Easter: What Does Jesus Do After Easter? (John 21)

I’d like to start by telling you about a parrot.

Not just any parrot. A chocolate parrot.

Not just any chocolate parrot. An Easter chocolate parrot.

Because once you accept rabbits that bring eggs (even though rabbits are mammals and obviously don’t lay eggs, let alone chocolate ones), and flying bells, an Easter parrot doesn’t really raise the oddity level much.

I didn’t want this parrot to be finished by Easter Sunday.

I wanted Easter to last as long as possible.

So I kept it under my bed, nibbling at it from time to time… until July!

It raises the question - what happens after Easter?

Easter is the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection.

After his resurrection, what does he do?

It’s easy to think he kept a low profile.

Yes, he is risen, he is alive. But what is he doing now? Is he at work? How?

What does Jesus do after Easter?

On a far more significant level than with the chocolate parrot, we would like the Easter experience to last.

Last Sunday, Jason told us about Thomas, the sceptical disciple, who was absent the first time Jesus appeared alive to his disciples, and who said that unless he saw him and touched him, he would not believe.

What did Jesus do? He appeared to Thomas in the flesh.

It would be so much simpler if we could have the same experience!

Imagine if Jesus were physically here this morning! You’d be asking me to stop with my talk of the Easter parrot: we want to see Jesus, touch Jesus, listen to Jesus!

Think about our evangelism. It would be so much better, wouldn’t it, if we could invite our friends to church and introduce them to… Jesus!

Do you have any questions? He’s here. Ask him!

Some of you are getting ready to go to North Africa on a mission trip. Wouldn’t it be more effective to go… with Jesus! Come and meet him, he’s come with us!

You can’t.

What does Jesus do after Easter?

The state of the world prompts us to ask the question: wars, economic crises, injustices. What does Jesus do?

Our own experiences too. What was Jesus doing when our prayers seemed to go unanswered? When a relationship broke down? When illness struck?

Jesus has risen, it’s wonderful! But what is he doing today, after Easter?

***

The first readers of John’s Gospel asked themselves similar questions.

John was probably writing to people of Jewish background faced with a choice: Jesus or the synagogue?

They were interested in Jesus, but choosing Jesus meant risking exclusion — social, economic and family death: one became a filthy pagan.

Following a Messiah they could see would have been costly enough.

But a Messiah who seemed absent and inactive? It seemed absurd.

The same question applies to us: what does Jesus do after Easter?

John 21 shows that the resurrection is not the end.

This chapter speaks of what follows before Jesus’ return.

It presents the resurrection as the beginning of a new era, indeed a new creation, where Jesus is still at work to give life in abundance through his word, the Bible.
Three points this morning.

The first: after Easter …

Jesus still feeds us

After his resurrection, Jesus still offers the abundant food of eternal life.

John 21:1

After this, Jesus appeared again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. This is how he appeared. Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples of Jesus were together. Simon Peter said to them, ‘I’m going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We’ll go with you.’ They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

It is not clear why the disciples went back to fishing.

Some think this shows their obedience. Jesus had told them to return to Galilee, even though this instruction does not appear in John’s Gospel.

Others see it as disobedience. In last Sunday’s passage, Jesus says: ‘As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ They resume their former work.

The reality is probably somewhere in between.

It is not because Jesus had sent them that they no longer needed to eat.

They fish at night, the best time.

But John is a subtle writer. For him, night symbolises ignorance.

Remember Nicodemus, who came to see Jesus ‘at night’ and did not yet know his true identity.

In other words, at the start of John 21, the disciples still don’t quite see things clearly.

They have seen the risen Jesus, but are slow to understand. They have not yet grasped the implications.

Verse 4

When morning came (or rather, in the early morning, as day was breaking), Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realise it was him. He said to them, ‘Children, have you anything to eat?’ They replied, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find some.’ So they cast it out, and they were unable to haul it in because of the great number of fish. Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’ As soon as he heard that it was the Lord, Simon Peter put on his outer garment—for he was stripped for work—and threw himself into the lake. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the shore, about a hundred metres away.

Some believe that the recognition stems from a recollection of another miraculous catch when Jesus had called Peter, John and James.

But it is Luke who recounts it, not John.

The parallel is rather with a miracle recounted by John, on the shores of the same lake: the feeding of the 5,000 with loaves and fish.

What was the significance of the feeding of the 5,000?

On a superficial level, it shows Jesus’ compassion for those who were hungry.

But in John’s Gospel, there is always a deeper meaning. The ‘signs’ – John speaks of signs rather than miracles – always signify something.

What did this one signify?

