Well, good morning again, church. And let me just say a big happy, happy Mother's Day to all of you today. You know, Proverbs 31, 8 says that her children rise up and call her blessed anybody's children do that to you today. Um, I don't think so. But today we want to do that. We wanna follow that biblical tradition and that biblical moment of honor, as well as just our nation's moment of honor, just to pause and tell every single mother and spiritual mother that is in our lives a really, really big thank you. Because here's the deal. We literally owe our lives to you. Uh, we owe them because you have birthed us. We owe them because you have kept many of us out of trouble, many of us outta jail, and you have had countless moments of prayer and encouragement and teaching us about Jesus, showing us about Jesus, and really just sacrificially living the name of Jesus over us. Would you do me a favor this morning? And would you just all stand and appreciate every mother that is in this room and that has been a part of your lives? Amen.
Amen and amen. I love it. I love it. I love it. You can have a seat this morning. Uh, couple things. Number one, some of you didn't know whether to stand or not because you are a mother, uh, but you have a mother. Uh, so I feel the tension in that. Uh, so that was good. And then secondly, I just spent the last, uh, last five days in Kenya. And you know what we got a lot, a lot of learning to do about appreciating people, uh, over there, over here because man, those are some appreciative people over there. And I bring greetings to all of you. Uh, I promised Peter I would say hello, uh, to everyone in the house. Well listen this morning if you got a copy of scripture, I want you to turn with me to the last two chapters of John's Gospel.
John chapter 20. We're gonna look at two verses there, and then we're gonna look at the first of John chapter 21. Why? Because we are actually in our second to last stop in this firsthand account of John's Gospel. All right? Firsthand account from my count, we have been doing John's gospel. We've been walking methodically almost chapter by chapter for 20 weeks now. For 20 weeks we've been watching Jesus, right? We've been watching him in the first third show us what it looks like to come and see and to experience him as God. Secondly, in the middle half of the gospel, we've been watching the promises and the power of Jesus. And all of these I am statements that really invite us into his presence as king of kings and Lord of Lords and as our Savior. And for the last two weeks, for the last two weeks, we've been tracking with Jesus and we've been walking with the disciples and the post resurrected ministry of Jesus as he is showing his disciples, and he's showing us what it looks like to be restored and what it looks like to be sent.
I love this gospel because almost every week you can just feel the intentionality. You can feel the truths that are on the pages of the scripture from what they meant to those in the first century. And then you can also just feel what exactly they mean to us. Now listen, in the first week that we opened up this journey together in John's gospel, in the first week that I taught out of this gospel, we saw in chapter one what would be considered the prologue, right? The prologue of the book. And it was this, it was that Jesus Christ is the incarnate, uncreated, self existent maker of the universe. We saw that in John chapter one. It is the first thing that John shows us. And then he shows us also in that prologue that Jesus has actually come as God to show us God. In other words, that Jesus has existed even before the Father sent us that he's always existed and that he's always been God.
Now listen, that same week, and I know you remember this, you don't remember this, all right? I know that same week I also not only showed you the prologue of the book, but I fast forwarded all the way to John chapter 20 to actually show you the other bookend of John's gospel. That bookend gives us not only who Jesus is, but it shows us what the whole gospel of John has given us and the purpose of the gospel. In fact, it came from John chapter 20, right where we left off last week. And and lemme just read it to you again. Here's what it says in John chapter 20. It says, because of all who Jesus is, because of all that we have seen for these last 20 weeks, check this out, John chapter 20, verse 30, it says this, it says, Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which were not recorded in this book, verse 31.
But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah. There it is. There's the purpose, the Son of God. And watch this, here's the promise. And by believing you may have life in His name. So here's the deal for 20 weeks, whether you're new or you've been here, every one of 'em, it doesn't matter. For 20 weeks, everything we have said has pointed towards this main idea that is God and that John's gospel, alright? Everything in it is given to us for the purpose of showing us that he is God and showing us that when we believe in him as God and as Savior, that we can have life in His name. Amen. All right, that's the front end and the bookend, the other bookend of the gospel, the conclusion. Right? Now, here's what's interesting, okay? If you look at the structure, and if you look at common English structure writing, for those of you that are nerds in the English world, you're like, oh yeah, give it to us.
