John 21.
Give me a moment just to find it.
I'm reading the ESV version.
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, Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee,
the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.
Simon Peter said to them, I'm 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.
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 had 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.
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 had been reclining at table close to him 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.
So,
sorry everyone.
I was working between two computers there and two screens.
So,
I just needed to,
I thought I was going to be unmuted from the center.
Sorry about that.
Okay,
I was just saying to Rachel that I was really glad she played that song because it's also a favorite of mine.
Many of the time I've sat on top of a hill.
We have a big storm rolling in and that's the song that comes to mind.
This morning we're going to look at the first part of John chapter 21.
We decided to break it into two parts.
There's just a fair bit in it.
So,
we're just mainly concentrating on the first 14 verses today.
They say it's impossible to improve on perfection.
Well,
John seems to have achieved perfection in his biography of the life of Jesus.
He has carefully and thoughtfully led us through the three-year story of Jesus.
He's presented detailed evidence of what Jesus claimed about himself and the miraculous things that Jesus did to back up his claims.
John shocked us with the terrible injustice and tragedy of Jesus' crucifixion, his death and his burial.
Then he confronts us with the outrageous proposition that Jesus come back from the dead.
He describes incidents where individuals and groups actually meet the resurrected Lord, the resurrected Jesus,
and we're prompted to say,
I or we have seen the Lord.
And finally,
Thomas,
the ultimate skeptic,
as we saw last week,
is compelled by the sheer will of hard evidence to respond to Jesus in words of worship,
my Lord and my God.
And with that,
John's superbly worded conclusion seems to bring us to a point of perfection.
The conclusion,
verse 30,
20,
30 and 31 seems to be perfection itself.
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.
What more could be added?
What more could be gained?
His case has been perfectly presented.
Yet,
we have chapter 21.
John.
And chapter 21,
therefore,
presents a bit of a textural challenge,
which we need to address first up.
And basically,
the question is,
how does chapter 21 fit into John's biography?
At first glance,
it seemed so,
it seems so ordinary compared to chapter 20.
And that's led some to conclude that chapter 21 is a much later addition by someone other than John.
But that seems unlikely because no manuscripts of John's gospel have been found without chapter 21.
And the style and the vocabulary of chapter 21 fit easily with the rest of the gospel.
And verse 24 and 25 don't have to be problematic.
It appears quite simply that John has a bunch of people behind the scenes whom he chooses to leave unnamed,
but who are qualified particularly both to authenticate John as an eyewitness of everything written in his biography,
and also to authenticate him as a competent historian and writer who has carefully and fairly selected from a vast quantity of material
as he presents his case for Christ beyond reasonable doubt.
So it's far more accurate to think of chapter 24 as the epilogue,
just as chapter 1 is the prologue.
And together,
the opening and closing chapters become massive bookends,
highlighting the two great pillars of the gospel,
the incarnation and the resurrection of Jesus.
And many times in this series,
I've suggested that John's biography is presented like a courtroom trial.
And I've sent through with the email,
the bulletin email this week,
a summary diagram.
So you could check out the detail of that.
The prologue is the opening statement for the prosecution in terms of a courtroom trial.
And that's where he makes clear what he intends to argue.
And then chapters 22 through to 20 is the hard evidence to back up his claims.
And finally,
at chapter 21 is the epilogue,
his closing statement,
which pulls the whole case together practically.
And the bookends themselves are tied together with a very significant word for John,
the word revealed,
which means manifested in the Greek,
which means to show something as it really is.
If you look back to John chapter one,
verse 31,
John the Baptist was very much aware that his purpose was simply that Jesus would be manifested.
John chapter one,
verse 31,
John says,
I myself did not know him,
but for this purpose,
I came baptizing with water that he might be revealed or manifested to Israel.
So John's biography begins with him,
with Jesus manifested as the pre-incarnate,
pre-existent word of God,
the creator and sustainer of everything in this world,
the one who shows and displays God's glory like no other.
