WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.740 Turn back in your Bibles to John chapter 21. 00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:05.740 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:38.060 Open your hatch and the content of your space station will rapidly fill the vacuum outside. 00:00:38.780 --> 00:00:39.780 Just bear that in mind. 00:00:41.179 --> 00:00:44.460 We hear of power vacuums too, don't we? 00:00:45.700 --> 00:00:53.700 And John chapter 21, I think one of the reasons it is written because the church abhors a vacuum too. 00:00:53.700 --> 00:01:03.280 In chapter 20 of John's Gospel, the resurrected Jesus has already appeared to the disciples twice. 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:06.260 There's been a change. 00:01:07.640 --> 00:01:11.120 Because whilst he appears, it's not the same, is it? 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:13.980 He also disappears from their sight. 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:22.800 Jesus no longer seems to be with his disciples as he was before his death and resurrection. 00:01:23.700 --> 00:01:26.640 In his earthly incarnational ministry. 00:01:27.820 --> 00:01:30.520 And that's what the disciples naturally want. 00:01:31.180 --> 00:01:34.659 Mary clings to Jesus in John 20. 00:01:35.760 --> 00:01:38.700 She wants Jesus like he used to be. 00:01:40.439 --> 00:01:42.700 And it might feel like that for you tonight. 00:01:43.579 --> 00:01:44.939 It might feel like that today. 00:01:45.100 --> 00:01:49.340 We worship the living Lord Jesus on Easter Sunday. 00:01:49.340 --> 00:01:57.600 But I wonder, do you feel, does the church sense a Jesus-shaped space? 00:01:58.740 --> 00:02:02.180 And we want it filling with something. 00:02:02.180 --> 00:02:11.020 For a couple of evenings, we're going to spend some time in John 21, this final chapter of his Gospel. 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:18.460 And in some ways, it's actually not very easy to see why it's actually here in the Bible. 00:02:18.460 --> 00:02:23.719 Just look to the end of chapter 20, if you've got a Bible in front of you. 00:02:24.920 --> 00:02:26.400 Those famous words. 00:02:27.200 --> 00:02:32.580 Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book. 00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:37.879 But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. 00:02:38.439 --> 00:02:41.460 And that by believing, you may have life in his name. 00:02:41.700 --> 00:02:42.020 Amen. 00:02:42.020 --> 00:02:45.900 Thank you very much and good night, says John. 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:51.580 It feels like a great ending to his Gospel, doesn't it, at the end of chapter 20. 00:02:53.060 --> 00:02:56.500 We've got the cross and the resurrection out of the way. 00:02:57.000 --> 00:02:59.240 It is finished, Jesus says. 00:03:00.260 --> 00:03:02.600 And it's the beginning of the end. 00:03:03.780 --> 00:03:04.600 Now what? 00:03:05.820 --> 00:03:07.400 And there is this space. 00:03:07.400 --> 00:03:13.260 Some say chapter 21 was written by another author. 00:03:14.319 --> 00:03:15.219 Well, it isn't. 00:03:16.080 --> 00:03:20.879 And you only have to read to the end of the chapter to find that out, that John wrote the whole thing. 00:03:22.020 --> 00:03:29.180 But I think it's here to show us that post-resurrection, it's actually only the end of the beginning. 00:03:29.180 --> 00:03:40.140 And that feeling of space in the life and work of the disciples and in the church is filled, despite appearances. 00:03:40.620 --> 00:03:46.100 It's filled entirely and fully by the resurrected Lord Jesus himself. 00:03:47.060 --> 00:03:51.800 For an open-ended, indeterminate period of time, i.e. forever. 00:03:53.260 --> 00:03:55.840 And they, the disciples, need to see that. 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:58.539 And we in the church need to see that. 00:03:58.640 --> 00:04:05.860 Despite what it might feel like tonight, what we might perceive as the presence of Jesus, or feel, 00:04:06.340 --> 00:04:10.379 there is no power vacuum in the church. 00:04:11.680 --> 00:04:16.560 Jesus is going to continue working in and through the disciples. 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:27.759 He won't be the resurrected and redundant Jesus, but the resurrected ruler and continual Lord of his church. 