Last week, we left off in ch.
20 at v. 23.
It’s the evening of Rez
Sunday & Jesus has appeared to the disciples.
He’s
proven it’s really He and not a ghost, then He imparted the Holy Spirit to
them, making them born again.
Then He says . . .
23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are
forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Read through the filter of
2000 years of religious tradition this sounds like an affirmation of the
priesthood’s role confession, where people enter a confessional, disclose their
spiritual failure, & are absolved by a priest who gives them some penance
to perform.
It’s that’s the way we
interpret what Jesus says here, then it’s an example of interpreting a passage
through the wrong cultural lens.
Remember,
when studying the Word, we have to ask, “What did this interesting phrase mean
the disciples in that room that evening?
The answer lies in our
understanding of the relationship between rabbis & disciples.
You see, the rabbis were THE
authoritative teachers of
Because
they knew the Law so well & were recognized as having special authority
from God, they could tell people whether or not they’d sinned based on how they
had behaved in a given situation.
Jesus is telling the
disciples they’re graduating from being disciples to full-on rabbis.
Because
of their abiding relationship with Him through the Holy Spirit He just
imparted to them, He’s giving them the authority to define the boundaries
& borders of the Christian Faith.
Because
the Cross & Resurrection are now accomplished facts, the Gospel carries in
it the power to set men & women free from sin.
And
because of their previous 3 years with Jesus, they are the ones that Gospel has
been handed to.
As
they go forth proclaiming it, those who respond in faith will know God’s
forgiveness. Those who reject it will
remain lost.
24 Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was
not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples therefore said
to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands
the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put
my hand into His side, I will not believe.” 26 And after eight days
His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors
being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” 27
Then He said to Thomas, “Reach
your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and
put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 And Thomas answered and said to Him,
“My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have
believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed.”
[Covered 2 Sundays ago]
30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence
of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these
are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that believing you may have life in His name.
Contextually, we probably ought to understand the “many other
signs” here in v. 30 as referring to the post-resurrection appearances Jesus
made to them.
If this had come at the very
end of the book, it would refer to the entire Gospel.
But
John goes on to tell another story about a
post-resurrection appearance of Jesus in the next verses.
So
is best to understand what he’s saying here as referring to how Jesus revealed
Himself between the resurrection and His ascension.
Everything
John’s recorded about the appearances of the Risen Christ is aimed at producing
faith in Him as the Messiah & God.
While this is a tad technical
– I want to point out something in v. 31 that will help us understand the
Christian life.
John writes, “These are written
that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing
you may have life in His name.”
The
first “believe” is in the aorist tense, which means simple
completed action.
It
looks to a moment in time when a thing happens, & it’s done.
It’s
John’s goal to see his readers come to an instant in time when they turn from
unbelief to faith in Christ.
Really,
it’s fitting that John would say such a thing in a passage which has just shown
when HE & the other disciples crossed over to saving faith in Jesus.
The Christian life begins
with an instantaneous conversion, a moment in time when a person’s will
surrenders to God.
It
might take months or years for them to come to that point, but eventually it
arrives and they step from death to life.
This
is why we do altar calls. They afford
someone the opportunity to give public testimony to the event of their
salvation.
Raising
a hand, going forward to pray with someone, repeating a prayer with an
evangelist or counselor doesn’t save anyone.
These
are merely vehicles by which those who’ve had a crisis of decision can declare
their reception of God’s grace.
But that crisis of decision,
that moment in time when one crosses over from death to life, leads to an abiding
place of faith.
That’s
why the 2nd use of the word ‘believe’ in v. 31 is in the present
tense:
“ . . . and that [continually] believing
you may have life in His name.”
The initial event of being
born again is meant to usher us into a life of on-going faith.
Just
as we step from death into life the moment we surrender our will to God, we can
grow
in our experience of that life by constant, continuing surrender.
1After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the
disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself:
Since we covered verses 1-14
on Sunday, I’ll just make some additional comments tonight.
First of all, sorting out the
post-resurrection appearances of Jesus to the disciples can be a little tricky.
None
of the Gospel writers gives anything close to a complete chronological record
of the events between the resurrection & the ascension.
So
it takes some detective work to sort things out.
In v. 14, John tells us this
was Jesus’ 3rd appearance to the disciples.
V. 1
begins, “After these things;” a phrase referring to a short passage of time.
Ch.
20 showed us the first 2 appearances of Jesus to the disciples; the 1st
was on Rez. Sunday w/o Thomas, & the 2nd was a week later when
he was there.
This story probably took place during the 2nd
or 3rd week after the Rez.
Here’s where things get
sticky . . .
1)
Jesus told them they were to wait in
2)
But He also told them they were to meet Him on a certain hill in
So, which is it: Wait in
It’s
both. Pentecost was far enough off that
a quick trip North, back to the place where there were hundreds of devoted
followers, could be easily squeezed in.
Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 15 that at one of the
appearances Jesus made after His resurrection there were over 500 people.
A
hillside in
It was crucial the original
11 disciples be at this meeting in
2Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana
in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were
together.
