Breakfast with Jesus

Sermon preached by Pastor C. John Steer

Autumn Ridge Church, Rochester, MN

September 27-28, 2008

 

Scripture:       John 21:1-14

No. 26:         John’s Gospel

 

 

A young lady received a letter from her boyfriend who was attending college in another state.  In rather dull prose he told about his classes and his friends. He described his part-time job.

The passion picked up a bit when he reflected on their relationship and then he signed his name. 

 

She looked further down the page.

There was a P.S.  

It asked, “Will you marry me?”

He had saved the best until last.

 

John does the same with his gospel.

Most scholars agree that John’s gospel originally ended at chapter 20.  After describing his purpose in writing the book John laid down his pen.

 

But later on he took it up again.

We are not sure if it was the next day, the next month or the next year, but John decided there was a very important postscript that he needed to add to his story of the life of Jesus.

And how glad we are that John did, for this P.S. is filled with words of love, hope and comfort.

 

That postscript is John chapter 21. So please turn to that passage in your Bible and take out your message outline as we discover what it is like to have Breakfast with Jesus.

 

After Easter now what? 

That was the question the disciples faced after all the excitement of Easter day. They were delighted that Jesus had risen from the dead but they wondered what to do now.

 

So they went back home.

They walked the 80 miles from Jerusalem to Galilee and they waited as the angel had told them to.

They waited to see what difference the resurrection was going to make to their daily life.

 

Verse 1 tells us, “Jesus appeared again to his disciples.”

(v 1)

“Appeared” is an important word that occurs three times in this chapter. It is a word with two main meanings.

The first meaning is, “to make visible” and the suggestion is that Jesus has been there all the time.

He had never left them but now he makes himself visible.

Since we met last weekend the risen Christ has been with us.

We may not have seen him but he has been there all the same.

 

The second, and deeper, meaning of the word “appear” is to “reveal”.

Jesus revealed himself to the disciples.

He demonstrated once and for all the reality of his resurrection.

 

Some say that the sightings of the risen Christ were nothing more than visions. 

Others claim they were hallucinations. 

John 21 kills these theories.

 

A vision or a spirit would not be likely to point out a school of fish to a party of fishermen.

A vision or a spirit would not cook a meal and eat it.

Yet that is exactly what Jesus does here.

He demonstrates the physical reality of his resurrection.

 

The resurrection was not a vision.

It was not the figment of someone’s imagination.

It was not the appearance of a spirit or a ghost.

Rather Jesus had conquered death and come back to tell us that there is a new day.

 

So the purpose of this appearance by Jesus, and his last miracle before he returned to heaven, is to show the disciples and us how the presence of the risen Christ is to be a daily reality in our lives.

 

This is how it happened.

Simon Peter and six of the other disciples were back in Galilee. They knew that Jesus was alive.

He had given them their marching orders.

“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” (20:21) 

He had also told them to wait until they had power from on high.

 

But they grew restless.

It was particularly hard on Simon Peter.

He was a practical man who had to be doing something.

He could not abide hanging about doing nothing especially on the banks of the Sea of Tiberias which is another name for the Lake of Galilee.

 

                              

                                                                                    The Lake of Galilee Today

                                                         

So one night Peter says, “I am getting the old boat out.

I am going fishing.”

The others said, “We will come with you.”

The night was the best time for fishing.

They would sail out onto the lake with blazing torches. 

The fish would come towards the light and at the right moment the fishermen would fling their nets in. 

 

But this night they caught nothing.

Then in the early light of dawn they saw a shadowy figure on the shore a hundred yards away.

 

Christ at the Sea of Galilee” by Tintoretto

 

The man shouted out, “Any luck?  Did you get any fish?”

It was a common inquiry.  It didn’t surprise them.

But a fisherman who has been skunked hates to be asked that question.

 

They didn’t waste any words on him.

“No” they replied.

The stranger said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” (v 6)  

 

Those instructions did not surprise them either because in the half light of morning it is possible for a man on the beach to see a shoal of fish in the water that are invisible to a fisherman above them on a boat.

So they flung the net over the starboard side and immediately it tugged and strained and they had a record haul of fish.

“Christ Appears on Lake Tiberias” By Duccio

 

John, with a heart that saw further than the others, is on the side of the boat looking at the figure on the shore. 

He grasps Peter by the arm and says, “It is the Lord!” (v 7)

 

Peter realizes that John is right. He is only dressed in his fishermen shorts so he grabs his clothes and jumps into the lake.