Right? For those of the rest of us who're like, okay, Matt, what are you talking about? Stay with me. Here's what I wanna show you. If you look at the structure of John's gospel, if you look at the structure of any writing in English language, you are tempted to see that this statement in John chapter 20 that I just read over you, those verses really seem like they should be the end of the gospel, right? They restate the purpose, they give us the main idea. It's a great, what you could call a mic dropping moment in John's gospel. It seems like this should be the last two verses, right? And actually it would've been a good place to do that, but God is God and we are not. And what God does though, oh, this is so cool, I wanna show you something. What God does is he almost lands the plane in chapter 20, but then he takes it off again to show us what it looks like when we believe.
Does that make sense? He actually shows us what does it look like? How does it feel? What are some actual steps that happens in our lives when we actually trust the Jesus that we've been talking about? And so for the last chapter, chapter 21, what John does through the inspiration of Holy Spirit is he gives us two mental images, two events, two pictures into the life of the disciples and into the life of us that show us what is offered when we believe. And it actually shows us how Jesus, after his death, after his resurrection, how he rules and how he gives life to us as the good shepherd, and how he wants to restore us, how he wants to save us, how he wants to give us life, how he wants to bless us, and how he wants to send to us. Now, I love that John does this.
Why? Because many times we slip into this mode where when we read scripture, we're just like, well, that's just not how it is for me. But what you're about to see in the next two events this week and next week is this is exactly who Jesus is and exactly who the resurrected Jesus wants to be for you. Amen. Now, here's the deal. We're about to see a passage of scripture where Jesus is physically with the disciples. All right? Eventually he's gonna be at the supernatural breakfast on the beach. All right? You're about to see that. But please know it is 100% relatable to you. Why? Because like the disciples, the same fate that you're about to see in their lives will come our way when we turn our back on Jesus and live on our own or when we turn to Jesus and live in his power.
So John chapter 21 is amazingly this, look at what it looks like when I'm in control versus when God is in control. It's this image and this contrast of my self power versus the power of Jesus in my life. And I guess you could kind of say at at the end of the day that it's a, that it's an image of the fruitless life of Jesus, of the fruitless life when I live it without Jesus and the fruitful life, when I just fully submit to his power and to his promise. So here's what I wanted to do today. I wanna walk through the first 13 verses of John Chapter 21. Alright? We're gonna finish it up next week. And I just wanna shine a light in Jesus', eternal love and his character and his encouragement and his concern for you and for me. And look, and if we do this right now, that's always a big if, if I'm involved, right?
If we do this right, this passage, man, you're gonna walk away today with an encouragement of knowing exactly who Jesus is and what he wants to do in you. Alright? So here we go. John, chapter 21 verse one. Here's what it says. It says this, afterward, Jesus appeared again to the disciples by the sea of Galilee. Now we gotta stop there because the question is, what is this after? I don't know if you've been here. I don't know if you're tracking with it. It doesn't matter. Let me catch you up. This is after the resurrection, right? It is after the death and resurrection of Jesus. It is after Jesus has appeared to the disciples for the first time in the upper room. It is after a week later that we looked at last week with Thomas. It's after Thomas meeting Jesus in the upper room.
And here we see in scripture that we are now out in the open and we are by the Sea of Galilee. Okay? We're by the Sea of Galilee. And it makes sense. Why? Well, when you read in Mark's gospel and in Matthew's gospel of the account of Jesus' life after the resurrection, you'll see that what Jesus has done after he meets them in the upper room is that he actually sends them out of Jerusalem and he sends them north up to up out into Nazareth where they're from. Now he actually sends them not just to Nazareth, but he sends them to a specific mountain where Jesus looks at them and says, Hey, go to this mountain and I will meet you there. Alright, I'll meet you there. And it's actually the mountain that we see in acts that the the disciples eventually make it to after the event we're gonna look at today.
