The key to fruitfulness, John 21:1-14

In last week’s sermon, we said that the last section of chapter 20 taught five principles of the gospel.  And one of them was the abiding presence of Christ.  That is an essential doctrine of the gospel; that Jesus Christ is alive, that though He died on the cross, He arose from the dead, and ever lives to make intercession for us.  

That’s an important doctrine, because it reveals that Christ has procured two essential things for the Christian life.  One; that the death of Jesus Christ provided the payment for the penalty of our sins.  But two, His resurrection has provided new life for those who have been forgiven.  Jesus died on the cross that we might die to sin, and that our penalty for our sin would be paid.  But Jesus rose from the grave to show that we have new life, a life free from sin and death, a life of fruitfulness and purpose and eternal reward.

The reason we are given new life is so that we may have a life of fellowship with  God. Our justification is the beginning of spiritual life. But God desires not just that we have the forgiveness of sins, but that we enter into the relationship of communion with him, constant communion with him. True spiritual life is life in communion with God. That is what enables this new life to be the abundant life which Jesus promised.  It’s abundant, because the Lord is with us, in us, and working through us.  You cannot have more abundant life than that.

So that is what John is illustrating in this record of yet another post resurrection appearance of Jesus Christ.  It is obviously additional confirmation of His resurrection, but even more importantly, it serves to teach us the presence and power of Christ that is available to us, even though He has ascended into heaven.

Now notice that John intentionally uses a word to describe Jesus’s appearance which helps us to understand this principle.  Twice in vs.1 and again in vs.14 John uses the word “manifests” to describe Jesus’s appearance.  On the one hand, we might recognize that means He suddenly appeared, as if to say He was instantly there.  But more importantly than that, it means that He simply made what was there already visible.  He made the invisible, visible.  That is the important thing; Jesus is always there.  He is always with us.  We may not see Him, but like Thomas discovered in last week’s message, Jesus was aware of all that he had said to the disciples in Jesus’s physical absence.  So as both Moses and David stated in the OT, the Lord will never leave you nor forsake you. He is always with us, whether we see Him manifested in presence or in power or simply known by faith, He will be with us always.  Jesus said in Matt.28:20, “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Now while it is easy to proclaim such principles in times of peace and plenty, it is another to hold to such belief in times of feeling abandoned, or discouraged, or frightened, or in persecution.  I’m not sure what the disciples were feeling as we catch up to them in vs.2, but I assume it might have been a little bit of all of the above.  The last time Jesus had appeared to the disciples was the second Sunday after His resurrection.  Eight days after the resurrection, on a Sunday evening, Jesus appeared in the locked room to meet with Thomas who was disbelieving the disciples report of the resurrection.  And so Jesus made a divine appointment to reconcile Thomas. 

But now it’s probably been a couple of weeks or more since that day.  Jesus was on the earth for a total of 40 days after His resurrection.  And John tells us in vs.14 that this was the 3rd time that He had appeared to the 11 disciples.  We don’t know how long had transpired between the eighth day and this day.  But we do know that Jesus had told the disciples in Matthew 28 to go to Galilee and that He would meet them there on a particular mountain.  And we can surmise from vs 14 that they had been waiting for Jesus to show up at the mountain as He indicated, but He had not yet appeared.  It might have been a week or more that they had sat on this desolate mountainside waiting for the Lord.  There probably wasn’t much to eat.  It might have  been the same mountain that Jesus fed the 5000.  There were no supermarkets out there.  And the boys managed for a few days, and then they began to get hungry, frustrated and tired of waiting.  

So Peter wakes up one morning, looks down the mountain at the Sea of Tiberius below, also known as the Sea of Galilee, and says, “I’m going fishing.”  And the other six disciples that were there with him said, “We will come with you.”  

By now, we all should realize that Peter was a natural leader.  If Peter said it was a good idea, then everyone else did too.  Peter is always presented first in any list of the disciples.  It was because he was a natural leader.  He was probably a pretty big guy, a strong man. Verse 11 makes it sound like Peter pulled the net to shore all by himself. I’m not sure that’s what it means, but that’s a possibility.  But no doubt he was a big, strong guy.  A courageous man.  He wasn’t afraid of too much.  He hardly ever held up his finger to see which way the wind was blowing. He just jumped in.  And the disciples followed his leadership.

But we also ought to learn a lesson from this. There are a lot of men out there that are natural leaders that have found their way into the pastorate across this country.  They may have a natural talent for communication.  They may be funny, they can tell interesting stories. They may have a natural talent of convincing people to follow them.  They may be exciting to be around.  It’s easy to follow charismatic people. But they may not always be acting on behalf of God.  They may be acting on their ego, or on their appetite, or they may be on a power trip.  And we need to be careful to discern whether or not such men are being led by God or not.

Well, it’s obvious to me that Peter was not being led by God.  He was led by his appetite.  He was led by his desire to do something, to make something happen.  Nothing was happening on that cold mountain.  And down at that lake he knew he had his little fishing boat docked and ready to go fishing.  

