The Gospel of John: The Lord Jesus appears a third time to His Disciples (1)

First Baptist Church Leominster

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:24

read all four of the chapters. Luke wrote long chapters, but Luke 2 is actually shorter, significantly shorter, than the one we read last week.

00:35

Luke chapter 2, we read about the birth of the Lord Jesus and what occurred shortly thereafter,

00:42

Anna, Simeon, and then there's a word also about Jesus when he was but 12 years of age.

00:57

Luke chapter 2, in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

01:06

This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria, and all went to be registered, each to his own town.

01:15

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called

01:21

Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.

01:30

And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth, and she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

01:43

And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

01:49

And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone round them. And they were filled with great fear.

01:57

And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

02:05

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the

02:10

Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths, and lying in a manger.

02:20

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God, and saying,

02:25

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.

02:32

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the

02:41

Lord has made known to us. And they went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger.

02:48

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.

02:57

But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising

03:04

God for all they had heard and seen as it had been told them. And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called

03:13

Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

03:19

And when the time came for their purification, according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the

03:26

Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord. Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the

03:33

Lord, and to offer a sacrifice according to what it is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.

03:42

Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the

03:51

Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the

03:58

Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child

04:05

Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed

04:11

God and said, Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the

04:25

Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel. And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him, and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed, and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.

04:52

And there was a prophetess Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was 84.

05:06

She did not depart from the temple, worshiping and fasting and prayer night and day, and coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who are waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

05:21

And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth, and the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.

05:37

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover, and when he was 12 years old they went up according to custom.

05:46

And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group, they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances.

06:01

And when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking them questions.

06:12

And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished.

06:19

And his mother said to him, son, why have you treated us though? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.

06:27

And he said to them, why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house?

06:33

And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them.

06:42

And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

06:53

Let's pray. Gracious Father, we do thank you so much for the incarnation of Christ.

07:04

We thank you that God became flesh and that he lived a perfect life, a life that we could never live.

07:12

He fulfilled the law. He fulfilled your will. He carried out all of your commands perfectly.

07:19

And Lord, he died the death that all men deserve. And he was buried and he was resurrected and he ascended.

07:29

And Lord, you are reigning now in the heavens above all things. And we thank you for this,

07:36

Lord. We thank you that you condescended, that you came to the earth to become a man.

07:42

And Lord, we rejoice in this truth. We thank you for the account of scriptures that so clearly lays it out.

07:48

And we pray, Lord, that we would follow these things with all of our hearts, that we would live them out.

07:56

We pray, Lord, that you would do a great work in each one of us as we reflect upon your great sacrifice and your great work.

08:04

We thank you, Lord, for this time. And we ask now that as we continue our study in John, that you would give us eyes to see and ears to hear, help us to remain focused, and help us,

08:17

Lord, to put into practice all the things that we hear. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.

08:32

Let's turn in our Bibles to John 21, the last chapter of John's Gospel.

08:40

Yesterday we had the privilege to join Aidan Moretti and Lynn Henry in marriage.

08:51

Aidan being, of course, Keith and Kendra's son, is in the Marines now. And he married this young lady from southern

08:59

New Hampshire who will be joining him down south, hopefully not before long after he gets settled down there.

09:09

So it was just a small family, just the parents and them, but we rejoice in their marriage.

09:15

May the Lord bless them and may we all remember them in prayer. Well, in the last chapter of John's Gospel, we read of what

09:25

John describes as a third appearance of the risen Lord Jesus to his disciples. And as this chapter unfolds, this last chapter of John's Gospel, and we probably have one more message after today in John's Gospel that we'll be addressing, then we'll give way to a new topic, which

09:45

I am carefully considering and studying even now.

09:51

But as this chapter unfolds, we read of the life and ministry of Jesus on earth being completed and concluded, even as it gives way to the onset of the life and ministry of his disciples in the world.

10:05

And so although this chapter concludes the account of the fourth gospel, the story of the fourth gospel continues on, and that the

10:14

Lord calls and commissions his disciples for their mission to declare the gospel of salvation to the world.

10:22

The entire chapter records the details of this third resurrection appearance to his disciples, but does so through two distinguishable events.

10:33

There are two episodes in this chapter, and a transition in emphasis takes place from the first to the second of these two events.

10:42

Verses 1 through 14, which we will address today, Lord willing, we read of Jesus revealing himself to seven of his disciples after they had not initially recognized him, and they then dined together on the shore of Galilee.

11:01

And then in verses 15 through 25, which we will address in a couple weeks, we read of our

11:08

Lord restoring and reinstating Peter to his responsible role as an apostle, and also of Jesus foretelling some futury details of the lives of both

11:19

Peter and John. And then this concludes the gospel proper, but it lays before the reader the future mission of taking the gospel to the world, even until Jesus returns.

11:34

And so here is John 21, 1 through 14. After these things,

11:40

Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way he showed himself,

11:47

Simon Peter, Thomas called the twin, Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.

12:00

Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing. They said to him, we are going with you also.

12:08

They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning had now come,

12:16

Jesus stood on the shore, and yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. And Jesus said to them, children, have you any food?

12:27

They answered him, no. And he said to them, cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.

12:36

And so they cast, and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.

12:44

Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, it is the Lord. Now when

12:50

Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he had removed it, and plunged into the sea.

12:59

But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from land, but about 200 cubits, dragging the net with fish.

13:09

Then as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread.

13:18

And Jesus said to them, bring some of the fish which you have just caught. Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, 153.

13:30

And although there were so many, the net was not broken. Jesus said to them, come and eat breakfast.

13:40

Yet none of the disciples dared ask him, who are you, knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them, and likewise the fish.

