Failure – See you in Heaven

Lessons from the risen Lord Jesus – Part 1

“Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We are going with you also.’ They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.” John 21:3

We are now in the last chapter of the gospel of John. In the first half of this chapter we are going to learn how to relate to the risen Lord Jesus in our daily lives. The disciples are in a much different place than the upper room when they were behind locked doors for fear of the Jews (John 20:19-29). This chapter begins with the disciples back in Galilee. Jesus had commanded the disciples through the women to leave Jerusalem for Galilee where He promised to appear to them (Matthew 28:7, 10; Mark 14:28; 16:7). While waiting for Jesus to come to them, the disciples decided to return to their previous employment.

The apostle John ¹ writes, “After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself.” (John 21:1). This is the fourth resurrection appearance of Jesus in John’s gospel. “The Sea of Tiberias” is another name for the Sea of Galilee. The name “Tiberias” was associated with the Sea because of the prominent capital city of Galilee by that name on the southwestern shore. ²

John identifies five of the seven disciples who witnessed this resurrection appearance. They included “Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee [James and John], and two others of His disciples were together.” (John 21:2). We could refer to the “two others” as UFOC’s – unidentified followers of Christ. John notes that “Nathanael” was from the Galilean village of “Cana” where Jesus changed water into wine. Cana was located about nine miles north of Nazareth, the childhood home of Jesus. ³

Keep in mind that “the disciples had gone to Jerusalem and had experienced a tumultuous series of events: the Triumphal Entry, the expectation of a new kingdom, a betrayal by a trusted friend, near arrest, denial of Jesus by their leader Peter, the agonizing crucifixion of Jesus, the Resurrection, and the manifestations of the risen Lord. Understandably they were confused and unsure of the future.” ⁴

“Simon Peter said to them, ‘I am going fishing.’ They said to him, ‘We are going with you also.’ They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.” (John 21:3). Peter was probably feeling badly at this point because of his three denials of Jesus (cf. John 18:17, 25-27). He probably had a lot of doubts about his future as a follower of Christ. So he goes back to what is most familiar to him – fishing. It is also possible Peter had grown tired of waiting for Jesus to arrive in Galilee. Maybe the sight of fishing boats and the smell of wet fishing nets drying in the sun reminded him of what he left to follow Jesus (cf. Luke 5:11).

So Peter breaks the monotony and takes the lead, saying, “I am going fishing.” His proposal to go fishing was met with an unanimous response from the other disciples, “We are going with you also.”

I believe Peter has been unfairly criticized for returning to his former employment. He and the disciples had done what Jesus commanded by going to Galilee. We know they had to wait for the Lord since He did not meet them directly as they entered Galilee. Peter knew Jesus was coming but he did not want to waste time. Besides, he also had a family to provide for. Peter wasn’t abandoning Jesus, he was just making good use of his time. It was quite a natural and normal thing for these men to do. They were fishermen. Here is a sea, a boat, a net, and the time. What’s the logical thing for fishermen to do? Go out and fish! This was not a sin.

In support of this is the fact that the apostle John usually points out the failures of Peter, but in this case he is silent. Also, Jesus did not condemn or correct them for fishing when He arrived. They were unable to catch fish until Jesus was with them. They didn’t recognize the risen Lord until He performed the miracle. So it was God’s plan for them to fish. God used this fishing experience to enable these disciples to recognize their risen Lord and their mission to be fishers of men.

John tells us, “they went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.” The disciples fished at night when the fish are actively feeding near the surface. And although the Sea of Galilee was noted for its fishing industry in the time of Jesus, ⁵ the disciples’ all-night fishing expedition went unrewarded. John reports probably with a smidgeon of painful memory that “they caught nothing.” Any fisherman can relate to the disappointment Peter and the other disciples must have felt that night. They probably started out with a lot of excitement, but all that faded by morning. “Whose idea was this?” they may have grumbled. “It must not be God’s will for us to be out here! Are the fish biting? If they are they must be biting each other!”