He's manifested as God's Messiah,
God's King and Savior,
taking on flesh or humanness to bring salvation to our world,
to bring new relationship with God and build a new community of true Israelites,
people who would gladly worship,
honor,
and obey the Lord.
So the biography begins as a supernatural,
miraculous,
incredible story.
And John's biography concludes with the post-resurrection Jesus manifesting himself.
Look at chapter 21,
verse one,
twice in this verse,
that word used.
After this,
Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias.
And he manifested himself in this way.
And again,
verse 14,
this was now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
High emphasis.
What's happening here?
Why the emphasis?
Well,
I think it goes something like this.
Having demonstrated his love for and commitment to saving his people in his death,
he now wants his saved people to be totally committed to him as the resurrection man,
properly understanding the significance of his resurrection,
and living with resurrection delight and purpose.
In other words,
Jesus wants his people to understand that the resurrection changes everything,
not just for Jesus,
but for them.
And here in these verses,
Jesus continues to manifest as truly and completely God.
In the story here,
he just turns up where he wants.
He's concerned with the physical needs of those he loves.
And it's interesting that this fishing story is not presented like other miracles in John's record.
This is just really Jesus being Jesus,
providing for his people from his limitless power and his endless compassion.
Here,
in these verses,
Jesus,
as God's King and Savior,
initiates fellowship with his own,
another familiar phrase from John's gospel,
his own who have believed and received life.
Interestingly,
these guys were off fishing.
They weren't seeking Jesus,
but he pursued them,
determined to bring them to full understanding of his glory,
as the resurrection man,
and bring them to full engagement in resurrection life.
And here,
as I've said before,
Jesus manifests himself as truly and completely human.
There's real emphasis in the chapter 20 and 21 on the real bodily resurrection of Jesus.
He's not hallucination.
He's not some disembodied spirit,
hovering.
He continues to be completely human after his resurrection.
A real body,
real puncture marks,
real hunger for a real breakfast of bread and grilled fish,
real conversation,
in a moment,
a real moment of time.
Now again,
the question is,
why such emphasis on bodily,
physical resurrection?
Well,
very simply,
it's because it's essential to salvation.
So it goes something like this.
One obvious consequence of sin was physical death.
When Jesus fully paid the penalty for sin in his death,
the consequence no longer applied.
Hence,
coming back from death in bodily resurrection.
And even more amazing,
what we see here in chapter 21 is that the resurrection man will take flesh with him forever into heaven.
That is just mind boggling.
And it provides great hope,
confidence,
and reassurance for us.
Jesus is our trailblazer.
What he gets,
we get.
That is bodily resurrection,
to be with the Lord in heaven forever.
So,
as John's biography of Jesus begins,
so it ends.
A supernatural,
miraculous,
incredible story.
Friends,
Arthur Pink writes,
and we'll be looking at this in the breakout groups,
Arthur Pink writes this,
we cannot make too much of the death of Christ,
but we can make too little of his resurrection.
Our hearts and minds cannot meditate too frequently on the cross,
but in pondering the sufferings of the Savior,
let us not forget the glories which followed.
Calvary does not exhaust the gospel message.
End of quotation.
Chapter 21 shows that Jesus has more to teach,
and his disciples have more to learn.
So,
in the remaining time,
let's look at what the teaching focus of these first 14 verses is.
The teaching focus is that fellowship is the goal of salvation.
Now,
the incident begins with seven disciples,
all fishermen by trade,
but now bonded at another level in their common experience of the resurrection man,
Jesus.
All now believed that he was alive.
But apart from this,
it appears that they have no sense,
no new sense of identity and purpose in life as a consequence of Jesus' resurrection.
So we find them here in this story,
they simply went back to what was familiar,
fishing.
Now,
it's really important to note here that evidence was super important for their belief to that particular point.
They all believed that Jesus had come back from the dead.
