Easter 2019 A Fresh Start :1-17 042419

Introduction (Turn to John 21) 1 Following the resurrection, appeared to his disciples and followers no less that ten times over a period of 40 days, giving them, according to Acts chapter one, many convincing proofs he was alive. a On resurrection Sunday He first appeared to , and shortly after to the women (Mary, Salome and JoAnna), followed by Peter, then the Emmaus Road disciples and then the disciples without Thomas. b A few days later he appeared to the disciples with Thomas. Then over the next few weeks he appeared to the seven disciples at Sea of Tiberius, to 500 followers at a mountain in , to James and finally to the disciples back in Jerusalem just prior to his ascension. 2 These appearances are recorded firstly because they happened but secondly because each one teaches us something about the Lord and our relationship with Him. And the one I want to focus on this morning is the appearance of Jesus to seven of the disciples on the Sea of Tiberius/Galilee.

Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of , and two other disciples were together. 3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” v1-3a 1 This, of course, is where it all started for them. This place, along the shore of the is where Jesus called them to follow Him and be fishers of men. 2 But they weren’t fishing for men. They had gone back to fishing for fish. a When Peter says I’m going out to fish he doesn’t mean he taking the boat out on the lake to drop a line and enjoy the afternoon. b The original text says something like … I am going out back into the permanent state of fishing again. In other words, I am going back to commercial fishing.

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3 Now remember they had already seen the resurrected Jesus twice with the exception of Thomas who had seen him once and Peter had seen him three times. a But even after seeing Jesus alive and hearing his words, they were still going back to their previous occupation. Even though he had called them to be fishers of men they had reverted to being fishers of fish. b And it seems the one that was kind of leading everyone this direction was Peter. Peter said, “I am going out to fish” and everybody else said, “We’ll go with you.”

So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. (And I imagine a few other things under their breath for no fisherman likes to be reminded he’s caught nothing) 6 He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” (Why they did I don’t know but…) When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. 7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved (John) said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”

Now the reason John realizes that it is the Lord is because this miraculous catch of fish immediately reminded him of another miraculous catch of fish around the time they had first met Jesus and he first called them to be fishers of men.

7bAs soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. v3b-8

1 There is nothing more astounding than the difference between Peter in this story and the Peter in where essentially the same thing happened, a miraculous catch of fish. 2 Luke tells us that one day, early on in Jesus ministry, he was teaching next to the Lake and the crowds were so large he commandeers Peter’s fishing boat to use as a platform to speak from. After he finished, he said to Peter,

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“Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Peter answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” Luke 5:4b-8 3 The stories are so similar they are designed to force us to compare them. a In both situations the disciples are in a fishing boat, have worked all night, have caught nothing. b In both situations Jesus says throw your net in one more time and in both situations, there is miraculous catch of fish. c Same scenario but different reaction. In one case, Peter wants to get as far away from Jesus as possible. In the other case, he wants to get as close to Jesus as fast as he possibly can. 4 What’s the difference? In Luke 5 Peter had not yet understood the . Three years later, in John 21 he is beginning to understand the gospel. a In Luke 5, Peter comes face to face with divinity. It’s as if a veil is momentarily removed and Peter experiences the holiness and greatness of the Son of God and he realizes by comparison how small, sinful and flawed he was and it completely dismantles everything he has based his life on. • Up to that point his whole identity is based on what he perceived as his strength of character. He was a good honest man, a hard worker, a member of the local synagogue, a man who keeps his promises, a man who is strong. • And all of a sudden everything he has based his identity unravels. Momentarily sees himself for who he really is. He sees his flaws and sinfulness. • He sees that all his admirable human qualities fall short. It devastates him. This momentary clarity and reality causes him to say to Jesus, “Depart from me for I am a sinful man.” b But in John 21, after three years with Jesus he dives into the water in order to get to Jesus as fast as he can.

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• Why? Because he was more righteous? No. Why the difference then? Because now his identity is found not in himself but in Jesus and his gospel. • The gospel is this: I am more sinful and flawed in myself than I ever imagined (Luke 5) but more loved and accepted by God then I ever dreamed (Jn 21). • When your identity is based on the gospel you don’t have to hide your flaws and sins like Adam tried to do in the garden. You don’t have to pretend you’re more righteous than you really are. • Therefore the reality of your flaws and sins doesn’t make you run from Jesus but rather run/swim to him. 5 This comparison highlights the difference between religion and the gospel. a When a religious person sees their sin and failure, they either power up with more self-determination or they fall away because their identity is based upon their performance. b But when a Christian who’s grounded in the gospel sees their sin and failure, they turn to God in faith because they know their identity is not based upon their performance but ’s death and resurrection. c In the context of our story, when our life is grounded in the gospel we still want to jump off the edge of the boat and swim to shore and have fellowship with Jesus. We believe the gospel which says that while we are more sinful in ourselves than we ever thought we are more loved and accepted by God than we ever dared to dream. b When we sin we still know his love and forgiveness. But what we have a hard time with is our usefulness, our purpose. • I know God has forgiven me but will he still work through me? • Can my life count or am I relegated to second class status in His kingdom? Am I consigned to Plan B? c And that’s important consideration because becoming a Christian is not just about getting a forgiveness card. Something happens when you believe that makes you want to please the Lord, to serve His cause. It becomes the most fulfilling thing in your life. • It doesn’t matter what your occupation, profession or station in life is … your greatest joy will be found in serving the purpose of God. • And when it feels like that has been forfeited because of failure, you feel like a part of you has died. Yes, your forgiven but the wind has been taken out of your sail. Easter 2019 / A Fresh Start / John 21.1-17 4