00:04:28.560 --> 00:04:30.300 Just as he was before. 00:04:31.540 --> 00:04:36.160 Post-resurrection, the disciples, none of them will have nothing to do. 00:04:37.000 --> 00:04:39.899 And thankfully, neither will they have everything to do. 00:04:39.899 --> 00:04:44.519 He will do what he's been doing with them until now. 00:04:44.859 --> 00:04:48.519 Even though there has been a change, he is back. 00:04:49.219 --> 00:04:54.779 And he's back not to sit back and let them do everything, but to work. 00:04:56.139 --> 00:05:03.739 We celebrate the resurrection today and every Sunday, but we ask for Monday, well what now? 00:05:03.740 --> 00:05:08.579 Well, post-resurrection, it is back to business. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:11.960 Because Jesus is back for business. 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:18.300 So I want to look at three things in the first half of this chapter tonight. 00:05:18.300 --> 00:05:26.939 First of all, we sense after the change and excitement of the first couple of appearances, after the resurrection, 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:31.199 firstly, the disciples' aimless work. 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:34.220 The disciples' aimless work. 00:05:35.980 --> 00:05:42.980 In this chapter, John gives us an account of the third appearance of the risen Jesus to his disciples in his gospel. 00:05:42.980 --> 00:05:50.840 He's already appeared to Mary and to Thomas and some of the other disciples locked away in a room. 00:05:51.840 --> 00:05:58.580 We get a dramatic appearance here, don't we, by the shore of Lake Tiberias or the Sea of Galilee. 00:06:00.240 --> 00:06:07.560 John, though, wants us to see the context here, to get into the mood, to get into the minds of the disciples. 00:06:07.560 --> 00:06:10.959 And in verse 1 to 3, we've got the scene. 00:06:12.500 --> 00:06:13.759 A few of them are together. 00:06:15.139 --> 00:06:18.420 But this time, at least, they're not locked in that room, are they? 00:06:18.480 --> 00:06:19.139 They're out. 00:06:20.420 --> 00:06:23.959 They're returning to some semblance of normality. 00:06:24.840 --> 00:06:27.360 To some activity, some work. 00:06:28.040 --> 00:06:29.620 Life must go on. 00:06:30.939 --> 00:06:33.660 But we're not sure what they're doing. 00:06:33.879 --> 00:06:36.680 Peter, he's not one to sit around, is he? 00:06:36.680 --> 00:06:39.699 He says, verse 3, I'm going fishing. 00:06:40.699 --> 00:06:41.959 And the others join in. 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:48.759 Maybe I'm being unfair here, but it doesn't suggest that they had their hands full until that point. 00:06:49.000 --> 00:06:52.860 And the other disciples didn't know what to do until Peter made that suggestion. 00:06:54.100 --> 00:06:57.860 I don't know if you can sense a slight aimlessness here. 00:06:59.019 --> 00:07:03.199 Jesus is physically absent and there's this question that hangs in the air. 00:07:03.340 --> 00:07:04.519 Well, what now? 00:07:04.519 --> 00:07:07.539 It feels like there's a space. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:10.019 There's an awkwardness that just needs filling. 00:07:10.799 --> 00:07:12.299 It needs filling with something. 00:07:13.319 --> 00:07:14.299 So let's get busy. 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:17.539 Let's at least go back to what we know. 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:19.259 Let's go back to our day job. 00:07:19.259 --> 00:07:26.620 But not only is it slightly aimless activity, it is futile activity too, isn't it? 00:07:26.699 --> 00:07:31.439 John adds in verse 3 that that night they caught nothing. 00:07:33.839 --> 00:07:35.959 Nighttime, John mentions here. 00:07:36.339 --> 00:07:38.399 It was a good time to fish, apparently. 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:44.000 Normally, you'd have your catch, which would be fresh for the early morning market the next day. 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:47.599 Which makes this even weirder, doesn't it? 00:07:47.659 --> 00:07:49.699 Weirder that they don't catch anything. 00:07:51.060 --> 00:07:52.859 And it feels like deja vu. 00:07:52.860 --> 00:07:58.960 From the first time that we hear of the disciples fishing and nothing. 