1. Meeting again the resurrected Jesus

John, Chapter 21, from which we read today was an additional chapter written after the book was originally concluded at chapter 20:30-31. The words, perceived to be final speak for themselves: “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name”. However, John again began to write chapter 21. Why? This is the subject of today’s contemplation. John opens the chapter with these words: “Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way” (John 21:1).

The Sea of Tiberias is another name for the Lake of Galilee. John tells us that Jesus, after His appearance in Jerusalem, showed Himself again in Galilee before the disciples. The event had been told in advance and is recorded thus: “Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you’” ( Matthew 28:7).

John 21, describes the scene of Jesus’ third appearance after he was raised from the dead. The disciples, having dispersed to their various environments, strived to spread their faith in Jesus but it was not as successful as they desired. John explains the situation in a figurative way, “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing (John 21:3).

Their fishing expedition was so poor that the disappointed disciples began to lose hope. Even though the Resurrection encouraged them greatly, they remained suspicious in part. They were not yet sure that the Jesus who appeared before them after being raised from death, was for real. Perhaps they were thinking if His appearance were true, there would be a more satisfactory result from their evangelizing. So, they decided to go back to their original profession of fishing, with their hearts filled with doubts.

On this occasion, the fruitless activity of fishing also made them feel more exhausted. But, at that very time something occurred: Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” “No,” they answered. He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” Though they were not sure of the consequence they did. Then, “When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish¡ÊJohn 21¡§4- 6).

The effect was so marvelous that the disciple whom Jesus loved, John, recognized Him because there was no other who could do such a thing. He said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn¡ÊJohn 21¡§7-11).

From that episode, “fish”, became the traditional symbol of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, our Savior, which is also given as the acronym in the Greek word < ¦©¦¶¦È¦Ã¦Ò * = fish> . This is another miracle which points to the abundance of Jesus’ gifts. The remembrance of that meal of fish, shared with the resurrected Jesus, was to greatly encourage and spiritually support the activities of the early church.

2. Faith and life

The disciples came to Galilee according to Jesus’ directive, whom they originally met in Jerusalem after the Resurrection. Yet they became destabilized because Jesus’ arrival in Galilee was delayed and they began to think that the apparent resurrected Jesus might simply be a ghost.

Human faith is unreliable at the best of times. Even though we might be moved profoundly by meeting the resurrected Jesus, the spiritual impact fades very easily and a certain skepticism creeps in upon us, which quickly dissipates our faith.

We find the same tendency in our daily life. We could come to believe that God loves and provides for us, but if we lose our job we tend to seriously worry about the future. Perhaps thats because our faith in God’s love and protection is not yet mature. Faith, it seems cannot become strong enough, so as to determine our life style, regardless of God’s forgiveness and salvation. It is a most serious problem for Christians. The disciples were similar to us. The fact that Jesus was resurrected could not immediately change their way of life. So much so, that Jesus reappeared again and again.

The church of John was operating under strain at that time. Christians were rejected by the Jewish religious authorities as heretics from the time of its foundation. Besides that, they also suffered from persecution by Roman occupation forces. Some were arrested, and others were killed because they belonged to the Church, and were witnesses for Jesus. Consequently their daily life became an ordeal.

So much so, some members commenced to murmur “why we are under such suffering?”. The disciples in Galilee also experienced this difficulty, and they too became destabilized and doubtful. But Jesus, the resurrected Lord, appeared before the disciples again to give them direction and much needed encouragement. They remained faithful to God’s word in spite of all their sufferings. Jesus is still alive today and lives within our hearts. That is the very message which John intended to spread by adding this chapter 21.

3. Encouraged by the resurrected Lord

I chose Luke 5:4-5 for today’s invocation verses: When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” This passage describes how Peter received his calling to be a follower of Jesus.

Peter was a fisherman in Galilee, it means he had skills for fishing. So, at first, he was rather reluctant to try again because Jesus himself was not a professional for the job. Nevertheless Jesus’ tone was so authoritative that he obeyed . And the result was astonishingly fruitful, which led Peter to repent and become a believer: When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:8).

From the time of Peter’s calling recorded here in Luke, three years had passed. Now, John explains to us how Jesus performed again the same miracle in the presence of the same disciples who could not come to understand the fact of the Resurrection. And John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, recognized Him by remembering the former events.

As long as we hesitate in thinking it will be useless to try - no miracle will happen. On the contrary, once we obey Jesus’ words, by putting the nets down, marvelous results will occur. This actual fact has been experienced by many people. Sheer personal faith has given birth to such experiences which founded the early church. Even if we cannot bring ourselves to truly believe, faith will over-take us. As the German theologian, Helmut Gollwitzer once wrote * “the Church was founded when Peter witnessed an astonishing event by putting the nets down and obeying Jesus’ words”.

The Church will benefit when we lose our ego. It is true that within the very Church there are always conflicts and discords. Actually, in many churches we find disagreements concerning management and faith ministry. It is because we cannot yet understand clearly the reason why Jesus died on the Cross and was Resurrected. It is because we are not able to accept these facts as matters which ultimately affect the way we live. It is because we have not recognized that Jesus died so we may live. He lives today within our hearts. Therefore we should not give priority to thinking and feeling about ourselves. We should, however, focus more on our personal relationships within the church.

We must get rid of egoism by trying to meet our Lord again and again, as Jesus repeatedly showed Himself to the disciples. If we set off to fish with only thoughts of ourselves, we will get nothing, whereas by simply following Jesus’ words we, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat.” When we do that, we are following Jesus, with the promise of good results.

The church is a very important place for us. Through the Worship Service here we meet our Lord. Also please remember that the resurrected Jesus appeared to the group of disciples, not to just one alone. Salvation is not an individual matter, but rather a collective one. Therefore, we respect the church, where the pivotal role is performed by Jesus Christ, not by church members, nor the Pastor. We must also obey Him practically, by serving our neighbors as Jesus taught us: “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40). Once we accept the humble attitude so often portrayed by Jesus, there will no longer be any undesirable conduct disturbing the relationships within the church.

This year we chose this slogan as our motto: “to grow up the church by listening to God’s words”. To grow up means to mature spiritually, rather than to increase the number of church members. And to realize that we must listen faithfully to God’s words, by which we acknowledge in conclusion: “because you say so, I will let down the nets” (Luke 5:5), even during times of suffering and difficulty.

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Notes:
* < ¦©¦Ç¦Ò¦Ïύς, ¦¶¦Ñ¦É¦Ò¦Óός, ¦È¦Åώ¦Í, ¦Ã¦É¦Ø¦Í, ¦Ò¦Ø¦Ó¦Ç¦Ñί¦Á>
** Helmut Gollwitzer : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmut_Gollwitzer