lead
and join him going fishing
Now many have speculated Peter’s heart behind all this
and though it is ultimately speculation, it wouldn’t be a stretch to assume Peter may have, in part, been motivated by his denial
be it shame, or doubt about his standing as an Apostle, that maybe Jesus revoked His invitation to have Peter follow Him
Whatever that motive, Peter returns to what he knows, fishing
He is leaning on his own strength as a professional fisherman
and He misleads the other disciples back to leaning on their own strength as well
You see, Peter is a leader amongst leaders, he influences these other leaders by just simply doing what he is doing
We all need to be aware of who we are influencing
Casting Crowns has a song called Slow Fade that speaks to this
It is a caution to be careful what you say, to be careful what you do
because there are eyes that will see you, there are feet that will follow you, there are ears that will listen to you
Consider who you have been influencing then ask yourself if you have been influencing them toward Christ
Let’s continue to look at Peter to see how we can learn from him to ensure we are influencing people toward Christ
So Peter and the other professional fishermen are very likely frustrated from an entire nights of work with no catch
This fishing story here echoes an earlier account in ;
And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that 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 be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.
So similar
toiling all night with no fish being caught
An unexpected command to let down their nets
suddenly a boatload of fish
And the first time in , Jesus ends it with the exhortation to Peter that from now on, he will catch men.
In , Jesus gave Peter a purpose
But here he is again in , returning to the purposelessness of fishing because it is what he is good at, what he knows
and he has foolishly led other men of God down that same path
So, what happens in our passage in ?
Jesus shows up, provides 153 fish for the disciples, then tells them to bring some of that catch over and “have breakfast with Me.”
Don’t overlook the significance of this invitation
to have a meal together in this culture is huge!
It is often used to solidify agreements
It is an invitation to fellowship
It is a symbol of unity
By inviting Peter and these other disciples to join Him for breakfast, Jesus is essentially communicating to them that He accepts them
They are His friends
Jesus isn’t just saying come and have breakfast
He is saying, you are cleansed, you are my friend, join me, I love you.
I introduced this fishing story as a portrait for us
It serves as a portrait for us following Jesus
Because we can’t do it on our own strength
Whatever our gifts, abilities, experiences, or strengths
Apart from Jesus and His work, we can do nothing
If you remember back to , Jesus tells us that
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.
If we try to serve Jesus and follow Jesus in our own strength
we will be just as successful as the disciples were at fishing that night
If you want to be an expert in selfish living, instant gratification, or self-promotion you can do that in your own strength no problem
But if you plan to give up your own personal comfort for the eternal good of another, all your strength and effort will never be enough
If you want to be a godly wife or husband
if you want to be content
if you desire victory over sin that plagues you
your best intentions will always fall short
All the good things you do apart from Christ will leave you empty
And that is why this story is a portrait for us following Jesus
Following Christ means we don’t rely on our own strength
It is no coincidence the disciples didn’t catch any fish
Their lack set the stage for Jesus’s power to be put on display
But when they were awake at 4 in the morning, exhausted, still struggling, trying with all they had to catch just one fish even
they had no idea the stage was set for Jesus’s power
Perhaps you feel that way
you feel as if everything is going wrong and there seems to be no purpose
and you may never discover the reason behind it while on this side of heaven
But it is in these times that your object of trust is revealed
This fishing story serves as a reminder that Jesus is in control of keeping the fish from the net
and collecting the fish in the net
Despite the disciples being skilled fishermen
So the lesson for us in terms of following Jesus is,
our confidence doesn’t come from our own strength
our confidence is in the sovereignty of Christ
GOD:
GOD:
In vs. 12, we saw Jesus offer great comfort by affirming the disciples as His friends
But Jesus isn’t done with His work of restoration in this epilogue
In , we see our comfort in the forgiveness of Christ;
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.
