Because they knew it was the Lord

Prologue: Return to the World? 

For those who have been in the church for long, and those who love reading the Bible, you would know that technically speaking, the Gospel according to John can be ended by the end of chapter 20. After the scene of the empty tomb, and that Jesus appeared to the ten disciples, and then a week later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples and Thomas (who was not present on the last occasion), John 20:30-31 writes, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. ³¹ But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.” It should be noted that according to some old manuscripts, the meaning of the Greek words is that “so that you may continue to believe” (as in the New Revised Standard Version). It means that the readers were Christians, and the aim of this book of gospel is to reinforce faith of the believers. In any event, this book can be elegantly ended at chapter 20, right?

But, to our surprise, actually it follows with a chapter 21. It contains another narrative of Jesus’ appearance to His disciples. Many biblical scholars consider that this chapter 21 is part of the original version of the Gospel of John, which means that it is not a later addition. In other words, the author of the Gospel of John intentionally prepared two endings or ending chapters for this book. That’s interesting, right? As to the sequence of events, that is, whether the fishing story in chapter 21 or the three appearances of Jesus after resurrection in chapter 20 is earlier, we are not sure. The modern readers may concern this issue more as we get used to chronology. But that is not the concern of the ancient authors. The author of the Gospel of John arranged the events and narratives in accordance with the themes but not chronological sequence. Hence, in chapter 20, the focus is that different people in different geographical settings witnessed the resurrection of Jesus. There is clear evidence to prove Jesus’ resurrection. It was not hallucination. The resurrected Jesus was no longer restrained by time and space. The resurrection of Jesus is far more than a miracle. It proves that Jesus had honoured his promise – He said that He would accomplish the redemption by his death (as His last words on the cross, “It is finished.” John 19.30). And, as the Bible writes, “he must rise from the dead.” (John 20.9)

Then, what is the theme of chapter 21? Let’s imagine that it is a movie, and here we have a new scene. The camera is capturing seven disciples. After Jesus was buried, they got lost in their lives. Once upon the time, they had placed all their hopes on Jesus. In the several years before Jesus was crucified, they quitted their jobs and followed Jesus. The goal in their lives was to witness “Thy kingdom come”. They listened to the preaching of Jesus about the kingdom of heaven. Having said that, they misunderstood that the kingdom of heaven was equivalent to the earthly nation of Israel. They thought that Messiah, the Christ, was an earthly king sent by God. Eventually… this Messiah Jesus (the Saviour) died, and became a corpse. Even though Jesus had clearly told His disciples that He would die in Jerusalem, the disciples clearly did not pay attention to that. They listened to the gospel selectively – they just chose to listen to their favourable interpretation. And at this moment, they faced the cold fact that Jesus was dead. Once upon the time, their hearts were burning for the hope of restoration of Israel; they witnessed the glorious scenes that Jesus was surrounded by 3000, 5000 people, and those people followed Jesus everywhere in order to listen to His sermons; the disciples witnessed that the signs and wonders done by Jesus, even the demons were trembled with fear before Jesus. Jesus even gave His disciples the power to heal the sick, to cast out the demons, … all these were exciting, powerful, encouraging, cool experience. It turned out to be an icy-cold and deep dark tomb: Jesus was dead, and His tomb was sealed by a huge stone with Roman soldiers stayed on guard outside. And highly likely, these disciples were driven out, stalked and even hunted down by the members of the Jewish communities. I suppose for that reason, they had to leave Jerusalem and head north, so they ended up at the Sea of Tiberias (that is, the Sea of Galilee). The contrast between being full of hope and hopeless probably explains why they hit rock bottom and became so despondent.

With such a despondent atmosphere, chapter 21 of the Gospel of John narrates how the changes occurred to the disciples: From losing their faith and hope, planning to return to their previous job, “Let’s earn some money and not to bother the kingdom of heaven, who cares?”, “Hey man, no more fantasy”, to re-connecting with God, the turning point is the appearance of the resurrected Jesus. We need to pay attention to one point: It was not the decision or determination of the disciples to start afresh. It was Jesus who took the initiative to appear to them, to rebuild their faith, to reconnect them to God, and to make them to follow Jesus again. 

Now let us think about: How this chapter relates to us?

