Author: Andrew Nugteren

IT IS THE LORD

Text: John 21:1-14
Readings: Luke 5:1-11, John 20:1-22
Theme: Jesus showed himself to his disciples to affirm his resurrection and encourage them in their mission as fishers of men.
Purpose: To affirm the reality of Christ's resurrection and encourage you in mission. 

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Many of you will have heard of Evangelism Explosion Ministries. It is an evangelism training programme written by the late Dr James Kennedy, the former pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida. The EEIII training programme seeks to equip Christians to share the good news about Jesus with others. This training course was revised in 2007 - the most thorough going revision in 40 years. The content of the gospel presentation has not changed but the method of approach has been altered to communicate the gospel to Generation X in the western world. Generation X includes all those under 40. This new presentation is called Xee. It concentrates on building friendships, establishing trust, and opening up discussion with unbelievers. This is another useful tool to equip us to be more effective fishers of men. 

The Bible uses fishing as a picture of evangelism. We have just read about a very successful fishing expedition. Through it the risen Lord Jesus reminded these disciples of their calling to be fishers of men. He calls us to the same task. 

Today we will examine some of the details of the story and then look at two lessons for us.
1. Jesus affirmed the reality of his resurrection.
2. Jesus encourages us in our responsibility to reach others.

An Explanation: The first appearances of the risen Lord Jesus had been in Jerusalem - that is where he had been crucified and that is where he emerged from the tomb. But Jesus had told the disciples, through the women, to go up to Galilee in the north of Israel and he would meet them there. (Matt 28:7,10, Mark 16:7). 

No doubt the disciples were glad to do this. The situation in Jerusalem was tense following the execution of Jesus and the rumours of his resurrection. They were afraid of what the Jewish leaders might do, and how the Romans might react to the followers of Jesus. 

So they went up to Galilee. Seven of them were staying in one of the towns along the shores of the lake, or the Sea of Tiberius, as John names it. Five of them are named. The other two may have been Phillip and Andrew. If that was so then these were the "Galilee seven" of the 12 disciples. 

They were waiting for Jesus to meet them; but they felt aimless, as often happens we are waiting for someone. They lacked a sense of direction. So Peter, always a man of action and ready to do something announced, "I'm going out to fish." It was an invitation for the others to join him and they were all keen to do that. That would give them something to do, a good diversion; and it would be therapeutic after all the stress and emotion of the past couple of weeks.

As they went out their minds may have gone over the times they had spent with Jesus on the lake: how he had sat in one of their boats and taught the crowds. They may have recalled him walking on the water, calming the storm, and healing the demon possessed man in the region of the Gerasenes (Mark 5:1-20).
 
They fished all night, and some of them were experienced fishermen, but they caught nothing. Some of the fishermen here may be able to relate to that experience! After casting their net so many times they were getting tired and discouraged and at dawn they made their way home. 

In verse 4 we read; "Early in the morning Jesus stood on the shore..." 
This word "stood" is used three times in chapter 20; in verse 14 when Jesus stood behind Mary by the tomb; in verse 19 when Jesus appeared and stood among the disciples in the locked room; and in verse 26 when, a week later, he again appeared to the disciples in the locked room when Thomas was there. Each time Jesus appeared suddenly, he was there! Here again: "Early in the morning Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realise it was Jesus."

They were about 100 meters off shore and Jesus asked them if they had any fish. Being tired and dispirited and some distance away they answered only briefly; "No". 

Jesus said; "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." (vs 6). 
Most fishermen are not very receptive to advice from know-it-all people who are passing by! Maybe the disciples had a brief discussion amongst themselves about this advice, and then, surprisingly, they did what the man suggested. Maybe they thought he could see something they could not; or maybe it was the note of confidence and authority in his voice. 

They gave it one more try and then, to their amazement, "were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish." (vs 6). 

It was then John realised who this stranger was. John was "the disciple whom Jesus loved." (vs 7). Each of us feels closer to some people that to others. We have people we are our friends and others whom we are acquainted with. Jesus was close to John; there was an understanding there, a friendship between them. 
John was also one of the more perceptive of the disciples. We read in chapter 20 that when he looked into the empty tomb and saw the grave-cloths lying there "he saw and believed" (20:8). 
His closeness with Jesus and his perception meant that he was the first to recognise the man on the shore as the Lord Jesus.

He said to Peter, in a voice filled with awe and joy, "It is the Lord!" It was understandable that he should address Peter because these two were both close to Jesus and also closely associated with each other. We often read about Peter and John together. When Jesus first called them to follow him they were fishing partners in the same business (Luke 5:10). They conferred together at the last Passover meal (13:23-24); they were there together in the courtyard of the High Priest during the trial of Jesus (18:15-16); on that Easter Sunday morning they ran together to the tomb (20:3-9). Here again John naturally turned first to Peter.

Peter acts entirely in character; in the gospels he is always impulsive - a man of action and energy! As soon as he heard it was the Lord he wrapped his coat around him and threw himself into the water, so eager was he to see the Lord Jesus!
When the others arrived they all had breakfast together on the beach, with the Lord. 

Fishermen love to describe the details of their catch - number, weight, size. "You should have seen the fish we caught! It was this big!" Local papers sometimes have a photo page with shots of proud fisherman holding up their catch with the size and weight measurements. The disciples were impressed by this catch of fish and they counted them - 153 large fish. 

