Sermon Tone Analysis

That you may Believe and have Life #52

John 21

 

Well … 18 months ago we started our journey with John through the life of Christ.

We Have taken a few side trips but we are at message number #52.

Obviously we could have spent many more weeks dissecting this great gospel.

John wrote his book later than all the others.

He had the benefit of maturity and time to interpret the memories and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Even then John admits at the end of Chapter 20 that he didn’t record everything Jesus did.

He says that /“Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.”/

But then he gives you the purpose of what he recorded, /That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ/, the Anointed Promised Messiah, the Son of God, and that in that believing you may /have life in his name/.

And that is how chapter 20 ends.

It seems to be the end of the record.

So, why write chapter 21? 

 

John seems to have finished writing and then seems to say “let me tell you one more thing”.

I can resemble that remark.

You get in storytelling mode and it’s hard to quit; especially when you are talking about such a great subject.

So, why one more story?

It seems that John is giving us insight into the transformational power of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.

How did Peter go from Defeated Denier to the Powerful Preacher of the book of Acts?

We saw all of these disciples in chapter 20 hiding in the Upper Room, behind locked doors.

But how did they get from there to Pentecost?

It is still about Jesus Christ.

Jesus being the great Leader and Lord would not leave them unequipped or uninformed.

Acts 1 tells us /“after his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.

He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.”/

Well chapter 21 gives us a peek into one of those encounters and perhaps some insight into the ongoing struggle within the disciples as the flesh and the Spirit struggled with moving from failure to faith, from running to standing, denying to proclaiming …

 

Now I want us to see the WHOLE story and how it moved the disciples forward.

And I want us here at New Life Baptist Church to ask ourselves … how will WE be impacted by the Resurrection of Jesus Christ?

What will we do?

Let’s read the story

READ 21

 

Now, you might wonder about wonder about those last 2 verses.

Those verses were most likely written by the Elders from the Church at Ephesus to give an affirmation that this chapter was written by John just like the rest of the book and both were true.

You see most likely the rest of the book was written perhaps decades earlier.

While they were all honest in their portrayal of Peter, John, didn’t like it left that way so now at perhaps 100 AD as an old man, John finishes his story.

Look at verse 1.  John is the only one in the gospels to call it Tiberias.

It is Galilee.

But toward the end of the Century it was renamed.

So John is not leaving Peter as fearful and denying but as one ready to follow Jesus to death.

This was a transformational event the in the life of the disciples

Jesus begins by

 

1.

Realigning Priorities

In Luke 5 Jesus had been teaching, suggested the disciples let down their nets.

Peter said “/we’ve been fishing all day and night but didn’t catch anything, but if you want us …”/

They let down their nets and caught more fish than they could handle …

Peter fell at Jesus’ feet confessing his sinfulness made plain by the presence of a Holy Christ.

And Jesus said \\ /“don’t be afraid, from now on you will be fishers of men”/ and they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Please notice how things began.

Notice the change in Peter’s life that day.

That day when Jesus revealed himself, opened their eyes to believe Peter and the other “fishing disciples” left everything to follow Jesus.

Interestingly it doesn’t say they docked boats, or tied them to the shore.

Luke wrote they “pulled their boats on shore”

 

Do you remember when you laid everything down to follow Jesus.

When they laid everything down and followed Jesus … he had given them the commission /“I will make you fishers of men”/

 

The first priority in their walk with him, he had given them was attracting people to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

He gave them the commission of proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Well, a lot had happened since then.

They had followed Jesus.

They had learned from him.

They had seen mighty things.

But things changed that night in the courtyard.

The disciples all fled.

Peter stayed on the fringes but instead of proclaiming Christ, he denied Christ.

And then even after Jesus was resurrected, those doubts still lingered.

He was following him again, but did Jesus have room for someone who denied him?

And the boats came off the shore, and back into the water.

Remember, if you can, how it was when you first came to Christ.

Sometimes, though, along the way, things get in the way.

Perhaps, we’ve lost our opportunity.

Boats off the shore, fishing all night, catching nothing., Hmmm, does this sound familiar?

You know in teaching and leading, often, timing is everything.

Who has better timing than Jesus?

He allows the scene to play out nearly just as before.

The disciples don’t see it at first.

Jesus asks an interesting question, /“Friends, you got any fish?”/

That’s a deep question.

He changed their priorities and told them they were fishers of men.

I don’t guess there were any men snagged since the cross.

“/No/” they answered … still they didn’t understand it

Until they hall in the fish, and then John gets it right away.

Tells Peter, he dives in, swims to shore and as he comes up … there on the shore a fire of burning coals …

 

This Greek word, /anthrakia/ is only used two places in the New Testament … In John 21 and in John 18.

The heap of burning coals in John 18 was the site of Peter’s denial in the courtyard.

If this were a movie, as Peter made the shore and came up on to the beach, in the dusk, I believe there would have been a flashback … and it would have been natural for Peter to flashback …

The Lord uses a circumstance, like their first call to be fishers of men, to bring them back to their Priorities and then builds the same kind of fire to bring him back to the place where he left that he might restore him.

/No stern rebuke./

/Nor withering scorn/

/Could have wrought/

/So much that wondrous mourn./

/For as Peter looked/

/on the glowing coal,/

/Shame and remorse/

/Swept over his soul./

/And thoughts pierced and burned/

/Like sword and fire./

/As he gazed upon/

/This anthrakia./

/For he saw himself/

/Yet once again/

/In the high priest's hall/