Life in His Name Part 1 - An Invitation to Follow Him - John 21:2-14

1:21And John's gospel ends with a practical look into what life is like. With Christ on the post-resurrection side of things. Very practical gospel chapter. Very practical message. Very important message. But as we go through this, it's very evident that John wants us to have life in his name. He wants you and I to have life in his name. And we get there by believing the words that John has written about the Christ. As he says in chapter 30, chapter 20, verse 30, therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of his 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. A very personal invitation. John has written what he has written for the purpose of you coming to understand and know that Jesus is the Christ. He is God's appointed king and ruler, and therefore deserves our complete submission to him. He is also God's Son, deserving completely of our worship.

3:00And he writes this so that we may believe, and that by believing we may have life in his name. And this is the leading thought that takes us into chapter 21. I remember when I first came to Christ, when everything was new, when I understood sins were forgiven, I understood that God had a purpose for me, and it was not just to go and squander my years, but to walk with him and to fellowship with him and to have a relationship with him and to be in his purpose. That was good news for me. And I remember in those early days as a boy reading the scriptures.

3:48And I remember going through Matthew, and I remember coming to that point where Jesus called his disciples. And I thought, oh, how wonderful it would have been. And I wrote in the margin of my Bible, just, Lord, how wonderful it would have been to have been present that day when you went out among Galilee and you called people to yourself. How I wish I could have been there. How I would have loved to have been one of those disciples that would have heard your personal invitation, come follow me. And I also wrote in my margin, but I couldn't be there. I had a little problem. I wasn't born yet. didn't exist. I remember thinking, oh Lord, if you had just put me somewhere on planet Earth, and I wrote something like this to the affection in my margin, Lord, if you had just planted me somewhere, I would have been there. If he had planted me in the east and all I had to do was climb over the Himalayas to get there, Lord, I could have given me a chance that I could have been there. If he had planted me on some island, I at least could have gotten a little boat and an oar and tried to cross the ocean.

4:58But I didn't have an existence. I didn't get there. I often think sometimes we read these words and we think that the invitation somehow isn't personal, that it really isn't Christ calling us to follow him. It isn't really Christ calling us to have life in his name. We look and we say, well, these were really for other people. And we kind of read it as a third party. Can you imagine just how wonderful it would be if Jesus gave you a personal invitation to follow him?

5:38Can you think of anything more wonderful? You know what? John's gospel is just that. Jesus doesn't walk around Galilee calling people to follow him like he did in the day of his flesh, but he no less calls people to follow him. Him today. The agency is different. The author is not. Doesn't really matter who delivers the invitation. It matters who the author is, and he is still very much calling us today, calling individuals, calling you today who are here, you who are in earshot. He is personally calling you today to have life in his name. He's calling you to follow him. This is very personal.

6:34Let me read to you where John's going with this. So what about his life and death? So where does that take us? It takes us to John 21 and what life in his name looks like. And his disciples need to understand that. Let me just read, beginning in 21. I'm only going to go through verse 14 today. I want to take some time and work our way through this. Truly a rich, rich, rich chapter. Verse 1. After these things, Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. And he manifested himself in this way. Simon, Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathaniel. Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing. They said to him, We will come with you. They went out and got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach. Yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. So Jesus said to them, Children, do you not have any fish? Do you? You do not have any fish, do you? They answered him, No. And he said to them, Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you will find a catch. So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish. Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord. So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about 100 yards away, dragging the net full of fish. So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid, and fish placed on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish which you have now caught. Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land full of large fish, 153, and although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, Come. And have breakfast. None of the disciples ventured to question him, who are you? Knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

9:22So, third time, you think about he manifested himself to the disciples. This is the third occasion to the group of disciples. The first was that first resurrection, Lord's Day, first resurrection morning. Then, a week later, he appeared again. That time, Thomas was with them. And then, after that, they probably were there in Jerusalem from Passover through the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which would have taken them through the week following the crucifixion and resurrection. They would have stayed in Jerusalem. And then, after, probably after that second Lord's Day, probably shortly after that, they left and walked back up to Galilee, probably a several-day journey. So, now they're back there. It's probably not the Sabbath that they're out there fishing. So, they're probably several days, probably somewhere around three weeks away from the Lord's departure, somewhere roughly about that time frame. And they go up to Galilee.