John 6:35 (page 692)

Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Verse 51

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live for ever, and the bread that I will give is my body, [which I will give] for the life of the world

Jesus … truly nourishes …

To know Jesus is to be invited to a banquet.

A banquet that never ends.

I don’t know what the longest meal you’ve ever had was.

When I arrived in France as a teenager, I discovered that meals could last a very long time.

Perhaps some of you here come from cultures where they last even longer.

Jesus invites us to an eternal banquet when we believe in him.

A banquet… or rather a barbecue.

Let’s go back to John 21 and look at verse 9

When they had come ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it and some bread. Jesus said to them, ‘Bring some of the fish you have just caught.’ Simon Peter climbed into the boat and hauled the net ashore, full of 153 large fish; despite their great number, the net did not tear. Jesus said to them, ‘Come and have some breakfast.’ None of the disciples dared to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came over, took the bread and gave it to them; he did the same with the fish. This was already the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had risen.

I love barbecues even more than chocolate parrots. A barbecue has everything you need to be happy: good food, fine weather, friendship. And it’s reassuring to see that the first meal Jesus serves after the resurrection is fish and chips on the barbecue. :-)

On this beach by the Sea of Galilee, we see what Jesus does after his resurrection.

He is still feeding people.

He spends time with his friends.

He invites the disciples who had abandoned him just a few days earlier to a barbecue with him.

Let’s pause for a moment. Can you imagine how delicious the fish must have been, prepared by the three-Michelin-starred chef Jesus?

Perhaps a little marinade. A salad.

Even if you don’t like fish, I reckon you’d have fancied it! It’s not the frozen fish from Lidl. Jesus created the fish on the fifth day of creation, with all their flavours, knowing that after his resurrection he would serve them to his disciples.

Small details reveal the depth of the scene.

There are 7 disciples. Why 7?

John pays attention to numbers. The number 7 reminds us of… creation! In particular, the 7th day, the day of rest in communion with God when everything is as it should be. :-)

Another detail: the time. The start of a new day.

Not just a reference to the fishermen’s working hours. It is the start of a new seventh day, when light will shine, ignorance will be dispelled, and life, rest and friendship with God will reign :-)

It is as if Jesus were saying: ‘Here I am, risen, and now I invite you to eat, to feast with me, as friends, just as God has always wanted to do!’

For the disciples, it is almost too good to be true. They dare not ask, ‘Who are you?’ They know it is him… but we understand their hesitation. Is it too good to be true?

And there is plenty.

Jesus doesn’t need the 153 fish caught by the disciples. He already has some cooking. There is far more than enough to feed eight people.

There’s still room at the table for others!

What does Jesus do after Easter?

He continues to feed us with the abundant life of his new creation. He invites us to a barbecue with him!

Perhaps you came here this morning thinking you would never be satisfied.

Today, Jesus is still feeding us!

But how do we get hold of the food?

We aren’t on that beach in Galilee, and even if we went there, we wouldn’t meet Jesus.

Second point…

Jesus still feeds us through his apostles

After his resurrection, Jesus feeds through the men he has chosen, commissioned and restored for the task.

Verse 15

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?’ He replied, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ He said to him a second time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?’ Peter replied, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ He said to him a third time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he had said to him a third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and he replied, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’

Jesus and Simon Peter are still sitting around the barbecue when Jesus tells him to feed his sheep.

As if he were saying: this food I have prepared, this eternal life, this taste of the new creation — now it’s your turn to serve it!

I listened to a programme this week about Paul Bocuse, the great French chef known throughout the world.

He is no longer with us today, but we can still enjoy his cuisine, for he trained disciples.

He passed on his recipes, his expertise, his high standards. He trained chefs to carry on his work.

Unlike Paul Bocuse, he is still alive and still at work.

But he works through the disciples he has trained, restored and commissioned for the task.

The conversation with Peter takes place around a brazier. Why is this significant? Peter was warming himself by a brazier when he denied Jesus.

Jesus re-enacts that scene, but this time with a better outcome. :-)

Three times Jesus asks him the same question: do you love me? do you love me? do you love me?

Why three times?

Peter had denied Jesus three times. Jesus gives him the chance to make amends for his failure.

Before the crucifixion, Peter had promised to lay down his life for Jesus. He failed.

But look at what Jesus says to him in verse 18:

‘Truly, truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.’ He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would reveal the glory of God. Then he said to him, ‘Follow me.’

Peter would indeed end up giving his life in the service of Jesus.

Jesus takes this man who had failed so miserably, restores him, re-engages him and makes him a servant on whom, this time, we can rely.

Feed my lambs.
Take care of my sheep.
Feed my sheep.

