The Gospel of John Chapter 21
Today we will conclude our study of the Gospel according to John.
I certainly hope that you have enjoyed our study.
More so that you will put into practice the things that God has revealed to
You through this time in His Word.
Disciples of Jesus must put into practice the things God reveals to them.
But what happens if you’ve just not done a good job at that?
When we sin—
When we do stuff the damages relationships,
Last week I asked you how you were doing with your duties of being a
Minister of the Gospel, and Ambassador of Christ?
Maybe today you are thinking,
God could never use me,
I’ve done stuff that I can’t be forgiven of.
If that describes who you feel then today I want you to grab a hold of an
incredible gift Jesus gives to his disciples.
The gift of Reinstatement.
But before we view our video and consider the gift of reinstatement,
John wants to emphasize the fact that Jesus after his resurrection has a
corporal form, a resurrection body.
The disciples were not seeing a vision.
It was not a group hallucination of Jesus they experienced.
It was a bodily Jesus.
John 21:1 (NIV)
Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias.
What type of body remains a matter of some speculation.
We know that Jesus could be touched.
We know that Jesus could enter a locked room.
We know that Jesus ate.
And we know Jesus could make breakfast.
John 21:12 (NIV)
Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast."
But we only have a hint as to what a resurrection body is like.
The Apostle Paul writes:
1 Corinthians 15:35-57 (MSG)
Some skeptic is sure to ask, "Show me how resurrection works. Give me a diagram; draw me a picture. What does this 'resurrection body' look like?" If you look at this question closely, you realize how absurd it is. There are no diagrams for this kind of thing. We do have a parallel experience in gardening. You plant a "dead" seed; soon there is a flourishing plant. There is no visual likeness between seed and plant. You could never guess what a tomato would look like by looking at a tomato seed. What we plant in the soil and what grows out of it don't look anything alike. The dead body that we bury in the ground and the resurrection body that comes from it will be dramatically different. …we're only looking at pre-resurrection "seeds"—who can imagine what the resurrection "plants" will be like! This image of planting a dead seed and raising a live plant is a mere sketch at best, but perhaps it will help in approaching the mystery of the resurrection body—but only if you keep in mind that when we're raised, we're raised for good, alive forever!
The specifics of the resurrection body are up for your speculation.
All I know is that it will be better than the body I have now.
“Here in this last chapter we see the Risen Lord was not a vision,
nor the figment of someone's excited imagination,
nor the appearance of a spirit or a ghost;
it was Jesus who had conquered death and come back. —Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)
Watch Video Presentation of John Chapter 21
Fail
Fail means you didn’t get the job done.
As disciples of Jesus there will be times when you will fail.
There may be times when you are overcome by temptation.
There may be times when in your journey of recovery, there is a relapse.
There may be times when you are exhausted, or stressed that you say and do
things you would not have done if you were on top of your game.
Peter Failed.
It was a big deal.
In the upper room, the night of the last supper, before everyone,
Peter said he was willing to die if necessary to follow Jesus.
John 13:36-37 (NIV)
Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later." Peter asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you."
Yet before the night was over Peter denies even knowing who Jesus is.
Matthew 26:73-75 (NIV)
After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, "Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away." Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, "I don't know the man!" Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: "Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." And he went outside and wept bitterly.
“Whatever the others might do, Peter asserted in the upper room,
‘I will lay down my life for you.’
But, however willing the spirit was, the flesh was weak,
as Peter proved in the courtyard of the high priests’ palace”
FF Bruce, p. 404
Peter Failed to keep his vow to God, his promise to Jesus.
Have you ever done that?
Did, what you promised yourself, others and God that you would never do?
Didn’t do, what you promised yourself, others and God that you
would do?
You’re going to feel something on the other side of your fail.
Let me suggest three feelings: Who cares?, or guilt or shame
Who cares means you don’t.
You just push it all aside as if it doesn’t matter.
1 Timothy 4:1-2 (MSG)
The Spirit makes it clear that as time goes on, some are going to give up on the faith and chase after demonic illusions put forth by professional liars. These liars have lied so well and for so long that they've lost their capacity for truth.
The King James translation reads—
“having their conscience seared with a hot iron”
The best understanding of this is you refuse any moral obligation in the matter.
There is no remorse, there is no repentance, there is no sorry,
you simply don’t care.
These poor souls have once been disciples of Christ,
But they have turned their back on the truth and decided to believe
what they want, and do what they want.
Such a backslidden believer is in danger of becoming totally
estranged from God all over again.
Hebrews 6:4-6 & 8(MSG)
Once people have seen the light, gotten a taste of heaven and been part of the work of the Holy Spirit, once they've personally experienced the sheer goodness of God's Word and the powers breaking in on us— if then they turn their backs on it, washing their hands of the whole thing, well, they can't start over as if nothing happened. That's impossible. Why, they've re-crucified Jesus! They've repudiated him in public! … Fields like that are burned, not harvested.
Somebody with a seared conscience cares less.
They are going to do what they want to do;
Deceiving themselves that salvation in Christ means a free ride
To do anything they want.
