The Third Sunday of Easter

May 4, 2025

John 21:1-14

Because He Lives— We Can See Things Clearly!

1Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way:

2Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.

3″I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

4Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, 5“Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

“No,” they answered.

6He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. 7Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”

As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, 8for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.

9When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, 10“Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, 12“Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. (NIV1984)

Dear fellow worshipers of our living Lord and Savior,

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

A recent survey asked Americans which of their five senses would they least like to lose: hearing, smell, touch, taste or sight. Three-quarters of people chose the sense of sight. That makes sense, doesn’t it. Our sight provides us with visual information about our surroundings. Our sight enables us to appreciate beauty, recognize faces, navigate our environment safely and easily perform daily tasks like getting dressed, cooking, working and playing. Even a partial loss of our ability to see drastically changes our life. Just ask anyone who has developed cataracts or macular degeneration.

Because our sense of sight is so important to us it is very easy for us to “see” why the Scriptures use the picture of spiritual “blindness” to describe someone who does not believe and trust in the risen Christ as their only Lord and Savior. This spiritual blindness can take a variety of forms. Sometimes a person who is spiritually blind is hostile to Christ, to His followers and to His Gospel message. Sometimes a person who is spiritually blind is confused about who Jesus is and what Jesus has done for them. (Pointing to the cross) Sometimes a person who is spiritually blind cannot comprehend their natural spiritual condition— from God’s perspective.

No matter what form spiritual blindness might take Easter has the power to replace it with sight— true spiritual sight. Easter enables us to see where we sinners stand with God. Easter enables us to see the path through life that is worth taking. Easter enables us to see who holds our future in His hands and who is worthy of our worship— both now and in eternity.

As we continue our celebration of Easter let’s see how the Holy Spirit uses these words of the apostle John to focus our hearts on this truth: Because He Lives— We Can See Things Clearly!

On the morning of that first Easter Sunday the risen Christ Himself appeared to the faithful women and said, “Greetings…Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me” (Matthew 28:9-10). While Jesus had clearly told His disciples that He would meet them in Galilee, He did not tell them when. And so after the risen Christ appeared to His disciples in that locked room, after the risen Christ had appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and after the risen Christ appeared to Thomas and the other disciples one week after Easter, what did Jesus’ disciples do? They went to Galilee— and they waited. They were waiting for the risen Christ to give them further instructions as to how they were to carry out the work He had given to them to do.

While we’re not told how long the disciples were waiting for Jesus in Galilee, John does tell us that after a while Peter decides to use this time of waiting as wisely as he could. John writes, “’I’m going out to fish,’ Simon Peter told them, and they said, ‘We’ll go with you.’ So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.”

Peter’s decision to go fishing certainly doesn’t surprise us. Most of these men were fishermen by trade— and fishermen fish! What does surprise us is that based on their experience as professional fishermen they chose the best time to go fishing (which was at night), but as John tells us, “But that night they caught nothing.” Those simple words prepare us for what happens next. Look at verses four to thirteen of our text. John tells us, “Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. He called out to them, ‘Friends, haven’t you any fish?’ ‘No,’ they answered. He said, ‘Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.’ When they did this, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, ‘It is the Lord,’ he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’ Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have breakfast.’ None of the disciples dared ask him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.”

Did you catch all the miracles contained in these verses? I see at least four! The first miracle is found in Jesus’ words, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” The fact that Jesus calls the disciples His “friends” is significant— especially in the light of Good Friday and Easter Sunday! All of these disciples had deserted Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Peter had denied even knowing who Jesus was— three times! Instead of standing outside of Jesus’ tomb on the third day anxiously waiting for Him to victoriously step out of that tomb— as He promised He would!— they were hiding in fear. Why? “They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead” (John 20:9). And yet, in spite of all that, Jesus calls them His “friends.”

Think about what that means for you and for me. Even though there have been times when we have deserted Jesus, even though there have been times when we have denied Jesus, even though there have been times when we have allowed fear to overwhelm us— because we did not trust in what Jesus has revealed to us in His Word— because He lives (Pointing to the cross) we are able to see Jesus with His arms open wide and calling out to us, “Friends.” That’s one of the glorious miracles that Easter guarantees us! No matter what we have done, the gift of faith that God has created in our hearts guarantees to us that we are ”friends” of our living Lord and Savior!

The second miracle I see in these passages centers on the miraculous catch of fish— 153 to be exact! Does that remind you of another miracle that Jesus performed for His disciples? It reminds me of when Jesus first called some of these men to be His disciples. In Luke chapter five we’re told that Jesus was standing on the shore of the Sea of Galilee teaching the Word of God to a large group of people. Eventually He got into Simon Peter’ boat and asked him to put out a little from the shore. After Jesus was done teaching the people He told Peter to go out into deeper water and let down his net for a catch. What was Peter’s response? He said to Jesus, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught a thing. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” You know what happened next. They caught such a large number of fish that not only Peter’s boat but the boat of his fishing partners, James and John, all began to sink! Now what was Peter’s reaction? We’re told, “He fell to his knees and said, ‘Go away from me Lord; I am a sinful man.’” This is when Jesus said to Peter and to the others, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men” (Luke 5:1ff).

Here in our text we have a very similar miracle— a miracle that undoubtedly reminded Jesus’ disciples of that first miraculous catch of fish! But the miracle that was even greater than that great catch of fish was the miracle of Peter’s reaction! Instead of saying, “Go away from me Lord; I am a sinful man,” Peter couldn’t wait for the boat to eventually get back to shore! He jumped into the water and swam to Jesus as fast as he could!

Why the two different reactions? What changed? Certainly Peter’s awareness of his own sinfulness had not changed. If anything Peter’s three-fold denial of Jesus made him even more aware of how sinful and how weak he was! What changed, my friends, was Peter’s ability to see— clearly! Now Peter could see clearly that Jesus’ mission here on this earth was to suffer and die to pay for all the sins of all people— including all of Peter’s sins! Now Peter could see clearly that because Jesus kept His promise and rose to life on the third day His resurrection guarantees that Jesus’ mission was a success!

Is it any different for you and for me? Not at all! We know from personal experience why our Savior says, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false teachings, slander” (Matthew 15:19). We hear God’s powerful Law proclaim to us, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). But by the grace of God we also know that because He lives (Pointing to the cross) the cross on Calvary’s hill and the empty grave in the garden are God’s proof to us that all of our sins have been completely forgiven! By the grace of God we know that because He lives (Pointing to the cross) we have the guarantee that we have been “Declared: Not Guilty!” by the living God Himself! Because He lives (Pointing to the cross) we know that when it is our turn to stand before the judgment throne of the Almighty we have nothing to fear! Why? Because He lives we have the unshakable confidence of knowing that “we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense— Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1). That is a miracle that we never want to underestimate!

The third miracle that I see here in this text centers on what some people call “Table Fellowship.” When Jesus said to His disciples, “Come and have breakfast” He was not only showing concern for their physical well-being (remember, they just spent the entire night fishing and didn’t catch anything!), but He was especially showing concern for their spiritual well-being. These men would be among the first to go out into all the world and proclaim the message of a crucified and risen Savior! As they went from town to town, from village to village, from city to city they could share the message of the Gospel with the confidence of telling people, “We saw the risen Christ with our own two eyes! We walked with Him and we talked with Him! We even ate with Him!”

While Jesus does not say to us, “Come and have breakfast,” He does say to us, “Come, take and eat. This is My Body given for you for the forgiveness of your sins. Come, take and drink. This is my Blood poured out for you for the forgiveness of your sins.” Every time we approach the Lord’s altar to receive the Lord’s Supper we do so with the confidence of knowing that because He lives (Pointing to the cross) we see even more clearly how His life and His death and His resurrection apply to us on a very personal level. The same truth applies every time we bring a little baby to be baptized in the Name of the Trine God. Because He lives (Pointing to the cross) we have the confidence of knowing that through this precious Sacrament that little baby is washed clean of all their sins, given the gift of saving faith in their heart, and adopted as a dearly beloved child of the one and only living God! Yes, my friends. We need to see both the Sacrament of Holy Baptism and the Sacrament of Holy Communion as precious miracles that our living Lord and Savior has graciously given to us!

The final miracle that John places before us this morning is found in the closing verse of our text, “This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.” Could Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead be a hoax? Could Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead be an hallucination, that is, the disciples were so overwhelmed by grief that they thought that Jesus was alive again? Absolutely not! The Scriptures make it very clear that Jesus physically rose from the dead! In 1 Corinthians 15 the apostle Paul lists six different occasions when the risen Christ appeared to various people during the forty days between His resurrection and His ascension into heaven. Easter is indeed a miracle— a miracle that deserves to be celebrated each and every day!

What does this mean for you and for me? It means that because He lives (Pointing to the cross), we can see things clearly! What are some of the “things” that Jesus’ resurrection enables us to see clearly? Think about it. Because He lives we can see that we don’t need to be afraid of death. Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead guarantees our own physical resurrection from the dead. Because He lives we can see that no matter what may or may not happen to us here on this earth, no matter what we may or may not have we are victorious because He is victorious! Because He lives we can see that our purpose in life is to joyfully share with others the glorious message of what Jesus has done for them. Because He lives we are able to see that as His children we have the privilege of being His eyes and His ears and His hands as we strive to show our love for Jesus by “loving our neighbors as ourselves.”

With all due respect to those who are afflicted with cataracts or with macular degeneration, we need to remember that spiritual sight is eternally more important than physical sight. The continuing glory of Easter Sunday is what gives us spiritual sight. The continuing glory of Easter Sunday enables us to say with all confidence:

He is risen! He is risen indeed!

To God be the glory!

Amen