John 21, The Resurrected Jesus (Resurrection Sunday)

Resurrection Hope and the Need for the Resurrected Jesus

You'll say, there's no one like Him. He is Lord of all. You never think when you watch Jesus, observe Jesus in the Bible, oh, this is boring. And so today we're going to watch Jesus through the scriptures.

And there are going to be fish involved. There's going to be breakfast involved. There's going to be a beach involved. And there's going to be forgiveness involved and much more. Take your Bibles and turn to the gospel of Jesus according to Luke.

Excuse me. That's what you think. John, excuse me, John, we'll be back in Luke next week. So easy for me to just say Luke. John chapter 21 today. And the question really is, do you still need the resurrected Jesus?

Do you still need the resurrected Jesus? Do you need Him for ministry and living the Christian life? Do you need Him for forgiveness and restoration even when you sin as a Christian? Do you need Him to make sure you make it to glory?

And if you're an unbeliever do you need Him so you can have your sins forgiven? Do you still need the resurrected Jesus? And of course the answer is yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. This is the last chapter written in this gospel.

And gospel just means good news. And it's a story about Jesus. It's kind of like a biography, but it's more theological. And it has good news about eternal life and about Jesus. And so this morning we're going to work through all of John 21.

And I'm going to give you an outline if you'd like to see where we're going and watch the progression. And it's super simple. Three resurrection truths about Jesus. Three resurrection truths about Jesus that will be designed to make you thankful to the Lord, to praise Him.

And those three outline truths. Those three outline truths are Jesus is needed for every aspect of the Christian life. Jesus freely forgives. And Jesus promises to preserve you unto glory. So let's take a look at the first one.

Jesus Is Needed for Christian Living

If you're unfamiliar with the church here today we just go through the Bible and let the Bible tell us what to think. This is not about my truth or what I think. What does the Bible say? I want to expose you to the Bible because even if you're a person that's never read the Bible, you'll think, I didn't know that about Jesus.

That's fascinating. That's interesting. Hopefully to drive you to actually believe. Resurrection truth number one from John 21 is that Jesus, the resurrected one, is needed for your Christian living. I mean, Jesus, He's needed for forgiveness so we can have the hope of heaven.

But do I need Him now as a Christian? That's what we'll look at first. And you know, Christian, that you still need Jesus. Not when you just got saved, but even now. And of course there's that wonderful hymn, I need thee most every hour.

No, it's I need thee every hour. We understand that we need Jesus to have our sins forgiven, for our sins to be pardoned because we've sinned and broken God's law. But we also need Jesus to do anything, to have any kind of power to say no to selfishness, yes to righteousness, to evangelize, to grieve properly, to have joy.

We still need Jesus. And I want you to see this in the text. John 21 verse 1 through 3, after this Jesus revealed Himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, or the Sea of Galilee. 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'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. Some people think, why is John 21 even in the Bible?

Didn't John 20 end up in a wonderful fashion? And some have said, do you add to a Rembrandt? Do you add to a Raphael? Do you add to a Renoir? Did I pronounce that right? I mean we've just ended John 20 with the account of the resurrection.

Is there anything else needed? Some have said, well maybe John was just a long-winded preacher, and he just wanted to keep going. He couldn't land the plane. Some have said that pastors are supposed to start low when they preach, rise higher, strike fire, and then retire.

And John just kept going. Well, we're going to see in chapter 21 that there's going to be maybe some loose ends tied up. What about Peter? What about ministry? Do we need Jesus? Now, back to the text in verse 1, after these things.

What do you mean after these things? Verse 21 of the ESV, after this Jesus revealed Himself. After what? After He appears, verse 19 of chapter 20. It says in chapter 20 verse 19, on the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews.

Jesus, He's been crucified. He's been raised. And now He shows up, stood among them and said to them, I'm sure not to startle them, peace be with you. When He had said this He showed them His hands and His side.

Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I'm sending you. And then there's an encounter down in verse 24 with that man named Thomas that you know.

Verse 24 of John 20, now Thomas, one of the 12 called the twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told Him, we've seen the Lord. But He said, unless I see His hands, in His hands the mark of the nails and place my finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand to His side, I will never believe.

Eight days later His disciples were inside again and Thomas was with them. You know what's going to happen. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you.

Then He said to Thomas, put your finger here, see my hands and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve but believe. Thomas answered Him with the exclamation that everyone should say, my Lord and my God.

Jesus said to him, have you believed because you've seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. 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. So what's going on in chapter 21? I mean we've got enough signs, Jesus multiplies fish, Jesus walks on water, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.

