After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. 4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. 9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Let me pause before getting back to the text so that there is no misunderstanding. You might be thinking after Saturday’s devotion on this text: “Ok, Pastor, so the application of this is that we should go to church.”
No, that is not it. That is to miss the point. That is to read the Bible on a horizontal level only. Our application is not to go to church…but to believe God that by faith, we go to heaven…we go to Him, we add our voices to the multitude in the praises of the resurrected Savior of sinners.
There is something about the called meeting of the church on the Sabbath where the presence of God is made known in a way that it never is anywhere else.
If the Christian view of worship and the called Sabbath Day of God is shallow, trite, flippant, irrelevant, easy to blow off for other things, listen carefully, if that is the case then you will see in that Christian’s life the same attitude toward Jesus himself. If meeting with the risen Christ, as appointed by the Risen Christ is not important, is not of ultimate importance, then who are we kidding…for neither is living for Christ.
This is the testimony of God, there is such a connection made between Jesus and the Sabbath day, that our neglect of it, our carelessness about it, is a neglect and a carelessness about Christ himself.
Remember that peace and Jesus are the same, to have Jesus means we have peace, the two are bound together? Well, so uniquely bound is the Lord to the assembly of those he loves on the Christian Sabbath that our failure or refusal to love it, to anticipate it, to make it our chief joy, is to a large degree, a failure and refusal to so love, anticipate and make Christ our chief joy.
Thomas learned that and we too will find peace as we learn it.
Vignette #3 Obedience
Once again the light and darkness themes that John loves are prominent.
Peter and others are fishing…they fish all night and catch nothing. Jesus greets them and they do not recognize him and tells them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat and they catch so many that they cannot hall it in. Nothing but futility throughout the night and then in 21:4, just as the day was breaking, and then at obedience to Christ’s command, abundance.
Night…futility…without me you can do nothing…darkness. Then the light breaks, the command of the resurrected Savior in obedience to His Word, we find abundance, that is John’s point throughout His gospel. There is not and never will be the blessing of the risen Christ upon a people, upon the church, if we are not grounded in and seeking to be obedient to all that Jesus has commanded.
Even in the great commission that is what Jesus tells us to do, to go out making disciples, not decisions, and teaching them to observe ALL that the Lord commands. But today it seems it is pick and choose…we decide what we will obey, what we want to obey and we decide if we will obey fully or only partially, but of course always counting our partial obedience as full obedience.
In John’s first epistle, he gives a few ways to know that you are truly converted, to give Christians assurance of their faith. One of them is this: Do you want to know for sure you are a Christian? Well then…do you obey Jesus? Because true Christians obey Jesus and heart led obedience is a good way to know that you are saved. If you are not seeking to obey Jesus, then you SHOULDN’T have assurance!
I recently was convicted watching my children faithfully discipline their children and I look at my grandchildren and think, you silly little people, joy, and happiness for you is found in simply obeying what your parents say, it is not difficult at all to understand…obey; joy, happiness, disobey, and not so much. But of course, being sinful, they want what they want.
The conviction is that I do the same thing with the Lord. Jesus said that when we obey Him, we have a fullness of joy, He says that when we obey Him, He makes Himself known more deeply to us…He says that obedience to His word, puts one standing on the highway of blessing, getting ready to be overwhelmed by what God has for us. Like my grandchildren, the answer for me, for you is simple…obedience to the Word of Christ will make your life joyful…it will cause you to know this otherworldly peace…it will bring Jesus more and more into view…it is right there…ah but for our sinful hearts.
Two simple questions: Do you believe Jesus when He says this? That joy comes with obedience? That you know Him more deeply, and have richer fellowship with Him as the result of obedience? Do you? Second, If I followed you around for a week, with my invisibility cloak, would I, by watching the way you live, know that you believe it?
Prayer: Lord, I ask this day that Your Spirit give me a transformed mind that I might think according to holiness and that my being set-apart for You would be seen in my actions and heard in my words. Give me a Christ centered life, for only then will I make the choices that are right and good, only then will my life be a living sacrifice. Grant me the grace to honor and please You this day, through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Hymn: O The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus (A Bit Different, and quite lovely)