13:52

This now is the third time Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

13:59

As we consider these 14 verses, we can do so through this outline.

14:05

We have, first of all, the fishermen without fish, verses 1 through 3. And then we consider the disciples without Jesus, verses 4 through 6.

14:17

Thirdly, the disciples recognized Jesus, verses 7 through 8. And then lastly,

14:23

Jesus and his disciples' fellowship together, sharing a meal. We should say a few words first about the chapter itself before we begin to examine its details.

14:35

You will commonly read or hear of those scholars who deny that John 21 was the original conclusion to this gospel, that it had been penned by, that it had not been penned by the author of the first 21 chapters, or 20 chapters rather.

14:53

They give a number of arguments, but they all seem to begin with the assumption that chapter 20 verses 30 and 31 bring the gospel to its fitting conclusion.

15:05

And again those verses read, and truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the

15:17

Christ, the Son of God, and believe in you may have life in his name. It reads as though it were a conclusion to the gospel.

15:27

And so these scholars reason that an unknown writer appended the contents of chapter 1 onto the gospel at a later time.

15:37

Most conservative interpreters and ourselves certainly argue that John penned chapter 21 as he had the previous 20 chapters.

15:47

And there are many arguments that are given on both sides of this issue, but I think what is quite convincing in the end is that there is no manuscript down through church history which contains just the first 20 chapters of John leaving off chapter 21.

16:08

And I think that really settles the matter. Donald Carson addressed this ahead of his comments in his commentary on John.

16:19

There is no textual evidence that the book was ever published without John 21. Certainly if the first 20 chapters of the book had been published for a few years before chapter 21 was added, one would expect significant textual evidence of such independent circulation.

16:37

The evidence in favor of an originally integral gospel incorporating chapter 21 seems reasonably firm, and that view is presupposed in the exposition that follows.

16:49

In other words that's what he assumed in his commentary. I think of course he is right. Well let's now begin to work through the details of these first 14 verses, consider their meaning and their implications for our understanding of the faith and how we're to live for before our

17:08

Lord in the days in which we are living. All scripture of course has application for us.

17:15

And so first we read of the fisherman without fish. Again, after these things

17:20

Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way he showed himself.

17:27

Simon Peter, Thomas called the twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, two others of his disciples were together.

17:36

Simon Peter said to them I am going fishing. They said to him we're going to with you also.

17:42

They went out and immediately got into the boat and that night they caught nothing. The fisherman without fish.

17:50

John opened this chapter with the words after these things. There's no specific time frame suggested by these words other than declaring the events of chapter 21 occurred after the events, sometime after the events of chapter 20.

18:07

And there's no indication in the text as to how much time had transpired between the

18:14

Lord appearing to the 11 disciples there in Jerusalem on that second Lord's Day and this appearance recorded on the shore of Galilee.

18:26

But sometime is suggested by the fact that there is considerable distance between Jerusalem and Galilee, the place where the

18:34

Lord had met with them last. We read that Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the

18:41

Sea of Tiberias. The Sea of Tiberias is another name for the Sea of Galilee.

18:50

This title the Sea of Tiberias is only found in John's Gospel. Elsewhere it's the

18:56

Sea of Galilee and in one place Luke 5 1 is the Sea of Gennesaret. The Sea of Tiberias was the name commonly used later on in the first century.

19:10

The Roman city of Tiberias was founded on the western shore of Galilee, about halfway up north and south on the western shore.

19:18

It was founded in AD 20, dedicated as commonly it would do in that day, to the

19:25

Emperor Tiberius. And this resulted in the change of the name of the lake.

19:32

And of course John wrote his gospel primarily for Gentile readers, not Jewish readers, and the name of the lake as Tiberias would have been more recognizable to them than Galilee.

19:43

Same lake, different name. And so here the disciples had returned to their home region of Galilee.

19:52

They probably journeyed the 90 miles from Jerusalem shortly after the conclusion of the seven days feast of unleavened bread, which would have begun with the

20:02

Passover, the day our Lord was arrested, and ended this seven days of unleavened bread probably just before the second

20:11

Lord's Day when they met with Jesus. It was probably just on the verge of their returning to Galilee, I would suspect.

20:21

And so they would again travel to Jerusalem before long after this, here in John chapter 21, for we read of course that it was there in Jerusalem that they visibly saw the ascension of our

20:33

Lord Jesus into the Shekinah cloud in heaven. And of course there in Jerusalem, in the upper room, experienced the onset of the

20:44

Holy Spirit empowering them from the day of Pentecost. And so they traveled from Jerusalem to Galilee and back to Jerusalem.

20:53

And of course the day of Pentecost would have been 50 days after the Pentecost. The Lord Jesus ascended into heaven 10 days before Pentecost, and so within a period of about 30 days or so they traveled 90 miles up, 90 miles back to Jerusalem.

21:15

Now the record that the risen Lord Jesus appeared to his disciples in Galilee as recorded in Matthew in Mark's Gospel probably had theological significance.

21:28

We read of Matthew's account in which an angel appeared to the women at the empty tomb.

21:35

But the angel answered said to the women, do not be afraid for I know that you see Jesus who was crucified, he's not here, he's risen, as he said, come see the place where the

21:44

Lord lay, quickly go and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and indeed he is going before you into Galilee, there you will see him and behold

21:54

I have told you. So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear great joy they ran to bring his disciples word, and as they went to tell his disciples behold

22:06

Jesus met them, the women, saying rejoice. So they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him.

22:13

Then Jesus said to them do not be afraid, and here it is again specified, go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they shall see me.

22:23

And then further in Matthew 28 we read of Jesus appearing to his disciples in Galilee.

