John 20:28-21:25
Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way:
Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.
"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.
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, 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. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
Pick up a children’s book and often times it will begin with these words… “Once upon a time…”
Flip the pages over to the end of the book, and you will find often find these words… “And they lived happily ever after.”
And in between those two phrases, there will be a wonderful story of a prince or a princess, or dragons, or whatever.
And as children, we were always satisfied with that last line at the end of the book, “and they lived happily ever after.”
And that’s final!
That’s the end of the book.
Perfect ending.
We love satisfying endings – be it a book, a movie, or a Gospel.
We have been working through the Gospel of John for several weeks and now we come to today – our last look at John’s Gospel in this study.
John comes to a wonderfully satisfying ending.
He closes chapter 20 with these words…
John 20:29-31
29 Then Jesus told (Thomas), "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
30 Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.
31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
(NIV)
That’s final.
The last word.
The perfect ending.
The Gospel has been told, and it was written so that “you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
Period.
What a perfect ending! What else could John possibly say that could be more important than this?
But wait.
John gives us that ending in chapter 20.
There are 21 chapters in this Gospel.
John gives us a wonderful ending in chapter 20, but something compels him to add one more chapter.
So perfect is the ending in chapter 20 that some scholars want to believe that chapter 21 is a sequel that John added later. They think of chapter 21 as part of the 2nd edition of the book, the revised version, or as a sequel.
I guess this is the mindset we have in the 21st Century culture -- we love sequels.
We don’t like to see a book that ends, “And they lived happily ever after.”
We want to know, how did they live happily. What were they doing. Where did they go?
I guess it is because we live in the age of Hollywood movies, and in the movies, if there is a good story, in one or two years, there will be a sequel.
Jaws.
Jaws 2.
Jaws 3-D – admittedly, not a high mark in movie history.
Star Trek! The 10th movie comes out this December.
James Bond. I’ve lost count of the movies. In fact, I’ve lost count of the actors who have played James Bond.
John completes his Gospel. He comes to this perfect ending about why he wrote this book – so that those of us who cannot see Jesus might come to believe and in believing, have life.
But before he can put his pen down and say, “that’s final,” he has to add one more thing.
Why would John add anything to such a perfect ending?
Before we ask and answer that question, let’s take another look at that perfect ending.
What is it that makes that first ending, such a perfect ending?
All of chapter 20 is about how people come to believe in the Resurrected Christ. Earlier, Jesus has been arrested, crucified and buried.
Now, we as Christians know that cannot be the final word. That’s no ending, just to leave Jesus in the tomb.
We know where the story is going – it’s leading us to the Resurrection.
And chapter 20 opens with the discovery of the Resurrection.
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.”
Mary goes to the cemetery and sees the grave is opened, but that is as far as she goes.
Peter and another disciple race to the tomb, and we get the feeling that the “other disciple” is John – and he gets there before Peter. Like Mary, he goes to the cemetery, but goes a little further. He looks in the tomb and sees the grave cloths. But that is as far as he goes.
Peter goes to the cemetery, like Mary. Peter looks inside, like John. But he goes inside the empty grave and looks around. He believes that Mary was correct when she has told him earlier that the tomb was empty, but that is as far as he goes. He hasn’t yet understood the Resurrection. He just knows something has happened.
Then Mary has an encounter with the Risen Lord. That is when the belief in the Resurrection begins to take place.
Seeing the cemetery is not enough.
Seeing the empty tomb is not enough.
It takes an encounter with the Risen Christ to accept the Resurrection.
Later, when the disciples tell Thomas “We have seen the Lord,” his reply is, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”
Only when Thomas sees the Risen Christ does he believe.
But John is writing his Gospel long after the Resurrection. Christ has Ascended into heaven.
How will people come to believe in Christ without actually seeing Christ?
Basically the same way as we come to believe that there was a George Washington, or a Julius Ceasar, or a Christopher Columbus.
I have never seen any of these people.
I have never even seen a photograph of these people. Oh I’ve seen drawings and paintings, but that’s not the same as seeing a video of them.
Why do I believe that there was a George Washington?
There is a body of evidence.
There are written documents.
There were witnesses and they wrote about what they saw.
John knew that the first generation of Christians would soon all be dead. He, in fact, was the Apostle to die.
So he wrote this book.
And as he comes close to the conclusion of the book, he tells this story of how Thomas demanded evidence.
He had to see Jesus to believe it.
And Jesus said, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John has collected this body of evidence, including how a skeptic like Thomas came to believe in the Resurrection.
