John 21 - Part A

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That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. I was thinking today how many photographs I have taken of my family. I have hundreds, I know I have thousands of pictures that I've taken of my family over the years. Now in all of the pictures, everybody asks, well, where's Skip?

He's behind the camera taking the picture. And so most of them are of others, not of myself, but I have of just my wife alone thousands in different places and different stages of life. And every now and then I like to pull them out and just reminisce where that was taken. But the favorite picture that I have of my wife is not a picture, it's not a photograph, it's a painting. And it's when my wife Lenya was a young girl with her sister and brother. She must have been 10 years of age and they were down in Mexico and her dad Rod decided to have the kids, he paid for a painting, a street guy, to just paint the kids. And he said it was inexpensive enough, but it's a pretty grand painting.

And when he was shuffling things around his house and was thinking about getting rid of that one, I said, you're not getting rid of it, I want that for my house. And the reason I like it so much is because a painter has to take time to study the face. He makes a quick study of the features of the face, but the whole time while the painting is being executed he's looking down and then looking up and then looking down. And he's studying the face carefully as he makes a studied portrait of that person. And as I look at that painting still today when I go through the house I look at it and I go, boy, he captured her perfectly. And what I really like about it too, it was done down in Mexico so the skin tones are a little browner, it just makes me think if my wife was born in Mexico that's what she would look like.

But the eyes and the features, beautifully done. The Gospel of John is like that painting. The Gospel of John is not a snapshot as much as it is a studied portrait. And I say that because John is different than Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Those three Gospels known, as you know, as the synoptic Gospels because they are so similar in format and in storyline. Whereas the Gospel of John, 90% of the material in the Gospel of John is not found in the other three Gospels. Certain healing miracles that Jesus did found in the Gospel of John are not found in the other Gospels. The great statements of Jesus' divinity, I am the bread of life, I am the light of the world, I am the way, the truth, and the light. Those seven I am statements are found nowhere but the Gospel of John. Also that great discourse, one of my favorite sections of the Scripture called the Upper Room Discourse which we've already gone through, is found only in the Gospel of John. The prayer of Jesus on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane, John 17, found only in John. So we have noticed how different John is in displaying the character.

It's a studied portrait rather than a snapshot. And now we come to the last chapter, chapter 21 of the Gospel of John. We notice something in chapter 20 and I'm going to make reference to it because when John ends chapter 20, he ends with the theme that has been running through the entire book of John.

He speaks about Jesus Christ and believing in Him. And those are the themes of the Gospel, Jesus Christ and faith in Him. So the term Jesus in the Gospel of John and the term Christ are terms that are found 170 times, more than 170 times in the Gospel of John. And the word believe is found in the Gospel of John 100 times. So just by the frequency of those words, you know what the theme has been. The theme of the Gospel of John is believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's his grand theme. Now in reading chapter 20, it actually would have been a suitable place to end the book. In fact, as I read chapter 20, every time I get to the end of it, I think, you know, John could have stopped right here.

Why didn't he? It sounds like it's an epilogue. It sounds like it's a closing. Look at the last two verses of chapter 20 to refresh your memory. And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book. 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.

Now that's a perfect way to end. Why doesn't John just stop right there? Why does he give us 25 more verses that comprise chapter 21? Well, let me try to answer that by giving you two answers.

I'll suggest two things to you. Number one, because Jesus is a great Savior. What do I mean by that? Well, Jesus promised His disciples that He would die, that He would be buried, that He would rise again, and that He would see them afterward, after His resurrection. He has died.

He was buried. He has risen, conquering death as He said. They have already seen Him, at least many of them have. And now He's going to gather together with them as that Savior to recommission them, to commission them to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. So because He is a great Savior, He's doing what He promised He would do. But let me suggest a second reason why John wrote this.

Of course he's inspired by the Spirit, but I do believe there's another reason. Not only because Jesus is a great Savior, but because John is a great friend. And if he were to end in chapter 20, we would all be remembering how Peter was such a failure and how he felt so bad and hurt and disappointed and discouraged over his failure. But John wants you to know how Peter was restored uniquely by Jesus. He wants the readers of his Gospel, yeah, there's a little rivalry and competition, yeah, they both ran to the tomb. And John wants you to know that he beat Peter.

We remember that resurrection marathon. But John loved Peter. And John thought the record was not complete unless the reader knew that Peter, though he failed, yes, though he denied Jesus three times, yes, he also affirmed Jesus three times.

Because Jesus is a great Savior, because John was a good friend. If he didn't write chapter 21 and you went right into the book of Acts, you'd be scratching your head. Because we know Peter failed the Lord, we know he denied the Lord, we know that he ran away from the Lord after saying he didn't even know Jesus to that girl in the garden of the courtyard of Caiaphas, the high priest's house. But then suddenly we get to the book of Acts. And we see that in chapters 1-12, the main character in the book of Acts is Peter.

So we would be thinking, well how did that happen? How did he go from a failure to the principal character who brings the Gospel on the day of Pentecost and throughout Jerusalem, seeing as one of the chief leaders of the early church? There needs to be a link between those two events, and the link is chapter 21, the restoration of Peter.

