Resurrection Sunday 2009 - John, 21:1-14 Have you got any fermented fish paste?

Good morning, and a blessed Resurrection Day morning to you. As we step into this passage, some of you, I don't want you to be surprised or shocked. We will talk about the resurrection. Okay? Alright? Just so you know. Brace yourself. One of the things we find helpful, and I think particularly this time where we're looking at a point in time in John 21, well after the events of the resurrection. But what I mean by well after is many days after. It's good to kind of take a look at, how did this all come about? What was the sequence of events? And what I'm going to present to you here is called the traditional chronology. There are some folks who have argued for other ones, but we'll step through it this way.

Friday, and that is Friday before the Friday in which the Lord was crucified, this was the time when the Lord was going through Jericho and Zacchaeus was up in the tree. Okay, that was just a week before. Zacchaeus come down, right? It was the day after that that Jesus raised Lazarus, much to the surprise of the others there in Bethany.

The day after that was the day that is often called the Triumphal Entry or Palm Sunday as it's called. Monday he drove out the money changers from the temple. That would have been kind of the notable event of that day. The Olivet Discourse was recorded for us in Matthew 24 and 25. is recorded to have taken place then on Tuesday of that week, where Christ was with his disciples there on the Mount of Olives looking at the temple and giving them the description of what was to take place. Next, Jesus came into the temple in Jerusalem on Wednesday of that week. And then on Thursday of that week would have been what we call the Last Supper. Christ held with his disciples a Jewish Passover and then also began the first Christian observance of the Lord's Table.

It was sort of a handoff of those two events. There was then that night the Garden of Gethsemane. That would have been a walk from about the southwest quarter of Jerusalem over to this garden that was across the valley from and just to the north of where the temple was.

Friday then would have been crucifixion and later that day, or day as we count it, burial. So that would have closed out the events of Friday. Christ would have been in the grave before the sun set and in the grave for what we call Saturday and early Sunday morning would have been the resurrection.

Now you have a kind of a summary on the first page of your handout there of the empty tomb and the resurrection events. We won't certainly go through all that, but you have it available to you should you want to just kind of take a look at it. I think as you begin to take a look at it and see all the different evidences for the resurrection and the places that are recorded, it begins, as you think about it, to become awesome. to think, wow, look at all that.

This isn't just, you know, somebody wrote down a rumor or two. This was recordings of people firsthand. This is recordings of people who were eyewitnesses. This is recordings of people who wrote the testimony of reliable witnesses. And there were a great number.

We'll be looking particularly at that one there that references John chapter 21 as we move into that passage. You have on the top of page two a chart that takes up the top half of the page and that's a resurrection and ascension timeline. It kind of puts to a chart what you see in the table on the first page. And let's kind of walk our way through this.

Here on that first day, Sunday, day zero, would be the resurrection of Christ, the empty tomb, and the appearances that Christ made on that day. And if you start to add it all up, that day was packed. That day was packed. There was a lot going on from the very beginning of the day. And imagine first, here's the women who come to the tomb thinking they're going to do some sort of memorial type observance of some kind. And wait a minute, the stone's rolled away. It's empty. Wow! This is shocking to begin with.

Now, the disciples hear about it and John and Peter go running. They've got to verify this. Because after all, it's women that told him that, right? And any Jew would have said, well, that's not a reliable witness. Sorry. So they go running. So you've got not just one, but remember the two or three witnesses? You've got two male witnesses who can go there and say, yep, I saw it. It's for real.

The tomb is empty. The stone is rolled away. The burial claws are lying there. And then Christ's appearances that day, including the one to Mary Magdalene. Interesting how the Lord chose women who were not regarded in the Jewish culture of the time, chose women to be some of the first observers of the empty tomb and of his resurrection. It was a week later that Thomas' doubts were removed. where Thomas initially says, I'm not believing it until I touch those wounds. Until I see those, I don't even count it worthy of consideration. You guys are all smoking something, right? Eventually here, what is it? My Lord and my God. His doubts are completely removed altogether.

As we'll be looking at here today, He appears to the seven disciples in Galilee sometime after that. certainly enough time for them to go from the area around Jerusalem up to Galilee, which would have taken by itself a few days trip. And we'll look into that some more. John 21. He appears also to a larger group, the 11 in Galilee, then to over 500, as the Apostle Paul records, and then to James, his brother.