00:08:00.040 --> 00:08:03.080 It's not even aimless work, it's futile work. 00:08:04.080 --> 00:08:07.280 Something like the first time they met Jesus. 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:10.619 Where it feels as though he is missing. 00:08:12.739 --> 00:08:19.339 The night time, as well in John's Gospel, isn't just about the shipping forecast and fishing details. 00:08:20.500 --> 00:08:23.879 In John's theology, it signifies something theological. 00:08:25.419 --> 00:08:30.759 It signifies the spiritual darkness of a world that carries on without Jesus. 00:08:31.939 --> 00:08:35.179 That avoids and operates hidden from his light. 00:08:35.179 --> 00:08:39.659 A world which is busy, but dark spiritually. 00:08:41.199 --> 00:08:44.120 And I'm not saying that the disciples are trying to avoid Jesus. 00:08:44.979 --> 00:08:48.899 But it feels as though we've regressed somewhat here. 00:08:49.719 --> 00:08:52.479 Into a namelessness, into a frustration. 00:08:54.339 --> 00:08:57.159 Before they recognise him, the figure on the shore asks, 00:08:57.679 --> 00:08:58.819 Have you got any fish? 00:08:59.939 --> 00:09:00.439 No. 00:09:01.879 --> 00:09:04.419 It is finished, but without Jesus, 00:09:04.419 --> 00:09:06.120 The disciples are lost. 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:09.059 They can't fill the space. 00:09:10.139 --> 00:09:11.419 They can't replace him. 00:09:11.879 --> 00:09:12.699 That's impossible. 00:09:14.259 --> 00:09:17.699 You can't just fill the gap with stuff, with busyness. 00:09:19.159 --> 00:09:23.179 And if we believe that we are without true direction, 00:09:23.179 --> 00:09:26.819 We will make up our own direction, won't we? 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:29.500 We say absence makes the heart grow fonder, 00:09:30.319 --> 00:09:34.179 But it also is true that out of sight, out of mind. 00:09:35.599 --> 00:09:40.539 And in his physical absence, we are guilty of thinking Jesus has done his work, 00:09:40.779 --> 00:09:42.279 But now he's not here. 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:46.839 The script has ended, and so we need to make up the rest. 00:09:46.840 --> 00:09:53.100 And the church, in some ways, has become quite aimless, hasn't it? 00:09:53.100 --> 00:09:59.000 Trying every new fad, and technique and programme, going back to what we know best. 00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:01.980 But the fish don't seem to be coming. 00:10:01.980 --> 00:10:10.240 We celebrate in glory in the resurrection, but we imagine whilst Jesus is risen, he is also retired. 00:10:11.460 --> 00:10:13.860 The church abhors a vacuum. 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:17.659 The disciples aimless work. 00:10:19.200 --> 00:10:22.860 Secondly, the resurrected Jesus gives fruitful work. 00:10:23.480 --> 00:10:26.080 The resurrected Jesus gives fruitful work. 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:34.700 The answer to that imaginary space, in the life of the church, and in our lives, is not to fill it with what we choose. 00:10:36.120 --> 00:10:39.259 But exactly what the disciples receive here. 00:10:40.460 --> 00:10:46.759 They receive a self-revelation of the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, don't they? 00:10:47.680 --> 00:10:49.000 Just look at verse 1. 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:57.399 After this, Jesus revealed himself by the Sea of Tiberias. 00:10:57.639 --> 00:11:01.240 He revealed himself in this way. 00:11:02.620 --> 00:11:07.600 And that is how anything happens at all in the life of the church. 00:11:08.120 --> 00:11:09.700 It's how it's only ever happened. 00:11:10.679 --> 00:11:15.740 It's how anything has ever happened with God's people in the history of the whole of God's people. 00:11:15.740 --> 00:11:23.360 The first thing that needs to happen before any real activity that makes any sense or is worth any while, 00:11:23.840 --> 00:11:28.379 the only thing that separates busyness and aimless activity from obedience, 00:11:29.180 --> 00:11:31.279 is that God reveals. 00:11:32.720 --> 00:11:34.120 He reveals himself. 00:11:35.820 --> 00:11:37.799 He speaks to Adam and Eve. 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:39.000 Be fruitful. 00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:39.919 Multiply. 