But here's the problem.
They needed a deeper work in their hearts to see the implication of Jesus' resurrection.
In a previous encounter that Dave took us through last week in chapter 20, verse 21,
Jesus,
when he turned up in the middle and said,
peace be with you.
Now,
that word peace is also the word for rest.
And the word for rest was a feature of Genesis 1,
the end point in God's creation.
And rest was the enjoyment of relationship between God and his image bearers in the context of whole of life worship,
glad obedience and delight in God.
Sin stole rest away,
stole that peace or rest,
leaving God's people at odds with God,
leaving God's people restless as they search for meaning and purpose and satisfaction in places and things other than God.
And here in this story,
after the resurrection,
we see Jesus demonstrating what it looks like to belong to resurrection,
resurrection man's new community.
Jesus is committed to pursuing them
so that they might have full enjoyment of new life in relationship with him.
That he might,
they might enjoy rest
and know God's rest.
Here in these verses,
we see Jesus providing his hungry,
tired,
defeated disciples with breakfast.
And in this action,
reminding them
that he is both the source of their life
and the provider of their every need.
Now,
you remember,
Jesus had taught them visually months earlier,
as part of his ministry through the feeding of the 5,000.
He had taught them that very lesson,
that he was the source of the life
and the provider of their every need.
Only two weeks earlier,
he had reinforced that same lesson
as they ate and drank together on the night he was killed.
You remember,
that whole section was about their hearts being deeply troubled.
They were confused.
But fellowship with Jesus
assured them
that everything was going to plan
according to King Jesus.
It gave them hope of true life
beyond his death.
Jesus shows
that believing
in him,
and he shows it here,
that believing in him
as the resurrection man
means living
under his lordship
at every point in life,
recognizing that daily needs
are his ongoing concern.
And it's quite interesting
the interchanging
between Jesus and the disciples
at the end of the fishing trip.
Tired and dejected
after a long night
without catching a single fish.
Remember,
this is their competence
as fishermen
being exposed now.
Jesus asked them a question.
It was a very colloquial,
friendly question.
Hey guys,
catch any fish?
And his question
immediately forces them
to admit their inability
to provide for themselves.
Then he commands them
to let their net down
on the other side of the boat.
His command
asked them
to trust his ability
and competence
for the basics of life.
And then,
of course,
we know the consequence
of obedience and trust
was huge blessing
in that miraculous catch of fish.
And that leaves,
verse 12,
that leaves the disciples
once again
with their heads spinning.
They know dearly well
it's Jesus.
Just as they're coming
to terms with Jesus
as the resurrection man,
suddenly there's a new challenge,
a new challenge
to engage personally
with Jesus,
to live under his lordship
at every point
to be in fellowship
with him
as the ultimate purpose
of his death
and resurrection.
And finally,
in these verses,
I think here we see
Jesus confirming
his key promise
of his ministry,
which was that
his own will come to him,
believe in him,
and receive abundant life.
The life of unimaginably
huge blessing,
which they saw
before their very eyes
in a very limited way,
153 large fish.
Now,
how does that come out?
Well,
I actually believe
that John
names this group
in these first verses
very deliberately
and it's part of his point.
Now,
the fact that
Nathaniel's mentioned here
immediately throws us
back to chapter one.
That's the only other time
that Nathaniel is mentioned
in the whole biography.
Now,
there's two unnamed
disciples here
and if we assume
for a moment
that they are
Andrew and Philip,
then what we have
is a very significant
group of disciples
taking us right back
to the start
of Jesus' ministry.
In fact,
all those first invited
into fellowship
with Jesus
at the start
of his ministry
are here now
with the resurrection man,
Jesus.
Not only that,
but it includes Peter
who denied
and abandoned Jesus
and Thomas
who just outright
refused to believe
initially.
And here's the point.
Jesus is demonstrating here,
manifesting himself
as truly God,
truly Savior,
truly King.
None have been lost
as he promised.