d That’s the way Peter felt. That’s why he goes back to fishing. And that is why Jesus, after His resurrection, comes to Peter on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. 15 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.” 16 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.” 17 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.”

1 Now this last part was painful for Peter. And to understand why you need to go back a few weeks earlier to the Upper Room. It was upon leaving there that Jesus told the disciples that they would all fall away to which Peter replied, “Even if all fall away, I will not.” 30 “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.” 31 But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” Mark 14:29-31a 2 After Jesus was arrested, Peter and another disciple followed Jesus at a distance. Eventually Peter makes his way into the courtyard outside the High Priest house where Jesus was being tried. a There he is recognized as one of Jesus followers to which he responds I don’t know what you are talking about, I do not know him.

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b He moves to a different location and is identified again and denies it again this time with an oath according to Matthew. (Mother’s grave) 3 About an hour later he is identified again by a relative of the guy who’s ear he cut off in the Garden. And once again he denies knowing Jesus. But this time he is very angry and began to curse and swear. a From a Biblical standpoint to curse and swear does not mean profanity, it means to pronounce condemnation or a curse on someone. b It is possible that Peter was calling condemnation on himself …may God strike me dead if I am not telling you the truth, which is the way some translations render it. c But the original text simply says he was calling down curses which has led some scholars to believe that Peter was trying to protect himself from imminent arrest by disassociating himself with Jesus in the strongest way possible … by pronouncing curses on Jesus. Something like, may God strike him dead. d Luke tells us that at that very moment … as Peter is pronouncing curses that Jesus is being moved out of the High Priest’s house and, at that very moment, the rooster crowed and the Lord turned and looked at Peter. • His face, covered with spit, black and blue, swollen from being punched in the face and slapped. • His garments, covered with the blood that had oozed out of His pores in the Garden as he felt the weight of judgment that was upon him. e The poignant scene ends with Peter going out and weeping bitterly. 4 In our culture lying and denying are so common place they have simply become a means of functioning in our world. But in a shame and honor- based culture, like Peter’s, when you made a public promise and then broke that promise it was essentially the end of your life. You lost everything. You lost yourself. You became a shell with nothing inside. It was devastating. a This is why immediately after the resurrection when the women see the angel at the empty tomb the angel says … 6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you. Mark 16:7 • Not go tell his disciples and John/James/Matthew but tell Peter.

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• Can you imagine how Peter felt when the women reported the angel’s words to him? Go tell the disciples and Peter. b But there was more than an angelic message. 1 Cor 15:5 says that after Jesus rose from the dead he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. Before meeting with any of the disciples, Jesus meets with Peter first, presumably so that Peter could receive forgiveness. 5 So it is safe to say that Peter knew the Lord had forgiven him. But there is a difference between being forgiven and being restored. a Restoration involves understanding why you sinned, why you failed, why you fell away. And for that to occur you need to let Jesus do a little surgery on your heart to get to the sin beneath the sin. Jesus is not just interested in correcting our behavior he wants to change our hearts. b Jesus is called the great physician not because he is good with a box of Band-Aids but rather because he is good at removing the cause of the ailment, he’s good at removing the tumor. c Example: Christian man is unfairly fired. Unforgiveness against boss. Forgave by faith. Bitterness remained until he realized his career was an idol. He repented of the idolatry and was able to forgive.

The Great Physician 1 Three steps; he opens up your heart, helps you identify the tumor (the sin beneath the sin) and then removes it. a First he opens him up by taking him back to the courtyard. • Jesus makes a fire. Why? Because Peter denied the Lord by a fire. • Jesus asks Peter do you love me three times. Why? Because Peter denied the Lord three times. b He’s taking Peter back to the courtyard to discover why he denied Him. Now he had already forgiven him. But the Great Physician loves us too much not to go deeper and get to the root of the problem. 2 So three times the Lord asks the “do you love me question.” The first time Jesus said do you love me more than these (v15)? These what? These disciples who were seated around the fire with Peter and Jesus. a Remember Peter had said in front of all the disciples, even if all these other guys fall away, I will not. Essentially, I love you more than the rest of these guys. b And so Jesus says do you love me more than these?