00:11:40.860 --> 00:11:42.440 He reveals himself to Abraham. 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:45.500 Go from the land of your fathers. 00:11:46.420 --> 00:11:47.940 He speaks through the prophets. 00:11:48.640 --> 00:11:50.140 Speaks in the incarnation. 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:54.480 And then as he speaks, things start to happen, don't they? 00:11:55.060 --> 00:11:59.420 His people begin to do things and obey him and have purpose. 00:12:00.860 --> 00:12:08.180 And in this brief hiatus of activity, the resurrected Jesus himself reveals himself. 00:12:08.179 --> 00:12:10.759 I'm back. 00:12:11.639 --> 00:12:13.459 And I'm back for business. 00:12:15.579 --> 00:12:18.879 Tomorrow, or maybe when bank holiday is done, Tuesday, 00:12:19.479 --> 00:12:24.879 we might experience a bit of post-Easter decline in our spirits. 00:12:25.879 --> 00:12:30.199 The big celebrations, the eggs, the hallelujahs, and all of that. 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:32.819 When that's gone, what then? 00:12:32.820 --> 00:12:40.660 It's interesting how John has a particular nuance on the resurrection appearances in his gospel. 00:12:41.580 --> 00:12:46.700 And what we see, I think, is the repeated idea of Jesus revealing himself 00:12:46.700 --> 00:12:50.240 and consequently there being activity. 00:12:52.060 --> 00:12:55.800 He appears and then sets his disciples to work. 00:12:55.799 --> 00:13:01.679 In their aimlessness, they need a revelation of the risen Jesus Christ. 00:13:03.099 --> 00:13:10.439 And that is why the Bible shows us that preaching is not just talking about Jesus. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:13.919 It is Jesus' talk. 00:13:15.299 --> 00:13:21.919 That the sacraments are not primarily about us professing to God about our faith and to one another, 00:13:22.120 --> 00:13:23.319 although it is that. 00:13:23.320 --> 00:13:31.900 It is about him professing to us and speaking to us and revealing his presence to us. 00:13:32.980 --> 00:13:37.020 In his physical absence, it is not the end. 00:13:38.120 --> 00:13:39.980 And the plot thickens. 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:48.280 Because the resurrected Jesus reveals himself and he continues to do so in his church. 00:13:48.279 --> 00:13:50.899 And therefore there is activity. 00:13:51.959 --> 00:13:53.299 There is work going on. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:58.559 Just look with me at these three appearances at the end of John. 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:01.220 Just look to chapter 20, verse 17. 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:04.319 This is when the resurrected Jesus meets Mary. 00:14:06.379 --> 00:14:09.679 And she wants to cling to him, doesn't she? 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:14.479 Jesus says to her, don't cling to me for I have not yet ascended to the Father, 00:14:14.739 --> 00:14:21.819 but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and to your Father. 00:14:22.799 --> 00:14:26.079 Revelation, work, activity. 00:14:26.539 --> 00:14:27.579 Go, speak. 00:14:27.580 --> 00:14:32.480 And then appearance two, in chapter 20, verse 21. 00:14:33.700 --> 00:14:35.980 Jesus appears in this locked room and says, 00:14:36.100 --> 00:14:37.240 Peace be with you. 00:14:37.540 --> 00:14:41.900 As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. 00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:46.280 Revelation, work, activity. 00:14:46.279 --> 00:14:50.579 And then appearance three, in our chapter this evening. 00:14:50.699 --> 00:14:56.139 This chapter, if you read the whole thing, it's absolutely full of commands, actually. 00:14:57.459 --> 00:14:58.480 Listen to them. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:00.339 Disciples, verse 6. 00:15:01.259 --> 00:15:02.439 Cast the net. 00:15:03.939 --> 00:15:04.860 Verse 10. 00:15:05.559 --> 00:15:06.879 Bring some fish. 00:15:08.139 --> 00:15:09.879 Later on in verse 15. 00:15:10.459 --> 00:15:11.980 Feed my lambs. 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:14.699 Tend my lambs. 00:15:14.700 --> 00:15:17.000 Verse 19. 00:15:17.240 --> 00:15:19.560 He says to Peter, follow me. 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:21.259 Verse 22. 