There is so much to be gained from these three verses
First, we spent some time acknowledging the influence Peter has over the disciples
and how he was foolishly misleading them back to toiling as fishermen when Jesus has called them to follow Him
And when Jesus shows up, He doesn’t discard Peter as a leader, he restores him
and in fact, gives him a very specific call to leadership
Notice, how Jesus begins His address to Peter here,
“Simon, son of John”
The same way He address Peter after Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ
And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
Where He told Peter that God has revealed these things to Peter
This heightens the significance of Jesus’s interaction with Peter in these verses
Which also has led to these verses being heavily analyzed
So let’s explore a little bit
And let’s start by talking about love
As you may be familiar with, the Greek language has multiple words to more finely define love and we just translate all of these different words as love
So in vs. 15, Jesus asks Peter, do you Agape-love me?
Which is a Christian love, defined as having strong affection for a person and their good as understood by God’s moral character
Agape love is characterized by a willing forfeiture of rights or privileges on another person’s behalf.
We see this kind of love referenced throughout John’s Gospel;
Just a few examples,
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
and
In reference to Lazarus,
So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”
And after Jesus cried over Lazarus’ death
So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
Jesus teaches that
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Then lastly, to the disciples Jesus says
As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.
for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
That is the kind of love Jesus asks about in vs. 15 and vs. 16
That is the kind of love Jesus asks about in vs. 15 and vs. 16
both times, Peter responds, you know I phileo-love you!
Phileo love is to care deeply
Phileo love is to have great affection for or loyalty towards
So it would almost be if someone came up to you and asked, do you love me?
and you respond by saying, you know I care deeply about you.
It’s not that Peter doesn’t love Jesus enough, he most certainly does
In fact, in vs. 17, the third time Jesus asks if Peter loves Him
Jesus uses phileo
Because we see Phileo used throughout John’s gospel as well;
Just to reference a few,
; ; ;
In reference to Lazarus,
So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”
And after Jesus cried over Lazarus’ death
So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
Jesus teaches that
Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
Then lastly, to the disciples Jesus says
for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.
It’s not like agape love is the only type of love from God
Jesus taught in that the Father phileo-loves the disciples, because the disciples phileo-love Jesus
And that is the affirmation Peter is giving to Jesus here in
Jesus doesn’t raise Peter’s shameful past
bringing up his denials and saying, aha! I told you so!
Peter’s denials of Jesus shattered any false sense of morality Peter may have had
and really, we all need to come to a similar place
We need to experience having any self-righteousness in us come crashing down
Realizing our comfort des not come from any sense of morality we may have
Instead, we see Jesus demonstrates love, reconciliation, and unity to Peter
Because our comfort is in the forgiveness of Christ, not our morality
Peter had to be stripped down
He also had to be restored by Jesus
Life can’t be built on morality and self-righteousness
It must be founded on divine mercy and forgiveness
You see, we live life like a crippled person hobbling around on a pair of crutches
Those crutches are our self-righteousness
And in His divine mercy, God will cause those crutches to splinter and break
Leaving us unable to lean on our own self-righteousness
He does that, not to leave us helplessly crippled
But to forgive and heal us completely
So that we are able to walk, without the crutches
And as Jesus demonstrates here with Peter
We don’t have to do anything
No penance, not even being baptized
Peter did nothing to atone for his denials
Jesus paid for them on the cross
and now Peter is receiving the mercy and forgiveness of God
Like Peter, all we do is receive the mercy and forgiveness of God
and how foolish would we be, to be healed of our crippledness
and how foolish would we be, to be healed of our crippledness
but choose to continue to lean on crutches to walk?
And not only did Jesus forgive Peter in these verses
but He gave Him purpose
Feed My lambs
Tend My sheep
Feed My sheep
Jesus says
Jesus is telling Peter to be a shepherd
What sheep are Jesus talking about?