Is there anything else that needs to be said or done? And what's happening in chapter 21 is simply this, just because Jesus is in heaven it doesn't mean you don't need Him. The need for the resurrected Savior still exists for all kinds of ministry and every kind of holy living.

Verse 1 of chapter 21 again, interesting language, two times in the ESV Jesus manifested Himself. He manifested Himself in this way, very curious. Now Jesus has a glorified body and He just can show up at will and so He manifests Himself to these men, these seven men.

And what did Peter say in verse 3? Well before Jesus manifested Himself He said, I'm going to go fishing. I have a question for you, was that wrong for Peter to go fishing? Lots of people say, Peter's wrong to go fishing.

I mean Jesus has been resurrected and now Peter is just going to go fishing. Well remember when Perdeep read from Matthew 28, the angel said to the disciples, He's going before you into Galilee and there you will see Him.

Go to Galilee because that's where you're going to see Jesus again. So I don't think it's completely wrong that Peter said, I'm going to go fishing. By the way you have to eat, right? You've got to eat.

And so off to fishing they go. Jesus said after, before His resurrection, but after I'm raised up I will go before you to Galilee. Now remember there's been a fishing story back in Luke chapter 5 where Jesus has been in the boat with them and they've been fishing and some interesting things happen.

Keep that in the back of your mind. Now verse 4 we have the real sunrise service. Just as day was breaking Jesus stood on the shore. Yet the disciples did not know 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, John that is, therefore said to Peter, it's the Lord.

And 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 100 yards off.

So Jesus shows up at the beach. The men are about 100 yards offshore. They've been fishing all night. They've caught nothing. They don't recognize it as Jesus. Now some people say there was kind of a mist in the morning and they couldn't see.

Others say, well it was too far away for them to see. Maybe they were not believing so they were prevented from seeing. But I think it's most probable that like in Luke 24 their eyes were prevented from seeing Him.

And what does Jesus say back in verse 5? Children or it's kind of like a real friendship, real intimacy, hey boys, hey lads, hey friends, that's the kind of thing. Don't you have, you don't have any fish do you?

I mean they are the fishermen. He's the Savior and they just with brief brevity to make the double statement, no. Why did Jesus say do you have any fish? Was He hungry? He's giving them the lesson, without me you can't do anything.

That's the lesson here. You can't do anything with me, without me. When I'm in the boat back before my resurrection you need me and now that I'm glorified, resurrected and one day will ascend you still need me.

John 15 Jesus said, I'm the vine, you're the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit and apart from me you can do nothing. That's the point. You're out there fishing, you're pros of this and you can't catch anything.

So to show you that I can help you back in verse 6 cast the net on the right side. And so many liberal scholars are saying Jesus had a viewpoint from 100 yards away He could see the fish on that side of the boat where the disciples couldn't.

And I thought, you know it takes more faith to be an unbeliever than it does to be a believer. It's like people say, well the entire Egyptian army drowned in the Red Sea. And the liberals say because it's only 3 inches deep then that's why the whole Israelite nation could walk through it.

And I'm thinking how do all the Egyptians drown in 3 inches of water? But that's another story. Jesus is God and He can redirect fish away. He can redirect fish to. And these guys are thinking, we've seen this movie before.

We've toiled all night and caught nothing. We've toiled all night and caught nothing. Once there's all these fish that they catch it clicks in their mind. And back in verse 7 John says, it's the Lord.

He recognizes things first. But Peter has action first. And Peter is pretty much stripped down. He's not naked. He's got kind of a loincloth type of thing on. But he puts his outer garment on because he wants to be appropriately dressed for the Lord.

And he throws himself into the sea. He's going to meet the Lord with proper attire. Now when I grew up the fastest swimmer was a guy named Mark Spitz. How many people here are old and know Mark Spitz?

Some do. The young people have no idea. They're asking Siri now. The other fast swimmer that I can think of was Michael Phelps. 28 medals in the Olympics. And they called him the Baltimore what? The Baltimore bullet.

100 yards away. That's four lengths of 25 yards. I used to be a swimmer. And now Peter jumps in. Probably invents the freestyle. And I call Peter the Galilean gun. And off he goes. Just go off to the sea.

It takes me probably back in the day around three minutes to swim 100 yards. And so who knows how long it's going to take. And off he goes. The disciples they have all these fish. And they're in the boat verse 28.

And they're dragging this net full of fish. The point is without Jesus you can do nothing. With Jesus you can fulfill His will. Lo I'm with you always even to the end of age. Pretty bread from Matthew 28.

That needs to be happening. If you want to be fruitful you need Jesus. I'm talking about you Christians. If you'd like to say I need to be more thankful. I need to be more considerate. I need to evangelize more.