00:15:21.560 --> 00:15:22.920 You follow me. 00:15:24.259 --> 00:15:28.180 It's no longer aimless, futile work, is it? 00:15:29.280 --> 00:15:33.080 The whole chapter reminds us of his first calling then. 00:15:33.140 --> 00:15:37.540 As if to say, it is finished and it is back to business. 00:15:38.860 --> 00:15:43.120 It is the end of the beginning, but it is the beginning of the end. 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:46.679 And his revelation galvanises them. 00:15:46.779 --> 00:15:48.379 There is no vacuum. 00:15:49.899 --> 00:15:50.679 He is risen. 00:15:51.299 --> 00:15:52.200 He is not retired. 00:15:53.500 --> 00:15:56.960 And once they see him, they have him and they're set to work. 00:15:57.879 --> 00:15:59.580 He gets them working here, doesn't he? 00:15:59.639 --> 00:16:03.960 But in the same way that he fed the 5,000 with them earlier in the gospel. 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:09.060 He gets them to do the work, but he produces the blessing. 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:10.800 He provides the fruit. 00:16:12.180 --> 00:16:14.639 And here it's this monster catch of fish. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:18.620 John tells us 153 fish. 00:16:19.480 --> 00:16:20.500 Large fish. 00:16:21.019 --> 00:16:21.740 What's that about? 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:25.940 Well, actually I think that number is highly symbolic. 00:16:25.940 --> 00:16:31.500 I'm slightly pulling your leg because it's highly symbolic of the number of fish that was caught. 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:32.700 That is it. 00:16:33.700 --> 00:16:35.420 The point is, there was a lot. 00:16:37.060 --> 00:16:42.480 He takes their efforts and he makes their work work. 00:16:44.040 --> 00:16:48.980 Before he appeared, before he revealed himself, there was nothing. 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:50.600 Zilch. 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:55.700 But he produces the fruit, all 153 of them. 00:16:57.060 --> 00:17:03.540 And in his resurrection appearance, he is leading and commissioning his church into action. 00:17:03.720 --> 00:17:05.319 And it's all done in his power. 00:17:06.519 --> 00:17:07.120 He's back. 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:10.599 Jesus gives them fruitful work. 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:16.360 And thirdly and lastly, Jesus is the loving host. 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:19.640 Jesus, the resurrected Jesus, is the loving host. 00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:27.059 That word work, fishing, was hard work. 00:17:28.959 --> 00:17:30.859 And so is evangelism, isn't it? 00:17:31.879 --> 00:17:38.439 And church work and witnessing and being a Christian in the workplace. 00:17:39.779 --> 00:17:41.659 And the challenges of church life. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:47.139 We might feel that we don't always want to jump for joy in those things. 00:17:47.140 --> 00:17:50.460 And we might feel the space. 00:17:52.040 --> 00:17:53.640 But it's work, isn't it? 00:17:53.700 --> 00:18:00.780 Notice that it's punctuated by the resurrected Jesus and his provision and his rest. 00:18:00.779 --> 00:18:07.440 Like I said earlier, the chapter is full of commands that the resurrected Jesus gives. 00:18:08.019 --> 00:18:10.639 Revealing and then setting to work. 00:18:11.460 --> 00:18:12.879 But a lovely touch. 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:15.480 There is a command in verse 12 too. 00:18:16.700 --> 00:18:17.839 Come and have breakfast. 00:18:19.819 --> 00:18:22.480 It's not all fingers to the bone labour, is it? 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:24.539 His yoke is easy. 00:18:24.539 --> 00:18:25.819 His burden is light. 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:28.220 It's a lovely scene. 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:31.000 They do the work that he tells them to do. 00:18:31.079 --> 00:18:32.140 They cast the net. 00:18:32.680 --> 00:18:35.140 And he blesses the produce. 00:18:35.640 --> 00:18:39.360 And then the first thing they see when they get to shore. 00:18:39.480 --> 00:18:40.059 Verse 9. 00:18:40.140 --> 00:18:43.240 A charcoal fire with fish laid on it. 00:18:43.539 --> 00:18:44.200 And some bread. 