Look Who’s Here!
Aim: To show how the Risen Lord is there in times of our need.
Text: John 21:1-19
Introduction: Two weeks have passed by since the resurrection. Jesus has appeared unto His disciple twice, and now they have been sitting around waiting for something to happen and nothings happening. For some people that amounts to torture. Some folks always have to be doing, some folks always have to be in the thick of things. The apostle Peter was that way. Weary of waiting he announces to his fellow disciple “I go a fishing.” And you know what in all seven of them did just that, Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, James, John and two others, possibly Andrew and Philip.
It seems that Peter had become thoroughly disconsolate and very restless, and that’s why he said to the other six disciples, “ Look here, I can’t idle any longer, I’m going to get the old boat out?” Was Peter going back to his old trade? Or was it by now perhaps that by now their slender resources were nearly gone, and Peter thinking that it was an ideal night for fishing, said, “ I’m going to get the old boat out.” This man who had been appointed by the Lord Jesus to be a fisher of men went back to being a fisherman. ( Lk 5:10 ) So they went fishing. It says, “ they entered into a ship,” but it is really, the old boat …. that’s the implication, the old boat, Peter’s boat. It was a poor show! They went over the waters of Galilee all night long and they took absolutely nothing. “But when the morning was come Jesus stood on the shore.” It’s always morning when Jesus stands on the shore.
Just over a hundred yards away from the shore, in the dim light of the breaking day, they discerned a figure on the beach, and a voice came across the water, “Have you any meat … What did you catch… boys, any food?” Often people would come down early to the seashore to buy fish for the markets when the boats were coming in. The disciples did not waste many words on this stranger. Each heart knew its own bitterness. They were pretty irritable and disgruntled. “ No.” Then the voice came again from the beach, “cast the net on the right side ….,” ( 21:6 ) Immediately, it tugged and strained and there was a record haul of fish for them. Then John looking at the figure on the beach grabs Peter by the arm and says, “ Look who is here, it is the Lord.” Well, John had beaten Peter to the grave on resurrection morning, but Peter is determined that John shall not reach the Lord first this time, so he throws himself into the lake and starts swimming toward shore. By that act, he is saying, “John, you and the rest can have all the fish. I have lost all interest in them, I want to get to the Lord just as fast as I possibly can.” So the rest of the men brought in the ship with its load.
Tonight I want to speak to you on the subject, “ Look Who is Here.”
Those words usually express or signify surprise. They are usually followed with the words, “I never expected to see you,” or “ I can’t believe it is you.” Surely that’s how John and Peter must have felt that morning? “Look Who is Here, It is the Lord.”
I wonder do we see the Lord in the circumstances of our lives?
I. When We Are Suffering, Look Who’s Here!
A. Come with me to Daniel 3:1-23.
1. We know this story all too well, and what a lesson in ciath and courage it is to us.
2. But let us understand the fire was very real to them!
3. Although we read the word of S, M & A as being boldly spoken, I do not think we should underestimate the apprehension and the fear that must have been in their hearts when they spoke first with the king, and then were clothed and bound ready for the burning.
4. These men anticipated suffering – they were prepared for it, they hoped God might spare them, but they were ready to be martyred if necessary.
a. They said, “If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, (they anticipated the possibility of burning) be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
B. We can only begin to imagine their terror as the bellows fanned the flame, and the heat became increasingly intense.
1. Then they are led up to be thrown in, but… look who’s here!
2. Verses 24-25.
a. Did not the Lord say to Judah, “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” (Isa 43:1-2)
3. Fire is emblematic of suffering, of trial and of pain
C. Well, what about our suffering?
1. Well, look who’s here… The one who walked with the three Hebrew children in the fire.
2. Didn’t He promise never to leave us nor forsake us?
3. Doesn’t He know when we are persecuted or afflicted or in despair?
4. When the people at Smyrna were suffering for their faith, didi not the Lord Jesus realy by the pen of the apostle John His knowledge of their situation: “I know they works, and tribulation and poverty …”
5. Look who’s here! Look who it is. Look who is with us in our suffering, but not only that:
II. When We Are Sorrowing, Look Who’s Here!
A. See John 11:30-35
1. Here is the shortest verse in our Bible – vs 35 – just two words, just nine letters, but oh what those words must have meant to Mary and Martha.
2. To see the Saviour standing by their side in a time of grief, to realise His great heart was beating in tune with their, to know that He felt their pain!
a. Jesus wept!
b. What a comfort to Mary and Martha, but what about us, what about our sorrowing, well:
B. Look who’s here, the One who wept at the grave of Lazarus!
1. Is He not described as a man of sorrows acquainted with grief?
2. Did not Isaiah say of Him, “Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.
3. Illus: Frank Graeff was a Methodist pastor, who wrote some 200 hymn texts. He was known as the “Sunshine Minister,” for his optimistic attitude and his sunny disposition. But you know even the brightest of souls goes through the darkest of days, and there came a time in Graeff’s life when trial after trial tested his faith, and burden upon burden was laid upon his shoulders, a time of great despondency, doubt and physical pain.
4. Who cares when my heart is bowed down with grief? Well Peter says we are to be “casting all our care upon Him, for He careth for you.” And the Lord showing that verse to Frank Graeff he sat down and penned the following words:
Does Jesus care when I’ve said “goodbye”
To the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks,
Is it aught to Him? Does He see?
Oh yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Saviour cares.