Then John gives us his perfect ending.
Right on the heals of Jesus saying, “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed,” John says “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
This is a perfect ending.
That’s final.
That’s it.
This is the single most important thing John can say.
Through the written Word of God, you and I, who did not go to the cemetery,
who did not see the open tomb,
who did not walk inside the empty grave,
who did not encounter angels,
who did not see with our own eyes, the marks of the nails in his hands or the wound in his side –
you and I can still believe in the Resurrection.
Because we have a body of evidence that includes the written Word of God. “These things are written, so that you may believe.”
That’s final.
Perfect ending.
Period.
Almost.
You see, for John the story can’t end there.
It’s not enough to just believe.
Which brings us to chapter 21 – that extra chapter that follows the –almost- perfecting ending of chapter 20.
Let’s take a look at that extra ending – that postscript we have chapter 21. What is so important that it must added?
It is a fishing story.
That’s what John adds. And it is my kind of fishing story.
The disciples are apparently just sitting around one night and Peter says, “I going fishing.”
The other disciples say, “We’ll go with you.”
But no fish are caught. Yep – that’s my kind of fishing story. Happens to me all the time.
Then Jesus calls out to them from the shore. The disciples don’t yet know that it is Jesus. But he calls out to the disciples and they all chat about fishing.
Now, this is my kind of fishing story, because I have been through this. There I am fishing and someone comes along and asks, “Caught anything?”
“No.”
Same thing happens in the Gospel.
Jesus suggests, why don’t you throw the net on the other side of the boat. And they start catching fish like there is no tomorrow. Man, that is my kind of fishing story!
Large fish.
Not small ones.
Real keepers!
And a lot of them – 153 fish. My kind of fish story!
But John tells this fish story in order to make a very important spiritual truth.
You see it is never enough to just believe. If that were true, then chapter 20 would have been the perfect ending.
But there is something else that is needed complete the Gospel experience.
The first is to believe. That is in chapter 20.
The second is dramatized in this fish story.
This fishing expedition is a dramatic presentation of what Matthew records Jesus saying at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, “Go into all the world and make disciples.” Bring the people in. Cast out the nets. If you can’t bring people in from over here, then try over there. Bring the people into the Kingdom of God. Bring the whole world in.
In the other Gospels, when Peter is called as a disciple, Jesus tells this fisherman, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”
You see, for John, coming to believe in Jesus is never enough. That cannot be the final thing for Christians. It is just the beginning!
Believing can never be the last word.
Something else is needed simply believing. And the first is help others to believe.
You have come to believe? Fine. Go help others to believe.
After we come to believe in Jesus Christ as the Risen Savior, we are given a task. We are given a work and a mission.
The task we are given is that we must now throw out our own nets and bring in the world. Bring others into our fold. Bring others to know Christ.
We have a mission. And the mission is toward those who are not part of our church.
It is so tempting to think of chapter 20 as the perfect ending of John’s Gospel. Because many of us are content with believing. But we never help others believe.
We never invite a friend to come to church.
We never talk with others about the Gospel.
But for John believing is not the end. It’s not the final word.
Other things must be added to make the Gospel experience complete. And the first is that you must help others to believe.
You believe. I know you do. That’s why you are here.
Now you must help others to believe.
And don’t tell me you tried it once and it didn’t work. OK, you invite a coworker, and the invitation is not accepted. Fine. Cast your net somewhere else.
You try to get your next door neighbor to come to church and they never show up.
Fine. Cast your net somewhere else.
Don’t stop trying.
Don’t stop casting out the net.
You will never run out of people to invite to this church.
And don’t tell me you don’t know how to share the Gospel.
You know how to tell people to vote Republican or Democrat – whatever the case may be.
You know how to invite people to go to the movies with you, or to the football game, or to invite people to come to your house.
Just invite people to come to God’s house.
Invite them to come to worship.
Or – invite them to come have breakfast with you on Wednesday morning with the men of our church. Or to join you and the other ladies on Tuesday morning with Spice of Life.
Or invite them to come to one of our fellowship events. Free food, no sermon. But it is baiting the hook, drawing them in.
Or just be bold about and ask them, “Do you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Would you like to know more?”
When was the last time you cast your net into the water of the world?
Copyright by the Rev. Dr. W. Maynard Pittendreigh, Jr., 2002
All Rights Reserved
Permission is granted to ministers to use this sermon in whole or in part in their own ministries of oral preaching.