Back in ;
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
Jesus’s sheep are the church
As we already saw earlier in this chapter
Peter has influence over the other disciples
And as one with influence, he blew it
He led the disciples back to leaning on their own strength
toiling as fishermen again
And instead of just tossing Peter aside
Jesus restores him, and redirects him as a leader
Peter goes on to be a pillar in the early church
Really the first Christian missionary to the Gentiles
And Peter learned what Jesus meant to shepherd His sheep
Look what he teaches on the subject in ;
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
And I realize I have brought a lot attention to elders in our church
This is a big reason why
Peter teaches that Jesus is the Chief Shepherd
Meaning Jesus is our Senior Pastor
And myself and any other elders in the church would be considered fellow undershepherds
Of equal authority
And like Peter, no elder is going to be perfect
But God is giving a responsibility to this office to shepherd His sheep
And it’s not like once we become an elder-led church we will have arrived and figured out how to be a church
At that time we will pray to God to reveal to us the next area we need to grow in
because as individuals and as a body, we will always have areas where God will be wanting to produce righteousness in us
So we continue to seek where that is
In the past it has been other areas that has grown us to the church we are today
and praise God for that
Today, it is becoming an elder led church
and we praise God for that
and in the future, God will reveal where we need to grow next
and we praise God for that
We don’t grumble at God for revealing the areas He wants us to grow
it is for our good and His glory
So that is the task Jesus gives to Peter here
Shepherd my church
YOU:
YOU:
And how is Peter to do this?
How does Jesus want Peter to lead?
by following
Let’s look at our concern for the people of Christ in ;
Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”
So as we saw in vs. 15-17, not only did Jesus offer forgiveness to Peter but He gave Peter purpose
And before revealing to Peter how to shepherd the church
Jesus hints at how Peter would die in vs. 18
Then in vs. 19, He tells Peter to shepherd the church by following Him
Lead by following Jesus says
See, those who make the best followers tend to make the best leaders
If you desire to be a leader, but you are unwilling to follow
either you won’t have the opportunity to lead or you will fail as a leader
So Jesus says to lead specifically, by following Him
As Peter shepherds the sheep, the reality is that the sheep are Jesus’s sheep
not Peter’s
Again, Jesus is our Senior Pastor, so we are following Him
It is His Word, His teachings, His instructions that guide us
As a shepherd here, my faithfulness is measured solely by how faithful I am to God’s Word
And for you, if you are leading and influencing others, your faithfulness is measured solely by how faithful you are to God’s Word
Not just in the church, in your family or jobs, you are to be faithful to God’s Word
Twice, Jesus specifically says, feed My sheep to Peter
So if faithfulness is measured by God’s Word
Then we must have a hearty helping of God’s Word
No artificial diet will do
Only by His Word are we nourished
again, Peter learned and taught this in , he says
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
As a shepherd, Peter needed to know God’s word
As your undershepherd, that is my responsibility
to be skilled in handling God’s Word
That is what we are looking for when we are looking for elders
men who, when you meet with them, they make God’s Word more clear to you
and they fit the qualifications outlined in Timothy and Titus
And because the Word is the diet and the shepherd is to know the Word
Feeding the sheep with the Word takes precedence
Jesus said to feed the sheep, not build the church
in , Jesus says
And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
You see, Jesus says, He will build the church, not Peter
undershepherds feed the church, Jesus builds it
And what is the motivation behind this command to Peter?
Jesus asks Peter, do you love me?
Peter says, You know I love you Lord
Since Peter loves Jesus, Peter is to shepherd the church
When leading, the motivation must be love for God
Any other motive opens the leader and the church up to serious dangers
Including, compromising doctrine, personal agendas, turf wars, mis-aligning priorities, and building one’s own kingdom instead of God’s
Leaders, we are to be motivated by love for God and nothing else!
And as sheep, we meet together to feed on God’s Word
We grow into Christ-likeness through this feeding
See it is possible to come to the table and have the food spread before you and not have you eat it
If your not eating this diet, you will notice your appetite for it will start to falter
Are you hungry for God’s Word?
your vitality for the things of this Word will start to falter
Are you urgent about God’ Word?
If the answer to these questions are no, then are you eating the Word?
Or are you coming to the table only to walk away without eating?