They eventually do make it there. And it's where Jesus gives them the great commission in the book of Acts and where Jesus ascends back to the Father. So here in John chapter 21, we we're in the week or so between the upper room, Jesus appearing and Jesus giving them the great commission. So we're some 15 to 20 days after the resurrection. And once again, the text just told us that Jesus just actually appears. Now we've looked at that word a couple of times over the last two weeks, right? That word appears means either manifests himself or shows up, which is an incredible word because now Jesus in his post resurrected state is no longer bound by time. He's no longer bound by space and he can be where he wants to be. He's living in his glorified self and he just shows up on the shore and on the coast of where of the sea of Galilee.
Now your Bible may see the say the sea of Tiberius, right? It's the same sea. Alright? It's the same thing in scripture. Now remember this, when you're tracking with Jesus and when you're seeing Jesus do things, it's never random, alright? Jesus always has a plan. He always has a purpose and he's always one step ahead of the disciples and one step ahead of us. And Jesus is always obviously up to something for his good and for his glory and for our good. Sorry. So let's see it. John chapter 21, verses one and two. It says this, afterwards, Jesus was, Jesus appeared again to his disciples by the Sea of Galilee. And it happened this way. John says, watch this. Verse two. Simon Peter, he's always mentioned first 'cause he's kind of the leader, right? Thomas, also known as Demus. We hung out with him last week.
Nathaniel from Cana and Galilee, the sons of Zee. We know that's James and John, right? And two other disciples. All right? That's probably Philip and Andrew. 'cause they're usually hanging around. What does it say? They were together. They're together. Now what are we seeing? These seven disciples are right here at the sea. I want you to lean in here because this is not a happily ever after. Once upon a time moment. This is a real moment. It's a real people. It details are there. John has given it to us in a way that you could go fact check it later on to say that this actually happened. So these seven disciples are present at the sea. Now to my mind, it's like, well, where are the other ones at? I don't know. All right, good question. Don't know. But look at verse three. Watch what happens.
Peter says this, I'm going out to fish. Simon Peter told them and they said, well will go with you. So they went out and they got into the boat. But that night, you may wanna circle this in your scriptures, they caught nothing. They caught nothing. All right. Now before we go any farther, we gotta ask an answer. Why did Peter say he was going fishing? We gotta answer that question because that's what's gonna show us what Jesus is really doing here. I mean, did they go fishing because they were just hungry and they were on the journey? No, that's not why they went fishing. Did they go fishing because they were bored and they just really didn't have anything else to do? 'cause they were just kind of slumming it? 'cause Jesus wasn't around. No, there's way more to it. And actually when you see what is really happening and when you see the symbolism in John's moment right here with Jesus, and when you see, when this actually happens in the life and the ministry of Jesus, you're gonna see that Peter is actually saying way, way more than, Hey boys, let's go have a recreational night of brotherhood and do some fishing for some carp tonight, right?
It's way more than that. Let's go blow off some steam. Let's go enjoy each other. What you're about to see that there is a flow and there is a direction, and there is a purpose in this interaction here of Jesus that actually reaches into these guys' life in a moment of despair, in a moment of doubt, in a moment of pain. And actually Jesus reaches into their lives and restores them and resends them out as fishers of Ben in. In fact, when you read the gospels together, it even makes sense more. Why? Because what you begin to see is that these guys are in an incredibly alarming space in their minds and they're in a huge disobey disobedience moment in their lives. You see, they, I just said it a minute ago, they were supposed to be at the mountain, remember? Yeah, but where were they?
