A Disciple Communes

This morning we continue to define what a disciple is. We’ve seen that a disciple is chosen and loved by God. Last week we saw that a disciple is to abide in Christ. This morning, we will see from John 21:1-19 that a disciple receives fellowship and forgiveness through communion with Christ. So, what does it look like to commune with Christ, to be a part of his family, to walk with him?

First, from verses 1-14 we see that the communion with Christ looks like dependent fellowship. In verse 1, John tells us of a beautiful experience that he enjoyed with the risen Jesus some time after the first week of his resurrection. We aren’t told when exactly this is, but we can gather from the details that it is likely several weeks after Jesus rose from the dead. We can gather that, for one, because this event takes place on the sea of Galilee (or the “Sea of Tiberias”, as it is called here). Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem, and the Sea of Galilee is 70 miles from there, as the crow flies. So, it would have taken these seven disciples at least a week to walk from Jerusalem to Galilee.

We also have a clue from verse 3. There we are told that Peter decides that it is time to go fishing. Now, some preachers give Peter a hard time, suggesting that he got tired of waiting on the Lord to reveal himself again, gave up on the ministry, and decided to go back to the profession that he knew. It could just simply be that Peter was hungry, he had six friends with him who needed to eat, so he decided get food by a means he knew well – fishing.

This fishing trip serves as the background for two important lessons about fellowship with Christ. First, to have fellowship with Jesus means that we are totally dependent on him for our every need. These disciples were well-trained fishermen who had fished all night and caught nothing. In the first light of dawn they heard a voice call to them from the shore, directing them to cast their nets on the other side, and when they did they brought in full nets that they couldn’t even lift into the boat. This miracle proves so much about Jesus. For one, he is sovereign over nature. Time and again in his ministry, Jesus proved this to be true, whether it was the calming of the storm, walking on water, or directing fish to the right side of the boat. Jesus Christ controls the very matter that makes us. But, he isn’t just sovereign over nature, but sovereign over our circumstances. It is not just that Jesus knew the right place to fish (after all, what is the difference in the width of a boat when catching fish with a net!). Jesus directed a massive school of fish into the nets of his disciples, not just to provide for their needs, but to abundantly bless them. Jesus knew their needs, and he went above and beyond to meet them. As Jesus tells his disciples in Matt. 6:31-33 – “Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’… but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Jesus had proven this time and again, most notably in another famous event that happened on the same shores of this sea, when a great, hungry crowd gathered, and he used five loaves and two fish to feed 5000 men.

So, to have fellowship with Christ is to be dependent on him. Second, to have fellowship with Christ is to dine with him. I love the scene that John sets up in verses 9-14. Upon snagging this huge catch, John recognizes that this stranger on shore is actually their risen master. He announces it to Peter, who impulsively dives in and swims to shore. Once they all make it to shore, Jesus invites them to bring some fish from their haul and add it to the meal he has already started. I’m an outdoorsman who loves to fish and camp, and so the idea of sitting around a fire with my Lord Jesus, grilling some fish, enjoying the warmth of the fire, and telling stories is just perfect to me. There is something beautiful about the fact that Jesus didn’t just provide for them through a miracle, but he caught his own fish, gathered bread, built a fire, and cooked for them, too. Then, he invites them to sit and dine with him. Verse 13 gives us an image that should feel very familiar – Jesus takes the bread, breaks it, and gives it to each of them. In John 6, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and fed 5000. In that same chapter, he said in verse 51, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever.” To have fellowship with Christ is to dine with (and even, to dine on) him. It is not enough to be dependent on Christ for our daily bread, but we must be dependent on him for our eternal life. We must be fed by his word. We must be empowered by his Spirit. We must be encouraged by his church. Life as a disciple of Jesus is not a one time pledge that you make, but a constant feeding on him. It looks like a life of commitment to Sunday worship. It looks like a life of constant prayer in all circumstances.

The second point I want you to see from the text is found in verses 15-19. Here we find that communion with Christ looks like forgiveness. Now, there have been many great sermons preached on the repeated question that Jesus asks Peter, but I want to concentrate on the broader point of what is happening here. As with most stories in the Gospel of John, there is more going on here than just a good fishing story. We have a hint of that in verse 9, as it notes that the disciples saw a “charcoal fire” prepared for them when they came on shore. There is only one other place in all of the NT where this word, “charcoal fire”, is used. In John 18:18 we are told that Peter huddled with others around a charcoal fire during Jesus’ trial, and it is around that charcoal fire that he denied his Lord three times. Oh, can you imagine the lump in Peter’s throat as he came up out of the water, wet and cold, only to see the charcoal burning, smell its smoke, hear its crackle, and be transported by his senses back to the worst moment of his life. Oh the guilt and shame that must have welled up in his heart! I wonder if he could barely stomach the meal as his brothers scarfed it down. I wonder if he waited on Jesus to condemn him and cast him out, thinking surely his master had set up this scene just to bring judgment on him.

But, instead, Jesus looks at him and asks, “Do you love me?” Three different times, he asks the same question, and three different times Peter emphatically declares, “Yes!” After each answer, Jesus doesn’t rebuke or condemn. He gives a simple command: “Feed my sheep.” This whole exercise was a catharsis for Peter. The charcoal fire and the three questions point right back to Peter’s denial, giving Peter the opportunity to repent and reconcile with his Lord. In that reconciliation, Jesus gives him a new charge. Just as Jesus has fed him, and just as Peter is to feed on Christ, so now Peter is to feed others. Do you see the beauty of forgiveness here, Christian?! Your past doesn’t disqualify you as a disciple of Christ. Your guilt and shame don’t disqualify you from ministry. Because of your life in Christ, you have forgiveness in him. As 1 John 2:1 says, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” Jesus is before the throne of God, night and day, advocating for his disciples. Because he is our ever present advocate, we have forgiveness in him. So, we do not live in shame. We live to love and serve others because we have communion with Christ through our dependence and forgiveness in him.