I need to complain less. You know try doing it on your own. Try doing it without prayer. Try doing it without the Holy Spirit. The point is even after the resurrection Jesus is needed. My favorite teacher said, in other words, Easter is a wonderful day.

It's the day when we celebrate the resurrection of Christ. But the messengers of Easter can do nothing if they do not constantly rely on the risen Christ. We still need Jesus. On earth the men needed Him.

When He's in heaven the men needed Him. And we do too. We say Christ for pardon and Christ for power. But that's not all. Let's keep going in the passage because there's more wonderful things here. The resurrected Jesus is needed for your Christian living.

Jesus Freely Restores and Forgives

But also the resurrected Jesus freely restores and forgives. Forgiveness and restoration is hard to find in this world. It's a commodity that's not much in surplus. The supply doesn't meet the demand.

And all of us sin and we need forgiveness. Jesus even taught us to pray, forgive us our debts as we forgive those who... So Jesus is going to show us here how He restores. And if you're a Christian who's ever sinned and you are, you're going to think this is wonderful.

Verse 9, When they got out on land, we don't know how long it took, Peter swims, they bring in the boat. They saw a charcoal fire in place with fish laid on it and bread. Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish that you've just caught.

Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net, wow, wasn't torn. Jesus said to them, I mean, can you imagine? Come and have breakfast.

I made you breakfast. Now, none of the disciples dared ask, Who are you? They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them. Sounds familiar. And so with the fish. Now, this was the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after He was raised from the dead.

What a scene. I don't see chastening. I don't see rebuking. I see a charcoal fire. I see provision. I see care. I see a lot of fish. Now, people, I mean, if you had to read what I had to read to study this, there are people asking the question, Well, where did Jesus get the fish?

Some people said, Well, that He caught it by hand. Yeah, He used a net. He commanded the fish to come right up the shore and just kind of grabbed them. I just knew we had fish. You know, it's actually possible He just made it supernaturally.

As my old pastor would say, How did Jesus make breakfast? Steve? Breakfast. That would have made our breakfast this morning so much easier. The Blackstones, by the way, good job. Faithful to serve. But what if they just could have said breakfast?

It's there. Hungry men, tired men, wet men. And all of a sudden you walk on the shore and you just think, There's the Savior. There's breakfast. I can smell the fire. I can smell the bread. I can smell the fish.

How compassionate. How caring. The pierced hands of Jesus prepares this meal whether by hand or just by miraculous provision like with the feeding of the 5 ,000. He serves them before the resurrection and after the resurrection.

And by the way, back in verse 10, Hey, bring me some of your fish. We'll add that. And then they got 153. And again, the scholars are writing all the stuff about 153. I'll tell you why there's 153 because there's 153.

When you fish, you count your fish. I caught eight. They were this big. I mean this big. They just count them. Some people are saying, Well, you know what? It's 153 because it's symbolic. There's 153 different kinds of fish in the Sea of Galilee.

Ten means for Jews and five means for the Gentiles and three means the Trinity. Just like so many allegories. Did you know in A .D. 153 wonderful things happened? I don't know what those things are, but that's what they say.

If you add up the sum of all numbers from 1 to 17, well, you get 153. If you take Simon Peter's name and add it up with this Germantria, it adds up to 153. That's all hogwash. He had 153 fish because Jesus provides over and above, and He just miraculously redirects those fish to that one side.

And remember back in Luke chapter 5, the issue of all the extra fish was you're going to be fishers of men one day. That's why there's so many fish because you're going to be catching men one day, not just fish.

And whether it's literal fish or catching men that are like fish, you're going to need the Lord and His provision. And Jesus says in verse 12, Come and have breakfast. What a host. I mean, I've had a lot of breakfast in my life.

I don't remember any of them. What did you have for breakfast yesterday? Maybe you remember. Eggs at $5 a thing. Eggs used to be so cheap, didn't they? I wanted to say shell, but I couldn't think of that because it's not in my notes.

Peter never forgot this breakfast and neither would you. Jesus made him breakfast. In Acts chapter 10, Peter said, They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people, but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

Jesus participating just like in Luke chapter 24. It says this is the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples. This is a seventh actual appearance, but third time through to the disciples and he gives them breakfast.

Now for the discerning listener or the discerning reader of scripture, you already know something that maybe some of us don't know. Like, okay, breakfast, provision, kindness of Jesus. Jesus just makes the fish go over here.

Jesus just makes the fish on the shore. But there's an interesting thing that's going on here. Jesus is at a charcoal fire making breakfast. And when you think a charcoal fire, dear student, what must you be thinking of?

