Finding Our Place (2 of 5)
John 21:1-22
Tony R. Nester
This morning we have another Scripture that helps us
see what it means to follow the Risen Lord. It's the
last story recorded about Jesus and the disciples in
the Gospel of John. The story is about what appears to
be a fishing trip that ends in failure. But Jesus
changes all that. We begin with John, Chapter 21,
verses 1-3. (see reference)
The disciples mistakenly thought their lives could
back to normal after that first Easter. Peter, along
with several others of the disciples, had been
fishermen before Jesus won them over as his followers.
Now, Peter announces that it's time to go fishing, and
several of the disciples agreed to join him. But
although they cast their nets through the night they
caught nothing.
God was teaching them an important lesson. They
weren't meant to go back to their old routines. That
might have worked had Jesus not been raised from the
dead. But Jesus was risen. He had appeared to he
disciples and revealed himself to them as the Risen
Lord. Now there was no going back to their pre-Easter
lives. Easter people have crossed over into a new
life.
The Methodist missionary E. Stanley Jones, in his
autobiography, A Song of Ascents, tells of an African
who changed his name to "After" immediately following
his conversion. He reasoned that all things were new
and different and important after he met Christ, so he
was going to reflect that new reality in his name as
well as in his thinking. Easter is what makes us
"After" Christians. "After" Easter, nothing in life
is ever the same again. (1).
This isn't easy for us to grasp. It's true that some
people come to faith in Christ and their life is so
changed that everyone can see it. But many others do
not have such a dramatic change. They have come to
faith in Christ but they have the same personality and
are living in the same circumstances and have to cope
with ...
John 21:1-22
Tony R. Nester
This morning we have another Scripture that helps us
see what it means to follow the Risen Lord. It's the
last story recorded about Jesus and the disciples in
the Gospel of John. The story is about what appears to
be a fishing trip that ends in failure. But Jesus
changes all that. We begin with John, Chapter 21,
verses 1-3. (see reference)
The disciples mistakenly thought their lives could
back to normal after that first Easter. Peter, along
with several others of the disciples, had been
fishermen before Jesus won them over as his followers.
Now, Peter announces that it's time to go fishing, and
several of the disciples agreed to join him. But
although they cast their nets through the night they
caught nothing.
God was teaching them an important lesson. They
weren't meant to go back to their old routines. That
might have worked had Jesus not been raised from the
dead. But Jesus was risen. He had appeared to he
disciples and revealed himself to them as the Risen
Lord. Now there was no going back to their pre-Easter
lives. Easter people have crossed over into a new
life.
The Methodist missionary E. Stanley Jones, in his
autobiography, A Song of Ascents, tells of an African
who changed his name to "After" immediately following
his conversion. He reasoned that all things were new
and different and important after he met Christ, so he
was going to reflect that new reality in his name as
well as in his thinking. Easter is what makes us
"After" Christians. "After" Easter, nothing in life
is ever the same again. (1).
This isn't easy for us to grasp. It's true that some
people come to faith in Christ and their life is so
changed that everyone can see it. But many others do
not have such a dramatic change. They have come to
faith in Christ but they have the same personality and
are living in the same circumstances and have to cope
with ...
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