Now here's what's interesting. All these other appearances were to people who were believers that Christ was the Messiah. James, the evidence has it, his own brother did not believe until this appearance. So here Christ shows up to his brother, and you can imagine his brother, his brother is real skeptical, and his brother knowing that his Christ has been crucified. When Christ shows up to him, alive, walking, talking, that convinced him. I wonder why? Anyway, he became a believer. And finally, 40 days later, the ascension from the Mount of Olives.

There in view of the 11 disciples, right in front of all of them. So we'll be taking a look here at this one that you have charted right in the middle, the appearance to the seven disciples there in Galilee in John 21. And yes, we will draw your attention to the resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15, verses 3-8. Paul spells out in very succinct form a couple of very key pieces of information. And those are this. One, he begins in the first verses to lay out, this is what a person must believe in order to be saved. This is at the core of the gospel. What do you have to believe to be saved? He spells it out right here.

That Christ died for your sins according to the scriptures, okay? Not just that he died, he died for your sins. Part one. That he was buried, and then what we celebrate this morning, he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. Do you believe it? Do you? If you believe that, you're saved.

That's at the core of the gospel. That's what the gospel is. Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose again. That's the gospel. That's what's to be believed in order to be saved. And next, he summarizes the testimony about the resurrection. He puts together not only the accounts that we have in the Gospels, but adds some information to it, some important information. And let's read it here. He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time. Can you imagine 500 people at one time? Can you imagine gatherings afterwards?

They go into some town nearby. Hey, I saw Christ resurrected. Yeah, you did. And about, oh, four or five hundred people say, I did too! That's got to be a little convincing. He says, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James. This is the one who didn't believe until that appearance. Then all the apostles, and last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me also. So here's Paul's own testimony.

All the first appearances, including the observation of the empty tomb, All took place around Jerusalem here. This is a view looking east and you can see the Dead Sea off in the distance there. So here's Jerusalem. All the appearances were in and around Jerusalem. The empty tomb. The places where he appeared to the disciples. Of course, to Mary Magdalene right there at the tomb itself.

So most of these earlier appearances here all happen around Jerusalem. You see it there on the map where Jerusalem is located. But with the Feast of Unleavened Bread, that is the Passover, now behind them, the disciples could head back to Galilee, where a great many of them were from.

So here's the Sea of Galilee. John here uniquely calls it the Sea of Tiberias. Tiberias was a Roman city built just in very recent times at that point in time, and built along the west shore of the Sea of Galilee. And so over time that name, rather than Sea of Galilee, turned to Sea of Tiberias.

And so John uses that here in this passage in John 21 and also the first verse of chapter 6. Here's the Sea of Galilee and the area kind of in northern Israel, some of the key towns and cities there. There's Nazareth, of course, where Christ, after he was born, was brought by Joseph and Mary and raised in this little town of perhaps as few as 80 people, maybe a few hundred at most. But then here is Capernaum. which is the site for our chapter here, John 21, either in Capernaum or very close by. And so that would be at the north end of the Sea of Galilee.

And you can imagine, going back to Galilee, Galilee was a place rich in the memories of these disciples, even if they had not grown up there. Even if they had not grown up there, they still had All these memories of things that had taken place, all these memories of things that had happened there, times of trauma, times of miracles, times of listening to the Lord, times of watching the Lord pray.

So as we step into John 21, 1 through 14, I'd encourage you to take your Bibles out and follow along with me. I will have some verses up on the slides, but you may find it helpful to just kind of see things in context and move along. This is a little tricky, I understand. So you've got your Bible here, and you've got your hand out in the other hand, and somehow you've got to write. Try it with your teeth. Well, never mind. So here we are in the area of the Sea of Galilee, and with all these rich memories in the disciples' minds. And here is a scene showing kind of the north end of the Sea of Galilee in the photo. And right in this area is Capernaum. Capernaum, if you get a little closer, looks like this from an aerial shot. Capernaum's been excavated by archaeologists.

They've been through, you know, one end to the other and taken pretty detailed look through it all. And there are some things that have been preserved there particularly for people to take a look at. And one of them here is this place, that roof that you see there is not original. That's been the one to kind of cover and protect the area.

But this is actually believed to have been Peter's house. It's not a definitive and certain identification, but let's say the evidence is circumstantial. That it actually was Peter's house located right there. right near the shore. And this is the ruins of a second century synagogue with the bottom layer, see the ruins are white in color, the bottom layer below that was a darker basalt and is believed to have been the first century synagogue, which would, if this all holds true, would have been right next to Peter's house.