10:35And they need to learn what life in his name really involves. John's made it very clear that there's past, there's forgiveness for sins. Life in his name involves something about our past, forgiveness for all the loss, all the pain, all the harm, all the shame caused by our sin. So, life in his name deals with our past. Life in his name deals with our future, deals with our future, and that he's given us the promise of eternal life. And that means you are cleansed. You are in him. Your future is secure. You are cleansed from the fear of rejection, fear of displeasure, the fear of lack of his supply. That is the promise, what life is in the future. So, life in his name involves something in the past. It involves something in the future. But it also has a lot to do with our present, our present.

11:39What is life in our present to look like? This side of the cross? Well, abundant life, life in his name, fruitful life. And John 21 is a very practical chapter showing us what a fruitful life looks like. What's exciting? About this chapter or this third appearance, is there's more written about this third appearance than there is any other appearance. We learn more about post-resurrection life with Christ and post-resurrection personality of Jesus in this chapter than we do anywhere else. And so he gives us a glimpse. John gives us a glimpse to what life on the other side, on this side of the cross, looks like. And I'm excited to jump into it and spend the next few weeks as the disciples, as we witness the disciples coming to terms with what life in his name is really about.

12:45And at the very outset, life in his name is about an invitation to follow him. It is an invitation to follow him. And just pick it up. We'll just pick it up there. We're dealing with the third manifestation to his disciples. Verse 1: After these things, Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and he manifested himself in this way: Simon, Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee and two others of his disciples were together. So you have a total of seven disciples that are together.

13:30Three of them are mentioned by name. Two of them are completely unnamed. Two of them are known by their father. Seventies. That's James and John. Not named, but their father is named. Two completely unnamed. Why did John not name them? Well, can't be for sure. But I would speculate that the three that he does mention are the three that give the profound confessions in John's gospel. Remember in 149, Nathaniel answered and said about Jesus, You are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel. In John 20, 28, Thomas said, My Lord and my God. In John 6, 68, and 69, it's Peter who confessed, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God. And for some reason, John mentions these three by name. They have played a prominent role in his gospel, or certainly a key role in certain places.

14:42But this is now, look down at verse 14. This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to his disciples. And what Jesus is going to do in this third manifestation of himself is he's going to restore Peter to leadership, and he's going to show his disciples. Peter, what a life of following Jesus is going to involve. And he's going to get very personal with Peter. Peter, you follow me. We're going to come to all that next time. But this morning, I want us to just, as we go through the narrative, I want us to start saturating our mind in this setting. And I want us to understand that Jesus extends an invitation to follow him, that John's gospel is itself a personal invitation from the Apostle John. I mean, I'm sorry, let me put the right word like it is a personal invitation from the Lord Himself through the words of the Apostle John for you to come and follow Him. You don't have to travel across the Himalayas. You don't have to cross the Great Ocean. You don't have to be milling around and just hope that Jesus somehow calls you. He is drawing near to you right now through the preaching of His Word, through the communication of truth, so that you will have life in His name. It is an invitation to follow Him.

16:18And it's very personal. He is calling you to follow Him. Same author. One who called the disciples 2,000 years ago is calling you today. How are you going to respond? How do you come in to life in Christ? I want to tell you. That's the beauty of this chapter. I want you to understand Jesus' personal invitation to follow him so that you will be one of his disciples. But today, and if you're already his disciple, I want you to grow in your love of being a disciple. So, first of all, Jesus' invitation is to abandon your self-sufficiency. If you're going to follow Jesus, you're going to have to abandon your own strength, abandon your own sufficiency. I'll just pick this up. This is what the disciples had to learn. There they are, out, verse 3, seven of them.

17:40Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing. They said, We will also come with you. They went out and got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing. So, you remember back in Matthew 27, 28, verse 7, the angel told the women, Go tell. His disciples that I'm going to meet them in Galilee. So here they are in Galilee. They went up. They had spent the last three years with Christ. They followed him around. They went up to Jerusalem with him. They saw him ride in on a donkey. They saw him go through the humiliation and of the cross, the pain and agony of the cross. They saw him come out of the tomb. They saw him alive again. And now he says, Go back up to Galilee. So now here they are. They're back up there. The sights are the same. The sea looks the same. The boat looks the same. They go back to their own world. They've come full circle back to where they start.