Another lesson to be learned is that man’s timing is not always God’s timing.  Peter was ready to get moving.  It had been weeks since the crucifixion, Jesus hadn’t shown up again and Peter was restless.  But to move when God hasn’t told you to move is a foolish thing.  As a pastor, as the leader of this church, I can assure you that I constantly have to check my motivation.  Is it God appointed, or man appointed?  Is it God’s timing, or my timing?  In my opinion, most of the time God seems to move really, really slow.  And sometimes He seems really late.  I hate hearing these self righteous types that always pontificate about how God is always on time.  I don’t doubt that God is always on time.  But I do believe that God has a different time piece than what we use.  Peter said as much in  2Peter 3:8 when he said, “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.”  I think it’s possible Peter learned that valuable lesson on this very fishing expedition.  God’s clock looks a lot different than our clock.  So learning to wait on the Lord’s timing is a difficult thing for us, as it was for Peter and the disciples.

Another lesson to be learned from this is that man’s talent is worthless in the new life of a Christian without God’s authorization.  Peter and all of those guys with him were experienced fishermen.  They were professional fishermen.  They had made a career out of it prior to becoming disciples.  But they were supposed to be fishers of men now.  They left their nets, remember, and followed the Lord.  That occasion was another fishing expedition when Jesus told Peter to cast on the other side of the boat and Peter said, “Lord, we’ve been fishing all night and caught nothing. And we are expert fishermen.  But to show what an understanding guy I am, I will do it at your request.  Just to show you I know what I’m talking about.” And on that occasion, they caught so many fish that the boat started sinking.  So afterwards when Jesus said, “Come and follow Me and I will make you fishers of men,” they left their fishing business and followed the Lord.

But now here they are after the resurrection, obviously still not getting the connection as to what this post resurrection ministry is all about, and so Peter thinks he’s going to take matters into his own hands and get the ball rolling. He decides to go back to his old profession.  After all, they are going to need to eat.  They have to make a living. Jesus isn’t here to feed them, so they have to make a living.  Makes perfect common sense.  If we had of been there, we would all have said, “Wait for us, we’re coming too.”  Especially Nick.  He always wants to fish.(!)

And yet all the natural talent in the world couldn’t fill their boat with fish.  They caught nothing.  And they fished all night long.  Not a bite.  Nothing to show for it.  I think the lesson is pretty clear.  Our talents, our wisdom, our experience, are useless in the Christian life if they are not directed by the Lord as He would have us to work.  I don’t care how much talent some musician may have.  I don’t care how much ability to communicate a person may have.  

You know, there is a worksheet that has found it’s way in many churches where you can supposedly discover your spiritual gift.  And maybe you have done that worksheet.  I did it once.  Let me tell you something.  That’s man’s approach.  God doesn’t use a worksheet.  He doesn’t look at your natural talents or abilities.  He looks at your potential.  He looks at your heart.  He looks at your willingness to be used and to serve.  He looks at what He can do through you, and not what you can do without Him.

Don’t misunderstand a very important distinction.  Natural talents do not equate to spiritual gifts.  Spiritual gifts are things that God wants you to do which you may not have any talent to do naturally.  So God gives you the Holy Spirit to equip you and lead you and develop you to do what He wants you to do. It’s not of the flesh, but of the Spirit.  God doesn’t look at your capability, but your capacity.  Your willingness to be obedient to Him.  Then He will fill you with the power to do it.  A work of God doesn’t come from you, it comes through you from God.

A good illustration of that is found in the last chapter. In John 20:22, it says Jesus breathed on the disciples and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  So they received the Holy Spirit then, several weeks before Pentecost.  Then on the day of Pentecost, in Acts 2:4, it says that they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Holy Spirit was giving them utterance.  See, the principle is having the right capacity, and being yielded to the Lord in obedience, He is able to fill you to fulfill His purposes.  He is able to give you the talent or wisdom or strength to do what He wants you to do.  And as we see in Acts, this unlearned fisherman named Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, stands up and preaches from the word of God and has an unbelievable harvest of 3000 souls.  That’s the secret of fruitfulness that is being taught here in this passage.

So back to our story, they worked all night but were unfruitful. They accomplished nothing because they were relying on their own experience and talent and wisdom.  And then Jesus appears.  He manifests Himself to them, standing a hundred yards away on the shore.  They don’t know it’s Jesus at first.  That’s been the typical response at all Jesus’s appearances.  No one recognizes Him until He is ready to be recognized. But Jesus has been there all night long.  Watching them, listening to them, waiting for them to get tired of doing it their way.  Waiting for them to come to the realization that they had accomplished nothing.  And then Jesus kind of rubs it in, just a little bit.  He calls out to them, “Hey guys, do you have any fish?”  

And the disciples have to say what no fisherman ever wants to admit; they had caught nothing. I’ve asked Nick that very question many times before, and he never gives a straight answer.  He always start talking about the one that got away.  No fisherman likes to admit failure.  So they said, “No.” I bet they said more than what John records for us.  But maybe it’s better he didn’t record it.  I’m sure they had a few choice words to say though when Jesus responded, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.”   But again, discretion being the better part of valor, John simply records that they cast their net on the other side and then were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.

Listen, the point is not fishing on the right side versus the left side. It’s not one method over another method.  It’s not one program over another program. The answer to fruitfulness is not a children’s ministry or a youth ministry or this program or that program.  The point is it’s God’s way or no way.  If you want real fruitfulness in God’s church, you need to do it God’s way.  You may have a lot of activity, you may have a lot of enthusiasm, you may have a nice boat, and a lot of people rowing and shouting commands.  But if it’s God’s church, you better do it God’s way.  God has a blueprint for the church.  And I got to tell you, most churches don’t have a clue what that is.  But if you want your life to count for the kingdom of God, then you better find His blueprint and stick to it.