John had beaten Peter to the tomb, but Peter did not want John to beat him to the shore.

 

I think that Peter broke the Israeli record for the hundred meters freestyle that day. I suspect that he would have given Michael Phelps a run for his money, so keen was Peter to reach Jesus. While Peter wades out of the waves to greet Jesus, the other disciples bring the boat to the land.

 

 

 

“Christ with St. Peter and the Disciples” by Gassel

 

Jesus invites them, “Come and have breakfast.” (v. 12)

While they are eating they gaze at Jesus.

John tells us, “None of the disciples dared asked him, ‘who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord.” (v 12) 

That is a strange expression. Why did they want to ask?

They knew Jesus.

They had been with him every day for three years. 

 

This statement only makes senses if Jesus is somehow different.  And he must have been. He has passed through death and into a strange new world where no one had ever been before. 

Where did he get his clothes?  What did his body look like?

We know it was no longer exactly like a human body because it wasn’t subject to death or decay.

It is not ghostly. It is real. Yet it is different.

 

Wherever heaven is, Jesus was able to go between heaven and earth as easily as we walk from one room to another.

This gives us some clue as to what it will be like for us after death. We will look similar to the way we do now.

We will be recognizable to our friends.

But there will be something wonderfully different about us and that new world in which we will live.

 

How many miracles do you see in this incident in Galilee?

Zero, one, two, three or four?

There are certainly three and perhaps there are four.

They all involve fish. The purpose of these signs is to demonstrate that Jesus is the Lord.
John was quite right, “It is the Lord” and he has several lessons to teach us.

 

Postcript Lesson Number One:

P.S.  JESUS IS LORD OF OUR WORK

This is the first truth that the risen Christ intended to teach his disciples.

This is the meaning of the first miracle. 

All night long Jesus had deliberately kept every fish in Galilee out of their nets. Galilee was so abounding with fish that it was an incredible achievement that experienced fishermen could be out all night and catch absolutely nothing.

 

I believe the restraining hand of the Master of the oceans was keeping the fish from their nets.

He did it to emphasis what had he told them earlier.

“Apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

They went out fishing without consulting him and they caught nothing.

 

Once Jesus gave the orders and the disciples obeyed there was a great catch.

They finished their fishing careers with a fine flourish.

Jesus wanted to show them that in their future service of fishing for people they would catch nothing without him.

Only as they went out in his power and under his control could they have any success.

 

This is an important lesson for us to learn in our own work for Christ.

We can be very busy and become exhausted and yet achieve nothing because we have neither sought nor received the guidance and blessing of God.

 

Our Elder Board are studying a book called, “The 10 Power Principles for Christian Service.” 

This month we looked at the two wings of Christian ministry which are prayer and Bible study. We recognize that we will achieve nothing as spiritual leaders of this church unless we are lifted on the wings of prayer and Bible study.

 

We can choose to be a harbor church or an airport church.

A harbor church is one where everything comes horizontally.

We just use common sense and treat it as divine inspiration. 

An airport church gets its ideas from above.

It is an outpost of heaven.

It is a church of heavenly wisdom and heavenly expectations.

 

So miracle number one is that Jesus kept their nets empty to teach the disciples that without him they could do nothing.

In miracle number two he flooded their nets with fish to teach them they could do all things through Christ who strengthens them.

 

“The Miraculous Draught of Fishes” by Dore

 

 

 

Miracle number three is that the net did not break.

There were 153 fish but the net held.

When Jesus had first called the disciples to follow him, back in Luke chapter 5 he had also told them where to fish on the lake.

Again there was a great catch.

But on that occasion the nets tore.

 

Now Jesus wants to teach his disciples that when he is in charge there will be no breakdowns.

So the message of Easter lives on in our lives when the risen Christ is Lord of our work.

 

Postscript Lesson Number Two:

P.S.   JESUS IS LORD OF OUR NEEDS

When the disciples arrive on the shore they found a fire of charcoal with fish and bread on it.

And look who has prepared it.  The risen Christ.

Jesus has come early, lit a fire, and is cooking breakfast for seven of his friends.  How like him.

 

Jesus is Lord of our needs.

These men had three needs.

First, they were cold after being out on the lake all night.

So Jesus provides a fire.

 

Second, they were hungry so Jesus provides a meal.

There is nothing quite like fresh fish cooked on the coals of a fire by the lakeside. What a welcome sight and smell for hungry men who have been working all night.