So verse 1, John chapter 21, after these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way he showed himself. Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus the twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, that's James and John, and two others of his disciples were together. So we have seven of the twelve apostles together in Galilee, the Sea of Tiberias. Seven of the twelve, one has betrayed him, that's Judas, he's committed suicide, he's not even part of the picture.

So there were eleven left, seven of them gathered together in Galilee. Simon Peter said to them, I'm going fishing. They said to him, we're going with you.

Also, they went out immediately and got in a boat, and that night they caught nothing. Now this does show to us that Peter was a natural leader. They're waiting around, Peter's kind of just twiddling his thumbs, whistling away, and getting bored. So he just says, I'm out of here, I'm going fishing. And at his suggestion, the others who didn't suggest it just are following whatever Peter says.

Okay, we'll go with you. Now that was Peter's initial occupation. He was a fisherman, we know that. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, some people think that Jesus was nothing more than a prophet or a good teacher.

These misconceptions existed 2,000 years ago, and Jesus is still misunderstood today. Discover who Jesus really is with Skip Heitzig's riveting nine-part series, Who Is This Jesus?, which examines Christ's humanity and deity to equip you to confidently answer questions about Jesus. This resource, along with Skip's Life Change booklet designed to help new Christians embrace their transformed life in Christ, is our thanks for your gift of at least $50 today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig.

Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copies when you give at least $50 today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. If you were to read Matthew 28 before you came tonight, and of course I wouldn't expect that you would because we're not in Matthew 28, we're in John 21, but you probably read John 21 before you came.

That was your homework assignment. But in Matthew 28, Matthew gives us another part of the picture. He tells his disciples that he will meet them in Galilee on a mountain. We don't know what mountain, what hill that is.

I could suggest a couple if I were there with you, I could point to a couple. Probably one that is close by Capernaum where we take people where he taught the Sermon on the Mount, we believe. Probably that one, but we're not sure. Could have been all the way up in northern Galilee, Mount Hermon, way, way up north.

We don't know. But on a mountain they knew about, they were to meet Jesus there. Peter's a man of action. He's been waiting, probably on that hill with his guys and, you know, a day goes by, a couple days goes by, and there's a no-show.

That's how he sees it. So he goes, you know what? I'm going to go fishing. Now I have read and I have heard preachers say, well, Peter shouldn't have gone fishing. It's wrong for Peter to have gone fishing because Jesus called him out of fishing. That was his earthly occupation. That's what he did before he knew the Lord. And Jesus had said to him previously, from now on, Peter, you're going to catch men.

I'm going to make you become fishers of men. So they see this as a mistake. He's going back to his old life, going back to his old ways. I guess that's one way of looking at it. There's another way of looking at it. You can wait for something passively or you can wait for something actively. Peter was not a passive kind of a person.

Do you know that by now? He's a man of action. He'll wait, but while he's waiting, he's going to be doing something.

There's passive waiting and then there's active waiting. So he's going to stay occupied. After all, Jesus did say, occupy or continue to do business until I come. Remember that story, that parable?

Occupy till I come. There's a principle. Everybody here knows this principle. It's much easier to direct a moving object than a stationary object. When you rode a bicycle, your parents didn't show you a video on how it's done and show you the biomechanics of bicycling. And you are their stationary. No, they put you on the bike, at least mine did. They say, all you've got to do is pedal and keep it balanced. So they push me. You've got to get going. And so as they pushed me, then one would run alongside. I don't really know if they did the run alongside. I think my brothers may have done that and maybe even waited back to see if I would fall as they smiled at it. But typically a parent will push and then you know, once the bike's going, it's a lot easier to control it because it is moving rather than it being stationary.

The time you lose the speed, you lack the control. So Peter is moving. He's occupying. He's going to go fishing.

He's going to wait for the Lord. He's at the Sea of Galilee. By the way, when it says Sea of Tiberius, that's another name of the Sea of Galilee. Why is it called the Sea of Tiberius?

Because the major city where the Roman government had its seat was the city of Tiberius. And when we take you to Israel, we stay in a hotel in the city of Tiberius right on the lake. So you get a view when you wake up in the morning of the whole Sea of Galilee spread before you.

The Sea of Tiberius or the Sea of Galilee. So Peter is actively waiting at the Sea of Galilee. Let me suggest that as you wait for the Lord, you just don't, you know, find some little corner and get into a lotus position and just go, um, I'm waiting for the Lord. The Lord is coming back and we're waiting for him to come back. But until he comes back, we're to stay busy. We're to stay occupied.

We're to stay doing things. I love, I love the testimony of the servant of Abraham in the Old Testament. His name is Eleazar. Eleazar was sent by Abraham to go to Uncle Laban's house in Padan Aram to find a wife for Abraham's son Isaac, who was Rebekah. You know the story. When he's there, he gathers Rebekah and her dad Laban together and he's telling them how he got there. Listen to what he says. And I being in the way, the Lord led me.

I like that. I being in the way, the Lord led me. Let me just suggest to you, get in God's way. God is moving. He has a stream that is flowing.