22:30

Verse 16, then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which

22:36

Jesus had appointed for them, and when they saw him they worshipped him, but some doubted.

22:43

Jesus came spoke to them saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the

22:52

Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I've commanded you, and lo

22:58

I'm with you always even to the end of the age. It can be concluded that in Matthew and Mark's account that it was from Galilee that the disciples would embark on their worldwide mission to the nations to the

23:12

Gentiles of the world. Galilee was known as Galilee of the

23:18

Gentiles. It was viewed as the gateway to the Gentile world.

23:24

There were major trade routes coming in from the coast to Galilee and coming from the north actually coming right through the village of Nazareth west of the

23:33

Sea of Galilee and there was a major trade route on the eastern side of Galilee.

23:39

Galilee was known as the gateway to the Gentile world and it was from there

23:46

Jesus commissioned his apostles to go forth and make disciples of the Gentile nations. Now it's true that in Matthew and Mark Jesus gave the

23:54

Great Commission to his disciples in Galilee, but in the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts and John's gospel

24:00

I would say the beginning expansion of the kingdom begins first in Jerusalem. We read of this in Acts 1 -8 when

24:10

Jesus told his disciples, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all

24:18

Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. There's the Gentile world and we would say this is a fulfillment of what the prophets declared, the promised messianic kingdom would expand.

24:33

Micah 4 verses 1 -5 it shall come to pass in the latter days and this church age is the latter days, it's the days of the messianic kingdom which you've already declared today from Isaiah 11.

24:48

It'll come to pass in the latter days at the mountain of the house of the Lord, that is an emblem for the kingdom, messianic kingdom, shall be established as the highest of the mountains, in other words his kingdom is above all the other kingdoms, highest mountain, the most secure greatest kingdom, and it should be lifted up by the hills and peoples, there you have the

25:10

Gentiles, will flow to it and many nations Gentiles shall come and say come let us go up to the mountain of the

25:18

Lord to the house of God of Jacob that he may teach us his ways that we may walk in his paths for out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the

25:29

Lord from Jerusalem and that's where the disciples began of course, they took forth the word of the

25:35

Lord from Jerusalem and went out into Judea Samaria the uttermost parts of the earth and he

25:40

Jesus the messianic king shall judge between many peoples Gentiles shall decide for strong nations

25:48

Gentiles far away and they shall beat their swords into plowshares their spears into pruning hooks nation shall not lift up sword against nation neither shall they learn war anymore but they shall sit every man under his vine under his fig tree no one will make them afraid for the mouth of the

26:05

Lord of his hosts has spoken for all the peoples walk each in the name of its God but we will walk in the name of the

26:11

Lord our God forever and ever and of course most take that passage and they say well that's a future thousand -year

26:16

Jewish millennium on earth the Kingdom Age and we would say no that this describes the the blessed condition of life as Christians within the kingdom of God that there is peace and there's no war between us as Christians within the kingdom we're at peace and we don't learn to war against one another

26:42

Jews against Gentiles or one tribe against another tribe but rather we're all in the

26:49

Lord and we enjoy this relationship a sense of security in him and no one makes us afraid because we're within this kingdom for all the peoples

27:01

Jews and Gentiles walk each in the name of its God our God Jesus Christ and we walk in the name of the

27:09

Lord our God forever and ever and so in John's gospel in which Jesus appeared to his disciples in Jerusalem and in Galilee John ties together both places from which our

27:20

Lord called and sent forth his disciples into the world during the early days of this Christian era the

27:26

Apostles of course first proclaimed the gospel to Jerusalem and Judea but soon they went northward into Samaria they evangelize the people in that region you read about the book of Acts Philip one of the deacons opened up then they sent a couple

27:43

Apostles Peter and John up there to confirm the Samaritans in the faith and then they continued to proclaim the gospel in Galilee just to the north of Samaria where the

27:54

Lord had primarily ministered and there from there they took the gospel into the Gentile world and so both ideas are conveyed in John's gospel going out in the

28:06

Gentile world from Galilee of the Gentiles as well as beginning really at the central place of Jerusalem and that's what historically happened now

28:18

John declared on this occasion that Jesus appeared to seven disciples verse 2 reads that Jesus showed himself to Simon Peter Thomas called the twin

28:28

Nathanael of Canaan and Galilee the sons of Zebedee and two others of his disciples were together there's seven of them

28:37

Simon Peter is listed first he was one of the pillars of the church as Paul described him we're not going to read that passage from Galatians but he referred to Peter and several others as pillars of the church leading

28:50

Apostles in the church notice Thomas is listed second interesting we read about Thomas in the previous chapter this disciple had not been present on the first occasion

29:04

Jesus had appeared to his disciples and he had doubted the resurrection of Christ even when the other disciples had reported to him that he risen they had seen him he didn't believe but now he's listed second he's right there in the heart of it and I appreciate what

29:21

Matthew Henry wrote of him he wrote of Thomas's prominent second placement on the list Thomas was one of them and his name next to Peter as if he now kept closer to the meetings of the

29:32

Apostles than ever he missed it out once you're not going to miss it again it's well if losses by our neglects makes us more careful afterwards not to let opportunity slip here's a good word of application isn't there our new

29:50

King James Version identifies Thomas as the twin as to all the other newer translations like the

29:56

SV but as we pointed out on an earlier occasion Thomas was his Hebrew or Aramaic name and Didymus was his

30:04

Greek name Donald Carson wrote Thomas is again identified by both his

30:09

Aramaic and Greek names Thomas and Didymus there's no reason in my view that newer translation should translate these words as the new

