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| > Sermon Archive > Sermons by Author > Dr. Wes Bredenhof > Entrust yourself to the risen Lord who remains ever the same | Previous Next Print |
| Order Of Worship (Liturgy) All songs are from the CanRC/FRCA Book of Praise. Psalm 100 Psalm 130 (after the law of God) Psalm 102:10-11 Hymn 78:1-3 Hymn 78:4-5 Scripture reading: James 1:1-18 Text: John 21:1-14 |
Beloved congregation of Christ,
Some of you have been members of this congregation your whole life. If you’re in your 50s or 60s or older, you’ve seen many changes. Many people have come and gone. This has happened even in the last ten years. If we took all the people who left our congregation in the last ten years and put them in the pews, they’d probably fill at least half of one side. Nothing stays the same forever. Those of us who are here right now will be gone someday too. Change is the only constant.
That’s true in church life and it’s true in our personal and family lives too. Your babies grow older, become teenagers, and then young adults. Before long they’re married and having babies of their own. Life just keeps changing.
In the face of that, it’s comforting to know that God never changes. He is the rock in our lives. James 1:17 says he is the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. We just sang Psalm 102 and it says the same. Creation is subject to change, but God is the same and his years have no end.
Since Christ is God, this is true of him too. Hebrews 13:8 reminds us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” He is constantly the same. That’s what we see in our passage for this morning. The disciples might have been tempted to think that the risen Lord would somehow be different in how he relates to them. We might be tempted to think that there could be some change in how he relates to us. But the Holy Spirit assures us here that he is the unchangeable One. So I’ve summarized the sermon with this theme: Entrust yourself to the risen Lord who remains ever the same.
We’ll see him revealed here as the Lord who is still:
1. Needed
2. Mighty
3. Providing
After God raised him from the dead, Jesus appeared several times to his disciples. As verse 14 relates, this was the third time. Now on this occasion, not all of the disciples were present. There were seven of them. They were by the Sea of Tiberias, also called the Sea of Galilee. They were where Jesus had told them to go to meet him.
The Sea of Galilee was where some of the disciples had been fishermen before following Jesus. That was their trade. So it’s not surprising when Peter announces he’s going to go fishing in verse 3 and the others follow suit. Some commentators say that it was wrong for the disciples to do this. They say they were turning their backs on what Christ had called them to do. But Peter doesn’t say he’s going back to fishing as a full-time career. Most likely this was just a simple matter of having to put food on the table. The men needed to eat and a night of fishing would give them what they needed.
Now note what it says at the end of verse 3, “They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.” These are experienced fishermen. They knew that night was the best time for fishing. They knew the best spots to cast their nets. Up until three years earlier, some of them had been doing this all their lives. But they caught nothing. That must have been frustrating. If they were hungry, it would also have been worrying. How would they get fed?
They’d been in this exact situation before, at least Peter, James, and John had. It happened at the beginning of their relationship with Jesus. They’d been fishing all night and caught nothing. But then Christ told them to put out into the deep and let down their nets again and when they did they pulled up a huge catch of fish. That was the moment they started following Jesus as his closest disciples.
They shadowed Jesus for three years. They heard him teach many things. One of those things was something they’d heard just a couple of weeks earlier, before Christ was crucified. He was in the upper room with them on the evening before the cross. In John 15:5, Christ is recorded as saying to them, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” Christ was teaching them their dependence upon him. To do anything fruitful, they needed him, his strength, his Spirit.
Now after Christ has risen from the dead, they’re about to learn that nothing has changed. They’re still dependent on him. They still need him to be fruitful in anything, whether fishing or ministry, everything.
That lesson came as the sun was rising. An unknown figure was standing on the shore, about 90 meters away from the boat. He called out to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” The word “children” could also be translated into Australian English as “mates.” The question in the original expects a negative answer. It’s like, “Hey mates, you don’t have any fish, do you?” They had to admit that this was true.
Jesus then commanded them to cast their net on the right side of their boat and they would find some fish. They found “some” fish, for sure. They found a huge school of fish. There were so many of them that it was impossible to pull it all into the boat. It was only after this that one of them realized who the stranger was on the shore. The one who realized it was “that disciple whom Jesus loved.” That’s a reference to John, the author of this gospel. He realized that it was the Lord and told Peter.
So this is the situation. It was night and Jesus wasn’t there and neither were the fish. Without him, they caught nothing. They were unfruitful in the night apart from their Lord. But day dawns, Jesus is there, and the fish are too. With him, they catch a massive quantity. As the day dawns, and the Lord is there, the disciples bear much fruit. It was that way before with Christ, and now after the resurrection, it’s still the same. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The resurrection doesn’t change the disciples’ dependence on him. In fact, as they soon take up their apostolic ministry to spread the gospel around the world, they will need him more than ever. Without him they can’t be fishers of fish, and without him they can’t be fishers of men.