18:51But even though they were back home, there was no going home. For Jesus was soon to meet them. You see, life on the post-resurrection side could never be the same for the disciples. They had witnessed too much. They had seen too much. They had been stirred too deeply. They had changed. And now they're up there waiting. They're in a period of waiting. You ever been in a period of waiting? Waiting for an occupation, waiting for instruction. There they are, waiting. I don't read into these words defection on the disciples' parts. Some commentators. Go there. They read into Peter saying, I am going fishing, and that means he is going back to fishing. That's it. I'm done with this Christ life, and I'm going back to fishing. I think that's a lot to read into that. Oh, I don't think that the thought may not have crossed his mind, especially back out there. Could I do this? I may have been. But certainly, if Peter is thinking, I am going back to my profession, then they all are going with him. Looks like the whole band is going. No, I think they're in a period of waiting. I think they're up there. What do you do? You're fishermen. It's been three years. Their life. I'm going to go fishing. I'm fishing. I'm a fisherman. I'm going to go fishing. Maybe there's some real practical. They need something to eat. Maybe they need some supply, whatever. I would just simply take it.

20:20Fishermen wanting to go fish. But what's that emphasis here that John draws attention to is that they did not catch anything. They fished all night. They caught nothing. If you think about what night fishing on the Sea of Galilee would have been like during this time, you had these torches, kept these torches going all night. You would have done a lot of rowing. You would have hoped to attract the fish to the light, then a lot of casting nets. That would have been the toil all night long. And then morning comes, it'd be exhausted. As often. Was the case. But here they are, skilled fishermen, yet they came up empty. Couldn't even catch fish.

21:11Look at verse 4. But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach, yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. So Jesus said to them, Children, you do not have any fish, do you? They answered him, No. You can imagine what that sounded like. Don't bother me. No. After being up all night. No, I don't have any fish. You know, no. Listen, apart from Christ, we can do nothing. I don't care what occupation you have. I don't care what pursuit you have. Even if you say, I despise the living God and I am going to go my own way with all of my strength, guess what? You are so dependent upon him. You are dependent upon him for every breath you take. You are not the master of your fate. Here are the disciples here. They can't even catch fish.

22:18No matter what your pursuit is, you're dependent upon God for strength, supply, and for favorable outcome. Whatever course you take. You are dependent upon him for the favorable outcome. Listen, human efforts apart from God's blessing are fruitless, futile. How do you want to live your life? Listen, I think there are a lot of people who go their own way and they live in the frustration of toiling all night and coming up empty. There is emptiness, emptiness in our own pursuits, void of God's blessing. But with Christ's blessings, things are totally different.

23:22But here is this band of disciples, humble, helpless, and yet these are going to be the men that God is going to use to give rise to all of Christendom. He wants them to be fruitful. He is going to make them fruitful. But first, they're going to have to learn how to lay down their lives. They're going to have to learn first. They're going to have to abandon their own sufficiency. Listen, God often allows us to toil in vain. He often allows us to go down many pursuits and allows us to toil in vain so that we would come to value his blessing more.

24:22Life is very short. You do not have time to waste. Let your life be all for him. Let your thoughts be all for him. Because it's only as you seek his counsel, his guidance, that you will experience his blessing, as we shall see next. So, Jesus' invitation is for you to abandon your self-sufficiency. Jesus' invitation to you this morning is also to witness what only God can do. He wants to show you what only God can do in your life.

25:08Verse 6. And he said to them, Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you will find a catch. So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish. Therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord. So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he He put his outer garment on, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, about 100 yards away, dragging the net full of fish. So here you are. You see the faith of John. John's the one who sees, catches it, but Peter's the zealot who jumps off. You see the enthusiasm. He's a leader through and through, right? I'm going fishing. It's the Lord. I'm there. See you guys. And he takes off. Very unique, though. Very unique because this is reminiscent of what happens in Luke 5. Remember what happens in Luke 5. Very early, several years before this point, Jesus is speaking from the boats. And he says, and after he gets done speaking, he says to Peter, launch off into the deep and cast your nets. Peter says, We've fished all night, exhausted. But nevertheless, I'm going to do exactly what you said. So they launched off, let down the nets, caught an amazing catch. Nets were breaking. Boats were sinking. The catch was so great. And what was Peter's response then? Do you remember? Lord, depart from me. I am a sinful man.