30:19

King James Version Thomas called the twin they all do because both names

30:26

Thomas and Didymus mean twin Thomas in Hebrew Didymus in Greek just as Simon was also known as Peter Thomas was also known as Didymus and so I think the

30:39

King James Version has it right here they were both together Simon Peter and Thomas called Didymus and the third mention falls to Nathanael he's listed as Nathanael of Cana in Galilee again he had gone home he had not been mentioned in the

30:58

Gospel of John since John chapter 1 now we're not going to read of that again but it's there in your notes and he's the one of course who who was sought out by Philip who told him you know we found the

31:14

Messiah and his response can any good thing come out of Nazareth and when

31:22

Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him he said behold you know here's a an

31:27

Israelite indeed in whom there's no guile no deceit and Nathanael was how do you know me well before you know you you heard about me

31:37

I saw you under the tree and and so I know you and the response of this you know behold you are the

31:44

Son of God you are the King of Israel and at that time Jesus told him because I said to you

31:49

I saw you under the fig tree do you believe you'll see greater things than these and he said most assuredly

31:56

I say to you hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending descending upon the Son of Man all right through the

32:04

Lord Jesus these angels are being sent forth from the throne of God to carry out

32:09

God's decrees on earth and indeed here you have

32:14

Nathanael and John chapter 21 he had seen greater things hadn't he and here he again sees the risen

32:22

Lord Jesus and hears him speak to his disciples and then John identified the two sons of Zebedee and according to the synoptic

32:31

Gospels these two brothers were James and John John himself is included in this in one of these two the two sons of Zebedee and so he maintained his anonymity here and then there were two men there were two unnamed men in this passage also he doesn't mention their names so there were seven but John says they were together and this reflects

32:58

I think rightly there is a bond between Christians those who have served the Lord have walked together with him enjoy being together there they were seven of them and the number seven may be significant numbers do have significance particularly in John's writings

33:15

John's Gospel the book of Revelation as one wrote so seven disciples have come together doubtless he says doubtless a symbolical number representing the whole disciple group and indeed the whole body of disciples that may be the intention they had traveled to Galilee because that was the region where they had lived but they had also gone to Galilee because the

33:43

Lord told them he would meet with them there but apparently now we read it elsewhere he said he'd be be there on a mountain but perhaps they didn't know exactly when or where they would meet with Jesus other than it would be on on the mountain they knew that much well at this point

34:02

Peter spoke up I'm going fishing some of us can relate to that but of course this was not a sporting excursion this was a commercial enterprise on their part they were men who had families and had need to support themselves so it's probably and to be seen as an opportune time as they were waiting and also probably a needful occasion for them to catch fish and sell on the local markets and by the way when

34:30

Jesus is walking along the shore have you caught any fish that may they may have thought maybe that's a potential buyer of the fish we've just caught and so they could have made a transaction right there on the seashore interestingly but as we consider this

34:50

Peter going fishing and the rest saying we'll go with you you can see how men arrive at a text like this and spin it according to their own biases people are creative and their own bias comes out and Donald Carson cited a few examples of this commentators divide as to whether Peter and his friends are to be blamed for going fishing when we read that how did you think they are wrong to go was it okay for them to go and we probably reveal our own bias in these matters

35:27

Hoskins describes the scene as one of complete apostasy and the fulfillment of 2132 now

35:36

Hoskins is a good common commentator everybody quotes him and I found an old copy of his commentary published in the 40s there is not presently available bought it off of eBay he's a good man and yet here he takes it and they were totally apostatized when they went off fishing they shouldn't have done it

35:55

Barrett judges it unthinkable that Peter and his brother disciples should contemplate a return to their former occupation after the events of chapter 20

36:04

Brown speaks of aimless activity undertaken in desperation as Raymond Brown probably who's

36:14

Roman Catholic who's one of the best commentators on the infancy narratives even though he's Roman Catholic he's very scholarly very good because he deals with the text by contrast

36:25

Bruce that's FF Bruce I refer to quite a bit insists there's no evidence that Peter was abandoned in the

36:31

Commission he had received in order to return to fishing and he's absolutely right you can't read a reason why they went fishing other they decided to do so and so to read in failure on their part is really not what the text declares and that's what

36:49

Bruce said and meanwhile Bruce wrote it's better for him Peter to employ his time usefully than remain idle and then

36:57

Beasley Murray who died within the 2000

37:02

I think 2008 or 9 or so was a Baptist commentator very good theologian as well he wrote even though Jesus be crucified risen from the dead the disciples still must eat and so how do you deal with all of these commentators well

37:25

I think it should teach us that we shouldn't just take as gospel anything that a man says you have to weigh you know the facts what does the text say

37:35

Carson Donald Carson gave his own opinion the truth is probably between the two but a good deal closer to the latter in other words it wasn't a failure on their part they decided to go fishing fact is there's no evidence that Peter and the others had gone to Galilee in order to fish the most reasonable assumption is that they went in obedience to the

37:56

Lord's command go to Galilee that's where I will meet you but they went fishing they fished all night and they caught nothing the disciples without fish and then we read the disciples without Jesus top of page six it's clear they fished all night but without success but when the morning had now come

38:18

Jesus stood on the shore yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus then Jesus said to them children have you any food they answered him no and he said to them cast the net on the right side of the boat you will find some so they cast and now they were not able to draw it because of the multitude of fish it would seem that our

38:42

Lord was teaching them through their experience what he had once taught them through his words without me you can do nothing the

38:53

Lord teaches us through everyday experience that his word and his ways are best here were some professional experienced commercial fishermen they knew what they were doing they made their living by this occupation but they came up empty on this occasion and many times especially guys that may sound sexist but I think it's true take pride in our work and we probably believe that we ourselves are quite competent in what we do but often this pride in our ability and in our production can result in a sinful independence from the