Isaiah 55:9 says, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.”  So also if we are going to see fruitfulness, we need to make sure we rely not on common sense but on uncommon grace.   1Cor. 1:27, “but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.”  

Now what does fruitfulness look like?  Well, it may not look like what you think.  Let’s notice what happens here when the disciples obey Christ.  First, it produced recognition of Christ.  John immediately recognizes when they start hauling in this load of fish that it has to be the Lord.  He tells Peter, and Peter gets so excited he puts on his clothes and throws himself in the water and starts swimming to shore.  He wants to be first to see Jesus.  I will say that I love Peter’s enthusiasm.  He may not have been the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was enthusiastic.  And I think this shows how much he loves the Lord.

Listen, when real fruitfulness happens, it produces the realization of Christ likeness in His people.  That is what fruitfulness looks like.  It’s not just converts. It’s not members.  It’s not the size of your building or your congregation. But people recognize Christ in your church. Fruitfulness produces the nature and character of Christ in the church which is recognizable.  And secondly, it produces love for the Lord.  You know how you can tell Peter loved the Lord?  He left his boat, he left his nets, he left this incredible haul of fish.  Peter didn’t care about fishing anymore. He didn’t care about his career anymore. He cared about being with Jesus.

Well, I’m sure some smart guy out there is saying, “Well sure, but fruitfulness is also defined by 153 fish.”  But I would suggest that it isn’t the numbers that we should focus on.  I’m suggesting we focus on the abundance that the Lord provides, and particularly the capacity of the nets.  The text says that even though all those fish were in them, they did not break.  In other words, the Lord increases your capacity.  That’s the true nature of a spiritual gift.  It’s not a natural thing, it’s not according to natural causes, but when you are yielded and  obedient to what God wants you to do, He increases your capacity.  Matt. 13:12, “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

When Peter got to shore, he discovered that the Lord already had a fire going, and fish and bread already cooked ready to eat.  And the Lord told them to come and eat breakfast, and to bring some of their fish as well.  

Listen, we can read a lot of things into this breakfast that aren’t necessarily there if we’re not careful.  But what I can say with certainty is that the Lord wants us to bring to Him our contribution, but it is His grace that provides the resources that we need for our new life in Christ.  He is the provider, He is the means of power, the means of provision.  He wants our contribution, but mainly, I think He wants our fellowship.  He wants communion with us.  Jesus said to the church in Laodicea in Rev. 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”  

We tend to use that verse as an invitation to unbelievers.  But in reality it is an invitation to believers, to a busy, self absorbed church that has no time for real fellowship with the Lord. He is calling us, knocking on our heart’s door, wanting to have intimacy and communion with us.  That is the purpose of the gospel.  To restore us to the relationship man enjoyed with God back in the Garden of Eden.  To restore us to fellowship with Him.  And when we abide with Him in fellowship, we will have fruitfulness in the church.

Jesus talked about this relationship of fruitfulness and fellowship in John 14:15, and I will end with this passage as a summary of the message this morning.  Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper,  that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”

The first Sunday service, John 20:19-31

In today’s passage, we are continuing to look at the first day of Christ’s resurrection from the dead.  He arose early in the morning on the first day of the week, that is, of course, Sunday.  Last week we saw Mary Magdalene and John and Peter’s response to the resurrection.  But in presenting the chronology of the events on this most important of days, John does so in such a way as to teach a lesson.  He is teaching, in this last section of chapter 20, the gospel, and he does so by showcasing for us the first Sunday church service in the New Testament period.  

We meet as 21st century Christians on Sunday’s to celebrate the Lord’s Day, so named because He arose from the dead on the first day of the week.  And so John is showcasing this first church service on Sunday, and he does so by giving us a classic sermon outline, featuring five principles of the gospel, followed by a personal illustration of the gospel, and then a closing synopsis of the gospel.  

As we look at this passage, we see that the disciples are gathered together on Sunday evening, and they have locked the doors for fear of the Jews.  This is a closed door church service.  And John tells us why they have locked the doors, because of the fear of the Jews.  What that means is that the Jewish religious leaders are incensed over Jesus having risen from the tomb, they have paid off the Roman soldiers to lie about it, and they might very well have schemed to arrest or even put to death the disciples so that they might not broadcast Jesus’s resurrection. 

But I think that God has intentionally put the disciples there at such a time to set an example for generations of Christians yet to come that we might meet on Sundays to assemble together for fellowship and to worship the Lord, and to proclaim the gospel.  The gospel, by the way,  meaning simply the good news of God’s plan, the Way of life, the Way of salvation.  

Now there are as I said five principles of the gospel that are being taught here.  The first principle of the gospel being presented is the assurance of the presence of Christ.  The whole premise of the gospel is that Jesus has triumphed over death, so that we might not fear death.  He died on the cross, but He also rose from the dead.  And so as the disciples have heard testimony earlier from Mary that she had seen the Lord, and heard from Peter and John that the tomb was empty, they were certainly talking among themselves as to what to make of all of this.  And as they meet together, behind locked doors, suddenly Jesus appears in their midst.  

Luke’s gospel tells us that the disciples were alarmed.  They thought they were seeing a ghost.  And so Jesus says to them, “Peace be with you.”  And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. (vs20).  

This was a direct fulfillment of the Lord’s prophesy in which He said “If you destroy this temple, in three days I will raise it up again.”  But it is also a fulfillment of the promise in Matt. 18:20 which says, “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”  And while that was true for the disciples,  that is also a promise for all who believe in the gospel even today.  We believe that the Lord is with us today as we gather in His name.  He is present with us when we have Bible study on Wednesday evening.  He is present wherever and whenever we gather together as a church.  And we can be assured of that because He rose from the dead.

