John 21

If you're looking in the Pew Bibles, it's page 907.

We're taking a little break tonight from our series in 1 Samuel to look at this chapter in John.

It's some of Jesus' last words to his disciples on earth before he would leave them and return to the Father in heaven.

So John chapter 21, I'm going to read verses 1 through 22.

John 21 · chapter mention

And here we go.

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'll 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, a hundred fifty-three 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 them, yes, Lord.

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.

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.

Well, this is a time of year where we are looking back

and looking forward.

It's a time of year where some of you may be preparing to graduate and move on.

Others of you may be preparing to leave town,

or other of you may have friends in either one of those categories.

But even if nothing else is changing in your life,

even if you're just staying here and have no plans for anything to change,

it's a good time, it's a good opportunity

to look back and look forward.

Tomorrow, I hope to take a half day for what I call a personal retreat

that I do twice or three times a year.

I usually just go for a long bike ride,

take a Bible and a journal,

and think about what has the last six months been like?

What has God been teaching me?

What's changed?

And then what are my priorities looking forward?

And I keep my notes from when I've done this over the last few years,

and it's interesting to see how much can change,

even just in the course of six months,

in my own life, in my family, in the church.

So, anyway, so this evening we're looking at this passage

at the end of John's Gospel,

where Jesus is preparing his disciples for the future,

but the way he does that is by reminding them of the past.

Now, some scholars have actually questioned

whether this chapter belongs in the Gospel of John.

They point to the end of chapter 20.

At the end of chapter 20, if you read verse 31,

he tells us the purpose of his book.

He says,

These things are written so you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of God,

and by believing you may have life in his name.

And so some people have said,

Well, that sounds like a conclusion.

You know, the end.

Believe in Jesus, have life in his name.

You know, chapter 21, it seems like,

maybe somebody else added that later on,

sort of an appendix that's anticlimactic.

But actually, chapter 21 is really important.

If chapter 20 focuses on Jesus revealing himself to his disciples

after his resurrection,

and assuring them that he's really alive,

and that he's really their Lord and God,

chapter 21 is him preparing them

to go out into the world with that message.

And you know, that's really the purpose of the Bible and the Gospels,

the Bible in general,

and the New Testament Gospels in particular.

It's not only to assure us

that Jesus really is the Messiah and the Son of God,

but also to equip us and prepare us

to live a life in this world of faithfully following and walking with him.

So the way he does this,

the way Jesus does this in this chapter,

is he reminds his disciples of three events that have gone on in the past.

As we go through this chapter,

Jesus sort of replays these events in their minds.

So it's sort of like if you watch the highlights of a baseball game on SportsCenter,

and you are reminded of that home run in the second inning,

and then that, you know, great play that the defender made in the fifth inning

that kept the game, you know, one way or the other,

and then in the bottom of the ninth inning,

how the Yankees lost, or whatever.

Okay, so, sorry, I'm from Boston.

My loyalties are revealed.

I know some of you are New York fans.

You have to forgive me.

Because you're, you know, because we're Christians,

and we have to forgive each other.

All right.

But the point is,

I'm getting distracted.

It's like the end of,

it's also like the end of a movie

that sort of gathers up the various strands of the plot lines together.

This is what's going on here.

So let me, so you might be wondering,

what in the world is he saying?

Let me show you.

Okay, Jesus teaches us three lessons.

Looking back on three events.

So first lesson, abide in Jesus.

The story begins with Simon Peter

and the disciples going fishing on the Sea of Galilee.

They're,

they are fishing on the Sea of Galilee.

Now, verse one through three,

it's fine that they're going fishing,

but you know, if you read these verses,

they seem a little bit bored.

Sort of aimless.

Simon Peter says,

oh, let's go fishing.

And they're like,

yeah, sure, we'll go with you.

I mean, you know, it's a reasonable thing to do.

They need to eat.

That's fine.

But they're also powerless, right?

They fish all night and they catch nothing.

Now, that would have reminded the disciples of something that happened at the beginning of Jesus' ministry.

When Jesus first called Peter and James and John,

the sons of Zebedee to be his disciples,

they had fished all night on the Sea of Galilee and caught nothing.