Exegesis and Reflections

Verses 4-6 describe how the disciples, having caught nothing, heard the instructions of this stranger (whom they did not recognize as Jesus) and soon they hauled in a huge net full of fish. They immediately noticed that it was Jesus. We would ask: Why did the “disciple whom Jesus loved” recognize that it was Jesus on the shore? For those who are familiarized with the Bible would know that in the Gospel according to Luke 5:4–11, it writes that when Jesus called Peter, James and John, he had performed a similar miracle. Although “technically speaking”, this episode does not appear in the Gospel of John, it is quite clear that its author assumed his readers were familiar with it. Hence, the author considered that no further explanation or elaboration was necessary here.

Then, the scripture writes that Jesus was on the shore, having already built a fire, a barbecue, and was cooking fish and bread. When the disciples arrived and saw the resurrected Jesus, what was their reaction? It wasn't a cheer and a hug, nor did they seem to say “Hallelujah” (at least it isn’t so written). What was the disciples’ reaction? The disciples’ reaction was: They didn’t have any reaction. They didn’t know how to react. They had no doubt that the one standing before them was the risen Jesus. There is a very significant phrase in verse 12, and my topic today is drawn from it: “because they knew it was the Lord.”

“Because they knew it was the Lord” - this phrase is quite remarkable - taken literally, they knew that it was Jesus, which proved that He had risen from the dead. But the further implication is that this Jesus, who had once been the sole meaning and hope of their lives, was still their “Lord” indeed. But what were they thinking just before that? They were thinking: “Jesus is not here anymore, so we’d better go back to earn a living; well, after all, everybody has to live. The ‘Lord’ of life? Life is about living well, and earn a living, isn’t it?”

So, when Jesus appeared before the disciples in a way that was beyond their imagination, I reckon they were completely stunned. They didn’t know how to react, because they knew it well that Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking: They had once thought that Jesus would not be resurrected; they had once thought that giving up their identity and mission as disciples didn’t matter, that these things were not important; they had once thought that following Jesus was just a phase in their lives, after the brilliant fireworks, they had to return to normal life. By now they are facing the resurrected Jesus, who calmly said to them in verse 12, “Come and have breakfast.” It might be the words that they had heard every morning in the past few years. They realised that Jesus had never really left. The disciples realised that it was only their hearts that had left. So, the scripture says: “None of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’” (John 21:12)

Just before, in verse 5, Jesus asked them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” The disciples all replied, “No.” Then in verse 13 the Bible says, “ Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and did the same with the fish.” Jesus had already prepared everything the disciples needed. The disciples probably still clearly remembered the scene of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. At that moment, if you were one of the disciples (and of course, we are disciples of today), what do you think you would be thinking?

If it were me, I would think: Jesus has already risen but it seems he won't stay on the earth for long, and it seems that he doesn't want us simply going back to fish. I would really like to know how we can follow Him even when He seems not on the earth.

From this point, I find that two points of reflection can be drawn from today’s Scripture:

Reflection (1): “I am going fishing.” 

As we have just heard, in order to avoid the persecution, the disciples lived in a way as if Jesus had not risen – chapter 20 tells us that they locked themselves in a house at night, probably kept the door shut in any event. It is because they considered it as a safe house, a secure refuge. Then they travelled north back to the Sea of Tiberias, laid aside their identity as disciples and their mission of the gospel, and returned to their old trade. Well, it’s normal, isn’t it? Peter had a family to support, after all.

The Bible doesn't say exactly how long they spent in those days. We only know that verse 4 says: While Jesus was standing on the shore, “the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.” Even after speaking with him for a few moments, they were still unable to recognize him. Some might speculate that perhaps Jesus, after His resurrection, had changed in appearance. That is why they did not recognize Him. It is certainly possible. But it could also be that: Though Peter had witnessed the empty tomb, he had never seen the risen Jesus. Up to this moment, they had already returned to fish for some time. From the bottom of their hearts, they thought that Jesus would not appear again. The disciples did not know that the risen Jesus had been with them all along. He simply had not revealed Himself.

Dear brothers and sisters, among us there are certainly those who grew up in Scotland. But there are also many who have moved to here from various places in recent years. Before moving to here, the U.K. was unfamiliar to quite some of us. Even by now, in terms of language, culture, interpersonal relationships and so on, there are still plenty for us to learn and adapt to. Many of us came with our families and, unless we're well off, we all have to work out how to earn a living. Back in our home countries, many of you us were leaders of our respective home churches — deacons, elders, and ministers. Having arrived here, we have to adapt to a new environment and provide for our families. All these have already taken a great deal of our energies, whether physical, mental or emotional. In addition, we have to think about how to make our families feel settled and happy in this new place. In such circumstances, it is difficult for us to serve as wholeheartedly as we used to be, to put so much thought into evangelism and organising gatherings. It's not easy, right?