Much is made by theologians over the fact that Jesus appears in a locked room without having to go through a door.  They attribute this ability to the nature of His resurrection body, and offer us the hope that we too will one day have a body that can walk through doors.  But I would say such a view is shortsighted.  Jesus had power to walk through doors before His death.  The fact that He appears in such a way is just further evidence that He is Jesus.  I will say this about His resurrected body.  He does not seem immediately recognizable in any of the post resurrection appearances unless He produces some evidence of who He is.  In this case, He shows His wounds, which are unmistakably those of His crucifixion.  They are convincing proof of His resurrection and identity.  

And as modern day Christians, we are promised of His living presence with us, that He will never leave us nor forsake us.  And we can rely upon that promise because He lives, because He arose from the dead, and was witnessed alive not only by the disciples gathered there, but Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 15;6 that He was seen by 500 people at one time after His death.  The great principle of the gospel is that Jesus is alive, and He is with us, and because He lives He can assure for us the benefits and blessings of the gospel, and that one day we will be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is when we are resurrected even as He was.

The second principle of the gospel presented to us is that He gives us not only His presence, but His peace.  Twice Jesus says, “Peace be with you.”  Anytime you see something stated twice in scripture you can rest assured that it is a undeniable promise that will surely come about.  The first peace that Jesus gave was to quiet their fear, to calm their alarm.  The second peace is to assure them of their peace with God.  

This great promise is reiterated in  Romans 5:1 which says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Men are searching today for peace - peace of mind, peace with men, peace from strife and war.  “Peace, peace!” they cry, but there is no peace.  But Jesus said in  John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” 

How can Jesus give this peace?  Because He took the offense of our sin against God upon Himself.  He bore God’s wrath towards our sins upon His shoulders, bearing our sins upon the cross, paying the ultimate price on our behalf.  And His resurrection is evidence that God was satisfied by His sacrifice for sin, that we might be made right with God, justified by faith in Christ, so that we have peace with God. 

So we might know that if God is for us, who can be against us?  If God so loves us that He spared not His only Son, what have we to fear?  We have an Advocate with God, even Jesus Christ our Intercessor, so that we need not be afraid of anything.  God is for us.  We have peace with God.  What a great tenet of the gospel; the peace of God has been established for us through Christ.

Thirdly, we have through the gospel not only the presence of Christ with us, and the peace of God with us, but we are given the same purpose which God gave Christ.  Vs 21, Jesus says, “as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”  Jesus Christ came to Earth with a specific purpose; that is that He might manifest to the world the truth of God.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except by Me.”  Furthermore, He said, “I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.”  

Listen, this is what the world doesn’t understand about the gospel. The gospel is God’s plan for man, to give him life, abundant life.  It is God’s plan to restore man to the innocence of the Garden, to restore man to the joy before the fall.  It is God’s plan for man to have a life of joy and peace and all the blessings which God originally designed man to have but were taken away by man’s fall into sin.  The gospel is not just a list of what you can’t do.  It is a list of promises of what God will do, when man comes under His plan of reconciliation. 

2Cor. 5:17 says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”  

This is our purpose, having been reconciled to God, we become ambassadors of Christ to the world, so that we might announce to all men the promise of reconciliation.  We are ambassadors.  We have the same ministry that Christ had.  We tell the world the truth of God, we tell the world the promise of the gospel, the hope of the gospel.  

Listen, some of you are missing out on your purpose.  And you wonder why your Christian experience seems lacking.  Perhaps it’s because you are not recognizing that just as Jesus was sent to a lost and dying world to tell them the good news, so He has sent us also.  We are not saved just so we may selfishly bask in the love of God for us, and reap all the blessings of God for ourselves, like the lepers in the OT that found the enemy camp deserted and full of food, knowing that their own people were starving.  But it is better to give than to receive. It is better to serve than to be served. There are hundreds of men and women that you come into contact with everyday, and God has sent you to them to tell them the gospel of salvation.  We have a commission to be ambassadors for Christ, to carry on His work, His ministry of reconciliation.  I hope you take that commission seriously. I hope you understand your purpose is that Christ is sending you to tell your lost family, your lost friends, your lost coworkers, your lost neighbors about the good news of the gospel. If we would all take seriously this commission, that Christ is sending you,  I think we would soon have to move to a bigger building to hold all the new converts.  

Fourthly, the principle of the gospel presented here next is the means by which we are able to fulfill this purpose, and that is the gift of the Holy Spirit.  John says in vs.22, And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”  Someone once said, I think it was Alistair Begg, that the difference between the OT and the NT is that in the OT we were given the law but we couldn’t perform it, but in the NT we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit that we might do the works of God.

It’s interesting that when Jesus gives them the permanent presence of the Holy Spirit to dwell in them, He breathes on them.  There seems to be in the language a deliberate reference to Genesis 2, when God made Adam and breathed in him the breath of life, and man became a living soul.  Paul speaks of this parallel in 1Cor. 15:45, saying “So also it is written, The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.’ The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”  Jesus breathed on the disciples, giving them the Spirit to dwell permanently in them. 

