What Happen after Easter? (JMY)

Hello, friends. Michael Yousef here. I am honored and privileged to introduce to you my son, Jonathan Yousef.

You've heard him before. He loves the Lord. He's a great preacher of the Word of God. And you're going to hear a message that is going to challenge you. So I hope you listen carefully and you listen, prayfully. God bless. Thank you for joining listeners around the world for a special edition of Leading the Way audio today featuring a post-Easter message from Dr. Jonathan Yousef.

He's Dr. Michael Yousef's youngest son and the content provider for Leading the Way's popular podcast, Candid Conversations with Dr. Jonathan Yousef. Well, following his crucifixion and his resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples and he challenged them with passionate words of truth. He commanded them to evangelize the world, to continue caring for those who followed him in life, and to seek to focus their hearts and minds on him no matter what unfolded in the days ahead. On this Leading the Way audio, Jonathan expounds on these key directives of Jesus, revealing them to also be words of challenge for the church today. So listen along as Jonathan takes you into the words of John chapter 21. If you will turn to John chapter 21, we are looking at the events that take place after the resurrection because Jesus rises triumphant.

He has conquered death and defeated Satan. So now what? What do we do?

How do we live? Where do we go? And so we look and see what happens with Jesus' disciples after the resurrection to get a picture of calling and direction. And we start out with the disciples on the water fishing, remembering what's happened up to this point, the betrayal of Judas, the sham trial that took place, and ultimately the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ on that instrument of torture and death, the Roman cross, where Jesus' care was for his followers, for his disciples, for his mother, and not a care for himself. Jesus revealed himself to the women and then to the disciples of the upper room, and now we have Jesus appearing to the disciples again. Now if John's gospel were to have ended in chapter 20, it would leave us with a lot of questions, a lot of unanswered questions, questions like, well, what is the relationship between the Lord Jesus and his disciples after the resurrection? What happens to Peter who denied him and wept bitterly and then fled and wondered about the resurrection? Why aren't other things in Jesus' life recorded so that we can have a full record? And so John in chapter 21 seems to be tying up some loose ends and completing the story and answering some remaining questions. And at the same time, he's showing us the risen Christ in some very wonderful positions and relations with his followers, with his disciples. Now from this chapter, there seem to be three calls from Jesus. They are listen to me, follow me, focus on me.

First, listen to me. The disciples are out on the water. They're fishing. They have already seen the resurrected Christ. They've been told that they will be sent at some point, but they have to wait. And they're probably really confused.

You don't interact with resurrected people, though I suppose they've done this with Lazarus, you know, very often. So what do they do? They go fishing. And we wonder, are they in such despair? Have they given up on the call to be fishers of men that they've gone back to maybe what they know? Fishers of fish?

I don't know. What is unique is that it is exactly how Jesus called his first disciples. They were out fishing on boats. And here they are doing the exact same thing, except that the last three years have gone quite different from what any of them would have ever anticipated or expected. They have seen miracles. They have witnessed people coming to Jesus.

They have witnessed people turning their backs on Jesus. They have been tested. They have been tried. They have had monumental ups.

They have had catastrophic lows. And here they are, back almost where they started, in boats, fishing. Essentially where they would have been had Jesus never come in the first place.

And they're trying to catch fish. Now put yourself for a second, put yourself into Peter's position. You have walked away from everything that you know, your vocation, your career that you've been doing probably since childhood, your family business. You've walked away from it all.

And there comes this massive interruption in all of that. And you veer off that course that you thought you were on for your life. And you follow this dynamic man who calls you away from those things and calls you to greater, bigger things.

And he keeps telling you that the day's coming when he's going to leave you, that he's going to die, even though you won't hear it. Then it all happens. And just as he had said before that he would return to new life, he's returned to new life. Like he said, Peter's head must be spinning.

What is happening right now? Total loss of reality it would seem. He's not sure where he is in all of this.

He may be thinking, maybe I need to go back to what I was good at, what I knew, what I was trained up to do. Well, here they are on the water and they've failed to catch anything. So, Peter has failed to be faithful to his Lord and now he can't even do the thing he was trained to do. Then a voice from the shore asked them, children, have you caught anything?

And they respond, no. Try throwing your nets on the right side of the boat and you will find some fish. Now, I'm not a first century scholar of fishing, but I would imagine they've tried the right side of the boat. Okay, thank you, Gentile.

Stick to what you know. But for whatever reason, for whatever reason, they tried the right side of the boat and there they find a huge catch of fish, more than they can handle. Now, if you turn to Luke chapter five, beginning in verse four, you can see a comparison and a contrast between these two similar stories. Jesus has just been preaching to the crowds and he tells Peter, put out into deep water and let down the nets for a catch. Simon answered, master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything, but because you say so, I will let down the nets. When they had done so they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 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. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, go away from me, Lord, I am a sinful man. For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon's partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, don't be afraid, from now on you will catch men. So they pulled their boats up on the shore, left everything and followed him.

