TEACHING NOTES Introduction Over the last few weeks we have been focused on Jesus as our King. King Jesus calls us into His family and intends for us to be His kingdom on earth. As we learned last week, it’s common for people to want a Savior who does things for us. But we are not as fond of Jesus as the King who requires us to do things for Him. If Jesus is our King, we are required to obey the King’s laws and fulfill His mission. Today, we’re going to focus on the King’s mission and our part in it. ‌ In the Beginning… ‌God creates the heavens and earth. ‌God plants a garden in Eden. ‌God breathes life into Adam. ‌God gives Adam a co-helper (Eve). ‌God gives Adam and Eve a co-mission. ‌ Luke 5:1–3 1 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. ‌ To hear the word of God = Notice that a large crowd is not gathered to see miracles, but to learn the Word of God. When we gather with Christ, our desire should be to hear from Him—not to get Him to do what we want. ‌ The Lake of Gennesaret = This body of water is also called the Sea of Galilee and the Sea of Tiberias. This is the same lake where Jesus walks of water. Most of Jesus’ ministry took place around this area. ‌ Luke 5:4–5 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” ‌ Master…at your word I will = Simon (Peter) understood that if Jesus is “Master” then we are required to obey His word. While Peter succeeds at this here, the Gospels show that he often struggled with obedience. ‌ Luke 5:6–7 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. ‌ Their nets were breaking = There are so many large fish that the nets are torn. Hold on to that detail for when we get to John 21. ‌ The boats began to sink = In our efforts to do what Jesus calls us to do, there will be times when the nets are breaking and the boats are sinking. However, in this story they did not lose the fish despite breaking nets and sinking boats. ‌ Luke 5:8–9 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, ‌ Depart from me, I am a sinful man = Peter responds this way because he realizes that he is in the presence of the Divine. When the prophet Isaiah “saw the LORD” he responded with “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips” (Isa. 6:1-5). Isaiah’s experience ends with God giving him a co-mission: Isaiah 6:8 “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.’” ‌ Luke 5:10–11 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be a fisher of men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. ‌ Do not be afraid = In the Gospels, Jesus has to say this multiple times to the disciples. Many things that Jesus did caused the disciples to be afraid because they had never seen such miraculous works. ‌ From now on = In other words, “your life has changed and will never be the same.” These fishermen would no longer fish for fish. This detail will be important when we get to John 21. ‌ Following Jesus is a “from now on” commitment. ‌ Fisher of men = While Peter had been a fisher of fish for most of his life, Jesus gives him a new job—to gather followers of Jesus. Peter’s purpose changes from making money by catching fish to making disciples by catching people. ‌ Fast Forward: Jesus was crucified and the tomb found empty. Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and urges her to tell the others. ‌ John 20:19–20 19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. ‌ Peace be with you = This is the same as saying, “Do not be afraid” (Luke 5:10). ‌ The disciples were glad = This is similar to Luke 5:9 “they were astonished.” ‌ John 20:21–23 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” 22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” ‌ I am sending you = This is John’s version of the Great Commission. The Father sent Jesus and now Jesus is sending His people to reach the world. ‌ He breathed on them = Genesis 2:7 “then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” ‌ Receive the Holy Spirit = In both the Old and New Testaments, the word for breath and spirit are the same word (Heb. ruach; Grk. pneuma). John intends for us to connect this story to Gen. 2:7. The Holy Spirit within us is our source of eternal life (John 6:63; Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 15:45). ‌ If you forgive, they are forgiven = This is a difficult passage to interpret and has led to many misunderstandings in history. This sentence describes the role of a priest. A priest leads people to God and helps them find repentance and forgiveness. However, the priest was not in control of God’s forgiveness. ‌ Jesus is not giving the disciples the ability to control God’s forgiveness. Jesus has given them the mission of proclaiming and teaching God’s forgiveness to the world. When a person hears the message and repents, the disciples can confidently tell them that they have been forgiven by God. If a person hears and does not repent, the disciples can tell them that they are not forgiven. ‌ John 21:1–2 1 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. ‌ Revealed himself = Grk. phaneroo - to make clear, cause to be seen, make known. ‌ Sea of Tiberias = This sea is also called the Sea of Galilee and the Lake of Gennesaret. This is the same location from Luke 5. ‌ The sons of Zebedee = This is James and John (the author). ‌ Note: There are seven disciples present in this story. John’s Gospel uses multiple sets of seven to communication completion or fulfilment. ‌ John 21:3 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. ‌ I am going fishing = Peter is going back to his old life of catching fish. Jesus told them back in Luke 5:10 “from now on you will be fishers of men.” Peter was not supposed to go back to fishing. ‌ We will go with you = The rest of the group does the same as Peter. Often when we go back to our old ways, we tend to take others with us. ‌ That night they caught nothing = This is the same circumstances in Luke 5. They fished all night and they caught nothing (Luke 5:5). ‌ John 21:4–6 4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. ‌ Children = We are supposed to notice that a grown man is calling grown men (Grk. paidia “little children.” Why? Because the disciples are acting like children by not doing what they were told. ‌ Cast the net on the right side = If it wasn’t Jesus saying this, it would seem like a really dumb idea. They caught nothing all night long, so it makes no sense that casting the next 3 or 4 feet in the other direction is going to work. This is similar to Luke 5:4 when Jesus told them to try fishing in deep water. ‌ John 21:7–8 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. 