Some Christians have an inclination to allegorise the numbers in the Bible. Allegory is when you jump over the plain meaning of a passage and come up with a spiritual interpretation that has no obvious connection with the text. For instance, someone has said that the 100 refers to the Gentiles, 50 to the Jews and three to the trinity! That is mere imagination and speculation. 
What then does this passage have to say to us? There are two lessons that arise naturally out of this passage for the disciples and for ourselves.

1. JESUS AFFIRMED THE REALITY OF HIS RESURRECTION.

In verse 1 we read that "Jesus appeared again to his disciples" and in verse 14 we read that "This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead."
If you put together all the resurrection appearances of Jesus in the gospels then this was actually the seventh time Jesus had revealed himself, but it was the third time he had shown himself to the disciples as a group. 

Jesus did not remain with his disciples all the time for those forty days between his resurrection and ascension; rather, he came and went. He appeared to them and spoke to them but then he went away. He was getting them used to the time when he would ascend to heaven and leave them. 

But he wanted them to know that he had indeed risen! The word "appeared" can also be translated as "manifested" or "made himself visible". Jesus deliberately made himself known to his disciples  so they would know he was alive. He revealed himself to them. 

We need to remember this. Christianity rests on an historical foundation. What we believe is grounded in people who lived and events that happened. The Bible tells us about people and times and dates and places. Above all it tells us about the Lord Jesus - his birth, life, death and resurrection. We have four historical accounts that describe how Jesus rose from the dead and all the people who saw him. They heard him speak, they saw him eat. 

The resurrected Jesus was not a ghost, or an apparition, or a dream, or a vision. The disciples were not hallucinating. Their recognition of Jesus was not a product of wishful thinking. 
Jesus appeared to them on a number of different occasions, in different places, at different times. He revealed himself to them in his glorified, resurrected, physical, human body, and they saw him. He had indeed risen from the dead. 

This is one of the great proofs of the Christian faith. If Jesus had not been raised then there would be no point to being a Christian. "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins...But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead!" (1 Cor 15:17,20) This is the good news of this Easter Sunday!

You can't see Jesus today because he has ascended into heaven. You cannot see him with your physical eyes, but you can see him with the eyes of faith. The Bible calls you to believe in this Jesus who died for the sin of his people and was raised to give us life. Do you believe in Jesus, the risen Lord, alive today?!

2. JESUS ALSO ENCOURAGES US IN OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO REACH OTHERS.

As we considered earlier, we need to be careful that we don't jump over the plain meaning of this passage to weird and fanciful lessons. The way to avoid that is to let Scripture interpret Scripture. This is one of the main principles of biblical interpretation; compare one passage of the Bible with others; your understanding of a particular text must be shaped by the rest of the Bible. 

This is why we read from Luke 5:1-11. That story described another time the disciples fished all night and then landed a miraculous catch of fish. This happened early in the ministry of Jesus when he first called his disciples. Immediately after that he told Peter; "Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men." (Luke 5:10).
In the gospel of Mark we read that Jesus said to Simon and Andrew; "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (Mark 1:16-17).
Jesus used their occupation as fishermen to describe their new task of gathering men and women into the church and kingdom of Christ. This was to be their new mission. 

During the three years of his ministry Jesus had been training and preparing them for this work. 
He had sent them out to preach the good news of the kingdom and to demonstrate that with signs and miracles.
At the end of the last Passover meal he prayed for them as he sent them out into the world (17:18).
And after his resurrection he commissioned them to go out. In John 20:21f we read that Jesus spoke to his disciples and said; "'Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.' And with that he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit'." 

Jesus knew that he would not be with them much longer. He had fulfilled his work of dying for the sins of his people. He had been raised from the dead. Soon he would return to his Father in heaven. After that they would be his witnesses. 

This story in John 21 pictures their mission. This fishing expedition, and its miraculous catch, reminded them of their calling: they were to be fishers of men. They would cast the net of the gospel out into the world and they would gather God's elect people to salvation. 

As they did that they could expect a large catch. The net would be full. Earlier in this gospel Jesus had described their work using the picture of agriculture: "I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields. They are ripe for harvest." (John 4:35). Others had done the hard work of sowing and cultivating and they would reap the benefits of that labour. (John 4:38).

And the early church did reap a great harvest. Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost and 3000 people were converted. Soon that grew to 5000. Every day more and more people joined the church. During those first few centuries the church grew rapidly. 

Today there is rapid growth in Africa and China and South Korea and in South America. We don't see that in our Western world. Most people, it seems, are indifferent to the gospel, hard to reach, and unaware of their sin before a holy God. It is easy to get discouraged about this in the difficulty of this work in NZ as we try to reach Generation X in this postmodern world. Yet, regardless of the difficulty or the outcome we still have the same mission, the same task, the same calling. You and I are to be fishers of men.

But Jesus wants you and me to sow the seed, to cast our nets, to spread the good news about Jesus, to do good deeds, to proclaim the message that Jesus Christ died for sinners such as us, has been raised from the dead, is alive today, and is coming again as the Lord and Judge of all the world.

Do you believe in this risen and living Lord?
Are you doing the work of mission as fishers of men?  

Amen