Bible students, charcoal fire. And you know how smells associate with things and events. Go back to chapter 18. If you don't get anything else in the sermon, this is what you've got to get. This is the best.

I've seen this dozens of times, but every time I see it, I go, that is awesome. That's incredible. There's no one like Jesus. It's just all perfectly set up. How can this happen in some random fashion?

John 18, verse 15, Simon Peter followed Jesus and so did another disciple. This is before his death, the Lord's death. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest.

But Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple who was known to the high priest went out and spoke to the servant girl and kept watch at the door and brought Peter in. The servant girl at the door said to Peter, you're also, you also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?

Denial number one, Peter said, I'm not. Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire because it was cold and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them standing and warming himself.

Down to verse 25 of chapter 18. Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself by the charcoal fire. So they said to him, you also are not one of his disciples, are you? He denied it and said, I am not.

One of the servants of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, did I not see you in the garden with him? Peter again denied it and at once a rooster crowed. Three denials around a charcoal fire.

Three denials around a charcoal fire. Jesus has already appeared to Peter, first Corinthians chapter 15, but now Jesus is appearing to Peter in front of some other men. I wonder why? To flog Peter, to condemn Peter, to chasten Peter.

He's by a charcoal fire. And now the Savior is going to restore Peter into ministry. As many times as Peter denied Jesus, Jesus will now let Peter say, I love you and I affirm you and Jesus will accept it.

So big picture. Peter denies three times. Jesus is going to let Peter affirm three times. And I'm sure when Peter got out of that water and he saw the charcoal fire, which in Greek charcoal fire is anthrax, because anthrax, the medicine of the powder burns, burning hot coals.

He could smell that fish. He could see that fire. And I'm sure in his mind he thought, oh, I'm sure in your mind you're supposed to say, oh, I see what's happening here. And what does Jesus say to Peter?

Verse 15, when they had finished breakfast, still, I mean, wouldn't you love to have that breakfast? I would bet this. I just met some people today. They said, we don't like fish. I'm like, well, you're not American.

I think Kim and I might go to Bob's Clamshack and Kittery today in your honor. But I think if Jesus gave you fish, you'd probably take it. I think you'd probably eat it, especially if he created it instantaneously, supernaturally bypassing the fall.

You know, all the food you eat has been tainted by the fall and it's still pretty good. I don't know why a Dairy Queen dipped cone just went into my brain. I don't even think it's real ice cream, is it?

I mean, the fair is all work there. They have nothing to do with the fake ice cream. I don't mean that. They could tell me if it's fake or not. If Jesus miraculous, he makes it, it bypasses the fall. Think how great of taste that would be bread.

I mean, how long can I be on keto and carnival? I'm just carnivore. Do you love me more than these? Verse 15. What do you mean more than these? Who are the these? Different options. Peter, do you love me more than you love these other disciples?

That's an option. I don't think it's right. Peter, do you love me more than these nets and fishing and boats and, you know, your livelihood? I don't think that's right either. Peter, do you love me more than the other disciples love me?

That's what's happening here. Do you love me more than the other disciples? Because with your big mouth, you sure proclaim, I'll follow you wherever you go. I'll die for you, Jesus. And then when the girl by the fire was there, the servant girl, denial, denial, denial.

And all the men, the disciples, these other six men and the rest of the 12, they knew the denial of Peter. Peter, do you love me more than these disciples do? What's the text go on to say? Three denials by a charcoal fire.

And what does the Lord let Peter do? It says in verse 15, halfway down, he said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my lambs. I'm acknowledging the Lordship of Jesus. Yes, you know that I love you.

You're omniscient. You're the eternal God, the eternal son taking on flesh. You know that. He said to him the second time, instead of hearing, I'm not, I deny, Simon, son of John, do you love me? It's in front of all the other disciples after breakfast.

He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said, well, tend my sheep. He's not talking about real lambs. He's not talking about real sheep. He's not talking about getting fishers of men to go after fish of unbelievers.

He's talking about ministry, pastoral ministry. He said to him, verse 17, the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was aggrieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me?

And he said, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. And so Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. Three denials by a charcoal fire, three affirmations by a charcoal fire with Peter calling him Lord three times that all the other men know freely restored, freely forgiven.

I'm sure some of those other disciples could have been bitter, could have been angry at Peter, could have had bad attitudes about Peter. Peter, you're supposed to be the leader and you're the coward of us all.

And here Jesus says, there were three denials. There's three times I'm going to let you express your love to me. I'm the omniscient one. By the way, I'm going to be raised up into heaven for the ascension soon.