8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. ‌ John 21:9–11 9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. ‌ Charcoal fire = John mentions a charcoal fire only twice in his Gospel. The only other time John mentions a charcoal fire is when Peter denies Jesus three times. If you keep reading you will notice that Jesus is about to restore Peter while sitting around a charcoal fire. ‌ 153 fish = The Bible often uses round numbers or even numbers for such stories. However, this number is exact and is an odd number. This indicates that there is more to this number than meets the eye. John is likely using the ancient practice of Gematria, where each letter represents a number. If you add the numbers of the Hebrew phrase “children of God” it equals 153. This is not a stretch because John plainly tells us to use this technique in Revelation 13:17–18 “17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom: let the one who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666.” ‌ The net was NOT torn = This is a direct contrast from Luke 5:6 “And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.” ‌ Luke tells us that Jesus spent 40 days teaching the disciples after His resurrection (Acts 1:1-3). ‌ Matthew tells us about Jesus’ final appearance. ‌ Matthew 28:16–17 16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. ‌ They saw and worshiped him = In all of the Gospel accounts of the appearances of the resurrected Jesus, there is an emphasis that the disciples “saw” Jesus. In this final appearance, there is also an emphasis on worship. Since the disciples have seen the risen Jesus several times and were taught by Him, now they respond with worship. ‌ Some doubted = Although they had been with the risen Jesus for 40 days, some still had doubts. The Greek word for “doubted” here is edistasan, which means “to be uncertain” or “to waver” or “to be hesitant.” Before we judge these doubting disciples, we should remember that their entire world had just been redefined. Anyone would struggle to understand these events. Additionally, Jesus had told them that discipleship would involve persecution and even death. It would be natural to waver in one’s commitment to such a dangerous calling. What is Jesus going to do with this group of worshiping and doubting disciples?‌ Matthew 28:18–20 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” ‌ All authority in heaven and earth = This is essentially the same as saying, “Peace be with you.” If Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth, we have nothing to fear in this world. Jesus is King and no one can overthrow His rule. ‌ Go = Grk. pereuomai - Literally, “as you are going.” This word is a passive participle in Greek, meaning it functions as a verb and a noun. In other words, as they are going where they will be sent, they are to do the following tasks. ‌ Make disciples = Grk. matheteusate - The English phrase “make disciples” is one verb in Greek meaning “teach” or “make students.” Discipleship is primarily about being taught to live out what is learned. It was not about learning information, but about learning to live out the Gospel. Being a disciple is about learning and obeying Jesus. ‌ All nations = This is not a new mission, but is the fulfilment of God’s original plan for Israel. God chose Abraham to create a nation that would bless all nations (Gen. 12:1-3). Israel was intended to be a kingdom of priests to lead all nations back to their Creator (Ex. 19:5-6). Now Jesus is commissioning His Israelite disciples to fulfill this ancient mission. ‌ Baptizing them = For Israelite men, circumcision was the ritual of entry into the family of God. In the New Covenant, baptism is the ritual of entry into the family of God. Baptism is also connected to the Exodus story when God brought His people out of slavery in Egypt through the Red Sea to the Promised Land. In the same way, God has saved us from slavery to sin and we pass through the waters of Baptism on our way to the new creation. ‌ Teaching them to obey all my commands = Jesus makes it clear that the purpose of teaching is obedience. In the Bible, to listen is to obey and these cannot be separated. The phrase “all my commands” specifically refers to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7), but also includes everything else Jesus taught. If we have no intention to obey Jesus, we need not sign up to follow Jesus. ‌ I am with you always = Just as God was with Adam and Eve in their co-mission, Jesus promised to be with us for our co-mission. Jesus is with us because the Holy Spirit dwells within us. This Spirit is the source of our understanding, guidance, and power. ‌ To the end of the age = The end of the age refers to the return of Christ when He will judge the world, remove all evil, and usher in a new creation. Until the end of the age, we are commanded to gather everyone we can into His kingdom. ‌ Conclusion ‌ Revelation 1:5–6 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. ‌ Are you partnering with Jesus to do His will? ‌If not, what needs to change for you to be committed? ‌