Peter, James, John, and Andrew were part of that first calling of Jesus. They all left what they knew. They left their boats and their fishing equipment. And here they are now again, back in their boats, back with their equipment, back to their fishing and they're disappointed. They're confused. And then Jesus appears to remind them of their calling.

They will no longer be fishermen, but fishers of men. You see, the call wasn't a temporary call. It's a lifetime call, but there needed to be a listening to the call in order to hear it. There needed to be a hearing and a heeding of the words of Jesus.

And look what happens. There's a supply of fish that the fishermen thought wasn't there. The fish were provided by the Lord, but the work needed to be done by the fishermen. Just as their work going forward as Christ's apostles, the Lord will do the work in the hearts and in the minds of the people, but there needs to be fishermen to haul in the load, to sow the seed. God uses His people for His work. Jesus says, listen to me, listen to me. Second, Jesus says, follow me. Now, at this point in Peter's traditional act first, think second manner, he throws his clothes on and he jumps into the water to see Jesus. Now, does anyone else find this odd that Peter put clothes on to jump into the water? I love this.

I love the imagery of this account. It's just teeth just reacting. He's just impetuous. He just makes his decision and he does it and doesn't think about it. It's like a hundred yards.

It sounds like a really long way to swim or whatever he's doing. But think about this. Whenever I'm away from my wife and kids for an extended period of time, I cannot wait to come in and you know, especially when they're little and they run up, they run into your arms. There's just that moment because you, your, your heart is for your beloved and theirs is for you.

And it's just a sweet moment. But here's the thing that we need to remember in this story. Peter has failed Jesus. He's denied him. He's wrongfully rebuked him, but Jesus keeps coming back to Peter. He keeps coming back to Peter. He keeps molding Peter.

He keeps using Peter. Verse 15, when they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? Yes, Lord. He said, you know that I love you. Now, what are the these that Jesus is referring to? Is he saying, Peter, do you love me more than these other disciples love me? Or is he asking Peter, do you love me more than you love these other disciples? Or is he saying, Peter, do you love me more than you love boats and fishing and what you know in your past?

I think it's the first one. Do you love me more than these others love me? Because you have to remember, Peter was the one that told Jesus, Lord, these others will desert you, but not me. I've overheard their conversations and they sound like you could have made some better choices on disciples, but Lord, I am your chief disciple.

I will never turn on you. Not Peter. Peter was the one when Jesus asked, who do you say that I am? He responds, you are the Christ, the son of God. And so Peter says, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He doesn't answer in comparing his love to the other disciples.

His answer is based on what Jesus knows. You know I love you, despite my terrible failures, despite my tendency to put my foot in my mouth, despite my immediate reaction to things, clearly because I'm soaking wet as I'm having this conversation with you. Lord, you know my heart.

You know I love you. And so Jesus accepts this and then he responds, feed my lambs. Oh, Jesus, you have lambs that need to be fed?

What is this? Why is this here? What is Jesus on about? You see, Jesus' sheep and his lambs represent the church. It's his people.

It's his children. It's his flock. Later in 1 Peter, Peter will use this as he writes to his fellow elders urging them to shepherd the flock of God that is among you. Taking the illustration from Jesus that we shepherd the flock. Think of Jesus saying he calls himself the good shepherd, that the sheep know his voice. Now Jesus has shifted from evangelism as we saw in verse 11 with the nets not breaking and the imagery of being fishers of men and now he's moved to pastoral work. The heart for the sheep, the care, the tender nurture for the flock. Peter's reinstatement and the evidence of his love for Jesus are going to be displayed in Peter's pastoral care for God's people.

But that's not all. Jesus goes further. Simon son of John, do you love me? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

Jesus said, tend my sheep. He said to him a third time, Simon son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said the third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things and you know that I love you. These three questions, of course, reminding us of Peter's three denials during his trial. Weren't you one of this man's disciples?

I don't know this man calling down curses. A total failure. Now here is Peter having totally failed when he said and promised he wouldn't. Here is Peter having denied the man he swore to defend.

He literally cut a man's ear off to defend him and now not. And he's now feeling like a failure. And Jesus says, I'm not done with you yet, Peter. Now notice all of Jesus's commands are verbs. Tend, feed, right? Not hold the role, not be a pastor, but tend, feed, do.

It's action oriented. And also notice that the flock is not Peter's flock, it's Jesus's flock. You don't have ownership of them but you are called to serve them. Then he tells Peter about what will happen to him, that he will glorify God in his death as Jesus did through persecution and martyrdom. Talk about living your best life now. Yeah, how do you argue with that passage?