And you're going to take care of gospel ministry, taking care of lambs and sheep. Isn't that good? Isn't that wonderful? Peter went on to write this in first Peter chapter five. So I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ.

Shepherd the flock of God that is among you. He got it. Peter got it. He knew Jesus was the good shepherd and the good shepherd was delegating ministry to Peter and the disciples. And Peter's response was right.

Jesus knew that Christians believers are like lambs and they're weak and they're easily gone astray and they're prone to wander and they're immature and they need shepherding. And Peter is publicly restored.

So I asked you, Christian, have you ever sinned? Do you need forgiveness even now? Do you need to be restored? The joy of your salvation? Jesus is unchangeable and the same Jesus that kindly and compassionately affirms Peter and forgives him and restores him.

That's for you too. It's not just for Peter. And you too, dear Christian can appeal to God's omniscience like Peter did. Lord, you know all things. I don't have to hide from you anymore. You know, I've done these sinful things.

You know, I haven't measured up to your law. You know, I've treated my wife this way or my husband this way and all these other things. You know, all things. I'm not trying to hide from you. I mean, I am trying to hide, but I know I shouldn't because you know all things.

And here's what I know about you, Lord. If you would die for me and live for me and be raised for me, then you'll certainly forgive me even if I keep sinning over and over and over because Jesus died for the sins of Christians too.

James Montgomery Boyce said this, God knows the worst about us and loves us anyway. That could be a whole sermon. Boyce said, if God did not know all things, we might fear that someday something evil in us would spring up and startle God and turn his affections from us.

He would say, oh, look at that horrible sin. I didn't know that was there. How terrible that changes everything. I won't have anything to do with that person anymore. But God knows all things. He knows the worst about us and loves us anyway.

Isn't that good? Who's like the Lord Jesus? Who's like the resurrected Lord? All of us. I don't know the man. I love you. Gospel ministry restored in him. Ephesians one, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.

Jesus Will Preserve His People to Glory

Lastly, number three, resurrection truths. The resurrected Jesus is needed for every aspect of life. The resurrected Jesus freely forgives and restores. And the resurrected Jesus promises to get you to heaven.

The promise to persevere, to get you all the way there. And let's see Peter's life and then we'll extrapolate to ours. Verse 18 of John 21. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, talking to Peter, you should dress yourself and walk wherever you want to.

But when you're old, you will stretch out your hands. Well, that's interesting. That's the language of crucifixion, by the way. And another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. Well, what is that?

Thankfully, we have an interpretation in verse 19. This he said to show by what kind of death he, Peter, was to glorify God. And after saying this, he said to him, follow me. We don't know in the Bible when Peter died, but we think it's about 30 years after this.

So you can look at it one of two ways. For 30 years, Peter had hanging over his head. I'm going to be crucified for Jesus. I'd like to live like that. You'll be crucified one day for Jesus. That's the wrong way to think about it.

I'm sure Peter would have this kind of thought. I think he would as well. I wonder if it happens again. I wonder if I deny Jesus again. I mean, there's another fire and there's some other girl, young girl, and I'm going to say, no, I don't know the guy.

I wonder if I'll make it to the end. If I did it once, maybe I could do it again. Jesus is saying to Peter, you won't deny me again because when persecution comes and it's either your neck or the gospel, you'll say, kill me.

In this particular case, tradition says, Peter said, I don't even want to be crucified like my Lord was. So crucify me upside down. Peter, you're going to make it. You're not going to do this denial again.

You're not going to somehow apostatize or go back or backslide or lose your salvation. You're going to make it to the end. You will die for me no matter what persecution comes. Isn't that good? That's wonderful.

Peter says in second Peter one, therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in truth that you have. I think it is right, Peter said, as long as I'm in this body to stir you up by way of reminder.

OK, here's the point. Since I know that the putting off my body will be soon. As Jesus Christ made clear to me, I'll make every effort so that after my exodus and secure, you'll make it to glory. I can say the same thing to the bride of Christ.

You Christians, God calls you to persevere. It's a duty and God will persevere you. He'll preserve you. But he'll also lean back against.

Him during suffering and say, Lord, who is it that's going to.

Betray you? When Peter saw him, that's God, he said to Jesus,.

Lord, what about the need for a savior? You don't think about.

It. The Bible says God created you and that he expects his creation to obey. What are those commands? It's summarized down into two. It's very simple. Love God perfectly with all your being, with all your soul, and love your neighbor as much as you want to be loved.

And if you're an honest man or an honest woman or an honest child, you have to say to yourself, if you say you do that, then I keep pushing the law.