So verse 1 in chapter 21 starts like this. After these things, Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and he manifested himself in this way. So he summarily records this showing, this revealing, this deliberate revealing of himself, and then he begins to say it was to the disciples, not to others, but to the disciples, and it was here, the Sea of Tiberias. Because it was Peter saying it, because we have earlier recordings of where Peter lived, and it seems to match the excavation there, it's in or around Capernaum is where this would have taken place there. There at the Sea of Tiberias, otherwise known as Sea of Galilee. And we see in the following verses, here is how it came about. Let's take a look at that.

John wrote that Jesus manifested himself both at the beginning and as we'll see at the very end of the passage. He kind of does what's called an inclusio. You start it and you finish it with the statement. This manifested, or in the King James Version showed, means that Jesus made himself visible to others.

Now before you look at it just sort of like a magic trick, where all of a sudden, now you see me, now you don't. It's important to recognize that this manifesting wasn't just a, here's what I see with my eyes, but it's also a matter of revealing his character. Revealing not just, here I am, now you see me, now you don't, but revealing who he was. Revealing who he was in his relationship with them.

Revealing depth, not just what you see on the outside. And He did it intentionally. Jesus, as we read through the accounts, He was able to remain unseen by people. The disciples, they couldn't just say, hey, let's go over here because we know that's where Jesus is going to hang out when He's resurrected. No. He was able to remain unseen. He was also able to remain seen but unrecognized.

Remember the account of walking with the two on the road to Emmaus? And he talked to them and told them out of the Scriptures about, see, these things talk about Christ. These talk about Christ. And it wasn't until they got there that he revealed to them who he was.

He could be seen but unrecognized. And finally, he could be seen by others and also recognized, as we'll see in this passage here. They could say, ah, I know who that is. That's my resurrected Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He could reveal that as well.

I want you also, as we take a look in this passage, to take note of John's attention to detail. John is one who is writing this, but he's also Writing as an eyewitness, this isn't just sort of, I heard a rumor that goes kind of like this. It's not even, I'm writing about somebody who is pretty reliable and told me this account. He is telling you his first hand account as someone who was there. He even records, as we'll see shortly, he was there, okay? John writes as an eyewitness. He writes as a son of Zebedee. That's one of the identifications. We'll see it in this passage.

He, as Luke 5.10 tells us, was a partner with Peter and his brother James. Different from Christ's brother James, just to avoid confusion. John notes the number of disciples there, the names of five, the distance the boat was from shore, where Jesus is, and exactly, through the number, the number of fish that they caught that day. Notice as you look at it, other details. John writes as an eyewitness that takes care to record and notice specific details of what happened that day. So we've got to ask another question, though.

Why are the disciples in Galilee? What are they doing hanging out there? Now, some people have suggested that the disciples, because they went fishing, must have just lost sight of what the Lord told them to do. And I would suggest to you that that's not the case, because Christ, in fact, had told them to go to Galilee and to wait that they actually would see Him there.

So for them to fish while waiting wasn't a problem. They'd been fishing before. As a matter of fact, the Lord Himself had told them to fish at different times. So what would be wrong with fishing, right? Here's something else I think is really valuable to take a look at.

They knew the Lord was going to show up. And so it's just simply a matter of they're not wondering if the Lord is going to show up. It's only a matter of when. And it's only a matter of what are the circumstances. How is the Lord going to show Himself? How is He going to show up?

They were anticipating His arriving. They were looking for Him to show up in some way. He didn't say, I'll see you there in Galilee and I'm going to do it this day or this way. He said, go to Galilee, I'll see you there. You'll find out the day and the conditions and what happens. So they had an anticipation that was specific. I'll see you in Galilee. They also had some question marks. How's this going to come about? How is our Lord going to reveal Himself? That they didn't know yet. Jesus, in doing this, deliberately manifested Himself.

It wasn't like, you know how sometimes in our era somebody will say, well, I saw this person. Or, I got a glimpse of that one. Or, I got to shake this person's hand. And we'd look at it as either some result of effort or luck that you happened upon some particular person or saw them. That wasn't this kind of an event here. This wasn't a, hey, I happened to catch a glimpse of Jesus. Boy, wasn't I lucky.

No, this was instead Jesus deliberately revealing himself, making himself visible. Why? He wants His disciples, and consequently us, to understand, and to believe, and to be saved, and to know God Himself. That's why He's doing the revealing here. Let's look at verse 2.

Simon Peter and Thomas, called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana of Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together. So here they are. They're together. They're in Galilee, probably there at the North Shore. Here's Simon Peter who is also called Cephas in some places. Actually the original language would be Kephas. And here's Thomas called Didymus or basically translated the twin. I don't know if there were two of them or he was a twin and there was just one who was a disciple but that was the way they called him.