Loved ones, the resurrection doesn’t change our dependence on Christ either. We’re always going to be dependent on him. Colossians 1:17 reminds us that “he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” We’re dependent on Christ for our salvation. And we’re also dependent on him for being able to bear any good fruit in our lives, whether with evangelism or anything else. It’s his Holy Spirit living in us who empowers us to produce fruit. Our life circumstances can change and will change, but one thing that will never change is how much we need Jesus every day. You need him and I need him, we all need him. Without him, we can do nothing. Recognize that and entrust yourself to him. You do that by saying, “Lord, I need you every hour, every day. Without you, I am nothing. Without you, I can do nothing. I depend on you, Lord.”
We’re at verse 7 in our passage. When Peter realizes that it’s Jesus, he makes himself more modest and then jumps in the water to make his way to the shore. Meanwhile, the other disciples stayed in the boat and they rowed to shore, dragging the net with them. At the shore, they see a little fire going with fish being cooked, and some bread. Someone has been preparing breakfast.
Of course that someone is Jesus and he commands his disciples to bring some of their catch. Peter goes and perhaps some others follow and the net gets dragged ashore. They count the fish and find that there’s 153 of them.
It’s a very specific number, 153. There’s been much discussion by commentators about whether there’s any special meaning attached to the number. Some in the early church believed that this was the number of fish species according to a certain Greek writer. However, that Greek writer (Oppian) actually said there were 157 species. Others have argued that this is an example of gematria. Gematria is where the letters in a name or word represent numbers and if you add up the numbers you get a certain meaningful total, in this instance 153. So some say this connects to Ezekiel 47 and its mention of a couple different places connected to fishing, En Gedi and Eglaim. But this assumes that the original readers of John’s gospel knew Hebrew. There are other theories too, and they all have problems.
The best way to understand this is to just to see it as a report of the facts. It was a memorable occasion and John remembers there being exactly 153 fish. It left them in awe. Most likely they’d never seen a catch like that before. You remember things like that. You remember a huge catch of 153 fish where the net doesn’t even tear at all. It’s amazing.
It was a miracle. Jesus performed many miracles during his earthly ministry. If you remember, John’s gospel has a special name for them: he calls them “signs.” These signs point to spiritual truths about Christ. One of the signs he did is found in John 6. It was the feeding of the 5000. With five loaves and two fish, Jesus fed over 5000 people. That sign, that miracle, it took place where? It took place at the Sea of Galilee. There’s more. John reports that people had as much fish as they wanted. People ate their fill of both the bread and the fish. At the end, there were 12 baskets of leftovers. It was a sign of how Christ is mighty to serve up an overflowing abundance.
So it was in John 21 as well. He had already prepared some breakfast for them. But the almighty God, our Lord Jesus Christ, had also prepared 153 large fish. An overflowing abundance of fish, more than enough to feed the seven disciples. All those fish were there in exactly the right place at the right time. That wasn’t a matter of being lucky. Luck never has anything to do with anything, fishing or not. There’s no such thing as luck. But there is such a thing as God’s almighty hand on the all the affairs of this world. There is such a thing as miracles, when God arranges things that are beyond what naturally occurs. Christ performed miracles before his resurrection and here we see him continuing to perform miracles. This miracle tells us that after his resurrection, he remains almighty God. As such, he continues to be the source of overflowing abundance. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Loved ones, Christ continues to have almighty power over all his creation, including us. That will never change. Because he is almighty God, Christ’s power can never grow weaker. Now that might raise a question for some. If we see Christ performing a miracle here in John 21, and if he remains the same, does he still do miracles today? Some people quote Hebrews 13:8 to prove that. If Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, then if he performed miracles yesterday, he must perform them today as well. It seems like a strong argument.
Let me first say that Christ still has the power to work miracles. He still has the power to work any miracle he wants. But the question is: does he? It’s not a question of whether he can. It’s a question of whether he does.
The answer to that is yes. He continues to work miracles by the power of his Holy Spirit. Christ takes hearts of stone and miraculously turns them into hearts of flesh. He miraculously takes the unbeliever and turns him or her into a Christian. He takes a broken person and restores them. Where there was darkness, he miraculously brings light. Where there was death, he brings life. And just like he did with the disciples at the Sea of Galilee, he brings an overflowing abundance to give life and to nourish life. You see, all of this miraculous work in our lives as Christians testifies that Christ is still the same. Perhaps he doesn’t turn water into wine anymore, perhaps he doesn’t raise people from physical death anymore, but he still does the most impressive miracle of all and that should always amaze us. If you’re a Christian, you should be amazed that you are. It’s not natural. It’s a supernatural work of Christ. It’s a work that we should be praying to see more of in the lives of others.