39:31

Lord we commonly rely upon our own wits and skill perhaps experience thereby bringing glory to ourselves rather than the

39:40

Lord but as we grow as Christians we are to bring all matters of life under his dominion and we're to do all things in order that we give him the glory for what we have done again to call in Matthew Henry who wrote of these men's disappointment in their fishing that night they caught nothing though it is probable they toiled all night

40:03

Luke 5 5 see the vanity of this world the hand of the diligent often returns empty even good men may come short of desired success in their honest undertakings we may be in the way of our duty and yet not prosper providence in other words

40:21

God working so ordered it that all that night they should catch nothing that the miraculous draw to fishes in the morning might be the more wonderful and the more acceptable in those disappointments which to us are very grievous

40:36

God has often designs that are very gracious man has indeed a dominion over the fish of the sea as promised to Adam but they're not always at his back in other words they don't always at his beckoning call they're not always immediately responsive to us

40:55

God only knows the paths of the sea and commands that which passes through them and so really what the

41:04

Lord was teaching his disciples is that all of life has to be lived in faith Paul wrote

41:11

I've been crucified with Christ it's no longer I who live but Christ lives in me and the life which I had now live in the flesh

41:17

I live by faith and the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me and so there are times when the

41:24

Lord will cause an otherwise competent and accomplished person to fail in his endeavors in order to humble him it would seem this is what the

41:34

Lord was doing with these commercial fishermen Jesus said to them children have you any food they answered him no they'd caught nothing after fishing all night now it's clear in Providence the

41:46

Lord Jesus caused 153 fish to swim into that it's just as clear in our understanding of the ways of the

41:53

Lord he caused no fish to go into their debts all night long he's sovereign over all details he was setting the stage for what he was going to do on their behalf and so the

42:07

Lord would teach us that all of life is to be lived out in faith and so we have to squeeze really out of us our sense of self competence and confidence the

42:23

Lord said to them in verse 6 cast the net on the right side of the boat you'll find some now you recounted recently but I every time

42:29

I read this I can't help but think of Paul Stenstrom I visited him when he was in the nursing home after I was fishing one morning he asked me if I caught anything he knew

42:37

I was going I said no he said you should have fished on the right side of the boat well after our own failure we tend to be more open to suggestions from others don't we and so we read of these men come who complied with this stranger who gave them advice so they cast and now they were not able to draw it in because the multitude of fish now actually it's rather surprising they they did as this stranger instructed them again they were experienced fishermen they'd done this all their lives you know the two sons of Zebedee, Zebedee their father was a fisherman they'd been doing it since since youth probably young young children they knew that fish are caught in Galilee at night not in the daytime but now it's day and this man's telling them to fish in the daytime

43:38

I've also read you don't necessarily catch fish in shallow water in Galilee and yet they're just a hundred yards offshore and so they're really acting in a follow the counsel of this man on the shore in ways that are probably contrary to their own experience nevertheless they did what was instructed them they were blessed in the result and so it is that if we obey the

44:06

Lord Jesus in faith even when to do so seems to conflict with our own thoughts and experience we'll soon the glory see the glory of God and enjoy the blessing of living by faith in our

44:18

Savior and Lord and I think this is a common way of living as a Christian we're confronted with an issue our gut feeling our reason our experience tells us this is the course we should take and yet the

44:33

Word of God clearly said no you take this course and because of our sin and our pride we tend to ignore that set it aside give a legitimate reason why we can that doesn't apply to me and we we make our decision resulting in our own folly and failure we are to obey the

44:55

Lord's word even though it doesn't make sense to us we believe and afterwards we we see the wisdom of it

45:03

I didn't see it before or I see it now but it's only after you obey in faith that he reveals himself in this way we don't have to have it all spelled out for us to our satisfaction before we act we are to act according to the light of God's Word regardless of how we feel about or think about it if it's clearly spelled out in Scripture do it and that is the way of faith and so we might say a word about the timing and nature of the

45:42

Savior revealing himself to his disciples first the Lord revealed himself after there was a lapse of time from them and after a long a night long labor and Christ generally reveals himself afresh to his people after they've been apart from one another for a time through our own weakness and failure to seek him we can experience times in which we don't enjoy a sense of his presence with us and there are numbers of our own people for different reasons of course because of this

46:13

COVID thing haven't been able to meet with us on a regular basis and they'll tell you they'll be the first one to tell you the difficulty because of that because there is a sense of his presence that he has promised when we are gathered together when two or three are gathered together you're much more likely to experience the presence of the

46:38

Lord than if it's just you and your Bible someplace alone although we certainly don't neglect that too but then after that period of drought when he does manifest himself we're not only delighted but we're somewhat surprised by it as Matthew Henry again wrote

46:59

Christ's time of making himself known to his people is when they are most at a loss when they think they've lost themselves he will then let them know that they have not lost him weeping may endure for a night but joy comes if Christ comes in the morning it is a comfort to us when our passage is rough and stormy that our master is at shore and we are hastening to him and then second the

47:27

Lord Jesus revealed himself to his disciples somewhat gradually they didn't recognize him at first as on a few other occasions after his resurrection the two disciples on the road to Emmaus had failed to recognize him he appeared in another form to them he didn't want them to recognize him he wanted to teach them that they could still enjoy his presence through the hearing and reading and discussion of the

47:51

Word of God and they're breaking a bread to one another their hearts were stirred as they talked about the things of Christ in the way even though they didn't realize they were talking to Christ in person we may enjoy the presence of Christ in that way too but sometimes we only discover after the event that he'd been with us all along we thought we were alone but then looking back we recognize his presence was with us in the way and then third