And when you throw up a twig in the stream, that stream goes or that twig goes in the way of the stream. Find God's stream. Find the way God is moving and jump in.

Get in his way. I being in the way, the Lord led me. Many years ago when I came to faith in Christ back in what we called in California the Jesus movement, we were convinced that Jesus was going to return within the next couple years back then. And we believed his return was imminent.

Now I still believe that. I believe his return is imminent. I don't believe there's anything holding back the rapture of the church, the coming of the Lord. And it's great to wake up every morning and go, this could be it. This could be the last day.

The Lord could come back. And one day we'll be right. Now it's been 2,000 years they haven't been right yet. We haven't been, but one day we'll be right.

And so we wait and we actively wait. But I remember during that time when I announced to my friends that I was going to go to college. And they looked at me like I was so inspiritual.

Why would you do that? Jesus is coming back. You won't graduate.

Maybe you're right. I might not graduate. But if I don't graduate because the Lord comes back, that's a great way not to graduate. In fact, I have graduated if that happens.

We all have. But when the Lord comes back, I just want you guys to know He's going to find me a college. And if He doesn't come back at the end of college, He'll find me working wherever I work. I'm going to be occupying until He comes. But there was this notion that we should just wait around for Jesus to come back. We'll wait around, do nothing, maybe get a credit card, maybe get a lot of things on credit because if Jesus is coming back, you won't have to pay it off. Not a smart way to live.

Occupy, stay busy until He comes. I heard a great story about a man who went to his doctor. He said, doctor, something's wrong, man.

I have no energy. I need to find out what's wrong. The doctor said, let me take you through a cadre of tests and find out what it is. So he took him through a bunch of medical exams and at the end of them, the doctor came to him and said, well, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you. In fact, I'll tell you it was your doctor straight up because the guy said, tell me, give it to me straight, doc. What's wrong? What ails me?

I can take it. Give it to me straight. He goes, there's absolutely nothing wrong with you. You're just plain lazy.

And the man said, okay, could you give that to me in medical terms so I can tell my wife? Jesus doesn't want us to be lazy while we're waiting for Him to return, but to stay busy. So Peter's out there, I'm going fishing. Listen, Jesus is going to meet him in Galilee, but you got to eat and there's a lake and I know how to fish. I grew up doing it. So I'm going to go eat.

I'm going to go occupy. I'm going to go prepare a meal. So notice it says in verse three, they went out and immediately got into a boat and notice it says that night, not that day, they're fishing at night. That night they caught nothing but when the morning had now come. The best time to fish on the Sea of Galilee was at night for two reasons. The most important reason is because in the morning you want to go to the marketplace with fresh fish. The only way to have fresh fish early in the morning when the market opens is to catch it at night. And so what they would do, and here's the second reason it was better, they would go out under the cover of darkness, fish all night with their nets. There was three different ways to use a net.

I won't elaborate. But they would light torches in the boat and the fish were attracted to the light of the torches usually. This was a very unusual night. They were experts. They knew what they were doing. They had done this before. It's nighttime.

We got this wired. They go out hour after hour catching zero fish. Nothing, I looked it up in the Greek, means nothing. That's what they caught.

Big nothing. So it's morning and the morning light begins to fill the landscape. The sun would have risen over the east, over the Golan Heights, and begin to glimmer on the Sea of Galilee and someone shows up on the shore. When the morning had now come, peaking over the Golan Heights, Jesus stood on the shore. And yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Once again, we find that they didn't recognize him.

A couple reasons for this. The boat would have been far away from the shore. A person on the shore is a speck. The light is early light. It's not good. It's just dawn. So you don't get the details. But they had spent enough time with Jesus that usually I can tell even a long way off who a person is by their frame, can't you? You can see them coming. I can spot them in a crowded hole. There they are way down there. But let's just give them the benefit of the doubt. It's early. It's dark.

They're far away. Again, I'm just going to make a suggestion like I did last week that the resurrection of Jesus had brought significant change to him. There were recognizable features about him and yet there were differences. And I do commend to you on your own that you go home and study, maybe tonight before you go to bed, 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

It's a lengthy passage. But the apostle Paul tells us about our resurrected body. Our body now compared to what it will be like raised from the dead, it will be similar but different. And he says it's like the difference between a seed and a plant. A seed and something that has blossomed and grown into a vibrant plant or flower.

They're related by DNA but you got to admit a seed looks very different than a flower. And so there are going to be significant changes in the resurrected body from the earthly body. We'll still know it's you.

People ask me this all the time. Will we recognize each other in heaven? Spurgeon said, do you think we'll be more stupid in heaven than we are on earth? If you can recognize somebody now, but they couldn't recognize them.

They weren't resurrected. In heaven, we'll recognize one another. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program.

Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resources that will help you confidently answer questions about who Jesus is and understand the new life you have as a believer in him. Pastor Skip's nine message series, Who Is This Jesus?, and his life change booklet are our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copies when you give $50 or more. Call 800-922-1888.

That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash offer. And did you know that you can get a weekly devotional and other resources from Pastor Skip sent right to your email inbox? Simply visit connectwithskip.com and sign up for emails from Skip. Come back next time for more verse by verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times.