There was also Nathaniel. This particular passage reveals that Nathanael is from Cana, which is the place where Jesus performed a miracle, recorded in John chapter 2, where he turned water into wine. There was James and John, the two sons of Zebedee.

Luke 5.10 records that the two of them were sons of Zebedee and partners with Peter. Isn't it interesting? Here are the two of them, James and John. James was the first apostle to die for the Lord. First apostle who was martyred. John, his brother, was the last apostle to die, so far as we have any record.

Real interesting. Two other unnamed disciples, possibly, and I don't think this is critical, but just possibly Philip and Andrew because of their connection with that area and these other same disciples. If it were other disciples, it wouldn't matter too much, so that's conjecture.

In verse 3, Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing. Very original thing to do, of course. Now, the other thing you can see in here, here's Peter the leader, right? I'm going fishing, right? So he doesn't go out alone. The others say, I'm going fishing with you. So six more go with him. They say to him, we will also come with you. We'll go fishing too. All seven of us. So they went out and got into the boat. That's a reasonable thing to do if you're going to go out fishing on the Sea of Galilee. Now, and that night, they caught nothing. You imagine, work all night, catch nothing. I mean, this good idea that Peter had. I'll go with you. Nothing. Actually, I think you already understand the condition. There's a name for this. You understand the condition that they've got here. Do you realize that? It's called empty net syndrome. Oh boy, okay. Okay, I'll wait until you get over that one.

Alright, perhaps here, what the Lord was doing in having them go out here, because they're supposed to be in Galilee. There's really nothing wrong with their going fishing. That was just fine. They were supposed to be in Galilee. The Lord wanted them there. Perhaps the Lord wanted to convey a truth to the disciples. What the Lord had spelled out, as recorded just a few chapters earlier, when Christ said, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Apart from me you can do nothing. Oh yeah, you guys are fishermen. You've got the boats, you've got the nets, you've got the experience. You've been fishing. No question, you know hands down this whole fishing business from one end to the other. You know that.

But perhaps he was trying to get across to them, but apart from me, you can't do anything that's of spiritual significance, that's of eternal value. Perhaps he's trying to get that lesson across to them here too. We've got to ask the question, why fish at night? The disciples were fishing at night because until modern materials became available, in other words, only in somewhat recent decades, the fish could see the fabric nets during the day.

So they would say, hey, I see that net coming at me. I'm getting out of the way, right? And so they would just swim out of the way of the nets because they could see them. And all that they had to put down in the water was these fabric nets that could be seen during the day.

So the only way you're going to catch any fish is at night. So it was natural that they go out fishing at night. Here's an interesting one. In Luke 5, which we'd made reference to earlier, the disciples had previously been through a night fishing without catching anything before.

So this had happened previously. only to have Christ tell them to put their nets in during the day. Then they caught so much that it tore up the nets and they pulled the fish that they could into the boats and the boats started sinking. The Lord performed a miracle there in having them put the nets in during the day when the fish would obviously see the nets and avoid them. But not that day. Not the day when the Lord said, go ahead and put them in during the day.

In verse 4, when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach, and yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. So here's Jesus on the beach. The disciples see somebody on the shore, but they don't know it's Jesus. They're expecting Jesus to show up somewhere, but somehow they hadn't been clued in. Now, you might think that looks like Jesus on the shore. That's not Jesus on the shore. That's not Jesus on the shore either. That's not it. Before we go into the next part, there's something else we've got to see.

There's three kinds of fish that were eaten in that part of the world and actually the whole Roman Empire. One is, of course, live fish. But in a situation where you haven't got refrigeration or any way to freeze it, Live fish, fresh fish, not going to last very long. You're going to have fresh fish if you catch it and eat it that day. After that, you're not going to have fresh fish, okay? So the other way that they would prepare it, excuse me, the other way they would prepare it, is they would put down a layer of fish, and then a layer of salt, and then another layer of fish, another layer of salt, and they'd have this salted, dried fish. And that's probably what was used when Jesus did the miracle of the fish and the loaves, where they'd break up the fish. The fish would be these dried pieces of fish, kind of fish jerky.

Oh boy. Now, brace yourself for this next one. The other kind that they had and was actually quite popular was fermented fish paste. I'm telling you this for a reason, okay? I realize it's maybe an hour before lunchtime, but I'm telling you this for a reason, okay? It's not just to make you nauseous. Fermented fish paste was something that you could take through all kinds of weather and you could take for days. It was actually very popular among the Roman soldiers and others who traveled. And so now, here's why I'm bringing that up.