 

Third, they were frustrated.

They did not know what to do with their life now that Jesus had risen so he provides his companionship.

All that they needed Jesus had ready for them.

Perhaps they remembered what he said in the past.

“Don’t be anxious about anything. Don’t worry about the future. God knows your needs. 

If he provides for the sparrows and the lilies how much more will he provide for you?”

 

That is important for us to remember in these frightening economic times when we may have seen our business decline, the value of our house fall or our retirement funds decimated.

Jesus is still Lord of our needs.

 

Now it is possible that there was a fourth miracle here.

John tells us, “When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it and some bread.” (v 9)

 

The text actually says there was only a small fish on the fire. Certainly not enough to feed eight people.

Now it may be that this was supplemented with fish from the catch and indeed Jesus says, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” (v 10)

 

But the other possibility is that Jesus was performing another miracle.

I say that because John uses the diminutive word for fish.

It is the same word that he uses in describing Jesus’ miracle of the feeding of the five thousand when the boy brought his five barley loaves and two small fishes.

 

Jesus may be reminding his disciples of that occasion.

As he provided for the large crowd then so he can provide for the small group now.

 

As Jesus broke the bread and handed it to them it must surely have reminded the disciples of the Last Supper when he had said, “This is my body broken for you.”

Jesus can meet not only our physical needs but our spiritual needs.

 

Postscript Lesson Number Three:

P.S.  JESUS IS LORD OF OUR EXPECTATIONS

It is helpful here for us to remember that John is a mystic.

His gospel is packed with spiritual mystery.

There are several levels of meaning to every story and that is the case here.

 

Why had Jesus told the disciples to leave Jerusalem and come north to Galilee?

It was to inform them of the worldwide nature of his mission. They still thought that salvation was for the Jews and the gospel was to be kept to a small ethnic group.

 

Jesus tells them to leave the nationalistic Jewish city of Jerusalem and to come up to Galilee where many different nationalities live. 

He is going to take them up a mountain from which they would be able to see several countries.

He is expanding their expectations which to this point are far too limited.

 

He expands them again with the incredible size of their catch.

The fishing was good in Galilee but not that good.

That is why they take the time to count every fish.

There are 153 in total.

 

Theologians have tried to come up with an explanation for the significance for that number of 153.

One of the most creative was Jerome in the fourth century.

He said, “There are 153 varieties of fish in the world and so this indicated that Jesus wanted to catch the whole world with the gospel.”

 

Because of the work of marine biologists we now know there are far more than 153 varieties of fish.

But I think Jerome’s point is basically sound.

Jesus wanted his disciples to know that the gospel catch would not be small but vast.

 

Never think that there will just a few people that will be saved. That wasn’t why Jesus went to the cross.

In his book “A History of Christian Missions” Steven Neill tells us that for the first time in history there is a universal religion and that is the Christian faith.

It is found in every country and it is growing every day.

 

There are over a billion people who call themselves Christians. Some of them will surprise you.

As we hear about Al Quaeda and the dreadful bombings going on in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, we might get the idea that Islam is on the move. 

 

But did you know that thousands of Muslims are coming to Christ? There is an article in this month’s Mission Frontiers magazine about Iran entitled “How the Mullahs Are Leading the nation to Jesus.”

It describes the extraordinary work of God going on in Iran today.

If you would like to learn more you can read it online for free.

 

There is no room for pessimism if we follow the risen Christ.

We can be optimistic because Jesus is Lord.

He wants to expand our horizons. 

We can think big and plan big because Jesus is risen and breathed his Spirit on his people. 

William Carey had it right in his motto.

“Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God.”

 

God wants to enlarge our borders for his glory.

He wants to use us in ways beyond our imagination.

Perhaps that prospect intimidates us.

Then let’s remember that the net did not break.

The one who gave the catch will help us to bring it in. God will give us all the resources we need so that we won’t fall apart.

 

I have never actually had breakfast with Jesus but I have had something close to it. I’ve had breakfast with the people who belong to Jesus.

I look forward to the Wranglers’ breakfast at Family Camp.

A horse drawn wagon takes us down to the lakeshore where we are served a wonderful breakfast cooked on hot coals.

 

We always save some of our toast so that we can feed the fish.

They are waiting for us and almost jump out of the water to get the food.  My mind goes back to this postscript in John 21 and and I marvel that the fish has become the symbol of the Christian faith.  The word “fish” in Greek is “icthus”.  The letters stand for “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior.”