48:24

Jesus revealed himself to them in a tender manner in the way he spoke to them he called out children have you any food he called them with an endearing word disarming any apprehension that they might otherwise have reacted to him he called them children we read in the

48:43

Old Testament of a prophecy of the Lord Jesus the Messiah referring to his people as his children there's a quotation in Hebrews 2 of the risen

48:54

Jesus here I am speaking to God this father here I am and the children whom

49:00

God has sent me and this is in the presence of the father when he's singing we're going to hear the

49:05

Lord Jesus sing one day rejoicing that you and I are there with him Jesus also revealed by his words his concern for their practical necessities do you have any food he's concerned that we receive our daily bread and that we have clothing that's necessary for us and if it seems that we go without these for a time we may be assured our

49:29

God will intervene and provide for us and again the Lord Jesus assured that in a sermon on the mount

49:36

God feeds birds all right he you know he clothes people as he beautifies and clothes the lilies of the field and he provides for his people even in a greater way than Solomon enjoyed therefore don't worry

50:00

Jesus said what you shall eat what shall we drink what shall we wear you can imagine the disciples may be wringing their hands what are we going to do how we're going to feed our families what are we going to do really not much more clothed you oh you of little faith do not worry what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear for after all these things the

50:23

Gentiles eat the non -christian seek those things that's what their life is consumed about don't you be that way is what he's saying because your heavenly father knows that you need all these things that's not a blank promise to every creature in the world as a promise to his disciples he is the master he's the

50:42

Lord there is disciples there is children you seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these other things will be taken care of they'll be added to you so don't worry about tomorrow for tomorrow we'll worry about its own thing sufficient as a day its own trouble let's not worry about what may come down in 2021 it's all right the

51:02

Lord will be with us and he'll use us and so we shouldn't fear

51:07

I don't think we should have apprehension but rather I think we should be optimistic of the opportunities that are opening up before us we're becoming more and more like the

51:19

Roman Empire of the first century aren't we and the disciples turn the world upside down with the gospel and then fourthly

51:29

Christ revealed himself through the manifestation of his authority and power he had ordered them cast the net on the right side of the boat you'll find some again not only had the

51:39

Lord caused the fish to swim in the net he caused no fish to swim into their net all night long the

51:45

Lord is sovereign over all things even the movement of the fish of the sea all serve his purpose and so this should lead us to be settled in what appears to fall out either to our advantage or to what might appear to be our disadvantage our

52:02

Lord declared through Paul all things are yours you are Christ and Christ is

52:07

God's and so this will allow Christians not to be greatly unsettled when things fall out resulting in your disappointment or difficulty the disciples complied with this stranger's instruction they had obeyed their master but they were unaware that it was their master they had been humbled and taught by him in the past and observed the manner in which he lived they were humble willing to comply and not to resist or resent another's overtures they were blessed as a result

52:41

Moses was described as the meekest man who ever lived up till that time he lived of course and so he was willing to receive instruction from his father -in -law

52:54

Jethro about dividing up authority and leadership where proud men are quick to imagine insults and easily take offense humble men will receive instruction and comply even if it may come from a stranger or if it is counter with their experience and confronts their compulsive nature to resist humble men will seek for directions and read instructions

53:16

I suspect some of us can work on this this is a guy thing isn't it wives know that Matthew Henry wrote note those that are humble diligent and patient though their labors may be crossed in other words it they don't their labors isn't producing the results they want shall be crowned they sometimes live to see their affairs like a happy turn after many struggles and fruitless attempts this is the nature of the

53:46

Christian life well we next read the disciples recognized Jesus therefore that disciple whom

53:54

Jesus loved said to Peter it's the Lord now when Simon Peter heard that it was the

54:00

Lord he put his outer garment put on his outer garment for he'd removed it and plunge into the sea but the other disciples came in the little boat but they were not far from land about 200 cubits dragging the net with fish

54:12

John once again identifies himself somewhat anonymously therefore that disciple whom

54:20

Jesus loved said to Peter it is the Lord it's interesting that John first recognized and announced it was the

54:28

Lord he seemed to be the most perceptive of them he had been the disciple closest to the

54:38

Lord the one whom the Lord seemed to really care about deeply those who walk closely with the

54:46

Savior in prayer and fellowship will tend to see his hand at work or his presence at hand when others have no perception of his working or presence

54:53

John saw it's the Lord near those among us to whom the

55:00

Lord chooses to manifest himself at special times and in comforting ways when he withholds that light from their brethren they didn't recognize him as yet and as John no doubt lifted the spirits of his companions and revitalized their hearts toward Jesus though so those who wonderfully perceive the presence and purposes of the

55:19

Lord Jesus are a source of encouragement and comfort to the rest of us Barnabas was called the son of consolation he just seemed to encourage and comfort people that he encountered and John too seems to encourage and comfort those about him

55:36

John Calvin wrote in his commentary of John and the others the evangelist as John shows by his example that it is our duty to raise our hearts to God whenever we succeed in anything beyond our expectation because we ought instantly to remember that this act of kindness has flowed from the favor of him who is the author of every blessing that holy recognition of the grace of God which dwelt in the heart of John led him also to the knowledge of Christ for he does not perceive

56:06

Christ with his eyes but being convinced that the great multitude of fishes has been brought to him by the hand of God he concludes it was