It’s also interesting in light of what Jesus said earlier about us being sent as He was sent, to notice the parallels between Jesus’s ministry  and the disciples’ ministry.  Jesus you will remember, after coming up from the water of His baptism which symbolized the resurrection, had the Spirit descend upon Him in the form of a dove.  And immediately He went out into the wilderness being led by the Holy Spirit and for 40 days He was tempted.  It’s interesting that the disciples receive the Spirit through Christ breathing on them, and then they will wait for 40 days before receiving power through the filling of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost.  So again, we have the same benefit for our ministry that Christ had in His.  After the forty days, Luke 4:14 says, “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee.”  And such power is given to us as well that we might fulfill the ministry of Christ.

The last principle of the gospel presented here is that of authority.  Jesus says in vs.23, “If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”  What Jesus is saying here is not that we have the power to forgive sins.  The Bible makes it clear in many other places that only God has the power to forgive sins.  But rather He is saying that as we fulfill our ministry of the gospel, to share the good news, that we have the authority to announce the forgiveness of sins for those that confess Jesus as Lord and have faith in Him.  

We have the authority of the gospel to say that if you confess your sins He is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. But there is also the flip side to the gospel. If you reject Jesus as your Lord and God, then we have the authority to tell them that they are still in their sins.

That’s the message that Peter and the apostles had after Pentecost. They spoke with authority.  They spoke with the authority of the Holy Spirit.  They preached with the power of the Spirit, and through the authority of the Word of God.  And we have that same resource.  So many people want to focus on the apostles speaking in tongues as their manifestation of the power of the Spirit.  But I would suggest that more significant was the message of the sermon Peter preached.  Suddenly this backwoods, unlearned fisherman was preaching a message, quoting and interpreting scripture and people’s hearts were cut to the quick under conviction of their sins.  People weren’t saved by hearing someone speak in tongues, they became saved by hearing the gospel preached.  That is power.  The Holy Spirit works through the gospel, works through the scriptures, to bring men under conviction that leads to salvation.  That is edifying to the body, and not just self edification. (Romans 1:16) “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…”

So those are the five principles of the gospel that John records for us here as he really begins to finish his gospel.  And like any good preacher, he gives a personal illustration for his message;  he presents the account of Thomas, who had been missing from the first service when Jesus appeared.  And though Thomas knows well these disciples, having been with them constantly for three years or more, yet he rejects their testimony.  When they tell him that they had seen the risen Jesus, he says quite callously that unless he sees the nail prints in His hands, and actually puts his finger in them, and unless he puts his hand into the wound in His side, he will not believe that they have actually seen Jesus alive.  

Well, 8 days later, it’s once again Sunday evening.  And the disciples are having the second Sunday service, and they have locked the doors again. But this time, Thomas is with them.  And Jesus suddenly appears in the midst of them and says to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”

Thomas is undoubtedly taken aback.  For one because he sees the risen Savior.  But also because he hears the Lord repeat back to him the things he said privately to the disciples.  And so he understands in a special way what it means to have the presence of Christ in his life.  Realizing that Jesus heard him when he said that must have had a major impact on him.  I would to God that we might realize that Jesus hears everything we say.  That He is watching us, and walking among us every day. Jesus told the Pharisees in Matt.12:36 that they would give an account on judgment day for every careless word that they spoke.  And Jesus told the 7 churches in Revelation, “I know your deeds.”  He is described as walking among the churches, watching and hearing all that they have to say and do.  If we truly understood that it would be hard for us to continue living the way we do, wouldn’t it?  We need to realize the presence of Christ 24/7, as we go through our daily lives.

Well, Thomas suddenly doesn’t want to put his finger in the nail holes.  He doesn’t want to put his hand in His side.  Instead, Thomas gives the strongest confession of any of the disciples up to that point.  He says, “My Lord and my God!”  That is the confession that John has been working towards in the gospel up to this point.  It’s to bring the reader to the point of confessing Jesus as our Lord and our God.  That we might come to the place where we are willing to accept Jesus as our Master and Lord, that He has the right to determine for us what we can or can’t do.  Because He is also God.  He is the Creator of all things.  He has formed us for His glory.  

That confession of Thomas is what is meant by believing in Jesus.  It is to declare Him as My Master, and My God.  And therefore, my allegiance and commitment is given completely to Him. And having faith in Him, we are made righteous, we have peace with God.  We are given new life by the Spirit of God.  We are a new creation.  Old things have passed away and all things have become new.  We have new life in Christ, and a new purpose in life.

Jesus accepts Thomas’s confession.  But He gives a rebuke for his lack of faith.  Jesus says, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”  Listen, we need to guard against the fleshly desire of seeking of physical verification of the Lord like that which Thomas exhibited.  We all get discouraged from time to time.  We all may have doubts from time to time.  To do so is human.  But to stubbornly seek that is carnal. It is fleshly.  It is to want special validation from God just for me, according to exactly what I think God needs to do.  Jesus was gracious to Thomas.  But that attitude is not what He desires.

A lot of Christians may feel like we are disadvantaged because we don’t have the physical validation that the early disciples had.  We don’t have the physical signs of power perhaps.  We don’t have the physical presence of the Lord.  But Jesus is saying in this statement that not having Him physically here is not a disadvantage, but it is really a blessing.  Blessed are they who did not see and yet believed.  There is a special blessing for us Christians today that don’t have the physical evidence to validate or prove our faith.  But then if we did, it wouldn’t be such great of faith would it?  And we know that God rewards and blesses great faith.  And that kind of faith is what is required.  We believe the testimony of faithful men, trustworthy witnesses and the record of the scripture. God will bless you for it.  Matt. 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

And that brings us to the conclusion, or synopsis of John’s gospel.  It comes a chapter early.  But it’s really like the conclusion of John’s gospel.  He says in vs.30, “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.” 

