Sermon # 15 - No Turning Back Series

We read in John 21:4, “Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus” (ESV)

They failed to recognize Jesus

It was indeed an unusual situation on the sea shore that day, as the resurrected Jesus stood on the shore, and his own disciples who had been with him for three and half years failed to recognize who He was. They had been with Jesus, walked with Him, ate with Him, saw the wonders and mighty miracles He performed, and yet on that day, they failed to perceive the Lord Jesus as He stood before them.

It may bewilder us as to how this could be possible, but this incident serves as a word of caution to all of us who follow Jesus. If that could happen to Jesus’ disciples who were so close to Him and who saw Him with their physical eyes, such a situation could also befall us, who have not seen Him, and experienced Him as they did.

Here’s a little background to the above mentioned verse; When Peter informed the other disciples that he was going fishing, immediately six other disciples joined the bandwagon, and went along with him. All of a sudden their focus had shifted from Jesus, and turned to fishing so they could fend for themselves. As they toiled all night and caught nothing, they return to shore to find Jesus standing there waiting for them, but they failed to recognize Him.

As long as Jesus was with them for three and half years, every day the disciples woke up with much anticipation to witness the mighty deeds that Jesus would perform each day. These disciples of Jesus were not only eyewitnesses, but were participants of all the amazing miracles that Jesus performed, and yet they had come to this juncture where they forgot their call and could not even recognize the risen Lord Jesus.

For those of us who have decided to follow Jesus and be His disciples, we must be aware that we too will be confronted with situations, wherein we may not be able to see and perceive Jesus, who is the core of our faith.

They chose to go back fishing

We read in John 21:2-3, “Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you."(ESV)

There was nothing wrong with the disciples wanting to go fishing, but the wistful part was that they had given up following Jesus to go after their profession. It was Peter who initiated the move to get back to fishing. As long as Jesus was with them Peter was happy and content, but after he had witnessed the arrest, trial, death and burial of Jesus and he had lost all hope and become totally discouraged though the risen Lord Jesus appeared to them.

Just think about it. We still talk about Peter only because he was a disciple of Jesus. If Peter was just another ordinary fisherman, none of us would have heard about him. Peter received fame, blessings, had his daily needs met, saw miracles and wonders only because He was with Jesus, but unexpectedly everything seemed to have come to an end when Jesus died. That same Peter was the one who gave up everything to follow Jesus, who walked on water, who trusted Jesus and caught a fish which had his tax money in its mouth, who experienced every awesome miracle that Jesus performed, was disheartened and tempted to give up on the Lord, and to go back to where he started.

If we are not watchful, it is possible that we too can backslide like Peter, and the other disciples did. The only way for one to not go astray, is to be rooted and built up firmly on the word of God. We must allow the written word of God, to be deeply embedded in our hearts, which alone helps to grow our faith in the Lord, and keeps us on course.

They did not heed what Jesus’ word

In Matthew 16:21 we read, “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”(ESV)

The disciples of Jesus were clearly instructed by Jesus while He was with them that certain events were bound to happen. He told them that He would go to Jerusalem where He would be tried, arrested, crucified, buried, and would rise again on the third day. Though the disciples heard these oft repeated words of Jesus, they did not pay close attention to listen and take note of what He told them, and probably forgot Jesus’ predictions of what was to come. That is the reason why they thought everything was over when Jesus died, and did not fully understand or comprehend the fact that Jesus would indeed rise again from the dead to be with them forever.