During the Easter season, we have been looking at the final conversation that Jesus
had with His closest followers before His death, which is recorded for us in an
account of Jesus life in our Bibles called the gospel of John. This week I would like for us to jump back
into the story. I would like us to jump back into this story because the gospel
of John does not end with the resurrection of Jesus. Instead, the gospel of
John ends with a conversation between Jesus and Peter, who was the undisputed
leader of Jesus closest followers.
However, at the time when Jesus needed Peter most,
Peter had denied Jesus. And Peter did not just deny Jesus once. Peter denied
Jesus three times. And not only did Peter know that he had denied Jesus; Jesus
had seen and heard Peter deny Him three times. And now, Jesus had been raised
from the dead. So as we have done throughout this series, I would like for us
to place ourselves in this story as one of Jesus closest followers. In particular,
I would like us to walk in the shoes of Peter. To do that, let’s look together
at John Chapter 21, beginning in verse 1:
After these
things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias,
and He manifested Himself in
this way. Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in
Galilee, and the sons of
Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. Simon Peter said to
them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will also come
with you." They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught
nothing
John begins this section of his
account of Jesus life by providing us the context for what will happen in the
story that we will be looking at this morning. But, this morning, what does
John means when he says “after these things”? By after these things, John is
referring to the events that occurred the week of Easter Sunday.
John is referring to the empty
tomb that he and Peter had seen with their own eyes that Sunday morning. John
is referring back to that 1st Easter night, when Jesus walked
through the walls and locked door and appeared to the disciples, revealing
Himself as the Risen Lord. John is referring back to an evening a week after
Easter Sunday, when Jesus again appeared and made Himself known to the
disciples, who were again locked in a room for fear of the religious leaders of
the day. John is referring back to the declaration by Thomas, who did not
believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead, but upon seeing the risen Lord
that night proclaimed “My Lord and my God”.
Some time after these
incredible events John shares with us another incident in which Jesus reveals
Himself as the risen Lord to His disciples. John begins to paint the picture
that will enable us to walk in the disciple’s shoes by sharing who was present.
First, we have Peter, the leader and often spokesperson for the twelve, who had
denied the Lord three times that fateful night before the crucifixion. Then
there is Thomas, Nathaniel, James and John, the sons of Zebedee and two other
disciples who remained unnamed.
The seven disciples were
hanging out at the Sea of Tiberias, which is another name that the Romans gave
for the Sea of Galilee. The disciples were in Galilee according to Jesus
direction, which is seen in Matthew 28:10, whereby Jesus directs the women at
the empty tomb to have the disciples go to Galilee
and wait for Jesus to show up.
Now imagine yourself hanging
out with the disciples at the Sea of Galilee waiting for Jesus to show up. You
do not know when He will show, all you know is that you were told to wait there
until He showed. It is in this context that Peter decides that he is going to
go fishing. The other six, upon hearing what Peter is going to do, basically
say “sounds good, we’ll join you”. So the disciples get into a boat and hit the
water looking for a big catch.
But why go fishing? Are they
bored and looking for a quiet evening out? I don’t think so. The disciples
aren’t hitting the bait shop and cruising out in their powerboats with rod and
reel in hand. Fishing was hard work, involving a night of rowing and casting
and retrieving nets in an often rough sea.
Place yourself in the shoes of
the disciples. You had given up everything to follow Jesus for 3 ½ years. You
left family, friends, and careers to follow Jesus. And now, the person who you
had left everything to follow is now absent, having been crucified. Yeah you
have seen Him twice since then, raised from the dead, but He is no longer
hanging out with you. So what now? What am I supposed to do now? I gave
everything up for this man and He is gone. What now? How would you feel?
And imagine being Peter. Not
only did you give up everything to follow Jesus, not only did you go through
extensive on the job training, spending every waking moment with Jesus, but at
the final exam, the big test, you fail miserably. You denied Jesus. You said
you would follow Him regardless of the cost, you said that you would give your
life for Him, but when push came to shove, and you turned tail and bailed on
Him.
Can you imagine what Peter was
thinking? “What does Jesus think about
me? I have seen Him twice since that night, but we haven’t talked. What do the
others think about me? Do they think I am a hypocrite? Spineless? Is God able
to use me, after I denied Him? After I fell on my face? Probably not. Well, I
used to be a pretty good fisherman. I could always go back to that. It’s
familiar; it’s in my blood, so to speak. It’s comfortable. The exercise; the
smells. It’s safe. I never let anyone down or failed like I did with Jesus when
I fished”.
Maybe you are here and you can
relate to Peter. Maybe you are thinking to yourself “I desire to follow Jesus.
I want to please Him. I desire to tell others about Jesus and be used by Him,
but I have failed in the past”. Maybe you feel like your spiritual walk is more
like a stumble. Maybe it seems like your spiritual life is two steps forward,
one step back. The bottom line is that you feel like you can’t ever seem to get
this following Jesus thing down right. “How can God use me when I have let Him
down?” Unfortunately for the disciples the fish are not biting, and they catch
nothing.
Tomorrow, we will see what
happens next…
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