Listen, these truths have been written that you might have life in His name.  Abundant life.  Real life.  A life of joy and blessing.  Jesus did not come to teach philosophy.  He did not come to show us how to be prosperous or successful.  He didn’t come as God in the flesh to make new inventions that would make our lives easier. He didn’t die to make us more comfortable. But He came that we might believe that He has come from God, to teach us the truth of God, that we might be reconciled to God, that we may have the new life which God has designed for us to enjoy, and that we might enjoy fellowship with Him forever.  I hope that you have confessed Jesus as your Lord and your God, that you might have the life which He has died to procure for you.  If you believe in Him,  I announce to you by the authority of Christ that your sins have been forgiven you.  But if you reject Him, I must tell you that you remain dead in your sins and will face the final judgment without Him.  I pray you come to Jesus today and receive all that He has done for you.  

Resurrection Faith, John 20:1-18

The goal of the gospel is not just to provide us with an escape from hell.  But to provide us with a new way of living, a new life.  Jesus said, I came that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.  Before we can have the life that Christ wants for us, we must be first justified, our sins atoned for, made acceptable to God, and that is only possible through faith in the cross of Christ.  But the ultimate purpose of that atonement is that we become sons of God. As Jesus said in vs.17 of our text; “I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”  That we might have new life in Christ, as sons of God, doing the works of God.  That we might be a testimony to the world of the power of salvation. 

So in the gospel, the cross speaks to our atonement, our justification.  And the resurrection speaks of our sanctification, our new life whereby we are given power over sin and over death, which we now live by faith to the glory of God.

As we look this week at the resurrection, I don’t want to focus merely on the chronology of the events and try to reconcile the various gospel accounts into one.  But what I want to do is emphasize the new life that the resurrection promises.  I would point out that on Saturday evening, as all the disciples went to bed, undoubtedly remembering the horrors of Christ’s crucifixion, undoubtedly despondent and without hope due to their Savior having succumbed to death, yet even in this darkest hour God was at work.  God had a plan and in the deliberate sovereignty of God this plan was inevitably coming to it’s conclusion.  As Jesus said in John 5:17 regards to the law of the Sabbath, “My Father is working until now, and I myself am working.”  So even though His body was in the grave, even though it was the Sabbath, the plan of God was at work and succeeding.

Though in the minds of His disciples, and in the minds of His enemies, Christ was dead and buried on Saturday, little did they know that He was at that very moment taking captivity captive, that He had descended into the lower parts of the earth, triumphed over the very gates of Hell, and had taken the very keys of Hell and Death, “that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

The power of death and hell had to be broken, so that man might be able to truly live as God designed them to live. And for that freedom that was won at so great a cost, we celebrate the resurrection on the first day of the week.  We celebrate the first day of being a new creation in Christ Jesus.

So it is with that sense of divine purpose we may view the resurrection.  John says it was early on the first day of the week, that is Sunday morning, but while it was still dark.  Jesus had said two days earlier on the night of His betrayal that the hour belonged to the power of darkness.  And that darkness still covered the earth early on Sunday morning.  Men were without hope, unaware that the Spirit of God was moving across that darkness, unaware of the great victory that had been won in the bowels of the earth as Christ took the keys of death and Hades.  And since death could not hold Him, because sin had nothing on Him, in the first hours of a still dark Sunday morning, the Light dawned, Christ rose from Hades, and His Spirit returned once again to the lifeless body within the tomb.  The wrappings of the grave clothes  could not hold Him down.  The heavy stone across the tomb could not hold Him in. According to Matthew 28 the earth trembled violently in a severe earthquake and an angel of God rolled away the stone and sat upon it.

Maybe Mary, having been shaken awake by the violent quake,  comes early that Sunday  morning while it was still dark to anoint His dead body with spices.  She comes out of sorrow, without any hope, only despair.  The early darkness reflects the despondency that gripped her soul. Christ had delivered her from seven demons.  She had known the power of His life.  But yet in the early morning darkness, doubt darkened her soul. She had believed on Christ for so much more than this. Her love for Christ had devolved to a sense of despair when she considered His body lain in the grave.

Finding the stone rolled away and the body of Christ not there caused her alarm and confusion. Her thoughts were that Jesus’s body had been taken.  Mary’s thoughts focused on that which could be seen, verified.  Someone must have taken His body, and so she ran and told Peter and John.

Mary’s faith, or lack of it, is so much like our faith.  When the darkness pervades our lives, and our hopes are not quickly realized, we tend to look at what is visible. We tend to focus on the external circumstances and often misinterpret what is going on. We don’t see Christ working, we can’t see His power, or understand His plan.  And in the darkness of our lack of faith we run to conclusions that are contrary to the promises of God.  Christ had prophesied that He would die on the cross and after three days He would rise again, but Mary believed what she saw wth her eyes.  She thought she made a rational conclusion from the circumstances which she witnessed, but she was in error.  

Often events happen in our lives in a similar fashion.  When darkness pervades our lives, God’s presence seems missing, God’s promises are forgotten, and we become confused, alarmed.  We run away from the very place where God has brought us to show us His glory.  We believe what our senses tell us, rather than have faith in that which is not seen. But Heb. 11:1 says, ”Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  Mary’s faith was founded on what she could see, what she could touch.  Her faith was founded on her 5 senses, on her feelings.