They're at the sea. They're at the sea. They're supposed to be where Jesus sent them and not at the lake. And on top of that, they were supposed to be fishers of men, not fishers of fish. And on top of that, Jesus has just sent them out to do what? To follow the Holy Spirit and his power to preach the gospel, but yet they're hiding at the sea and being together. They weren't doing any of that stuff. All that they were doing is showing us how deep of a spiral of disobedience and doubt and self-service that they were. Which by the way, the condition the disciples were in in this moment really and truly mimics where many of our lives dip our toes into often. Lemme give you a principle to write down just so you'll just have it to think about this week. Knowing, agreeing and even talking about God without a heart of obedience and action for God is a disastrous place for a Christian to live.
And I would propose to you that this is exactly where the disciples were. They weren't hating Jesus. They weren't talking bad about Jesus. They weren't even mad at Jesus. They just simply withdrew themselves and went and did what they wanted to do. Church. I think there's a whole lot of us that teeter right into where the disciples are living right here. We teeter right into this. In fact, we know right where this is. This is kind of just coming to church a couple times a month that maybe even when we sing a praise song, maybe we have a fish bumper sticker on our car. Maybe we throw a little tip money in the offering plate. But the reality is we are not living a life that is sacrificially answering the call of Jesus, following his instructions and presenting the gospel to other people. We're not really answering the life of a disciple.
Let me ask you something for this week. What about you? Are you living where the disciples are right here? Are you, are you in a season of your life where you're, where you're looking at Jesus and you're like, I'm just gonna kind of go on my own way? Or you living the fully devoted follower of Jesus' life? What about you or believer? Maybe I just need to ask it like this. Have you just gone back to fishing? Have you just gone back? I mean, you know, I ask that. I ask it because here's what I know about me and here's what I know about you internally, inside of every single one of us, there is a natural bent to drift back towards our sinful nature. That's true. There's a natural, did you know there is no neutral in the Christian faith? The moment we are not moving forward, we will always move backward.
The moment we are not moving against the current, we will always be taken by the current. It's a natural bent to drift back to our own desires, our own selves, our own flesh, our own things of non eternal value. And we always drift back to the fringes of God's calling. Why? Because we have this natural bent about us. I'm putting myself in this category to not wanna be involved, to not wanna live present, to not be serving and not be kingdom focused. And that is exactly where the disciples are in this moment. It's where they are. You say, well, Matt, how do you know that's where they are? Let me prove it to you. Look at verse three. What did it say again, in short watch Peter's phrase. Peter says this, I'm going out to fish. Now if you read that and you really don't think about it, you're like, well, okay, he's just going to fish.
What's the big deal? Here's the big deal. Peter is actually saying that I'm going back. You see Matt, what is he going back to? He's going back to his former profession. He's going back to becoming a fisherman again. He's going back to a point to where he is now living in his mind, in a place that is now safe and confident and he's been successful in, and that he is the one that is in control of his own destiny. Man, I'd propose to us that many of us can feel that tension. Yes, sir. That many of us have had moments in our lives to where this is exactly where we've ended back up in. But I can kind of feel it in the room a little bit. You're like, man, I think you're going a little far with this whole, he's going fishing comment. I don't think so.
I think this is exactly where the text is pointing us. And lemme give you four reasons why, and then you can gimme four reasons why you think that I'm wrong. Here's number one. All right. Number one, I think this is exactly where the disciples are because we're seeing just this lack of direction in their life. They're supposed to be at the mountain, but they ended up wondering and hanging out at the lake. They're just downright disobeying Jesus right here by going to the sea. Secondly, I think they're living out the actual prediction of what Jesus told them in John chapter 16 when he told them, Hey, I'm going away. I'm not gonna be with you. And when I do go back to be with the Father, you're just gonna go off on your own. You're gonna return to who you used to be in your own business, in your own former way of life.
