COME AND DINE – GO AND PREACH, John 21:1-17

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:

The Lord did not receive a warm friendly welcome from the disciples following His resurrection.

1. They shut Him out, John 20:19

2. They doubted His identity, John 20:25

3. They refused to believe the women

4. They failed to follow His instructions

5. They chose to return to their previous professions, John 21:3

6. They questioned His personal appearance to Peter, Luke 24:34

7. They did not expect Him, Luke 24:17, 31

8. They were afraid of Him, Luke 24:37

9. They were troubled by His resurrection from the dead, and doubted the reality of what they saw, Luke 24:38.

10. They were not happy that He was alive, Luke 24:41

I. JESUS’ SEVENTH POST-RESURRECTION VISITATION, John 21:1

A. "after these things" Luke 24:36-53

B. First Visitation, to Mary Magdalene, John 20:14-18

C. Second Visitation, to women at the tomb, Matthew 28:8-10

D. Third Visitation, to Peter, Luke 24:34; I Corinthians 15:5

E. Fourth Visitation, to couple on Emmaus road, Luke 25:13-31

F. Fifth Visitation, to disciples without Thomas, Luke 24:36-43

G. Sixth Visitation, to disciples with Thomas, John 20:24-29

H. Seventh Visitation, to seven apostles at Galilee, John 21:1-23

II. THE DISCIPLES PRESENT, John 21:2

Matthew records a visitation of the Savior to eleven disciples at a later event, at which time He challenged them with the "Great Commission" of becoming world-wide witnesses to His message of redemption through the resurrection, Matthew 28:16-20.

Before effective service for the Lord, the disciples had to make a decision to become reliable representatives of the Lord. Nothing short of total commitment would carry out the commission given to the disciples. The same decision must be made by every believer, everywhere and at all times. Jesus is not too interested in carrying out His commission through casual Christians!

The disciples present at this Galilean meeting were: Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, James and John along with two unnamed disciples (often believed to be Andrew and Philip).

III. THE DISCIPLES’PROBLEM, John 21:3, 4

The disciples’ problem was that they no longer planned to follow Jesus. Peter led the desertion and the others followed. His statement that he was going fishing was not just that he was going to "wet and line and drown a worm". Rather, it was his decision to go back to the family business of fishing and no longer follow the Lord in fishing for men. It was another act of Peter in rejecting Christ’s right to rule in his life.

Notice what one leader can do to the plan of God. Peter was picked to become the apostolic leader of the Christian church. Yet, he led the other disciples in an act of rebellion –"They said unto him, "We also go with thee." They caught nothing. Those who forsook all now returned to everything they forsook, Mark 1:18; Matthew 19:27. Many followers had already done the same.

The closer Jesus came to the cross the smaller the crowd became. There is a progression toward failure in Peter’s life. He left all, followed, slept during a prayer meeting with Jesus, followed from afar, denied he knew Jesus three times, took an oath against the Lord, went into hiding, did not want to meet the resurrected Christ, went back into his old life, yet, this was to be the man who would stand like a rock in front of the leaders of Israel and, at risk to his life, call them murders.

It is a wonderful lesson to all believers to know that God doesn’t give up on us during our failures. He is there, actively reestablishing our relationship to Him. All the leaders of the Bible fell and were failures—who didn’t stay down.

The Lord had predicted Peter’s rejection of Him as well as his return to a former life. However, Jesus also knew Peter would bounce back and when he did, his job was to help the "brethren" who would have the same problems, Luke 23:32.

IV. THE DISCIPLES’ PERDICAMENT, John 21:5-11

It was difficult for the disciples to deny the Lord when they witnessed a miracle. The night’s labor resulted in "nothing". With the Lord’s blessing they caught more fish than they could get into the boat! The Lord can still turn nothing into more than enough! He can still make a way out of no way!

Peter again led the disciples in their return to the Lord. John recognized Him first, but Peter jumped out of the boat and swam about a hundred yards to him while the others stayed with the boat.

The disciples face the dilemma of meeting the resurrected Savior who had just helped them catch 153 fish while they were rejecting Him. They had to learn that divine leadership makes it possible for people to do what otherwise is impossible. Every believer is offered providential power.

V. THE DISCIPLES’ PROBLEM, 24:12-17

The disciples’ problem is common to every believer. They had to decide if they loved the Lord more than they loved "things".

The Lord did not chastise the disciples for their faulty life. He prepared a meal and called them to "Come and dine". It was necessary for them to "Come and dine" before going to preach. All Christian service is restricted in efficiency by the believer’s personal relationship with Christ. "Being" precedes "doing" as "what we are" precedes "what we do", 24:12-14.

There is a conflict in every Christian that can not go unchallenged or unresolved – it is the conflict of Christ on one hand and everything else on the other. Knowing who the Lord was, 24:12, dining with Him, 24:13 does not equate to making Him Lord over everything in our lives. Salvation is free and universally offered, but discipleship is costly and restricted, Luke 14:26-33! Some believers can never be disciples (close followers and effective servants) simply because they choose not to be. Their love for the world (things), preempts their love for the Lord.

Three times Peter denied the Lord and three time the Lord questioned Peter’s love for Him. There is an inter-play on the word love in this text. One use of love is "agapas", the love required by the commandment of God. This is a deep dedicated sacrificial love. It is this love the Lord questioned Peter about. Peter answered by the second kind of love, "phileo" which is a much lower level of love, the kind of love as brothers would have within a family. One is human in origin while the other is divinely directed. He loved the Lord like a brother, but had no intention of doing anything that called for a love beyond average. Jesus followed each question with a command – "Feed my sheep."

The third time Jesus questioned Peter He lowered His use of the word love to Peter’s response. In doing so Jesus in effect said to Peter, "Even if you only love me with an earthly love, I still expect you to care for the others who follower Me."

APPLICATIONS:

1. Jesus loved Peter as much after his failures as He did before they occurred.

2. Peter failed publicly and the Lord publicly restored Him and gave him confidence that continued.

3. The Lord did not give up on Peter. He had called him a "rock" when He first met him, 1:42. At times Peter was anything but a "rock". He became that at Pentecost!

4. Never mistake the man for the moment!

5. Both salvation and forgiveness is through God’s grace and neither is ever earned in part or in whole.

6. Many have done their greatest work following their greatest failures. This is the story of the characters of the Bible.

7. Failure is often the only remedy for a selfish character.

8. The church may be looking for believers, but the Lord is looking for disciples.

GAA/May21/2006