John 21:1–14 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. ² Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. ³ Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

⁴ Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. ⁵ Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” ⁶ He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. ⁷ That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. ⁸ The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

⁹ When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. ¹⁰ Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” ¹¹ So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. ¹² Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. ¹⁴ This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

My name is Colin Rueter, honored to be one of the pastors here at Grace Church. We are continuing our walk through the Gospel of John this morning, so please turn in your bibles to John 21.

Have any of you told a story and, as you are coming to the end, remember an additional piece to that story and you say something like, “Oh, wait! There’s one more thing!” Here, it seems that John was closing his gospel account, with the closing remarks in John 20, vs 30 and 31, with the purpose of his writings. I hope you all were helped last week as Pastor Dave walked through the recounting of the story and the amazing reality for those who believe: Life in Jesus’ name.

As John writes about the many things Jesus did, he admits that there were many other things Jesus did that are not written in the book. After he does this, he continues by sharing one more account of the Risen King to His disciples. This is an intimate and important interaction with 7 of His followers… . His friends. In John 15, Jesus says this to His disciples:

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. ¹⁷ These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”

It is this point that I think we need the reminder: Jesus is our friend who interacts with us, shows us compassion, and with whom we will sit with in eternity soon. Jesus is King, yes. He sits upon the throne in heaven, with the earth as His footstool, yes. In addition, He is present, He sees you, His grace sufficient because if you believe in Jesus – trust in Him alone – you are His and He cares for His own, none can snatch you from His hand, and there is no condemnation for those in Jesus.

The beauty of this friendship is vital to our theology. We rightly exalt the Lord; we praise Jesus as Holy King and Savior… . but we miss the vital truth that we have been brought into a relationship with Him – to worship Him, yes – but also to be close to Him and be known by Him. From this, we show the watching world what a relationship with Jesus is: showing grace to one another like He has to us. Right now, as Jesus’ friends, we are to love one another.

The main point of this passage is: Jesus cares for His people as a true friend and King, with compassion, grace, and fellowship.

We are breaking this text up into three parts

The Disciples together
The King appears
Breakfast as friends

1) The Disciples together [vs 1-3]

It is important to remember that they went to Galilee because Jesus told them to (Matthew 28:7, 28:10, 28:16). This event in John 21 happens before the Great Commission at the end of Matthew 28.

They had spent three years together and so it makes sense that they remain in the relationships that have been built over that course of time, through the events they have navigated, with support for one another in the mysterious place they are in. Jesus is risen, we were told to wait for Him in Galilee… but what now? Uncertainty now, unlike the coming Day of Pentecost where they receive purpose and power. Such is the life of a follow of Christ. Living with one another, in and out of mysteries of life, trusting and growing in our trust of Jesus and the power of the Spirit. So, in verse 2, we find seven disciples together: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee (James & John), and two others of His disciples. We don’t know who the two other disciples are, assumptions can be made, but I don’t think the point of remaining unnamed is to create a game of “who are they?” Jesus had many disciples, He had 11 close ones (plus one who betrayed), 3 of whom He was closest with, but there are two who remained unknown by us, yet mentioned by John because they are known by Jesus. One commentator said this: “They may represent the anonymous and hidden multitudes of faithful souls, whose names are never published in human documents, whose deeds are never reported in human reports. To these Jesus manifested Himself as surely as to the others who are named.”

Maybe you will never be known in world history as a follower of Jesus, maybe only known by this family at Grace, but rejoice that your King knows you and sees you. These disciples gathered makes me think of the phrase: Birds of a feather flock together – not just in prayer meetings or worship services, but as we will see, doing life. This is key, friends. We gather on Sundays, yes, vital. But the work of the Church is more than one day a week, more than prayer meetings and Sunday worship. We should hang out with one another – on a beach, in a garage, in our living rooms. It is why connecting with your DG (discipleship group) is so important for the sake of being shepherded and being a blessing to others. If you don’t see one another besides Sundays, there is no way you can love one another the way Christ loves you. So, Peter and the others were hanging out, maybe at the beach discussing what has occurred over the last days. Peter, as the sun sets, decides he is going fishing and the others said, “Sounds good, we’ll go with you!”

Their reasons for fishing are unknown, John does not say. We can theorize: they were hungry, they were thinking they could earn some money since the time of charity for the ministry had ceased since the cross, maybe simply out of boredom. I DON’T think it was a sinful response, they were not rejecting a command of Jesus, they weren’t straying from where they should have gone, like Jonah. These were friends who, wile waiting for Jesus, did a familiar activity in fellowship and that would bring God glory. So, don’t justify sin, but also, see the freedom in Christ to fish, knit, write poetry, cook/grill/smoke meat, throw the baseball around with friends/kids… for the glory of God, even while you may be waiting for Him and His direction for you.

So, night comes, they shove the boat out into the sea and fish in the pale moonlight. One of John’s favorite themes is light and darkness. Darkness representing worldliness and the absence of God’s presence, while light represents righteousness and God’s presence. This should cause you to look at verse 3 a little differently: “They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.” In other words, they went fishing by themselves, at night, and Jesus is nowhere to be found. But light is coming.

Awake all night, hungry, living in mystery, and the disciples head back to shore empty-handed. Here is where Jesus meets them. This is glorious.

2) The King appears [vs 4-11]

I say King here because Jesus is in control here, as He always is, ruling with grace and love. Jesus meets them in a common place, the sea, where they had been before. The previous resurrection appearances in John’s Gospel were each unexpected. This occurrence also seemed to be unexpected; the disciples did not know that it was Jesus (vs 4). It’s wonderful to think that Jesus showed up at their place of leisure and in the time of disappointment in their efforts. He was interested in all their life, not just wh...