56:14

Christ who had guided his hands but as John goes before Peter in faith so Peter afterwards excels him in zeal when disregarding personal danger he throws himself into the lake the rest follow in the ship true all come to Christ at length but Peter is actuated by a peculiar zeal in comparison to the others whether he crossed over to the shore by walking or swimming is uncertain but let us rest satisfied with knowing that the act of leaving the ship and going on shore was not the result of folly and rashness but that he advanced beyond the others in proportion to his zeal and so John spoke up quickly to the others and well he should have done so special manifestations of the presence and power of the

57:05

Lord to us are not given to us individually to be enjoyed only by us but as with every spiritual gift that the

57:12

Lord imparts to us it's for the profit of all within the body as Paul wrote to the

57:18

Church of Corinth but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all and so when

57:24

John recognized Jesus he announced it to all it is the Lord but whereas John may have been the most spiritual perceptive among these men

57:35

Peter was the most zealous and impulsive of them and so we read now in Simon Peter heard that it was the

57:41

Lord he put on his outer garment for he'd removed it no doubt for ease and labor and plunge into the sea now later we read of the

57:51

Lord talking to Peter alone and we'll consider that again the last message of this gospel in a couple weeks when

58:00

Paul was recounting the resurrection appearances of Jesus in 1st Corinthians 15 he mentioned that Jesus was seen by Cephas and then afterwards by the twelve and so apparently

58:13

Jesus had already shown himself to Peter on the first day of the resurrection that afternoon before he met with the disciples that night he'd already restored

58:24

Peter and Peter's actions here of leaping in and and and running to Jesus seems to suggest that you know his defection after denying the

58:36

Lord three times had already been dealt with and been restored by the Lord at least that's my perception of things the

58:46

Lord had already restored Peter after his defection during the Lord's trial a man with a guilty conscience before the

58:53

Lord would probably not spontaneously deep into the sea and swim to shore to be initially alone with Jesus he'd probably wait and join with Jesus in a group with the others but here we read of an energetic confident

59:05

Peter that the Lord would welcome him and that he had no reason to be ashamed or feel estranged from the

59:11

Lord for all had been resolved and restored between them I think on a previous occasion but the others did not follow

59:20

Peter in his actions rather in verse 8 the other disciples came in a little boat for they were not far from land but about 200 cubits dragging the net with fish some had to be responsible and complete the task before them the fish caught in the net were not to be lost through failure and neglect they had to be hauled ashore but the delay of the others would not be long for the boat was only about a hundred yards from shore 200 cubits they managed to drag their drag net with all the fish and close securely it was through their diligence rather than Peter's impulsiveness that they would all be able to sit down and enjoy fellowship together with their

01:00:01

Lord over a meal and so these other men came more slowly but in some ways they brought some benefit and substance to the gathering thank the

01:00:10

Lord for those who are faithful see to their duty and doing so bring benefit to others before bringing speedy blessing for themselves and so the

01:00:20

Lord gifts some with zeal and affection even while imparting diligence and persistence to others who achieve the completion of an important and necessary task or duty thank the

01:00:32

Lord for plotters yes one can become too encumbered with duty as Martha when she should be sitting at the feet of Jesus as Mary did but that the work that Martha did needed to be done by someone and we thank the

01:00:50

Lord of course for Mary's and Martha's within the church can't help but quote

01:00:56

Matthew Henry always draws these applications of those that do excel some like John are eminently contemplative have great gifts of knowledge serve the church with them others like Peter are eminently active and courageous are strong and do exploits and are thus very serviceable to their generation and some are useful as the church's eyes and others as the church's hands and all for the good of the body and what a great deal of difference there may be between good people and others in the way of their honoring

01:01:27

Christ and yet both are accepted by him some serve Christ more in acts of devotion and extraordinary expressions of religious zeal and they do well to the

01:01:38

Lord they do it Peter ought not to be censured for casting himself into the sea but commended for his zeal and the strength of his affection and so must those be who in love to Christ quit the world with Mary to sit at his feet but others serve

01:01:54

Christ more in the affairs of the world they continue in that ship drag the net bring the fish to shore as the other disciples here and such ought not to be censured as worldly for they in their place or as truly serving

01:02:07

Christ as the other even in serving tables if all the disciples had done as Peter did what had become of their fish in their nets and if Peter had done as they did we had wanted this instance of holy zeal

01:02:21

Christ was well pleased with both and so must we be tolerance and patience in the way others walk and serve the

01:02:31

Lord well appreciate what they do not necessarily criticize them for what they're not doing like us and then last

01:02:42

Jesus and his disciples fellowship together sharing a meal soon as they had come to land they saw a fire of coals there fish laid on it bread

01:02:51

Jesus said to them bring some of the fish which you have just caught Simon Peter went up dragged the net to land full of large fish 153 and although there were so many that net was not broken and Jesus said to them come and eat breakfast yet none of the disciples dared ask him who are you knowing it was the

01:03:11

Lord Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and likewise the fish this is now the third time

01:03:18

Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he was raised from the dead the Lord already had the meal almost prepared for them but what they brought there would be sufficient for all verses 9 and 10 then as soon as they had come to land they saw a fire of coals there and fish laid on it already and bread where did the

01:03:39

Lord get these provisions it doesn't say but he could easily turn stones to bread the devil had thought so and probably was right on this point he can do that and if Jesus could tell

01:03:52

Peter to cast a hook in the sea and from the first fish he caught take enough money out of his mouth to pay your tax and my tax then certainly can come up with some fish and start the fire and have some bread there our

01:04:08

Lord knew these men had not caught anything all night they'd arrive hungry so he purposed to serve them food he knows the thing that we need but even if and when his purpose in his purpose he would have us experience great need even prolonged need we may rest assured one day we'll be bidden to be seated with him and all the

01:04:27

Saints Christ himself will serve us as his disciples and we'll eat and drink with Christ at his table in his kingdom we'll all enjoy a fellowship meal the