Guilt—that’s an emotion that tells you that you messed up and need to do
something about it.
We can call it conviction—
The Holy Spirit uses conviction to tell us that we failed,
That conviction brings what the scripture calls Godly Sorrow.
2 Corinthians 7:10-11 (NIV)
“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret,…”
When we feel this Godly Sorrow,
The Holy Spirit then offers us the power to change.
Power to repent, to make things right, to clear the record.
1 John 1:8-9 (MSG)
If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing.
We take responsibility for our actions and responsibility to make better choices,
We learn from our fail, and move on, forgiven and wiser.
Then there are feelings of shame.
We often get shame and guilt confused.
They are not the same.
We feel guilt over what we have done.
We feel shame over who we think we are.
Shame makes you feel like you are bad,
That you are broken,
That you can never be repaired.
Shame makes you feel that your fail is because you are a failure.
Shame comes with self-condemnation.
You feel you will never be good, or good enough.
You feel that you will never be able to change.
You feel like you have disqualified yourself.
Peter knew he had failed the Lord.
But the depth of this failure went beyond guilt.
His behavior struck him in the very core of his being.
He discovered something about himself that he thought
disqualified him from being a disciple of Jesus.
I have felt that I disqualified myself from being a worthy follower of Jesus;
That my behavior was beyond redemption.
Because something in me was profoundly wrong.
I acted in a manner in consistent with the Law of Love,
I failed in being an example of a Godly life.
The Apostle Paul writes:
1 Corinthians 9:26-27 (NIV)
Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
I felt my behavior had disqualified me from the prize,
That it showed me I was a fraud and a hypocrite.
I actually began the process of quitting.
I was ashamed of myself.
I think Peter felt like I did.
I know Peter meant it when he told Jesus in front of the rest of the group that
he would follow no matter what.
The intention was right and true.
But when the test came—he failed.
Not once but three times in a row.
A triple fail.
“Jesus, in his gracious forgiveness,
gave Peter the chance to wipe out the memory of the threefold denial by a
threefold declaration of love.”
—Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)
John 21:15-17 (NIV)
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon
Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He
said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.
Peter you want to overcome your triple fail
Feed my sheep.
Do what I have empowered you to do.
Do it right this time.
The dialogue here is so interesting because you really need to see the body
language to understand the words that are spoken.
Do “you love me more than these others?”
Does that mean is your love for me greater than the love that these
others love me with?
Does that mean do you love me more than you love these other guys?
Does that mean do you love me more than being a fisherman,
The boats, the nets, the life on the water?
If so Jesus says do what I have called you to do.
The second question Jesus asks “do you truly love me?”
I think that this question means do you love me enough to obey.
Regardless of the fact that your obedience may cost you your
very life—
If so Jesus says do what I have called you to do.
I think with the third time that Jesus asks Peter the same question,
Peter makes the connection between his three denials and Jesus
threefold question.
I feel there is a new humility in Peter’s answer—
Jesus you know it all,
You really know what is within me—
You know the intent of my heart---
You see me—
Then a third time Jesus says do what I have called you to do.
You see doing what God has called you to do is the primary way we express our
devotion to Him.
Jesus takes Peter’s shame away—
The test will come around again,
And in that hour, Peter would not fail.
John 21:18-19 (MSG)
I'm telling you the very truth now: When you were young you dressed yourself and went wherever you wished, but when you get old you'll have to stretch out your hands while someone else dresses you and takes you where you don't want to go." He said this to hint at the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. And then he commanded, "Follow me."
Three times Jesus reminds Peter what is calling is: Be a shepherd to my people.
Then the invitation—Now follow me.
Maybe there are some fails on your record.
Maybe they are so big that you think that there is no recovery.
Maybe you need a personal reinstatement.
God has gifted your life to be his minister, his ambassador in a certain way.
God has placed you as his missionary to the people in your world
That only you can bring the kingdom to.
God has given you opportunity to train in being a disciple,
To practice obedience, to practice love.
Maybe you have denied it not once, not twice, not three times but hundreds—
And today you don’t want denial to be your legacy.
Today you feel the Holy Spirit telling you that you can be reinstated.
That the denials can be taken way,
That you can be freed from the shame of your fail.
That you can be reinstated to your calling.
That very desire is from Jesus who is standing just a little ways away.
Like on the shore while Peter was fishing,
Jesus is expecting you.
Do what Peter did, drop what you are doing and run to
Him.
Let me give you a moment to do that in your heart,
Then I’ll pray for you----
Father: Take away our shame. We have failed, we have denied you in the things that we have thought, the things we have said, the things we have done. Take away our shame. Let us once again hear your call on our lives, let us again take up the mantle of discipleship, let us again take up the ministry of reconciliation having received it again from your hand, and let us take up the assignment of being your ambassador to bring the kingdom to others regardless the personal cost. Empower us so that the devotion of our lips is backed up with the deeds of our lives. We ask to be healed of our shame and reinstated to the tasks you have called us to.
This good gift we ask for in the name of our Master Jesus. Amen.
John 21:25 (NLT)
Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.