Oh, I'm sorry. What do we do with Peter here? He's not buying expensive camels. He's going to die and live in poverty. And then he says, follow me.

What a loaded word. Surely bringing up images of when Peter was first called by Jesus out on the boat. But it's also challenging Peter to consistent discipleship until he is martyred. But on top of that, it invites every one of us who have ever failed, every one of us who has ever wandered, every one of us who reads this gospel account, everyone who has ever felt unusable by God, everyone who has ever felt inadequate for ministry, it invites us to the same steady pursuit of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. So if that is you, if you have ever felt unable, if you have ever felt you are burdened, Jesus is saying to you, follow me. Listen to me, follow me. Then finally focus on me.

Jesus and Peter are still walking along the beach. Peter's wishing he had a change of clothes at this point. Peter's just been told, you're going to go where you don't want to go. You're going to die for this. You're going to die a martyr's death. What do you think is on Peter's mind? When will this happen, Lord?

How will this happen? Some other questions you could probably come up with that I think you would probably want to ask. What does Peter do? He says, Lord, what about that guy over there? Is he going to die terribly too? Can I know? Can you just give me a signal?

Because I want to know. What is going to happen to John? It immediately becomes a competition. Lord, what about this man?

This human nature in full swing, isn't it? Okay, that's my lot in life, but how will my siblings do? Will my friends compare? Will they suffer the same fate?

Will they be better off? For Peter, the cost of discipleship, it's pretty high. He's going to be martyred for the kingdom. What about John? And this is where Jesus' answer is just perfect. What does it matter to you?

What does it matter to you? You listen to me. You follow me. You focus on me.

If your focus is on John, then who are you serving? If you're constantly obsessed with your neighbor, what will you accomplish? If you compare yourself to those doing better, you will despair. If you compare yourself to those worse off, it's going to lead to pride. If you're constantly saying, that's not fair, we hear that phrase in our house a lot, but this isn't fair.

Do you even know what fair is? If you're always asking about fairness, you will never accomplish anything for the kingdom of God. Jesus says, you focus on me. Don't get distracted with what others are doing.

Now, let me pause there for a second. Encourage what other people are doing. Lift up. Be a support.

Ask how you can help. If someone's veering off course, you be there to help bring them back in. This is what we're called to do as believers. But if it's about a comparison game, that's where you need to put your focus on Christ.

You follow me. If we're to act and function like a body, then we can't all be performing the same function. I mean, if the church was all just an eye or a foot or a hand, well, we'd be a bizarre church, right?

No, nothing would get done. We need people with the gift of mercy to show mercy. We need people with hospitality to show hospitality.

We need people who are truth speakers to be truth speakers. Now, obviously, we do all these, but there are particular spiritual gifts that are given to us that we use for the edification of the body to the glory of God. Then John finishes with these amazing words that the world itself could not contain all the books that would be written about all the things Jesus did. Doing what? It's bringing attention to the redemptive work of Jesus. It's not bringing attention to John, who is writing this gospel account. It's not drawing attention to Peter, who seems to be the focus of this last chapter. No, it's bringing attention to the reason for it all. It's bringing attention to Jesus. This reminds me of the lines from the song The Love of God is Greater For.

Here are a few lines. The love of God is greater for than pen or tongue can ever tell. It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell. Could we with ink the oceans fill and were the skies of parchment made and were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade. To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry.

Nor could that scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. That love that came to earth as a man died a sinner's death was raised to new life and offers us new life and transformation by his spirit. That's the message we hold to. That's the one we listen to. That's the one we follow. That's the one we focus on. Thank you for listening to the passionate teaching of Dr. Jonathan Youssef on this episode of Leading the Way.

Jonathan is Dr. Michael Youssef's youngest son and also the host of Leading the Way's popular podcast, Candid Conversations with Jonathan Youssef. Has the Easter season brought up some faith questions? If so, won't you consider taking just a few minutes so that you can speak with a Leading the Way pastor or counselor? They'd be so happy to speak with you.

And you can begin that conversation by filling out a short contact form at ltw.org slash Jesus. There is a movement growing. Men and women, young and old, are uniting across the country from cities and suburbs to rolling farmland in the deep places of their hearts. People are crying out, voicing a plea to their Heavenly Father. Lord, come. It's time for another great awakening. It's time to Awake America. Join the prayer movement today. Stand with Dr. Youssef and hundreds of thousands of prayer warriors uniting in prayer for the next great awakening. Visit AwakeAmerica.com today. Find out more about the worldwide ministries of Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef when you visit ltw.org or call us, 866-626-4356. This program is brought to you by Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef.