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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends;
Yesterday our study of John 21 concluded as Jesus and Peter strolled down the beach together in conversation. John followed at a distance, close enough to see them well, but far enough back to provide them respectful privacy. As you perhaps noticed, John does not tell us any more about that remarkable morning. We don’t know if Jesus returned to the disciples still sitting where they ate breakfast with Him. We don’t know if Jesus simply disappeared, as He had done when having a meal with the two in Emmaus (Luke 24:31). We don’t know if Jesus made rendezvous plans with them for another day/time they’d meet?
John leaves us pondering the more important details of that miraculous morning… what Jesus did and said. His very generous miracle of a huge catch of fish, which would feed their families and have plenty over to sell that morning. Does God know your need today my friend? Jesus’ kindness in providing a fresh, hot, nourishing breakfast after they’d worked all night. Does God even know your desires today?
Jesus’ love and forgiveness extended to Peter as He restored Peter to significant roles with the people who would believe in Jesus. Is God loving and forgiving and does He desire to show His majesty to our world THROUGH you and me as He works in our lives? And there was so much more which John doesn’t tell us about, but which undoubtedly shaped the future of their lives for all 7 of those disciples who experienced that John 21 morning with resurrected Jesus. It’s not difficult for us to imagine how they each recounted their experience in years to come, is it?
I assume the next several days for all of them were fairly ‘normal’ days filled with both the practical activities of life, like chores around their homes, fishing to provide food for their families, and lots of conversations with people who seemed to have no end to their questions about Jesus. And who better to ask then these men and women who had spent many months with Him and knew Him best.
My friends, may I ask us all this important question: as the people in your circle of relationships find they have spiritual questions or specifically, questions about Jesus, are you someone they come to with those questions? Do the people who know you assume that you spend significant time with God’s Word and with Jesus?
As you can perhaps tell, I’m fascinated by the very special relationship John and Jesus had and for that reason today, I’d like us to look again at the five times they had such a very special experience that as John reported it, rather than identifying himself by name, he used the phrase “the disciple Jesus loved.” Why? John is the only writer who tells us Jesus said “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but will have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Clearly John was deeply impacted, his life was changed, by the LOVE of God shown to him through Jesus. How much have you recognized, appreciated, received and allowed God’s love to change your life, my friends?
Each of these five events for John and Jesus occur within a time frame of about 3 weeks or so. Let’s sit with John this morning, as he recounts each of them for us, and try to understand a little more about this unusual relationship he had with Jesus.
♦ John 13:23. The scene is the Passover meal, Thursday evening in the upper room in Jerusalem. Luke tells us John and Peter had been sent by Jesus to find the right room where they could all meet, and make the necessary preparations. (Luke 22:8) Why did Jesus entrust this important task to these two men? It appears either they forgot one important detail, or the person they made arrangements with missed it.
There was no one at the door with towel and basin, to wash their dirty feet when they all arrived that evening. And you’ll remember, that provided Jesus the opportunity to teach them an important lesson about humility and serving each other. It also provided Jesus the chance to prove the purity of His self-sacrificing love, as He washed the feet of a boastful Peter who would later deny Jesus three times, and also the feet of the man who within hours, would betray Jesus to the angry mob, Judas.
As the men are sitting around the table with Jesus having supper, He talked with them about many things. Oh it must have been a wonderful evening…until suddenly, almost mid-sentence, everything changed. John notices a deeply troubling look on Jesus face as though He was thinking about something terrible. And John records that Jesus said “I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray Me.” (John 13:21) The men were stunned.
Peter was moved to ask the question on everyone’s mind…but not courageous enough to ask Jesus directly, so he asked John to ask Jesus. Why did Peter ask John? John was sitting right next to Jesus, as he often did…Why? John writes “One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to Him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said ‘ask Him which one He means’. Leaning back against Jesus, he asked Him, ‘Lord, who is it?’ (John 13:21-25)
It was perhaps the most intense, anxious moment for the disciples in the entire many months they’d been with Jesus. But only one of the disciples had a relationship with Jesus which was close enough and trusting enough to ask the question without fear. Why? John didn’t just ask the question, he says he leaned back on Jesus to ask it. What does that tell you about the trust John had in Jesus and the relationship they had?
♦ John 19:26 The next time John refers to himself as ‘the disciple Jesus loved”. It was about 18 hours later, crucifixion Friday. Only John had followed Jesus through the night to His trials and His beatings...why? All the others had fled into the night. We presume John had been in the crowd, maybe walking with Mary, Jesus’ mother, as Jesus carried His cross through the streets of Jerusalem toward Golgotha hill, that Friday morning. Only John, of all the disciples, was there watching, as the soldiers drove the nails in Jesus’ hands and feet…why? And John tells us that he stood at the foot of Jesus’ cross, with Mary His mother and Mary Magdalene, watching Jesus slowly die on that cross...why?
Put yourself there for a moment. What do you hear? People jeering, insulting, laughing at Jesus? Do you hear people pointing at John and mocking him, maybe even mocking Mary? Crucifixion was humiliating both for the one on the cross, and for their friends and family who were courageous enough to be seen standing nearby in their grief. By the way, have you noticed there is no Biblical mention of anyone standing at the foot of the crosses of the two criminals who were crucified at the same time as Jesus?
John records it this way: “Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother…and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son.’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on this disciple took her into his home.” (John 19:25-27)
It was a moment none of them would ever forget, and it would change their lives. So I ask you, my ‘walking with Jesus’ friends, why was only John at the cross? Why not any of the other disciples? Why was it to John that Jesus entrusted the care of His mother? What does this poignant moment tell us about the special relationship between John and Jesus? What would it mean to both Mary and John, for John to assume responsibility for her and take her into his home? How do you imagine this very close relationship between them, affected John for the rest of his life? Can you imagine the insight he gained, the stories he heard about Jesus, from Mary, that no one else ever heard?
♦ John 20:2 is the third time John uses this phrase “the disciple Jesus loved”, in referring to himself. John had remained at the cross until Jesus had died, and two men, Joseph and Nicodemus had come and removed Jesus’ dead body from the cross. John had led grieving Mary from the cross, as they followed the two men who carried Jesus’ body to a nearby new tomb cave, and watched the men place Jesus’ body there, and roll a large stone in front of the cave. Only then did John take Mary ‘home’ to the place they were staying in Jerusalem during this Passover week.
On Sunday morning John was awakened by a frightened Mary Magdalene who gave him some startling news: “So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know where they have put Him. So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running…”
It doesn’t surprise us that Mary came to John with that shocking news does it? But are you a little surprised that Simon Peter is there with John? Remember Peter had denied Jesus three times and run into the night overwhelmed with shame, while John had remained faithful to Jesus all the way to the tomb!
What does it tell you about John that Peter had come back to John and evidently John had received him back as a friend? Can you imagine the conversations they must have had about Peter’s denials and what John had continued to see that night as he followed Jesus to the trials and beatings, and then stood at His cross? What a wonderful testimony of John’s tender heart and willingness to forgive and restore relationships, that Peter and John were together that morning, and ran to the tomb, and were the first disciples to look into the empty tomb and see the burial cloths, the first evidence of Jesus’ resurrection.
Do you notice John made a special note that as he and Peter ran to the tomb, he “…outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there, but he did not go in.” (John 20:4,5) Why not? What does that tell you about the respect John had for this special place where he had watched them place Jesus’ dead body? Obviously something dramatic had happened here! The huge stone which required at least two men to put in place was rolled back. Jesus’ body was gone, but not the burial cloths. Can you see John standing at the entrance looking in, pondering, but out of respect very cautious about entering where something sacred and miraculous has taken place? Why did John have such reverence, while Peter simply barged right in upon his arrival?
♦ John 21:7 The fourth and fifth times that John referred to himself as ‘the disciple Jesus loved’ are part of the story we’ve looked at the last few days in John chapter 21. It had been probably about 3 weeks or more since that resurrection morning. John had seen the resurrected Jesus that Easter Sunday evening, and again one week later when Thomas was with them…but not since then.
Why was it ONLY John who recognized the lone figure standing on the shoreline who had given them instructions to throw the net on the right side of the boat that early morning? Was it His voice, was it the sudden fluttering of fish in the water? (John 21:7) Why did John turn away from the miracle of six men pulling in a net full of fish, and simply stare over the side of the boat at the man on the shoreline? John was just as much a passionate fisherman as his brother James, and the brothers Andrew & Peter. And why did John simply say to Peter “It is the Lord!” as I presume he pointed to the shoreline? Why did he not jump in the water as Peter did?
I’ve often wondered, did John sit next to Jesus on the beach, while they ate the Jesus prepared breakfast, in the same way he had put himself next to Jesus at the upper room table? May I share a personal picture from more than 20 years ago, of my father and I enjoying fish cooked on the shoreline way up in Canada? We’d taken a memorable fishing trip with a dear friend named Chuck. Whenever I look at the picture I think of the shoreline breakfast Jesus had with His friends that morning.
♦ John 21:20 The final time John refers to himself as “the disciple Jesus loved” is after breakfast on the beach, that miracle morning. Jesus had invited Peter to ‘Follow Me’ and they’d gotten up from breakfast and begun walking down the shoreline, just the two of them, engaged in a special, personal conversation. John had not been invited, yet he also got up and followed them, from a respectful distance, so as to not interfere with their conversation but also close enough to keep his eye on Jesus. WHY? There is no mention of Jesus saying anything to John, as He spoke to Peter. But Peter was inquisitive about John, wondering what future plans Jesus had for John. Jesus’ response to Peter was in my paraphrase…“Peter, don’t worry about John and Me, I am inviting YOU to follow ME. Let’s you and Me build a very special relationship over these next years.”
I think John was following them because his deep desire was to be as close to Jesus as he possibly could, all the time. Why? Because Jesus was Immanuel, ‘God with us’, and John had become captivated by God’s love for him, just a normal, everyday fisherman. John was changing as a man, because of his time with Jesus. Are you and I, my friends? What difference is your time ‘Walking with Jesus” everyday making in your life?
Oh Lord Jesus, thank You for the picture You’ve given us of the picture of the special relationship You and John had. Oh we long for the same…
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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