Peter and John’s faith was in turmoil as well.  Though John had been with Jesus at the cross, he must have been hit particularly hard by the graphic torture of the cross, having witnessed first hand the death of Christ.  He would have seen the life leave Jesus’s body as He gave up His Spirit, as the evidence of death was revealed in  blood and water flowing out of His side.  Though he would have been moved as others were at the way Christ died, yet he would have known with undeniable certainty that Christ was indeed dead.  He too had forgotten that this same Jesus who gave up His Spirit, had said He had the power not only  to lay down His life, but to take it back up again.  Such promise had been forgotten in his grief which overwhelmed him.  John, who loved Jesus much,  would have been  most forlorn and disconsolate at His death.

Peter on the other hand was also undoubtedly crushed, not only because of the death of His Lord, but because of his own failure in Jesus’s final hours.  His grief over the death of Christ was made even more bitter knowing that he had deserted Him and even disowned the Lord in the hour of His greatest suffering.  So the news from Mary at such an early hour must have startled them both.  Here was something that they could do, some action that they could take.  To what purpose, I think neither gave much thought, but at the report of Mary they began to run towards the tomb.

One cannot help but wonder why John reveals the outcome of the  footrace that occurred between him and Peter.  Many commentators have speculated about his purpose in recording it.  John outruns Peter to the tomb, then peeking in, stays outside, while Peter comes huffing and puffing up and barges straight inside.  

Perhaps John is not so concerned with the physical accomplishment of the race as we might think.  Maybe John is revealing the character or nature of the individuals.  Even perhaps the character of their faith. Peter’s faith is passionate, impulsive, bold. John’s faith is eager to believe, but not quite as courageous, needing the stimulus of Peter.

However, perhaps more can be discerned regarding the true nature of each person’s faith by examining John’s use of the word interpreted “saw.”  John uses three Greek words in this passage for “saw.”  When Mary looked at the tomb and saw the stone rolled away, he said she looked, using the Greek word “blepo,” which means to clearly see a material or physical object.  Mary was focused on the physical.  And what she saw in the physical determined her faith.

John as well, when he first comes to the tomb is said to see the linen wrappings, and John uses the same word, “blepo.”  At that point, the physical is evident to him as well, but he doesn’t yet go in.  He doesn’t act on what he sees.

Peter however, barges straight inside the tomb and he sees the linen grave clothes and also the head scarf rolled up by itself.  And John uses a different word for Peter seeing.  He uses “theoreo” which means to contemplate, to observe, scrutinize.  Peter senses that there is more than meets the eye, but he is puzzled and he isn’t able to come to a conclusion at this point. Maybe the eyes of his faith are clouded by his conscience.

But after Peter has gone inside, perhaps having said something to John, John goes in to the tomb.  He sees the same things that Peter has seen.  But now John uses another word to describe how he sees.  It’s not “theoreo,” as Peter was contemplating, but it is “horaō”, to know, to perceive, to discern. He sees the same things that Peter saw, and the same things that Mary had seen, but while they went away unbelieving, the text says that John believed.  He believed in that moment that Jesus had risen from the dead.  He believed in faith.

What difference does their conclusions mean though?  Should we make so much out of their responses?  I would suggest that it makes a difference to Christ.  Next week we will look at the next passage as Jesus comes to the disciples and Thomas isn’t there with the others.  And because he didn’t personally see Jesus with his own eyes, he will not believe the testimony of the other disciples.  So 8 days later, Jesus shows up again and specifically appears to Thomas and invites him to put his fingers in the holes in His hands, and the wound in HIs side.  And of course, at that point Thomas believes and says “My Lord and My God.”  A great confession, no doubt, but one that in Christ’s opinion was lacking in faith.  And so Jesus says in vs.29, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” And in that statement Christ reveals the nature of faith needed for future generations who will believe not on the basis of physical evidence, but on the basis of faithful testimony.

Mary, John and Peter all had the same experience at the empty tomb.  They all saw the same things, but only John believes with the faith that God desires.  John reveals the basis for that kind of faith in vs.9, which says, “For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.”  The point being that our faith is founded upon the Scriptures.  This is the faith that God desires.  And this is the faith which we are tasked with today.  We don’t have the physical presence of God to bolster our faith.  I would suggest that it is a failure of faith to seek after material manifestations of God.  This desire to “experience God” while understandable from a human point of view, is not in accordance with the plan of God. 

As we are told in  2Tim. 3:16, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  The Scriptures are the complete revelation of God, and it is able to thoroughly, completely equip you for every good work.  The Word of God is more than adequate for our faith.  Our new life is lived by faith in the Scripture, not by sight. 2Cor. 5:7, “for we walk by faith, not by sight.”

Now though Mary has not risen to that degree of faith, Jesus will reveal Himself to her to increase her faith.  But we should not be too emboldened by His special appearance, nor deprecating towards Mary who needs it.  Because Mary did not have the completed Scriptures as we have.  None of the New Testament had been written at that point.  And so Christ, the living Word, provides for her  what the written Word provides for us.

So in vs.11, we see Mary, back once again at the tomb, probably after John and Peter have already left, and she is weeping.  She is still mourning Christ’s death, weeping over the loss of His body.  And when she looked again in the tomb this time she sees two angels in white sitting.  This “seeing” is the same as Peter’s “theoreo”, scrutinizing, observing the two angels in white.  It’s doubtful that she recognizes them as angels, perhaps just seeing two men in white apparel and doesn’t know what they are doing there.  She is trying to understand, but not clearly discerning what is going on.  