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• Peter was kind of a competitive guy and therefore saw himself as better than the others. It was the source of his worth. But his denial, his cowardice caused reality to come crashing down on that self- confidence. • Peter believed that he loved the Lord more but now he saw himself as simply loved by the Lord. • Peter had seen himself as more dependable now he sees himself as simply dependent on the Lord just like the rest of the disciples. • Failure can be a great teacher when it is accompanied by humility and the grace of the Lord. In fact, it can qualify you for greatness in God’s kingdom. c And so Peter doesn’t answer the question directly. He doesn’t say I love you more than these disciples. He simply says, you know I love you. d This is a man who relying on the grace of God instead of Peter. He doesn’t make any excuses. He doesn’t say, “Yes, what I did was wrong, but if you had my family, background, issues, temperament, circumstances, etc. He simply humbles himself. 3 Two more times the question is asked, do you love me. Notice that Jesus never says anything about Peter’s lying or denial…are you going to tell the truth/be loyal from now on? No, He just asks, “do you love me?” Why? a Because basically all sin, all of our failure and flaws, all falling away originates in a lack of love for Jesus. Jesus had said earlier, “When you love me you keep my commandments.” b Whenever we lie or deny or commit any kind of sin … at the root of it, at that moment, we love something more than Jesus. c And for Peter and most of us what we love more is the image that we are stronger than we actually are. We think of ourselves to highly. See Peter’s problem was not primarily that He denied the Lord but that He denied what the Lord said about his weakness. And this is where we are just like Peter. • We deny what the Lord’s Word says about our weakness. We forget the warning of 1 Cor 10 that says, to him that thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 1 Cor 10:12 • We forget the words of the Lord, apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5 • We forget the wisdom of proverbs that says, lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5 Easter 2019 / A Fresh Start / John 21.1-17 8

• We forget the conclusion of Paul, when I am weak (in myself) then I am strong (in the Lord). 1 Cor 12:10 d Remember Jesus said, Peter your going to fall away and Peter immediately responded, “Not me Lord.” In essence he said, “Lord, You’re right about everything, but you’re wrong about me.” e Then the Lord said your going to deny me three times before the rooster crows and Peter objected even more emphatically, “even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” 4 Like Peter our self-confidence often becomes our stumbling stone … the thing that trips us up as we follow Jesus. a In this world the way you are taught to survive is through self- confidence. b From an early age we are taught that power and greatness resides within us and achievement is simply a matter of loving yourself, trusting yourself, esteeming yourself and putting confidence in yourself. c But life’s hardships, by God’s loving design, have a way of challenging that notion. And all the while God is patiently waiting for us to realize that all of our powering up is a façade. We really do deeply need Him. d This is where a relationship with God starts. This is how we follow Jesus. It turns out that the recognition of weakness is actually the source of power in the kingdom of God. e James says that God resists the proud (that’s anything with self and a hyphen) but he gives grace to the humble and poor in spirit. • And because of that grace our confidence is not in ourselves, but in the Lord. • Our esteem is not found in ourselves but in His love. • Our hope is not found in our resourcefulness but in His faithfulness. 5 And this is why Jesus leads Peter through this soul-searching question three times, “Do you love me?” He’s doing heart surgery. He’s going after the tumor. a But after every time Peter answers him, Jesus reinstates Peter to his calling … to his purpose. Jesus says, feed my lambs, take care of my sheep and feed my sheep. b He not only restores Peter’s fellowship with him, He restores Peter’s purpose.

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6 An the lesson here for all of us is that no matter what you have done, no matter how much you’ve messed up your life, or the lives of other people, no matter how far you’ve fallen, you can have a new beginning. a You can have a fresh start. Jesus not only wipes the slate clean He throws it away. Jesus doesn’t just apply a Band-Aid, He removes the tumor. • You can not only be totally forgiven, you can be totally restored to God’s purpose for you life. You can be re-commissioned. • Your life does not have to be on Plan B forever. b I’m sure Peter thought who would ever listen to him again? Who would ever follow his leadership? • The great irony is he probably thought he would be the greatest leader in the Christian church because of his success and self- confidence • As it turns out he became one of the churches greatest leaders but not because of his success and self-confidence but rather because of his failure and repentance. • It made him a better follower of Jesus and therefore a better leader in the church. c Do you want to be a leader, to make a difference with your life? • Embrace your weakness and rely on God’s strength. • Let your confidence be in the Lord. • Find your esteem in his love. • Find your hope in his faithfulness. d And that is exactly what Peter did. A few days later, on the day of Pentecost he preaching to thousands. A few weeks after that he stands before the very same men who tried Jesus while he fearfully watched from the courtyard. • This time, instead of denying, he boldly confesses his faith in Jesus. • At the end of his speech he says this about Jesus: Salvation is found in no one else … for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. Acts 4:12

7 And that is where a fresh start begins … the name of Jesus, the death of Jesus for our sins and the for our new life. 8 Romans 10 says …

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9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Romans 10:9-10,13

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