For all their failure,
for all their lack
of understanding,
they had been brought
to belief
and now
we're experiencing
peace,
rest,
and fellowship
with the Lord Jesus.
Friends,
as I wrap up
my time here,
the resurrection man
is incredibly
strong
in terms of evidence.
The resurrection man
is proof,
proof of so many things.
Firstly,
he's proof
that the gospel
is real
and that it works
to change people.
Why?
Because Jesus
perseveres
and changes
people's hearts
and renews
their desires
and ability
to love
and serve him
through the Holy Spirit
within them.
We're seeing this process
happening
in these particular
disciples.
Jesus has more
to teach
and they've got
more to learn.
And guess what?
Verse 12 again,
the more they learn,
the more their categories
have to change
because Jesus
is just bigger
than they could ever imagine.
His grace
is bigger
than they could ever have thought.
The gospel
is also about
grace
creating a new community
of fellowship
and worship.
So here's the rub
for you and me
very, very practically.
It's never enough
simply to believe
that Jesus
rose from the dead.
It's never enough
simply to believe
those basic facts
that come out
of the hard evidence.
It's true
but it's never enough.
You need to respond
and pursue fellowship
with the resurrection man,
Jesus,
living every aspect
of life
under his lordship.
See,
it's not a proper
gospel response
to focus
on your forgiveness,
true as that might be,
through the death
of Jesus.
Without also focusing
on what it looks like
and what it means
to live
authentically
in the resurrection
community.
Drawn into fellowship
with Jesus,
drawn into worship
of him
in every part
of your day,
every day
of your life.
And of course,
here's where we push up
against our sinful hearts
again.
Because our sinful hearts
would push us
to make Jesus' death
a sort of personal
get out of jail
free insurance policy.
I can relax now.
My sins are all forgiven.
I'm bound for heaven.
And we can take
that line
on Jesus' death
while quietly
wanting to maintain
our own autonomy.
Quietly refusing
to live
under his lordship.
In other words,
we just want
enough of Jesus
to make us
uncomfortable.
That's right.
We just want
enough of Jesus
that leaves us
being comfortable.
We don't want
Jesus to make us
uncomfortable
as he claims
every aspect
of our lives
under his lordship.
So,
in a very real way,
chapter 21
is the end
of the beginning.
true gospel response
means
new resurrection
community.
It means
new community
identification.
It means
fellowship
or living
under the lordship
of Christ.
Next week,
we'll see
something more
of how
chapter 21
is also
the beginning
of the end
in verses 15
through to 23.
And that
we'll see then
how the resurrection
man shapes
his resurrection
community
for mission.
Because
fellowship
with the lord
Jesus
is never
something
that can
be contained.
Resurrection
man
is
incomparable.
Resurrection
man
is unstoppable.
His mission
continues
to provide
fellowship
in the four
corners of our
world.
God
so tune
in next
week
for verses
15 to 23.
In the meantime,
just join with me
as I pray now.
Lord,
we thank you
for the complexity
of the written
record which we
have,
which is
John's gospel.
We thank you,
Lord,
for questions
arise
that cause us
to dig
into it
and think
deeply about it.
We thank you,
Lord,
for the fact
that Jesus
has
much to teach
us
and we have
much to learn.
We pray,
Lord,
that we might
be willing
to learn.
We pray,
Lord,
that we might
not have
half a gospel
or a truncated
gospel,
a gospel,
Lord,
that we
mould to
our own
suitability.
Help us,
Lord,
not to think
of Jesus
as the one
who forgives
our sins
without also
being the Lord
who claims
our allegiance
and our loyalty
to him
at every point
in life.
Help us,
Lord,
to look this
week
and reflect
again
on which
parts of our
lives
we want to
keep under
our own
Lordship
and which
parts of life
therefore we
need to hand
over to the
Lordship of
Jesus.
And I pray
you might help
us do that
in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Thank you very much.