It's a story that's found in Luke chapter five.

And here they are in the same situation again.

But then what had happened in Luke chapter five?

You can turn back there if you want to.

Jesus had come along.

And he said,

go out into the deep

and let out your nets for a catch.

And Peter protested.

Peter's like,

Jesus, we're a professional fisherman.

You know, we sort of know what we're doing here.

But he said,

okay, fine, I'll do it.

So they go out,

let down the nets.

They're full of fish.

Again,

what happens here?

Same kind of thing.

Cast the net on the right side of the boat.

You'll find some.

They throw down the net.

It's full of fish.

And so they say,

it's the Lord.

They knew who it was.

Now,

both times,

the disciples were working hard apart from Jesus

and they yielded nothing.

And then they listened to Jesus' word

and obeyed his voice.

And their nets were full to overflowing.

Jesus is reminding them

and he's reminding us

that we're dependent on him.

Now, of course,

in a general sense,

all of us are dependent on God

as God's creatures.

There's all,

I mean,

even the fact

that the universe exists

and the law of gravity

doesn't suddenly change

from moment to moment

so that when you're driving down the highway

or riding the bus,

everything doesn't

just start colliding with each other

because

the regular,

regular patterns of the universe

are chaotic, right?

God sustains

the whole universe

day by day.

He sustains our brain,

the system that

has the blood flowing through our body.

There's all kinds of things

that we don't even think about

that we depend on

for our very life

and health

and safety

that God sustains us every day.

In a general sense,

we're all dependent on God

as his creatures.

But in a more particular sense,

Jesus is reminding us

that we're dependent on him

as Jesus' disciples.

Jesus had said

in John chapter 15,

John 15 · chapter mention

I am the vine

and you are the branches.

If you abide in me,

you will bear much fruit.

But apart from me,

you can do nothing

at all.

Now what does it look like

to abide in Jesus?

Jesus talks about abiding

in his word,

letting his word

sink into our hearts

and shape our lives,

abiding in his love,

resting in the assurance

that he has loved us

and laid down his life

for us on the cross

and nothing can separate us

from his love for us.

Jesus also speaks

about abiding in prayer,

in fellowship with God,

the Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit.

I think that's one

of the key indicators

of whether we're living

a life of abiding in Christ

and depending on God

is our practice of prayer.

Do we feel our need

to pray

just as much as you

get up in the morning

and you feel hungry

and thirsty

and you know

that to have strength

and energy for the day,

you need to drink water

and eat food.

In the Lord's Prayer,

Jesus taught us to pray

for our daily provision.

Give us this day

our daily bread,

for our daily pardon,

forgive us our sins

as we forgive those

who sin against us

and for our daily protection.

Lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

Now, some days,

we might not feel

our need for prayer.

You know, some days,

you might not feel

your need for food.

You know, if you're sick

or if you're very depressed

or if you're taking

certain medications,

they will make you

not feel hungry.

hungry.

And yet, if you don't,

if you don't,

if you wait

until you feel hungry

to eat,

and particularly

if you're sick,

it won't help you

get better.

Sometimes you need

to discipline yourself

to eat on a regular basis

and eat healthy foods

that will nourish your body

even when you don't

feel like it.

And sometimes,

we need to discipline

ourselves to pray

in dependence upon God

even when we feel

like we don't

really need to.

Even when we don't

really feel inclined to

because we need

to realize

our feelings

are not,

in this case,

a good indicator

of reality.

Just like when you're sick

and you don't feel hungry,

you have to override that

and do what you know

is right

in order for your

long-term health.

So Jesus reminds us

of our dependence

on Him.

That's the first thing.

You know,

sometimes God reminds us

of our dependence

through being in situations

like the disciples

when they were fishing

all night

and worked hard

and no result.

And sometimes,

we're working as hard

as we can

or maybe you're looking

for a job

and every day

you're going out

and applying

to five or six places

and pounding the pavement

and handing in your resume

over and over

and over again

and you're doing

all that you can do

and you're still waiting

and you realize

this isn't totally

in your control.

Right?