I think that's what we're seeing right here. Exactly what Jesus told them, that they're scattered to themselves. Third, I think that we see it in our next week. So you gotta come back to see that when actually Peter is confronted by Jesus and he says, Hey, do you love me more than all this stuff around you? He's looking at Peter going, Hey, you're trying to go back, aren't you? But I need you to go forward and forth. I think just kind of in a natural way, the kind of fishing that they did was not a recreational way of fishing. It was way more than grab the John boat, put the cooler in the back, back it into the water, and let's go have a good evening together. Listening to country music, catching some tilapia. It's way more, it's way more than the kind of fishing that they did was a commercial fishing that took so much preparation.
We see it all through history, actually. We see it. They had not been in this boat for three and a half years, three and a half years. They would've had to mend the nets. They would've had to got into the boat, which by the way, the boat is probably pointing towards Peter's commercial fishing boat that they were in the first time they were called out of it. They would've had to go get this boat ready. They would've had to put this 22 foot boat, seven and a half foot wide out of dry dock storage somewhere back into the water. And you think you're gonna do that for one night out with the boys? No, they're going back. They're going back to where they used to live. Peter said, Hey, I'm going. I'm out and I can't do this on my own boys. So the rest of them said, Hey, well, I guess we're in, and I guess we're going back to where we used to be.
I guess we're going back to something that we used to be good at because we just failed at this disciple thing. That's what's in their minds, in their mind. They failed right in their mind. They gave it the old college try at following Jesus. And here's what I know about some of you. Some of you, that was a season in your life, but right now you're teetering on the edge of going back to where it felt like you were the one in control because there's a sense in you that for some reason, maybe just maybe Jesus lets you down and instead of falling at the feet of Jesus and asking him to heal your heart and your failure, what have you done? You've gone back to where you were in control, where you felt like you were good at something. In fact, write this principle down.
This is so true. Spiritual failures tend to drive us back to our comfort and safety zones for hope rather than leading us to repentance and dependence on Jesus. And it's so sad. This is how it works, but it is what do we do? In other words, we get when the going gets tough, we lean back into who we are instead of leaning back into the maker of the universe, the giver of forgiveness and hope, and the one that is in charge of all things Jesus. And we see it here. They're going back. And here's the irony of the text though, that yes, they were struggling in their faith with Jesus, but also, yes, even though they went back to fishing, they're about to struggle in fishing and even catch nothing. Now, listen, you go fishing with me. It happens a lot. Amen. I'm not a pro.
I don't claim to be a pro at fishing. Some of you guys know that 'cause you've been there, right? But these guys were pros. They're pros. They had prepared. They'd got the boat out. They were all confident. And what are they doing? They're running away from the call of Jesus and they're running to their own call and their own comfort zone. And what do they do? They fish all night and they catch nothing. But remember, write this principle down. You can run from Jesus, but you can't hide. You can run from 'em, but you can't hide. What does that mean? That means that Jesus knew exactly what they were doing. Jesus knew exactly what all of them were doing. He was at all places at all times. He knew every move and he was watching it. And in fact, on top of that, it was Jesus that frustrated them and moved the fish away from their nets.
You say, man, that's awfully mean of Jesus. No, no, no. It's not really mean. Why write this? Another quick hint, principle down. Sometimes God permits our failing detours to prove that his path was perfect and his path was loving all the time. That's true. Sometimes God will let you run flat into the wall to show you that his presence was the direction you needed to go. Yep. Or you could say, sometimes God gives us a taste of our own plans to show us that his plans taste so much better. Man, what did they do all night? They caught nothing. Can you imagine the frustration here? Can you imagine these seven guys that grew up fishermen, these seven guys that were professionals, these seven guys that have done it all their lives. That's one thing for me and you to go out and catch nothing, it's kind of normal.
But for these guys, can you imagine the boat that night? They were already frustrated. They were already running from God. They were already a little bit edgy. Fishermen. You know where I'm going in that? You've kind of watched it, right? Captain Sig, anybody out there, right? You've watched deadliest catch These guys are a little bit rough around the edges already, and now all night long, they're not catching a thing. Can you imagine that frustration? Listen, some of you, man, you just got a little bit quiet right now because that's right where your life is right now. You know the frustration they're in. Why? Because you would say, right now you're at the end of your rope. But this is what I want you to do this morning. I just want you to keep reading because the story's not over and the night is about to end, and Jesus wasn't done with them and he's not done with you.