Sometimes, even if we are willing to serve, it may be quite fruitless even though great effort is made. But we need to remind each other that even so, we cannot just be content with “I am going fishing”. In the new environment, we have to ask an old question: In the present context, what “following Jesus” really means today? We believe that Jesus has risen from the dead. We also believe that this risen Jesus is still with us, the church community, here in Scotland today. Yes, we concern our living here, and Jesus cares for us too: “Children, have you anything to eat?” I believe that Jesus has indeed prepared bread and fish for us, prepared what we need for life. The question is: Can we recognise that He is already with us?

Because we know He is the Lord, we have to be careful, to live a life of “following Jesus” rather than just go fishing and earn a living.

Reflection (2): “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”

In fact, Peter, like the other disciples, had tried his best for Jesus. However, in the Gospel of John, the disciples have two main misunderstandings, or perhaps you could say that they didn't understand. The first is that the disciples did not understand the way in which the Messiah, Jesus, would save the world. Hence, Peter told Jesus that he must not die. Second, they misunderstood that following Jesus is not only glorious and showing off power but also time for paying the cost, that is, being homeless, facing persecution and hardship, losing courage, and getting lost.

Dear brothers and sisters, in times of joy and splendour, when your career is flourishing and wherever you go, people would respect you, saying thank you and appreciate you, it is not difficult for you to say, “Thanks be to the Lord!” and “Jesus is with me!” However, when things are not going so smoothly; when everything does not turn out as we expected, when our finance are in crisis; when our health is not ideal; when we are going from being respected everywhere to starting from the bottom of the ranks; when, once upon the time, people came up to humbly seek our advice and by now, we may find it a bit difficult even in the daily conversations, do we ever wonder if Jesus is really there? Do we ever question why Jesus does not meet our expectations? Do we, like Peter, misunderstand Jesus – in the past, Peter thought that the salvation of Jesus was by way of restoring Israel; and today, do we think that the work of Jesus is only to provide His people abundantly by catching 153 fishes? For discipleship there is a price to pay, and that price includes: Even though it seems that Jesus is not here (seems only), we still have the mission, living a life of following Jesus. Are we prepared to pay that cost and take up our cross?

Believing in Jesus doesn’t mean getting a heavenly passport and then going back out to the world. It is a matter of relationship with God. As written in the Gospel of John chapter 15, Jesus speaks of the vine and its branches. John 16:33 Jesus says that the disciples will face persecution in the world. But they should take courage, for He has conquered the world. Being the disciples of our Lord and living in the world, we are living in tension. The world does not accept Jesus, and it also rejects those who follow him (John 15:18–19). Disciples do not necessarily live in comfortable settings but we have Jesus’ presence. If we know that we are living a life of following Jesus, we shall understand what Jesus means that He has conquered the world.

Conclusion: Living in the world without belonging to it, just follow Jesus

You may ask: What should we do to follow Jesus? What “Discipleship” means is a huge subject. Today, I shall address just one aspect of it： John 10:10, Jesus proclaims his mission: “… I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” We often think that Christian life is about receiving a “calling”, and that this “calling” necessarily involves doing certain things in a specific place and achieving certain results. If so, no wonder many Christians tend to think that believing in Jesus and being a good believer simply means taking on “one more job” at church. Of course, I’m not saying that we should not serve in the church.  Surely we should serve. What I am saying is that Jesus came to call us to a life of abundance, not merely to perform some works — neither calling us to meet certain numerical targets: “Right, next time, remember to catch more than 153 fishes ~ ” — that’s not a calling; it’s a KPI, a performance target, isn’t it? Jesus wants us to have a life of abundance, which means

- to recognise Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep / people,

- ⁠to understand Jesus’ love for us, and then

- ⁠to respond to that love by following Him, whatever the circumstances; this is what it means to answer His answering.

As for what to do, how much we should do, and whether to do it in the church, in the workplace, at school, at home or in some other settings — these are things that will come up to our minds, and we shall act accordingly once we have decided to follow Jesus. The Lord shall show us these matters. There is no need to worry too much about them. In contrast, if we just concern what to do, or what targets to meet, what figures to achieve, we may not necessarily be following Jesus. What Jesus want is our answer to His question: “Do you love me?”

May God bless you all through His words. Amen.