Let’s now look at verses 12 and 13 in our passage. Here we see how Christ continues to love his disciples by providing for them. He invited them to “Come and have breakfast.” Come and eat, he says. Come and eat this food that you didn’t have to work for, that you didn’t have to buy. Come and eat this abundant food I’ve generously provided for you. It’s all free and there’s so much of it.
The invitation here reflects how God revealed himself in the Old Testament. In Isaiah 25, we find a prophecy of how God would “swallow up death forever.” That was pointing ahead to Christ conquering death in his resurrection. In relation to that, God promised a rich feast of abundant food. The risen Lord Jesus Christ fulfills that prophecy too. He generously provides at the Sea of Galilee.
The disciples didn’t dare to ask him who he was, it says in verse 12. They could tell from what he was doing and what he was saying that it was the Lord. It’s interesting that they didn’t recognize him from how he appeared. Apparently after his resurrection there was some difference in his appearance. What that was, we don’t know because the Bible doesn’t say. But we do know that on several occasions after his resurrection, people didn’t right away recognize him just from looking at him. The important thing here is that the disciples did recognize him – they didn’t have to be told, they knew it was him from what was happening. Nobody else is as generous in providing as Jesus is. No one else shows the love that Jesus does.
And so we have verse 13. Jesus takes the bread and gives it to the seven disciples. He does likewise with the fish. But wait a minute. Isn’t something missing here? Why didn’t Jesus give thanks like he did when he fed the 5000 back in John 6? I’m sure he did in this instance too. Not everything Jesus said or did was recorded. At the end of this chapter, you’ll hear John saying that if everything Jesus said and did would have been written down, the world couldn’t contains the books that would be written. Like the other gospel writers, John had to be selective about what he would include. As he was getting near the end of the scroll, he realized he couldn’t include this particular detail if he wanted to include others.
The thing to focus on here is the way our Lord Jesus lovingly and generously provides. You see, he not only has the almighty power to provide breakfast for his disciples, he also has the loving heart to serve it to them. Just because someone has the power to do something doesn’t mean they necessarily have the will to do it. But Christ has both. He has the hand of power and the heart of love. He had it before his resurrection and he still has it now.
What you’ve got to understand here is the recent history of Jesus with these disciples. In the next passage we’re going to go into that deeper as we see that surprising interaction between Jesus and Peter. Jesus asks Peter if he loves him three times and you can’t help but make the connection with Peter’s three-fold denial of Christ earlier. Peter was the one who fell hardest, but the other disciples also fell and abandoned their Master. That fact makes this scene all the more incredible. With his heart of love, he provides for these weak and sinful men who turned away from him when he was at his lowest point. This isn’t only love, it’s also grace. They’re receiving the opposite of what they deserve. He still loves them and provides for them. He was patient and gracious with them before he suffered and died and rose again. He continues to be patient and gracious with them as their risen Lord. Ever the same.
What a comfort and encouragement that can be for us too. Loved ones, our Christian walk is so inconsistent. We wish it were different, but we’re weak and sinful. As the hymn says, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.” Yet time and again he is patient, gracious, and loving with us. He doesn’t cast us away. He promised in John 6:37 that whoever comes to him, he will never cast out. He didn’t do it with Peter and he won’t do it with you either. Instead, he invites you to eat and drink with him at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb. That feast is coming with the dawn of the age to come. While we wait for that, he continues to provide us with everything we need for body and soul. Our risen Lord lovingly takes care of all his disciples, including you.
So much around us is always changing. But you can know for certain that Christ doesn’t. With him, you do have solid rock under your feet. He is the Rock of Ages. He is the one whose faithfulness is great. Our Lord is the one who will abide with us, even as we see change and decay all around. He is the Ancient of Days, the unvarying light, and the great I Am. Loved ones, continue to entrust yourself to his loving care. AMEN.
PRAYER
Our risen and exalted Lord Jesus Christ,
We entrust ourselves to you. We do that because we have heard that you never change. You are true God of true God. You are always mighty and you always provide. We always need you, we depend on you, Lord. Without you we can do nothing. Please continue to strengthen our faith in you with your Holy Spirit. By his power, assure us always of your love and grace. Thank you for what you did in dying for our sins. Thank you for what you continue to do in interceding for us before the throne of grace.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Dr. Wes Bredenhof, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
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