The word that Jesus used here that's translated fish in this next verse we're going to look at is literally something that is eaten with bread. It might be pieces of fish, some kind of relish, a spread of some kind, and that included this fermented fish paste. that was applied to bread as well. So that is the word that Jesus used in the original language here in John 21 5. Jesus used this word that means something to go along with the bread and it includes this fermented fish paste. So that's the answer to why the strange sermon title. It's the fermented fish paste.

So Jesus said to them, and you can imagine they were actually probably primed for him to say something or at least they were paying some attention to them. It says shortly after this that there was a charcoal fire. Well, in order to have a charcoal fire, he has to have started a real fire and had it kind of die down to coals.

And so you can imagine here they are while it's still dark or barely with the sun coming up. this fire up on the shore, not too far away, and they'd see it. They'd notice it. So here's somebody starting a fire up on the shore, and that would have gotten their attention to begin with. There's not too many of those along the shore.

So they would have seen that. So then the guy that started the fire, talking to them, yeah, that would have gotten their attention. So Jesus said to them, beginning in verse 5, Yeah, children. Were these children? No. What it was is sort of a term of endearment. Let's sure hope they take it that way. A term of endearment.

It's kind of like, hey, dear boys, you don't have any fish, do you? which really would have come across, because that specific word, that's the only place that's used in the original language in the whole New Testament. You don't happen to have anything to go along with this bread, do you? That's really the way it came across, the way he asked them. You don't have something to go along with this bread, do you? That's the question. Hey dear boys, Yeah, that's kind of an enduring, intimate thing. Dear boys, you don't have anything going on with this bread, do you?

So they answered him, no. And you can imagine the no had sort of a sound of disappointment, because they'd worked all night. Maybe even a little embarrassment, because after all, you've got some professional fishermen there. Nothing. Nope. They would have made a quick sale if they had anything to give them. But their answer, nope.

So he said to them, cast the net on the right hand side of the boat and you'll find a catch. You're kidding me. I've been fishing all night. We're professional fishermen. We've been working hard. We've got all the right stuff. We know how to do this. Because you say, and because we haven't caught anything yet anyway, let's try it. OK.

So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish. You see, back in Luke 5, they did try to haul it in, and it started tearing the nets, and they started filling up the boats, and the boats started to sink. Here they just said, forget that. Forget that. We're not even going to try to haul this in that there's so many fish.

Somebody then becomes very observant. Therefore, the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, it's the Lord. I know it. It's the Lord. We've been waiting for Him. We've been expecting Him. We know He's going to see us here. We just don't know where. I'm telling you right now, it's the Lord. It's Him.

He calls himself, John, remember he's the first person writer here, the eyewitness. He calls himself the disciple whom Jesus loved. From the time of the Last Supper, by the way, that's the first time it's brought out. The disciple whom Jesus loved. He came to call himself that or similar words up until now. So this had actually been a term of only recent weeks. that he begins to use this term.

Isn't that amazing? You come to realize that you're the disciple that Jesus loves the night before He dies. You come to realize that you're the disciple that Jesus loves after He's resurrected. What a realization John had. John had come to a place of recognizing This is the Lord's doing.

See all those fish? That's not because we're so good. We fished all night. See all those fish? That's not because we got all the right nets and keep them mended and we have plenty of experience. It's the Lord. The only reason that we'd throw the nets on the other side of the boat after working all night and have so many fish, we came and hauled it into the boat.

See how touching and tender and personal it is to identify Him as the One that Jesus loved? Isn't that something for us to begin to realize? Have you come to that place in your life to realize that you're the One that Jesus loved? Just Him and you. Have you thought about that? There's all kinds of people in here this morning. Lots of us. Good to see your faces. But this is a wonderful thing to think about.

Hey, I'm the one that Jesus loved. I'm the one that He loved. I'm the one that He loved when He was up there on the cross. He all died for Vern's sins. I'm the one that he loved when he rose again. Verse 7, Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord. So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he fell asleep. No. He put his outer garment on, for he was stripped to work, and threw himself into the sea. Now this guy is enthusiastic, right?

Now, what do you do when you have this startling realization? This guy who leans over to you, it's the Lord. Is that when you break out the Grey Poupon? Is that when you pull out the mustard? What do you do? Get the digital camera out and take... What do you do?