Look at the next person. Verse four, I promise we're gonna get there all here it is. It says, early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize it was Jesus. Now, a couple things here in my mind, Jesus has a big old smile on his face. Not really in the Bible, but in my mind he does. 'cause he knows what he's about to teach him, right? And then also, how many times has this been our lives because of a struggle, a circumstance, some kind of stubborn in our us, in our lives that we just didn't realize it was Jesus? But listen, Jesus is on the shore and he's always on the shore of the life. Verse five. And Jesus called out to them friends. That word friends means children or lads are my favorite. Hey boys, haven't you any fish?
No, they answered just a split second in my mind, Peter's like, I'm about, nope, I'm not gonna do it. It's God, right? You don't say that to a pro, but Jesus does. Why? Because Jesus says obviously up to something. He's obviously set this whole thing up and notice nobody questions the voice. They might not have known who it was when they saw the person, but as soon as they heard the voice, what happens? No one questioned it otherwise they would've dismissed it from the start. Do you know why I think nobody questioned it? Because I think it finally hit them at that moment. Wait a minute, we're at the same spot that that guy called us the first time. We're at the same moment that that guy called us. Do you know what? They're in the same boat. In fact, if you go all the way back to Luke chapter five, and the first time that Jesus calls the disciples, it said that they were in the boat, a definite article.
It is the same, the boat right now that they put up to become fishers of men. Now they've got the boat back out again. And now Jesus is back on the shore and Jesus is at the same place he called them. In fact, let me read it to you. The first calling in Luke chapter five, verse four, it says this, when he, Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch. Verse six, when they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish, their nets began to break. I don't know if you've ever realized this, but it's the same guys. It's at the same place. It's a similar situation. And Jesus, the first time he did this, gave them the fish, gave them the hope, gave them a new me of life, gave them a new calling on their life.
And now when we go all the way to the end in John chapter 21, we see the second calling all the way back around again. It's almost a second restoration. It's almost a second calling. And then look at verse six at what happens. Jesus said, John 21, throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some. When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. You know what? At that very moment, they're like, wait a minute, we've seen this before. Wait a minute, we've experienced this before. We've lived this before. Hurry up, throw the net out there and look when they did, somehow, I don't know how somehow Jesus took those fish that he had in the little holding pond over here, and he directed it right into the net again, again, at the first of their ministry.
At the end of Jesus, when they're running again, Jesus calls them, Jesus blesses them. And listen, church, this is exactly who Jesus is and exactly what Jesus wants to do to us. When we finally realize that it's about him, when we finally submit to him. And the reality is in context, what Jesus is doing here is he is showing the disciples and he is showing us that just as He provided for them, when he physically walked with them, when he was shoulder to shoulder, when he was sleeping on the mat, right beside them now after the resurrection, and now forever and ever and ever and ever and ever, and our lives that he will provide for us the same way. Amen. It's what he's doing in the text and it's incredible. He's there and he's present. He has a plan and he can make it happen for them, and he can make it happen for us.
Here's the principle I wrote down in my notes this week. One moment of fishing with Jesus beats any fruitless, all nighter that I can ever pull off on my own. That's what he does. And church, Jesus wants to do that in you. He wants to make you fishers of men. He wants to take you out of a running posture and he wants to put you into a blessed restored and sent daughter and son of the king. That's Jesus. That's Jesus. It's exactly what he is doing. In fact, watch verse seven. It says this, then the disciples, then the disciple whom Jesus loved. That's John said to Peter, it is the Lord. And as soon as Simon Peter heard him say this, it is the Lord. He wrapped his outer garment around him for he had taken it off and he jumped into the water. Now, this is big.