Only 7 disciples are mentioned
here.
Matthew
tells us in 28:16 that when the disciples went to meet Jesus on the hill in
This
is not the same event. This takes place before
that.
3Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They
said to him, “We are going with you also.” They went out and immediately got
into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.
If you weren’t here Sunday,
get a CD of the message for why Peter decided to go fishing.
It would have been easy for
them to find a boat since John &
But a whole night of fishing
yielded nada.
4But when the morning had now come, Jesus stood on the
shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5Then Jesus
said to them, “Children, have
you any food?” They answered Him, “No.” 6And
He said to them, “Cast the net
on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast, and now they were not able to draw it
in because of the multitude of fish. 7Therefore that disciple whom
Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it
was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and
plunged into the sea. 8But the other disciples came in the little
boat (for they were not far from land, but about two hundred cubits), dragging
the net with fish.
They were only about 100
yards offshore when at dawn someone called from shore – “Hey kiddos – fishing
not so hot, huh?”
“Why
don’t you try the right side of the boat?”
They don’t know it’s Jesus,
so why did they take the advice & cast their net?
Well,
being that it’s dawn, they assume his angle of view sees a school of fish they
can’t.
There’s
a school there all right, but it’s not that this stranger on shore can see it.
He’s controlling it.
In
fact, He’s been chasing fish away from their net all night so that they can
learn an important lesson.
When they do cast at His
direction, the net is suddenly filled with big, fat fish.
Immediately
John is reminded of a similar event 3 years before and says, “That’s gotta’ be
Jesus!”
Peter
stands up from hauling on the net, says, “Huh? Oh!” grabs his cloak, & hops
out of the boat to swim to shore.
The reason Peter put his
outer garment on even though he was planning on going swimming was because he
was going to be greeting the Lord when he got to shore, and such a greeting
required that a person be fully clothed.
You see, in that time &
culture, a greeting carried a much deeper personal meaning than the modern
custom of saying “Hello.”
For
us, “Hi,” is little more than way of saying, “I know you’re there, &
everything’s okay between us.”
But among the Jews of Jesus’
day, a greeting carried a strong religious element.
When
you said, “Shalom: to someone, you were wishing them the blessing of a
comprehensive peace that resulted in both safety & plenty.
Really,
when you said “Shalom” you were extending to that person the blessing of God
with Whom you were in covenant.
You
were saying, “May the covenant-blessings of Yahweh be upon you.”
This is why Jews only greeted
other Jews, and only those they considered worthy of receiving the blessing of
God.
Because
such greetings were understood as religious blessings, it required the proper
attire.
If
someone entered your home unannounced & found you dressed in too casual a
manner to receive company, then you’d put the proper attire on before giving
your greeting.
This helps explain Jesus’
instructions in
12And when you go into a household, greet it. 13If the household is worthy, let your peace
come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
It also shes important light
on what has been for some a very troubling passage in
10If anyone comes to you and does not bring this
doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11for he
who greets him shares in his evil deeds.
The
idea is that since greeting someone places God’s blessing on them, greeting a
heretic would only benefit the enemy.
9Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a
fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. 10Jesus said to
them, “Bring some of the fish
which you have just caught.” 11Simon
Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and
fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken.
Since
Peter was already wet, it made sense he’d hop into the boat, untie the net from
the rail, jump back into the water, then drag the bulging net to shore.
As we saw Sunday, John’s
recording there were 153 large fish taken in an unbroken net ought to be
understood as nothing more than the account of a real commercial fisherman.
I got this email after the
message last Sunday . . .
Dear Pastor, I wanted to let you know how special this
morning’s message was to me. You see,
I’ve been a commercial fisherman my entire adult life - 17 years. I believe my
occupation is one of the most misunderstood vocations in the world today. I fish the channel year round with one
crewman in the winter and work alone in the summer. It’s an amazing way of life; challenging,
unpredictable, & uncertain.
Commercial fishermen are fiercely independent, persistent, &
resilient. With each passing season I
struggle with purpose in my profession.
More regulation, higher operating costs, no guarantees (or benefits),
feelings of isolation at sea. But I
wouldn't trade it for anything. You hit
the nail right in the "sweet spot".
Fishing is what I was called to do, and really by accident. But I belong to Him, and fishing doesn't make
me who I am. Should you need any fish
stories for a sermon, I've got plenty.
And I do count my fish, every one of them. That's my job.
(Jerry Peters)
Fish were counted so that
each worker would get his share.
And
it’s part of the fisherman’s code to keep track of exceptional catches &
tell stories about it for the rest of their days.
This
was a miraculous haul, and John simply jotted down the details.
But there’s no end to the
theories commentators come up with attaching some kind of spiritual
significance to the number of fish.
So
this catch was God’s way of saying as Apostles they were to go out and make
disciples of all nations.
The
problem is – we have not a shred of evidence from
antiquity that the ancients believed there were 153 species of fish!
17
is the sum of 10 & 7; 10 referring to the 10 commandments & 7 to the
fruit of the Spirit.