C. Are you sorrowing…? Well, look who’s here!
1. He is here when we are suffering, he is here when we are sorrowing and:
III. When We Are Sad, Look Who’s Here!
A. Do you ever feel sad? Do you ever feel like crying? Perhaps for no particular reason?
1. Turn with me now to Luke 24:13-17.
2. Who is with me when I am sad? The same Risen Lord who walked with the two on the road to Emmaus.
B. I want you to know that when we feel sad, Jesus is there.
1. John 16:5-7 cf. 14:16-18
2. Who is with is when our spirit’s are low, who is there when we live life under a cloud? Who is there in times of darkness and depression? Jesus is.
3. Do you ever feel overwhelmed?
4. Look with me in Psalm 42
a. Look at how David felt.
b. His heart told him God had forsaken him, he was downcast, and disquieted (troubled within), he felt wave after wave of depression roll over him (vs 7), he felt forgotten, and sad (mourning)
c. Yet look how he dealt with it.
a. He made His way to the place of worship – vs 4
b. He hoped in the Lord – vs 5 and praised Him.
c. He believed in God’s loving kindness.
d. He sang unto the Lord and prayed unto Him, especially in the night – vs 8
e. He saw God as hois ultimate help and resource – vs 11.
5. Effectively David said, “I feel down, “ I feel dispirited… but, look who’s here!”
C. He is here when we are suffering, He’s here when we are sorrowing, He’s here when we are sad, and:
IV. When We Are Stranded Look Who’s Here
A. Look with me now at Revelation 1:9
1. It must have been very hard for John, the "apostle that Jesus loved,"), who was given the responsibility of caring for Mary the mother of Jesus Christ for the rest of her life after the Jesus’ Crucifixion and who wrote the Gospel of John (John 21:24), to find himself exiled on the island Patmos. There, he had one more important job to do.
2. Patmos is today part of Greece, located in The Aegean Sea near the west coast of Turkey.
3. The Romans used Patmos, as a place for political or religious prisoners
a. It was the Guantanamo Bay of its day.
b. Here prisoners were afforded few luxuries and no legal rights
4. John was sent to Patmos in the year 95 by the Roman emperor Domitian which would have made him over 90 years old at the time.
a. He was the last surviving apostle, and the only one to make it to old age, all the rest being martyred.
b. My guess is John missed those guys. He missed the camaraderie. He missed being part of a band of brother… but look who’s here – Rev 1:10-11.
B. The Bible portrays old age as a time of loneliness for many.
1. In fact it was Moses, who lived to be 120 that wrote, “For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”
2. Many an elderly person, perhaps even some that you know sitting nursing homes the length and breadth of this land, staring out at the same scene, from the same bedroom window, feeling stranded and alone.
3. Of course you do not have to be elderly to feel that way – many people experience loneliness, and a sense of abandonment.
(i) The National Insurance Council reported that the most lonely groups of people in society are divorced people, people on benefits, single mothers, college students, housewives, as well as the elderly
(ii) To point out how lonely people can be, Charles Swindoll mentioned an ad in a Kansas newspaper. It read, “I will listen to you talk for 30 minutes without comment for $5.00.” Swindoll said, “Sounds like a hoax, doesn’t it? But the person was serious. Did anybody call? You bet. It wasn’t long before this individual was receiving 10 to 20 calls a day. The pain of loneliness was so sharp that some were willing to try anything for a half hour of companionship”
4. Some people might as well be sitting on some remote island for all the amount of meaningful human contact they have.
5. Maybe that is how you feel… but look who’s here!
(i) The same one who strengthened John on the island of Patmos
(ii) You see, like John we may discover that loneliness can be a perfect opportunity for us to hear the voice of God.
(iii) When Paul was tried for his life before Nero he felt stranded and forsaken – no one came to his aid, no one offered a word in his favour, but look what he says – 2 Tim 4:16-17a
D. He is here when we are suffering, He’s here when we are sorrowing, He’s here when we are sad He is there when we are stranded, and:
V. When We Are Selfish Look Who’s Here
A. Which brings us full circle – back to Peter.
1. Peter said, “I go a fishing.”
2. To the untrained ear that sounds no more than a statement of intent, but when you read John 21 in its entirety you will appreciate that that was a decision to go back. That’s what the word “go” means. Peter said “That’s it, I quit, I’m finished hanging around, I’m going back to fishing.”
3. This is Peter, the disciple who walked on water, the man who sliced off the high priest’s servant ear, the one who avowed undying love for Christ, and he’s going back to what he used to do, he’s walking out on Jesus.
a. Essentially he’s decided it’s time for “me time” to do what I want to do.
B. And do you know what? A lot of Christians do what Peter did.
1. They get tired of the Christian life, they get worn by the daily grind, they get weary because of the way, and they think that by going back they will satisfy the longings in their life.
a. In a word it’s selfishness.
2. The old evangelist Billy Sunday said “When a man, after starting as a Christian looks back, it only a question of time before he goes back.”
3. Jesus put it differently He said “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
a. But look who’s here – Psalm 139:7-10
Conclusion: When we are Suffering, look Who is in our Furnace! The One who walked with the three Hebrew children in the fire (Dan 3:25) When we are Sorrowing, look Who is at our Grave! The One who wept at the grave of Lazarus. (11:35) When we are Sad, look Who is on our Road, the same Risen Lord who walked with the two on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:17) When we are Stranded look Who is our Island, the same Own who strengthened John on the island of Patmos. (Rev 1:9) And when we are Selfish look who is on our Shore!
Look who’s here!