No, that's when you put everything you've got on and you get it all wet. None of this walking on the water stuff. Let's get plenty soggy. What they would do is when they were working, like this drawing you see here, they'd get kind of down into what we would call sort of ample underwear. And then when they were done working, then they'd put this outer coat on to get warmed up. Peter says, nothing doing, I want to get it all wet and cold.

But the other disciples came in the little boat For they were not far from land, about a hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish." Now notice again, here's John's attention to detail. He's in the boat. Peter's already dove overboard. So here they are looking towards Christ on the shore. There's a fire going now down to Coles. And here they are pulling the fish in. Six of them pulling the fish in. They don't even bother trying to put it in the boat because it's just way too many. dragging this net full of fish. Kind of like this drag net that you see off there in the little diagram in the corner. Verse 9, So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid, and the fish placed on it and bred. That was the reason for the question. Have you got anything to go along with this bread? Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish which you have now caught. Bring what you've caught. by miracle. Bring what you've caught by miracle and add that to what I've got here. 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. Kind of surprising. Usually they'd figure they were going to have to do some net repair here. No, not this time.

Jesus said to them, Come and have breakfast. Another disciple ventured to question him, who are you? Knowing that it was the Lord. All John had to do was whisper it. Peter knew it and they all said, yep. It is the Lord. The Lord wants us to recognize Him, to see Him, to behold Him, to know Him intimately. Who's that? Is it that Jesus guy that people talk about, those religious nuts? No, it's the Lord. It's my Lord.

For us, this is all done by faith, through His written Word, including words like we're studying today, until that day when we see Him face to face. That's the way the Lord has designed it. 2 Corinthians 3.18, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord. Looking at the Lord through what He has revealed and written. fixing our eyes on Jesus, the eyes of our hearts, that we may know Him who is true. We're not just looking at the Lord, but we're getting to know Him, that we're knowing Him.

Verse 13, Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and the fish likewise. Here, let me serve you. Even though the disciples had thrown in the net, the entire meal was a miracle, wasn't it? What Jesus already had there. The fish that they brought and contributed to the meal as well. That was a miracle too. It wasn't their doing. Verse 14 sums it up.

This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples after He was raised from the dead. The third time that he made himself visible. The third time that he showed who he was. The third time that he showed his character. The third time that he proved to them again, I am alive. And I'm not just alive to be alive, but I'm alive for you.

So how about you? How about you? Have you come to that place where you recognized, as we talked about earlier, that Christ died for your sins and was buried and rose again and you believe it and are saved? Have you come to that place? When I was younger, there was a fellow who came to church and I got to know him pretty well.

He was a neighbor about a block away. And I'd see him and his wife. His name was Ben, wife named Betty. And you know, Ben was sitting in church one day after having gone to the church pretty much every week for four years. All of a sudden realized, I'm not saved.

Ah! You know? And it's as simple as that. Believing that Christ died for your sins and was buried and rose again. Coming into this building won't save anybody. Okay? Believing this is the only thing that will. Have you come to a place of recognizing the Lord Jesus Christ, seeing him in the words that we're reading and hearing and studying here this morning? Have you come to that place? Have you made that wonderful discovery? I hope you have.

Have you come to a place of recognizing that when nights like this happen, when you fish all night and you don't catch any fish, or some life equivalent, that the Lord has something else in mind? Those times that might seem dry, difficult, empty. The Lord has something else in mind. The Lord has in mind that He does what matters. He does what counts and not us. He wants to do it and have it be His accomplishment and not ours.

Have you come to a place where you don't know when the Lord's coming, but you're ready? Have you come to a place that you're looking for Him to come? Have you come to a place in your life where you've realized the Lord's provision? You've realized that everything you have is the Lord's provision.

You realize that He is the one that provides. Have you come to a place of recognizing that you are the one that Jesus loves? when Jesus voluntarily said, put the nails in, that it was for you, that on the morning that He rose, it was for you. He didn't have to go through all that. He could have said, hey, I'll take a pass. But He did that for you. Do you know it? Do you know how much He loves just you? Isn't it amazing? Isn't it amazing?

Let's pray. Lord, how marvelous, how wonderful, how awesome, beyond description. are the things that you have done, the things that you have said, and the things you've had recorded for our benefit because you love us so much. We thank you that you loved and gave. And we thank you, Lord, that because you not only took our sins upon yourself, but you rose to new life forever, and we with you. that we have life forever with you. We give you thanks for all that. What marvelous blessing. Blessing beyond comprehension. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.