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:48.819 John uses three words for fish here. 00:18:49.340 --> 00:18:50.759 And this one is singular. 00:18:51.660 --> 00:18:54.759 So it's probably a big fish on the grill. 00:18:55.120 --> 00:18:57.100 Like a, I don't know, a big tuna. 00:18:57.500 --> 00:18:58.299 Something like that. 00:18:59.180 --> 00:19:01.340 Such a warming scene, isn't it? 00:19:01.740 --> 00:19:02.480 It's inviting. 00:19:02.779 --> 00:19:03.900 It's like coming home. 00:19:05.299 --> 00:19:08.299 Jesus has been there preparing all of this. 00:19:09.200 --> 00:19:10.299 He's lit the fire. 00:19:10.920 --> 00:19:11.860 He's got the bread. 00:19:11.859 --> 00:19:14.059 He provides. 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:15.199 He hosts. 00:19:16.679 --> 00:19:24.219 He loves his tired, sometimes overworked, confused, excited disciples. 00:19:25.419 --> 00:19:27.279 With a familiar love. 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:29.019 It's a familiar scene, isn't it? 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:30.839 As they eat with Jesus. 00:19:32.379 --> 00:19:35.939 Of that foot washing love that he's shown them. 00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:36.899 Of that serving. 00:19:37.899 --> 00:19:38.759 And of that dying. 00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:40.939 He's back. 00:19:41.859 --> 00:19:46.099 It would otherwise be a very ordinary scene, wouldn't it? 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:47.919 A few guys going out fishing. 00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:49.339 Having breakfast together. 00:19:50.139 --> 00:19:51.099 It's totally normal. 00:19:51.539 --> 00:19:53.799 It's totally mundane, really. 00:19:54.659 --> 00:19:58.619 Apart from this revelation of the resurrected Lord Jesus. 00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:00.639 Who eats with them. 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:05.779 And there is something now extraordinary about the ordinary. 00:20:05.779 --> 00:20:09.019 For want of a better word. 00:20:09.019 --> 00:20:11.299 It's almost spooky, isn't it? 00:20:11.299 --> 00:20:11.980 This meal. 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:17.599 There's a wonderful oddness about the living Jesus. 00:20:18.379 --> 00:20:20.779 An other worldly quality about him. 00:20:21.180 --> 00:20:23.879 They don't recognise him, do they, at first. 00:20:25.139 --> 00:20:26.759 Then they know it's him. 00:20:26.759 --> 00:20:35.140 None of the disciples, John tells us in verse 12, dared ask him, who are you? 00:20:35.140 --> 00:20:38.080 That word ask. 00:20:38.620 --> 00:20:40.700 It means to inquire. 00:20:41.160 --> 00:20:42.320 To scrutinise. 00:20:42.420 --> 00:20:43.040 To examine. 00:20:43.900 --> 00:20:45.040 To search out. 00:20:46.440 --> 00:20:49.140 John tells us they knew it was the Lord. 00:20:49.820 --> 00:20:52.700 Yet they wanted to discover more, didn't they? 00:20:53.580 --> 00:20:55.340 To just make sense of him. 00:20:55.339 --> 00:20:58.699 He's the same, but he's different. 00:20:59.939 --> 00:21:03.319 He's heavy with the strangeness of new creation. 00:21:04.519 --> 00:21:10.659 And it's a primal moment of simultaneous puzzlement and recognition at the same time. 00:21:11.699 --> 00:21:13.759 They can hardly put it into words. 00:21:13.879 --> 00:21:15.220 Not even in a question. 00:21:16.699 --> 00:21:17.859 He's exciting. 00:21:19.139 --> 00:21:23.879 And a simple meal, breakfast, ends up being thrilling. 00:21:25.339 --> 00:21:26.679 Because he is there. 00:21:28.119 --> 00:21:30.259 The excitement is palpable, isn't it? 00:21:30.279 --> 00:21:32.179 It's a real meal to remember. 00:21:32.899 --> 00:21:36.799 The last meal they had with him was before he was impaled on a cross. 00:21:37.859 --> 00:21:40.799 But now if my eyes aren't deceiving me, he's back. 00:21:40.899 --> 00:21:43.159 And he's cooking me fish for breakfast. 00:21:44.059 --> 00:21:45.119 He's giving me bread. 00:21:46.599 --> 00:21:51.359 With him, the mundane, aimless work of life. 00:21:51.639 --> 00:21:52.359 The ordinary. 00:21:52.359 --> 00:21:59.359 The work of witness and of mission and of catching fish is utterly... 