We're gonna see this next week a little bit more, but Peter has not been in a good place, but now he's back and he gets it. Yeah, there's some soul work that's gonna need to be done. But just imagine Peter Peter's like, Hey, I'm outta here boys. Jesus is here. You're on your own. Take the boat, do what you wanna do. He jumps into the water, he swims to the shore. Now, it's not in the Bible, but I think that as soon as Peter hits the shore, all he does is he falls at the feet of Jesus is what he did in Luke five. I think it's what he did here. I can't back it up, but it's just where I am. But you know what Peter's really shown us for here? He's shown us this principle right here. When God speaks, just jump. Amen.
Just jump. Don't worry about the consequences. Don't worry about anything that follows up. Don't worry if it doesn't make sense in your mind or make sense on your life plan that you wrote out in your five year goals. When the savior of the universe shows up on the shore of life and he gives you a command from this. Just jump and let him handle the rest. In fact, watch what happens. Verse eight, the other disciples followed in the boat towing the net full of fish for they were not far from the shore, about a hundred yards. When they had landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it. I love that. Jesus is like, I got my own fish. Watch this and some bread. Verse 10. Jesus said to them, bring some of the fish that you have just caught. So Simon Peter, he climbed back into the boat and he dragged the net ashore and it was full of large fish, 153 of them.
Do you know why I don't? I just never met a fisherman that don't know how many fish he caught. All right, that's it. But even with so many fish in the net was not torn. And Jesus said to them, come and have breakfast. None of the disciples asked, dared to ask him, who are you for? They knew it was the Lord. And Jesus came and he took the bread and he gave it to them. In the same, did the same with the fish. Now look, that paragraph right there could be a whole morning, but I just wanna focus in on my favorite four words of the whole text. 'cause I think somebody needs to hear this. John 2112, watch it again. It says this, Jesus said to them, come and have breakfast. Wow. Do you know why I love this phrase so much? Because if this was any other person on the planet, there would've been accusation, there would've been hurt, there would've been shaming, and there would've been pain.
But the savior of the universe, the resurrected Lord God, Jesus, pulls up onto the shore. Now watch the love, watch the heart. You can just imagine this moment, and he looks at these boys and says, come and have breakfast with me. Can you imagine what them fish tasted like that morning? Can you imagine in the freshness on the beach with the Savior fully restored? I don't think there's a better image in all of John than there is of Jesus. Not rebuking and not condemning, not looking at them going, I told you to meet me at the mountain, and this is what happens. Not looking at him and saying, you're out here doubting again, or Really, you're going back to fishing after all I've done from you? No, Jesus didn't say any of that. You know what he does? Once again, he lays down his life, he shows his power, and he steps into his love and says, boys, if you just understand it, your life will never be the same.
I'm God. Come on, write this last principle down. When God invites, oh, this is good, just sit down on his feet and say yes, and just watch what he will do. Just watch it, man. I like this. I bet nobody said a word for half of the breakfast, the second breakfast we're gonna see later on tomorrow or next week, but I bet they just sat at Jesus' feet. I bet they wanted to say a lot, right? But they're like, no, no, no, no, no. Just sh. Just love him. Just fall at his feet. And Jesus says, boys, I'm yours and I've done it, and I've conquered it. I've redeemed you. I've given you life. And now all you gotta do is trust me, man. What a moment this is. Do you know why I love this moment so much? Do you know what is so life changing about this event?
It's the same invitation that Jesus is having with us right now. Listen, many of us are in the same spot that the disciples are, just to be honest, right? We're running, we're slipping back into our own ways. Maybe we're doubting, maybe we're just stalling out in our faith, but you know it's incredible. Jesus is the same God yesterday, today, and forever, and the promise that he gives his disciples, the invitation, the extends to these seven on the beach is the same invitation that is there for you today. Let me ask you, do you just need to come back and sit at Jesus's feet? What's stopping you? What's stopping you? The invitation Is there.