27:01Jesus, now on you're going to catch men. In fact, he says that in Mark 1:17, he calls them, I will make you fishers of men. But here in this episode, what's happened? Great catch, reminiscent of what had happened before. Peter knows it's the Lord, but what does he do? He runs to him. And even after a great time of great defection, right, here he is. You see, the call to follow Jesus is an invitation to witness what only God can do. I'm going to say something about these miracles. It's unquestioned in John's mind. These are miracles. John sees two miracles here. Number one, the large catch of fish. Number two, that the nets didn't break.

28:02But these are not miracles, like supernatural miracles, like Jesus walking on water, creating bread and fish out of nothing, or raising someone from the dead. These are what I would call providential miracles. Oh, don't get me wrong. They are miracles nonetheless. But what's happened? A great catch out of the Sea of Galilee was not. All that supernatural. There had been great catches. Now, maybe this one exceeded them all, but a great catch, a schooling of fish coming near a boat and being drawn in nets was providential. God drew them there.

28:51The nets were surrounded them. Somehow, in the pulling them in, the fish, whatever, the nets didn't break. Providential, but a miracle. See, oftentimes we miss the providential miracles in life. If you're only looking for the supernatural, you tend to miss all the providential miracles that happen on a daily basis. God is very much active. Jesus is over there watching. He sees them, tells them. I think even just if you've been with Emmanuel for any kind of time, you understand that God has providentially blessed us in many ways. We're building a building practically debt or debt-free. It is not practically debt-free. Just not finished with it yet.

29:54And if you had been with Emmanuel 10 years ago, you would understand just how. Providentially. What a providential miracle this is. But what God does is He stirs His people, He makes things fall into place. He's able to call the fish and tell them to be at the right place at the right time. He's able to give instruction to His people. He's able to do, He works on the hearts and He draws things together providentially. If we're not careful, we'll miss those.

30:27I see the providential miracles and the stirring of hearts and what God is doing, putting upon the hearts of some the plights of others and going to them and ministering to them. I see providential miracles all around us. And they are no less miracles because they may have a natural explanation. It is God inserting Himself. And if you will open your eyes, you will see all around you that God is inserting Himself in your life. And He has inserted Himself in your life. And you look at all the wonderful providences that He has put in your life. It is God. It is a God who is paying attention to you. It is a God who's caring about you, and a God who is stepping into your life.

31:32You know, one of the greatest providences in this whole thing is Jesus's instruction: cast your net onto the right side. I know what's going on, I know how to make you fruitful. I know your endeavor. I know. Follow my instruction. Listen, the gift of Christ to us, the greatest blessing we have is Christ, a master over our soul, one who has all wisdom, one who gives himself to our well-being, and one who advises us and counsels us. That is the blessing. You see it even here.

32:18But it's obedience to his instruction is the way we will witness only what God can do. Could you imagine the disciples? No, I'm going to try the left side again. I'm going to whistle the Andy Griffin tune, and then I'm going to go off to the back and try that. I remember fishing with somebody after a night of fishing, really desperate to try anything. And I remember one guy, we were fishing, we hadn't caught anything, and he's, I know the problem. We haven't whistled the Andy Griffin tune. We whistled the Andy Griffin tune, but lots of fervor. And then we started cutting up. No, just kidding. But we did whistle the Andy Griffin tune. We still didn't catch anything.

33:00But I wonder what that has to do with anything. Desperation of fishermen. But the blessing is in following his instruction. He knows how to live. He desires you to live. He desires for you to have. He desires for you to have a life in his name, to witness what only God can do. What father out here likes to take one of their children fishing? And suppose you have a child that's never been fishing. Which father of you will go out there and put the kid in a chair and say, watch how dad can catch fish? Try to make the kid. No, you want the kid to catch fish, right? Right.

33:56It's like with walking. You don't, when you want your kids to walk, you don't just stand there and you don't put the kid down in the corner and strap him into his high chair and say, watch dad walk. No, you, but when the kid takes his first steps, then you get really excited. You try to do everything to promote that, right? That's exactly the way Christ is. Why? Because he desires fellowship with us. He desires to fellowship. He wants us to experience the joy. And so Jesus' invitation is to abandon yourself. Sufficiency to witness what only God can do so that you will fellowship with Him. He wants to fellowship. His providences are given to promote an occasion for fellowship. I'll just pick this back up. Look at verse 9. So when they got on the land, they had a charcoal, they saw a charcoal fire already laid, and fish placed on it. Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish which you have now caught. Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land full of large fish, 153. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Large fish.