Okay
– what does that have to do with a net full of fish?
Guess how many total dots = 153!
And of course, the connection to the fish they caught
is real clear there!
In
Greek, Simon has a numerical equivalent of 76 while the word for fish equals
77.
This
clearly points to Simon Peter as the consummate fisherman.
Oh,
but wait – he’d just spent a whole night fishing and caught, what?
3
times 51 = 153!
Where
does the 51 come from? Well we need to multiply 3 by something if we want to
make this a reference to the Trinity.
Folks, if this is the best
these brilliant scholars can come up with, then we ought to conclude nothing
more is meant by this 153 than that John is recording a miraculous catch.
If
he’d meant us to see some deeper meaning here, certainly he would have given us
a better clue.
12Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.” Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who are
You?”—knowing that it was the Lord.
We talked about the reason
for their hesitation Sunday.
13Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to
them, and likewise the fish. 14 This is now the third time Jesus
showed Himself to His disciples after He was raised from the dead.
When they delayed to step
forward and join Him for breakfast, He took it to them. They then sat down and ate .
Since Pastor Jeff is going to
teach on the next vs. in a few weeks, we’ll just read over them tonight.
15 So when they had eaten
breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love
You.” He said to him, “Feed My
lambs.” 16 He said to him
again a second time, “Simon, son
of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to
Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love
Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to
him the third time, “Do you
love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You
know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.
18 Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were
younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old,
you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you
where you do not wish.” 19 This
He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken
this, He said to him, “Follow
Me.”
[Sunday.]
20 Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom
Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and
said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?”
John is so devoted to not
mentioning his own name that he gives this rather lengthy reference; but it’s a reference filled with his
connection to Jesus – not a bad way to identify yourself!
It would seem that when Jesus
said to Peter in v. 19, “Follow Me,” He actually stood up and started walking.
Peter
does so, and turns around to see ho else of the 7 is tagging along.
John
is.
21 Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about
this man?”
Jesus has told Peter what his
fate will be in v. 18 – he will die a martyr’s death on a cross of his
own. Peter asks what John’s
future holds.
22 Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?
You follow Me.”
John’s fate was none of
Peter’s concern.
The
only reason why Jesus told Peter his ultimate end was because Peter was so doubtful
of his ability to follow the Lord.
So
Jesus encouraged him with a glimpse of his end.
John’s fate was an all
together different matter & none of Peter’s business.
If
God willed that John remain alive until the Second Coming, then that’s what
would be.
The
key for Peter was to stay focused on the Lord.
Peter seems to be one of
those people who are unduly influence by others.
It
was when he was surrounded by unbelievers in the high priest’s courtyard that
he denied knowing Jesus.
It
was when religious legalists from
While close fellowship with
other right-on, mature believers can be a great spur to our walk, the failure
of others ought not stumble or halt our progress in Christ.
Friends are going to fall.
Leaders are going to mess up. Pastors
& elders are going to go sideways & blow it.
These
things hurt, but they mustn’t hinder our movement forward in Christ.
We probably all known people
who fell way from the Lord because someone they looked to as an example blew
it.
They
blame their loss of faith on that other person’s fall.
But
all it did was reveal the weakness of their faith.
How
does your failure or my failure prove God’s not still worthy of our love &
devotion?
There
is no connection there – yet many people blame their lack of abiding faith in
Christ on someone else’s moral failure.
Jesus said to Peter, “John’s
got his own path and future. The only thing you need to concern yourself with
is that YOU, SIMON PETER, follow Me!”
23Then this saying went out among the brethren that this
disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die,
but, “If I will that he
remain till I come, what is that to you?”
Reading heaps of silliness
into the text is nothing new.
John
says they were doing way back then.
Because Jesus made the
supposition of God’s will for John to remain alive till the Second Coming, some
jumped to the conclusion he was either immortal or the Second Coming was close
at hand.
John
corrected this goofy idea by putting it in the right context.
Jesus
never said any such thing. His point was
that Peter was to take thought for his own life & walk and not worry about
John.
24This is the
disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know
that his testimony is true.
Many scholars believe the
“we” here is the endorsement of the Ephesians elders where John wrote this
Gospel.
They’re
saying the things John recorded were bits & pieces of the genuine Apostolic
witness which was in ample supply at this time.
25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did,
which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself
could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
John had centered His story
on filling in some of the details the other Gospels of M,M&L had left out.
But
he by no means exhausted the record.
All
he does is scratch the surface of all Jesus did & said.
This last comment would seem
to open the door to other Gospels – books that guys like Dan Brown & The DaVinci Code say existed but were
rejected by men with an agenda of promoting a skewed picture of the life of
Christ.
Nothing could be further from
the truth.
The
books they would have us accept as viable accounts of the Life of Christ are
all late 2nd Century to mid 4th Century Gnostic fables.
There
isn’t a single reputable scholar who sees it any other way.
The reason why
the
That was known by all.
The
Gnostic Gospels are much different in that they were written hundreds of years
later & could not have been penned by the people they’re named after,
Thomas, Philip, Mary Magdalene, because they were long dead.