But,

and sometimes

Jesus reminds us

of our dependence

in those ways

but Jesus also wants us

to be,

to remember

that we're dependent

on Him

even when everything's

going well

and when we're tempted

to think

that we're self-sufficient

and self-made.

So Jesus reminds us

of our dependence.

that's the first thing.

And He calls us

to abide in Him.

So second,

second lesson

that Jesus gives us,

He calls us

to invest for Him.

When they got out

on the land

they saw fish and bread

prepared by Jesus.

Jesus took the fish

and bread

and gave it to them.

Now once again

Jesus was reminding them

of an event

that happened in the past.

from the middle

of Jesus' ministry

when Jesus had taken

fish and bread

and given it

to the crowds of people

to feed 5,000 men

plus women and children.

Jesus,

it's one of most,

one of Jesus'

most significant miracles.

It's the only one

recorded in all four Gospels.

It's in John chapter 6

John 6 · chapter mention

if you want to

turn back there

for a moment.

Now what was Jesus

trying to remind

His disciples of

by sort of replaying

this event in their mind?

Well on the one hand

it was a display

of His abundant provision.

Right?

All these fish.

Right?

Just as He had

multiplied five loaves

and two fish

to give it to all the people.

But it's not just about that.

It's also about

Jesus' insistence

that His disciples

be involved

in the process.

In John chapter 6

John 6:5

verse 5

it says that

seeing that a large crowd

was coming to Him

Jesus said to Philip

where are we to buy bread

for all these people to eat?

And verse 6 said

He said this to test Him

for Jesus already had in mind

what He was going to do.

You see,

if Jesus

was the Lord

is the Lord of creation

if He was able

to multiply

five loaves

and two fish

to feed

crowds of people

thousands of people

He didn't really need

those five loaves

and two fish

in the first place.

He could have just

created them out of nothing

like He did

in the first place.

But no,

He wanted

His disciples

to be invested

and involved

alongside Him

in His ministry

in His work.

And so He took

a young boy's lunch

that was willingly offered

and He took that

and multiplied it

to feed the people.

And in John chapter 21

John 21 · chapter mention

Jesus followed

the same pattern.

Jesus was already

cooking fish and bread

on the charcoal fire

and then verse 10

He says

bring some of the fish

that you have just caught.

Bring me

what you have.

Jesus includes

and multiplies

the fruits

of our labors

in His work.

So let me ask you

this question.

Can you remember

a time

when Jesus called you

like He called

the disciples

to invest sacrificially

and to give Him

what you have

to serve others

and then He multiplied

that for the good

of other people

and the glory

of His name?

So a couple examples

maybe

maybe you

are a Bible study

leader

or maybe you teach

a Sunday school class

and you faithfully

prepare your lessons

late at night

because that's the only

free time you have.

You work during the day

you take care of your family

in the evening.

The only time you have

is late at night

but you faithfully

prepare these lessons

for the benefit

of the kids in your class

or the people

in your group

and somebody

comes to you

and says

you know

the questions

you asked

or the insights

you gave

they've really started

to change the way

I think about everything

and they've shown me

who God is

and they've opened up

the Bible to me

and I say

thank you.

or maybe

maybe you heard

that somebody

in the church

was sick

or you

or had a friend

who was going

through a really rough time

and so you baked

a bunch of cookies

and took them over

to their room

knocked on their

dorm room door

or on the door

of their house

and he just said

I just wanted

to bring these to you.

Maybe you hung out

with them

and talked with them

for a little while.

Or maybe you took

a hard step

of gently confronting

a brother or sister

in Christ

who was straying away

from the way

of Jesus

and you confronted them

and you said

brother,

sister

this isn't right

I'm concerned

about you

and you did that

prayerfully

and gently

and humbly

but clearly

and they listened

to you

and they stopped

doing whatever

they were doing

and they changed

their ways

and they came back

to a closer

relationship

with Jesus.

Now I know

it doesn't always

work that way

when you extend

yourself

on behalf

of someone else

for Jesus' sake.

most of the time

most of the time

was

that

Lord

Lord

of someone

to

and

you

can

So that's it?

Violin bump.

Let's get started.

so

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