35:14We did some research on this. A large fish, one species of fish could be anywhere from two to three pounds. So if there's 153 of those, you're looking at, you know, 400, 500, you know, you're looking at 400 pounds, something like that, 500 pounds. If you're looking at, there's another species that were well over 10 pounds. So you're talking about a lot of fish, a lot. It's a miracle that the nets did not break. But look at what Jesus does. When they got on land, they saw this charcoal fire. We'll come to this next week. The only place this word charcoal fire is used is in one other place, and that's when Peter was gathered around and denied Christ. Christ around the charcoal fire. And I do believe Jesus is making a connection to that because he's going to address something with Peter in the next verses.

36:14But look at what he's doing. He has prepared a place to gather around and to enjoy a time of fellowship. Campfire fellowship. Gift of his blessing. The blessed upon their lay. He wanted to celebrate. Think about this. Here we see the host. Here we see the personality of Jesus. Very much the one who washed their feet is now setting a place for them. The one who's going to march us into heaven and show us his father's house. The desires to fellowship. That's what he's about. Here he is serving. He serves. He served them by granting them a catch, gives them success. He served them by preparing time and a place to gather. He served them by giving them something to share, bringing something.

37:17Bring some of the fish which you have now caught. Seems like there wasn't enough fish there at the table for all of them. I don't know why Jesus didn't speak a bunch more fish into existence. I don't know what he did. I don't know how he prepared the fish. But he said, you bring some of what you caught, and let's share that. So he gives them something to share. Then, fourth, he gives them something to talk about. It's like he wanted to share, he wanted to celebrate their catch with him. Guys, come on, bring some of that fish over here. Jesus isn't a vegetarian.

37:54Post-resurrection, he's not a vegetarian. Bring some of that fish. Let's talk. But look at this desire for fellowship. It intensifies here in verse 12. Jesus said, Come and have breakfast. None of the disciples ventured to question him, who are you, knowing that he was the Lord? Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them, and the fish likewise. It's the third time he manifested himself. Certainly, you think they're probably somewhere close to where Jesus fed the fish and the bread to the multitudes. But this invitation, come and have breakfast, is very similar to that early invitation, come, come and see.

38:41See, the pre- and post-Christ, pre- and post-resurrected Christ is the same personality. He desires, come and see. He desires fellowship. He desires fellowship with you. Jesus' invitation. Is to abandon your self-sufficiency to witness what only God can do. He grants you fruitfulness and he celebrates it. He loves to share in our fruitfulness because he likes to fellowship with us. So, what does life in his name involve? Well, life in his name takes care of our past, provides for our future, and gives us a fruitful life now in our presence, in our present situation.

39:45You can never go back. Once you hear the news of Christ, once you understand the resurrection, once you understand the cross and the grave and the resurrection, you cannot go back to life as it was. Neither could the disciples. The call was: follow me, Peter. Follow me, Peter, and I will change you, Peter. Follow me, and we will change the world. They're going to leave the shores of Galilee. They're going to go with the news. They're going to witness what only God can do.

40:40They're going to experience the blessed fellowship with him all the way. Do you want to follow Jesus? The invitation is just as real to you today as it was to these disciples then. His invitation to abandon your self-sufficiency, to witness what only God can do, to fellowship with him. Jesus' invitation is personal. It's from him. He's the author. It's to you. You're the recipient. And it's through the word. It's through the words of the apostles that Jesus prayed for. Listen to what he said.

41:30Remember in John 17, 20, I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in me through their word, that they may be one. When Jesus is praying for future generations, he's praying for those who would believe in him, that's us, through the words of his apostles that were with him that night in the garden of Gethsemane. And here we are today, same invitation from him to you through the word, that we may. May be one in no distinction from his people.

42:09The call to you is real. The call to all of us is real, as if you were on the shores of Galilee that day. He is a spirit, he is God's Son, He is Jesus the Christ, and He calls you to follow Him. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, how do we follow you? Father, first of all, we confess our sins. Second, we express our desire to follow you. Third, we ask you to give us your Spirit so that we may.

43:04It's in Jesus' name. Amen.