If we are familiar with the Gospel of John, this may ring a bell.

Jesus had said: I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.

After his resurrection, Jesus is still the good shepherd… but he feeds his sheep through the men he has chosen, commissioned and restored — his “apostles”.

***

Why is this important?

In a sense, what Jesus does for Peter, he does for everyone who comes to him.

We have all failed; we have all disappointed God. By coming to Jesus, we are forgiven and called to serve him.

We are restored, just like Peter.

But that is probably not the first thing John has in mind here.

***

What John wants to show is how Jesus acts in the world after Easter.

He still feeds… through his apostles.

On the eve of his death, Jesus had prayed for them that God might “sanctify them through the truth”. That he might sanctify these men, so that they might pass on Jesus’ spiritual nourishment.

Jesus’ work after Easter is… “apostolic”.

What does “apostolic” mean? It sounds like a religious word we don’t quite understand!

It means that Jesus’ nourishment is served by the apostles, such as Peter and the other 12.

By restoring Peter, Jesus makes him a servant—one might say a reliable server.

To understand why this is important, let’s ask ourselves what a ‘non-apostolic’ faith would be like.

***

Many religions accord an important place to Jesus. Islam does so, Hinduism does so, and Buddhism too.

Many sects stemming from Christianity believe in Jesus, but a Jesus imagined according to the ‘revelations’ of their gurus.

Many of our contemporaries respect Jesus, but say: “for me, Jesus is like this”; “for me, Jesus is like that”.

Some Christians take a similar approach.

In all these cases, we have a Jesus disconnected from the apostles.

We project our own ideas onto Jesus instead of turning to the apostles whom he commissioned to nourish us.

If we want to be nourished by the true Jesus, this must be through the apostles.

They are all dead.

How can Jesus nourish us through them today?

Third point.

Jesus still nourishes us through the written testimony of the apostles

After the resurrection, Jesus nourishes us through the Bible.

Verse 20

Peter turned around and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved coming behind them, the one who, during supper, had leaned towards Jesus and said, ‘Lord, who is the one who is going to betray you?’ When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, ‘And what about him, Lord? What will happen to him?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You, follow me.’ From that time on, the rumour spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. However, Jesus had not told Peter that he would not die, but: ‘If I want him to live until I come again, what is that to you?’

It is this disciple who bears witness to these things and who has written them down, and we know that his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things as well. If they were all written down in detail, I do not think the whole world could contain the books that would be written.

The disciple whom Jesus loved … is anonymous. The ancient tradition of the Church is unanimous: it is John, son of Zebedee, brother of James, John the Apostle.

Why does he present himself in this way? Did Jesus not love the others as well?

***

‘The disciple whom Jesus loved’ is the title he uses for himself. The other Gospels do not use it.

It is as if he were saying: who am I? What is my identity? Not primarily my first name. It is having been loved by Jesus!

His presence is noted at key moments during the week of Jesus’ death:

at the Last Supper, after the washing of the feet;
at the crucifixion;
and after the resurrection.

All bear witness to the great love of Jesus.

He appears in this way not because Jesus did not love others, but because he saw with his own eyes the depth of that love for him.

Who am I? Someone whom Jesus loved.

But above all, he writes so that we may be nourished by understanding that the same is true for us.

Several details present John as particularly qualified to bear witness.

In verse 7, after the miraculous catch, it is he who recognises the Lord.

Verse 20 reminds us that, during the Last Supper, it was he who leaned towards Jesus and asked, ‘Lord, who is going to betray you?’

When they ran to the tomb with Peter, it was he who believed first.

He is the witness par excellence.

The rumour that he would not die, which circulated later, suggests that John was very old at the time of writing his testimony – the Gospel we are reading.

Peter died a martyr. John was no doubt writing in his old age.

This is important.

When he was young, and Jesus was physically present, John acknowledges that he did not understand everything.

He didn’t grasp a lot of things even though Jesus was there.

That is why meeting Jesus in the flesh would not have been any more effective, for that matter.

The disciples did just that. It wasn’t enough.

But here is the disciple whom Jesus loved, decades later, having savoured and taken in, with the help of the Holy Spirit, the love of Jesus throughout his life, writing his testimony.

The Spirit, sent by Jesus from heaven, enabled him to mature in his understanding and to write.

The result: the words of his book, together with the whole Bible, tell us everything Jesus wants to say to us.

This is how his sheep are fed.

After Easter, Jesus still feeds us… through the written testimony of the apostles.

***

Christians have often had confused ideas about how to connect with Jesus and the apostles in order to be nourished.

Some believe that one must follow ancient traditions dating back to the apostles.