01:04:38

Mary supper of the Lamb and we trust that will continue in a sense through eternity but our

01:04:47

Lord told his disciples you come and you add some fish to this some bring some of the fish you caught it's a good thing when people can enjoy the fruit of their own labor you're a lot about socialism today

01:05:01

I'm going to enjoy the fruit of your labor that's what socialism is whether you want to give it to me or not

01:05:07

I am going to take what yours and enjoy it myself that is not biblical we ought to be generous and share what we have with others but it is immoral to take from somebody else that which is theirs and give it to someone else that is thievery is according to the scriptures we're to be generous we're to give and be willing to share but we're not to take from others to give to others that's that is a violation of the commandment these men were diligent they caught fish and they're going to enjoy the benefits of this it's not an abuse of this passage to see the parallels between these disciples at catching fish and taking the gospel to the world after all the

01:05:55

Lord told these disciples early on the fishermen among them follow me I'll make you fishers of men so winning work making disciples of Christ is much like fishing it requires time effort skill patience experience is beneficial and as these men fished all night caught nothing is commonly the case with fishers of men we're not assured that we will be successful in every venture

01:06:21

I recall years ago a friend of mine went to a missions conference and the speakers were all getting up and telling of the great exploits and the scores and scores of people that were converted to Christ and church had begun and David was sitting next to an elderly man he struck up a conversation he discovered this man had been on the mission field for decades

01:06:43

David asked him how many how many Congress did you see and I think the man responded to him

01:06:49

I had two or three and decades he'd been a minister missionary in an

01:06:55

Islamic land he was faithful giving himself for years the

01:07:02

Lord is the sovereign in the one who gives success and we shouldn't look at numerical success as an indicator of God's blessing and yet that's the way worldly churches and pastors and ministry philosopher abundance promote things you must not be doing it rightly or you would see better results that is not biblical that is crass worldliness the test of course by which all things are to be measured is that a faithfulness are we being true and faithful regardless of the consequences or the benefits that in crew and yet there may be times of added blessing you read about the

01:07:52

Great Awakening in the 18th century and and the faithful pastor said we didn't change our our methods we were preaching the same way we had always preached but whereas we'd see one or two converted now we saw 10 20 30 converted it was clearly a work of the

01:08:11

Lord using the same message it wasn't a methodology it was a message and we have lost the message frankly in Christendom today in my opinion take that for what it's worth we're still getting results but they're superficial they're shallow they're not they're not true fruit of the kingdom and there's a lot of wooden hay and stubble being being constructed and it's all going to come down one day only the silver gold and precious stones will last so Jesus said to them you bring what you caught and then when

01:08:50

Peter heard that he went over and grabbed the net and by himself drug the hundred and fifty three fish ashore and the net didn't break he must have been a powerfully built man to be able to do this what took six other men to drag these fish toward the shore

01:09:07

Peter apparently was able to drag up upon the shore amazing we are very susceptible to read in to things however what shouldn't be read into 153 clearly that has some kind of symbolic meaning no it means there are 153 fish and they were large fish and yet down through history these fanciful interpretations

01:09:39

I won't read them but Donald Carson cited some of them and there is a way of interpretation called

01:09:46

Gematria and there was a guy who came out about 10 -15 years ago who wrote a commentary and it's a basically numerology where every

01:09:55

Hebrew letter has a number sequence and he was showing all the all the way these numbers crunch and you could figure out prophetic you know prophecies through it and what

01:10:06

God was going to do in history and there are some that were saying that this was a key to disciples if they cast their gospel net in right places they're going to have a great haul of fish and they were saying that you need to go down into certain

01:10:18

Gentile lands and this is where you're going to be and it was all basically an allegorical interpretation is 153 fish and we should avoid doing that again

01:10:34

Calvin who is studious but cautious interpreter of the scripture he wrote about this statement of John now they were not able to draw it and in doing so he addressed some minor points of the account advising to avoid supplying some meaning to them

01:10:50

Christ here exhibited two proofs of his divine power the first consisted in their taking so large a drought of fishes the second was when by his concealed power he reserved the net hole which otherwise must unavoidably have been broken in pieces other circumstances are mentioned namely the disciples finding burning coals on the shore what does that mean or the fishes are laid on them what does that mean and that bread is also prepared as to the number of the fishes we ought not to look for any deep mystery in it

01:11:23

Augustine who is a great man enters into ingenious reasonings about the statement of the number and says it denotes the law in the gospel but if we examine the matter carefully we shall find that this is a child is trifling and yet it's incredible the creativeness of man to find some meaning significance of a hundred and fifty three fish and I don't think we should do that it was a great many disciples were surprised by it all it wasn't commonly done but it was intentional the

01:11:55

Lord intended 153 not 152 not 154 the Lord is the one who called it and determined it the point is there were many fish and they were large in size and the net did not break and just as he assured there would be fish caught in that net and and assured then they'd be brought to shore the

01:12:17

Lord has assured us that it was we cast out the gospel net you know sometimes we my labor all night has nothing but other times we might see a wonderful wonderful catch as it were and we ought to pray to that end by the way and and look to the

01:12:34

Lord Jesus but he is sovereign in this we are called to be faithful casting out the net in the places where where it should be sent to all the world and the

01:12:45

Lord's responsible for the fish that get in it and may the Lord help us and bless our efforts let's pray thank you father for your word and for the illustrations we have and the examples we have and for those

01:13:01

Lord over the centuries who have given us helpful comments to illuminate us as to the understanding and implications of these things help us our

01:13:11

God to be in feet to be faithful to you help us our God to be encouraging to one another help us our