And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” At that point, she becomes aware of Jesus behind her, but she thinks He is the gardener.  That’s a pretty good indication she didn’t recognize the men as angels. She hasn’t discerned anything abnormal.

Someone the other night at Bible study brought up the verse in Hebrews 13:2 about angels which says, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”  And the point I made in explaining it, was the phrase, “unawares.”  The verse teaches that most of the time when we might encounter angels, we’re unaware that they are angels.  So many people running around today claiming visitations from angels.  But if you count up the number of times recorded in the Scriptures you will find only a few accounts of them in 6000 years.  So beware of those claiming angelic visitations. 

In fact, Paul warns against giving angels more credence than preachers of the gospel, in  Gal 1:8, saying, “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”  

So Mary didn’t recognize the angels, nor did she even recognize Jesus.  “Supposing Him to be the gardener, she *said to Him, ‘Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.’”  It’s interesting that after the resurrection, Jesus is seen on numerous occasions (one commentator counted 17 times) and yet  in every case He is not recognized initially.  That should be a warning for those who suppose that they have seen some sort of apparition of Jesus.  Unless He reveals Himself, we would not recognize Him in the flesh. Even those who had known Jesus in the flesh did not recognize Him after His resurrection unless He showed them His wounds, or in some other way manifested His identity to them.

How then does Mary come to recognize Him? When He calls her by her name. This is a direct correlation to what Jesus said in  John 10:2, “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.”  

Last Wednesday night we looked at Christ’s letter to  the church of Pergamum in Revelation 2.  And at the end of the letter, Jesus says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.”  The hidden manna refers to the word of God, and those who believe it receive a new name from God.

Some commentators say that Jesus uses the Aramaic version of Mary, i.e., Miriam, to address her, and she responds in Aramaic, “Rabboni,” which means Teacher.  She recognizes Him when He calls her by her name.   Rom 8:30 says, “and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”  No one comes to Me, Jesus said, unless the Father calls him.  The election of God is specific. He calls us by name.

But though the calling of God is effectual, there is still the problem of Mary’s ineffective faith.  It is the faith of feeling, of physical presence.  There is almost an obsession with Mary over the physical presence of Christ’s body.  Even when He was dead, she is focused on the body of Christ.  She wants to anoint the body.  She is alarmed when there is no body in the tomb.  She is confused, concerned.  

So now when she recognizes she is in the presence of Christ, she immediately grabs hold of Him, as if to say I will never let go of His physical presence.  And in our humanness, that is understandable.  Who among us does not crave the physical closeness, physical presence of the Lord?  How many have not thought, “Oh, if God would just reveal Himself to me, every thing would be ok. I could take what I am going through. I could deal with things, if I could just see the Lord in some manifestation of power or presence.”  

But Christ rebukes Mary for that sort of thing, calling it clinging.  He says, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”  Jesus indicates the faith that is required in this new life will be a faith in Him who will not be visible, but invisible. Not a faith founded on a clinging, emotional, physical presence of God, but a faith founded on the inviolable promises of the Word of God.

Now much debate is given to this statement by Christ.  First of all, the obvious meaning is that at that point He had just risen from three days in  the grave, even from the depths of Hades, and He had not ascended to the Father. But it also means that the purpose of God was not that He would remain here in bodily form, but would ascend into heaven to stand as Mediator between God and man, our Great High Priest.  He could not do that from earth, but His place was in heaven, far above all rule and authority on Earth.

But it also means that He would not be a physical presence here on Earth that we can see and hold onto, but rather our faith in what is not seen would be required in a life of faith.  Thus, the just shall live by faith.  And that which is seen is not faith, but that which is unseen.  This will be the acceptable pattern of faith in this new resurrection life, that we might believe the testimony of faithful men, even the apostles, who would record their testimony in the gospels and epistles and that having believed the scriptures, we might receive the knowledge of God which leads to the full measure of salvation; not only justification, but a life of sanctification, culminating in our future glorification when we will be made completely like Christ at His coming.

So the testimony of faith is illustrated by Mary Magdalene, who comes afterwards to the disciples and says, “I have seen the Lord.”  This is the basis for our faith.  The testimony of faithful witnesses, who were willing to die for that testimony.  And their testimony was accompanied by the signs of the apostles, with all miracles and signs and wonders, so that we might believe their word.  So that by the testimony of the Scriptures, the nations of the world might come to know the knowledge of God that leads to salvation, that we might go into all the world and make disciples, teaching them to believe and observe all that Christ taught, as evidenced by the Word of God.

The resurrection teaches us that when we die to this world, we can live a new life in Christ.  That new life begins at our justification, where we are declared righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ, and it continues through a life of sanctification, where we live righteously by the power of the Spirit of Christ,  whereby we become conformed to the image of Christ, and ambassadors of the gospel to the world.  But that new life is not automatic, it’s not being put into autopilot mode.  It is a possible, though.  When the just shall live by faith.  And our faith is founded on the Scriptures, by which we may know God, and know the will of God.  Don’t look for the physical to confirm your faith, look for that which is spiritual to inform your faith. The Bible says that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.  That living, powerful source of faith is described in  Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Let us hold fast the Word of God, that our faith may be founded on the true and faithful promises of God.