Others believe one must belong to an institution whose authority is traced back through a chain of succession to them.

Still others believe one must have miraculous experiences like theirs.

But John is crystal clear.

It is through the writings of the apostles that Jesus nourishes us. If we have a Bible, we can meet Jesus and delight in him!

But they’re just words! Just words on a page!

Do you really mean that Jesus Christ is at work today to nourish the world… through a book?

Many people have written books. Every time there’s a presidential election, the candidates publish them (even if they didn’t write them themselves).

Couldn’t Jesus have done better?

***

John 21 is the epilogue of the Gospel. There is also a prologue.

There are parallels between the two.

What does the prologue say?

The Creator God became man; he came to us to offer life, and the apostles saw his glory – the glory of the only Son who came from the Father.

What does the epilogue tell us?

That the Creator God comes to us to offer life, the life of a new creation … through the words of the apostles!

Reading this book is like meeting God and feasting with him! :-)

It is listening to the eternal Creator speak to us, as if around a barbecue with friends, of his love!

If we have this book, we have everything we need to be happy.

What is Jesus doing today? He is still feeding us… through the written testimony of the apostles.

The only question is: are we hungry?

Mary Jones was a young Welsh woman born in the 18th century in a village called — brace yourselves — Llanfihangel-y-Pennant, Abergynolwyn.

Do you find Malagasy names complicated? Come to Wales!

Mary gave her life to Jesus at the age of eight and had only one desire: to read the Bible.
Born into a poor family, she couldn’t read. School was neither compulsory nor accessible in the countryside. She decided to learn anyway.

A Bible was expensive. She worked for six years to save up.
At the age of 15, she learnt that Bibles were on sale about 40 kilometres away.
Mary walked the distance barefoot to get her own.

Why go to such lengths for a book? Because she was convinced that, through this book, Jesus still nourishes us.

If we feel as though we are never satisfied, Jesus wants to nourish us! He promises to do so… through the words of this book.

Let us put ourselves in the shoes of the first readers, faced with the choice between the synagogue and its threat of exclusion… and a Messiah… who was absent?

Admittedly, they could not see Jesus, but John tells them: if you have these words, the Shepherd is there, at work to nourish you with eternal life.

This is how Jesus acts today.

If we want to be at the heart of his work, in the front row to see what he is doing, well nourished — and our children too — this is where it’s happening!

For this living and active word.

How do we put this into practice, individually and as a family?

Let us also recognise that this is how Jesus cares for us when life is difficult.

Your pastors can do nothing for you.

They are neither therapists, nor psychologists, nor doctors.

They can do nothing… except help you listen to Jesus speaking in this book. I have no other skills.

Jesus’s true work happens when we open these pages and listen to him.

I know there are times when we ask ourselves: but what is Jesus doing? I’m at the end of my tether — what is he doing?

A year ago, when my brother-in-law passed away, my family and I asked ourselves the same question. What is Jesus doing?

But it was in this context of death that his words of life became all the more precious.

Jesus truly nourishes us with the life of the new creation—eternal friendship with him—through this book.

That is why it is so sad when someone, because of a trial, closes their Bible.

In what other way do you think Jesus will help you — something he wants to do?

In a church of two hundred people, the leaders cannot accompany everyone individually, and that is not their calling.

Jesus cares for us personally… through his word.

That is why the times when we listen to him together, on Sundays and in small groups, are the times when Jesus acts to nourish and heal our wounds.

Perhaps this is what some people need to hear.

When we’re at rock bottom, Jesus always invites us to a barbecue with him to tell us again how much he loves us… provided we listen.

I also know that not everyone likes reading.

Some are avid readers. Others find it a chore.

But what nourishes us is not reading in itself — as if it were Victor Hugo or Émile Zola.

It is hearing the One who loved us so much that He gave His life… speaking to us.

If reading is difficult, let’s persevere. Jesus has promised to nourish us.

After all, Jesus does not speak only to Christians.

He has the whole world in mind.

You may have seen this logo on the shirts of those collecting donations: Action Against Hunger.

That is what Jesus is doing today!

He is taking action against world hunger!

If we have his words, we can be part of it.

With colleagues, friends or neighbours, in France or North Africa — wherever this book is heard.

Perhaps you can think of someone with whom you could open these pages to offer life.

John concludes by saying that if everything Jesus did were written down, the whole world could not contain the books that would be written. I don’t think he is referring only to other deeds accomplished during his years on earth.

Perhaps he means that Jesus’s words have not yet finished bearing fruit.

The story of his work against hunger is not yet finished.

If we have this word, let us savour it and share it; perhaps there is still a page of history to be written.