00:22:00.839 --> 00:22:03.500 Well, they've got no words to utter, have they? 00:22:03.699 --> 00:22:04.059 Literally. 00:22:05.959 --> 00:22:12.059 And notice how just as in the work, the person of Jesus is central to everything that goes on here. 00:22:12.639 --> 00:22:15.279 He's central to this meal, to this meeting. 00:22:16.059 --> 00:22:17.579 They're lost for words. 00:22:17.659 --> 00:22:18.599 They don't say anything. 00:22:18.599 --> 00:22:24.779 And the action, if you see, is all him as they sit down over the fire. 00:22:25.740 --> 00:22:29.919 They sit in silence as he takes bread and as he gives it to them. 00:22:30.419 --> 00:22:31.439 And so with the fish. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:34.279 He does everything. 00:22:34.899 --> 00:22:38.039 The resurrected Jesus, he provides the fish. 00:22:38.679 --> 00:22:39.480 He cooks it. 00:22:39.599 --> 00:22:40.379 He serves it. 00:22:40.519 --> 00:22:41.279 He does it all. 00:22:41.279 --> 00:22:45.420 We're here tonight, aren't we? 00:22:45.420 --> 00:22:53.359 And we may, in some sense, feel the physical absence of the resurrected Lord Jesus. 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:59.059 But by faith, we need to see that the resurrected Lord Jesus is here. 00:23:00.099 --> 00:23:05.619 And he will pass out bread that he himself has procured. 00:23:06.879 --> 00:23:09.200 Signaling his body and his blood. 00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:12.759 We know who he is. 00:23:13.539 --> 00:23:14.759 We know it's the Lord. 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:21.660 And yet, tonight, we are going to eat with someone like the disciples who is different. 00:23:22.660 --> 00:23:23.940 Who is glorified. 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:28.700 Whose resurrection life excites us. 00:23:29.700 --> 00:23:33.100 Who we want to dare to ask, who are you? 00:23:33.099 --> 00:23:39.199 A resurrected Jesus who galvanises us into work. 00:23:39.879 --> 00:23:44.500 And he says quite clearly to us, the resurrection is not my retirement. 00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:48.740 And he reveals himself to us tonight. 00:23:50.019 --> 00:23:53.839 And he commissions us to proclaim and to work. 00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:57.319 Yes, while he hosts us at the same time. 00:23:58.179 --> 00:23:59.279 Come and have breakfast. 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:04.899 I want to say more about this chapter next week. 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:10.960 And this chapter, I think, it ties up several loose ends in the whole of the gospel. 00:24:11.079 --> 00:24:16.240 And one of which is the relationship between the beloved disciple John and Peter. 00:24:16.240 --> 00:24:19.380 And we'll get on to that next Sunday. 00:24:20.460 --> 00:24:31.460 We get an insight into how Jesus intends his people to behave and to relate to one another in the vocations that he's given each of us after his resurrection. 00:24:31.460 --> 00:24:38.700 Because there is no suggestion that the resurrection means retirement for Jesus or for the church. 00:24:39.840 --> 00:24:44.120 And Jesus has removed himself from the work of his church. 00:24:44.220 --> 00:24:44.960 Far from it. 00:24:46.019 --> 00:24:55.240 And the disciples have to learn that they are to never think that we need to be a replacement or a substitute for Christ in the world. 00:24:56.059 --> 00:24:58.220 Because there is no vacuum. 00:24:58.220 --> 00:25:07.720 Jesus shows the disciples here that in his nearing physical absence, in his ascension, actually he is back. 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:10.140 And he's back for business. 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:12.720 The resurrected Lord Jesus. 00:25:13.140 --> 00:25:22.740 And he calls us to cast the net and to get to work as he continues to reveal himself to us. 00:25:23.380 --> 00:25:25.600 And as we're hosted by him tonight. 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:28.859 And so we have all we need. 00:25:29.419 --> 00:25:30.879 And to have purpose. 00:25:31.819 --> 00:25:33.659 To have fruitful work. 00:25:33.799 --> 00:25:34.699 We have him. 00:25:34.699 --> 00:25:35.839 Don't we? 00:25:36.819 --> 00:25:38.000 Because he's back. 00:25:39.399 --> 00:25:40.659 Let's pray together.