In our passage, Peter’s comfort is in the forgiveness of Christ because he experiences the mercy of Christ
Therefore his concern is for the people of Christ
So he leads by following Christ
If you haven’t experienced God’s mercy than you aren’t going to be able to teach about it
Sure, you may be able to do ministry from this need to compensate for guilt in your heart
but that will eventually be destructive
because you will be communicating to people the need to earn or keep’s God’s favor
Why?
Because that is how you are operating, your comfort is coming from your own morality, not the forgiveness of Christ
In order to be effective in ministry
It must come from an imperfect, broken sinner to another imperfect, broken sinner
That is what Peter is here
that is what I am
and that is what you are
WE:
WE:
As imperfect, broken sinners who have received God’s forgiveness
We are motivated to remind one another of the grace found in Jesus Christ
Now let’s turn our attention back to
We’re going to backtrack to vs. 20
and conclude the Gospel of John reading , where we see our commitment to the Cross of Christ
Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?” This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
As mentioned back in vs. 18, Jesus hints to how Peter will die
Before He tells Peter to follow Him in vs. 19
and where did Jesus go?
He went to the cross
So if we are to follow Jesus, it should not surprise us to come to our own cross
by that I mean, we are to be prepared to suffer as we follow Jesus
And not all of our suffering will be the same
but following Christ prepares us to suffer well by viewing suffering from God’s perspective
And we see Jesus debunk some myths about suffering in this passage
first, let me ask, does being a mature believer make suffering easier
Give me a thumbs up if you think, yea, if I’m mature suffering will be easy
give me a thumbs down if you think no, regardless of how mature I am, suffering will always be hard
I would agree with the thumbs down
Two parts of Scripture come to mind
first, After this, after book of Acts, after Peter is an extremely mature believer, he cautions Christians to not be surprised at the “fiery trial” that comes from following Jesus in 1 Peter
fiery trial doesn’t sound like suffering has gotten any easier
and second is Jesus, He pleads with the Father to let the suffering of the cross to pass from Him, and from the cross, He cries out asking the Father why He has forsaken Him
Again, as the Son of God, Jesus is the standard of maturity, and He doesn’t seem to portray that suffering as easy
So I believe a common myth we allow is that as we mature, suffering becomes easier, I don’t see biblical evidence to support this
Following Jesus gives purpose to suffering but it doesn’t make it easier
a second myth is that our behavior determines how much we will suffer
In this passage, instead of paying attention to what Jesus is teaching him when He says, ‘Follow Me’ back in vs. 19
Peter is focused on how he is going to die
So, he sees John behind them and basically says, what about this guy?
The same temptation we have when we experience suffering
We look at those who aren’t suffering, then make a determination based off legalism, and question God’s fairness
We tend to act like we agree that we deserve to experience some suffering, but because we are good Christian people, the suffering isn’t suppose to last too long
But you see, we forget, we don’t want fair, we want grace
because fairness would mean we get eternal suffering in hell, apart from God
So yes, God may give you a great amount of suffering while giving much less suffering to a brother or sister
but that difference has nothing to do with you and your behavior
it is entirely about God and His gracious, sovereign plan
And the final myth is that God isn’t in control of the suffering
I believe this myth is the most common and most dangerous
Because we are tempted to think
suffering is the result of sin
God doesn’t sin
So suffering must be outside of God’s control
But that is not what Scripture teaches!
In vs. 22, Jesus tells Peter that whatever happens to John will be God’s will for John
and that implies that what happens to Peter is God’s will for Peter
and historical records indicate that Peter was martyred for his faith
and that was God’s will
So your suffering is not meaningless
God has willed it, for His purpose
It is not random, we may not understand it, but do not doubt God and His purpose for it
The Christian life is simply complex
it is complex because we are sinners, living in a broken world
But at the end of John’s Gospel, in the epilogue
Jesus boils down the Christian life simply into two words
Follow Me
We follow Jesus by putting our confidence in the sovereignty of Christ, our comfort in the forgiveness of Christ, our concern for the people of Christ, and our commitment to the cross of Christ.
And the best followers will become the most effective leaders
So, whoever God has given you influence over, lead them by following Jesus
Let’s pray.