The story is told of a psychopath peeping over an asylum wall. He observed a man fishing nearby. He yelled, “Caught anything?” The fisherman replied, “No!” “How long have you been waiting?” “Three hours!” came the fisherman’s reply. “Come inside,” the psychopath said, assuming he must have been crazy to wait three hours without catching any fish. Well, the disciples had waited more than three hours without catching any fish. They were out all night and they must have felt crazy to stay out that long without anything to show for it.

I wonder how many of us feel something similar? We know exactly how the disciples felt. We feel like we are not catching any fish right now. When that starts to happen, life becomes a rut. Frustration starts to set in. When you keep trying to go back to the same thing and make it work, instead of looking ahead to God’s plan, life gets deeper and deeper in this rut. Ruts can be very frustrating places. But the only good thing about a rut is it is very easy to steer once you get into one. You cannot veer one way or the other. You can only go the way the rut goes. But the problem is you lose your sense of purpose. You don’t have to think about what you are doing nor do you have to put any effort into what you are doing. There is no purpose or joy.

All night these seven disciples had to feel the disappointment of being expert fishermen who were unable to catch a thing. No doubt they felt like failures. They were discouraged. If we had asked them at that moment what their purpose was for living, they may have said, “We don’t know right now!” But Jesus still had a purpose for their lives. Jesus had commanded them to go to Galilee and He would meet them there. Even though the disciples were discouraged and feeling like failures, Jesus had not lost sight of His purpose for them.

Like the disciples, when we have failed miserably in an area of strength, we can easily become discouraged and feel like God must not have a purpose for our lives. When this happens, it is important to understand that our feelings are wrong. God’s Word tells us that He has a constant purpose for our lives and we can trust it more than our feelings. Romans 8:28-29a says, “²⁸And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. ²⁹For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.” God uses “all things,” including our failures and discouragement, to “work together for good.” What “good” is this referring to? Being “conformed to the image of His Son.”

This leads to our first principle: We all need to learn that FAILURE AND DISCOURAGEMENT ARE OFTEN CONNECTED TO THE RISEN LORD JESUS’ PURPOSE FOR OUR LIVES (John 21:1-3). When it comes to failure and discouragement, they are almost always a part of God’s purpose. We would like to hear that God’s purpose means we will never be discouraged or fail again. But if I told you that, I would be lying.

When we look at the great heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11, we see they all had failures and times of discouragement. For example, after the worldwide flood, Noah got drunk and his son saw his nakedness. Abraham grew tired of waiting for God to give him a son, so he took matters into his own hands. Sarah was unable to bear children, and when God announced that she would have a son, she laughed in unbelief. Jacob was a deceiver, yet God used him and his lineage to bring the Messiah into the world. Moses kept making up excuses to avoid going back to Pharaoh, but God was still able to use Moses to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. Even though Rahab had a problem with her past, she was used by God to protect the spies. Both Samson and David had a problem with lust, and yet they fulfilled God’s purpose for their lives. All these heroes of the faith tell us not to give up even though we fail and get discouraged.

The Bible compares living the Christian life to running a long distance race in Hebrews 12:1-2. This race requires endurance to finish well for the Lord. God’s purpose for your life is not found in the short sprints of life. His purpose is found in running a marathon. If we are going to run a marathon, it is going to require endurance. There will be ups and downs along the way. That is part of God’s purpose.

The apostle Paul writes again and again in 2 Corinthians about the discouragement that he faced in the midst of God’s purpose for his life. God used Paul’s discouragement to deepen his dependency upon the Lord (2 Corinthians 1:8-10) and to eternalize his perspective (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). The Lord used Paul’s discouragement and difficulties to magnify God’s grace in his life (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). If you feel discouraged while you are trying to live out God’s purpose and you think there is something wrong with you, there is not. Don’t let discouragement say to you that God’s purpose is gone. It is not. His purpose for your life is unfolding in His way and in His time.

Christ used the disciples’ failure to catch fish all night to prepare them for what He was about to do. Their discouragement would soon be transformed into unspeakable joy. And Jesus wants to do the same in our lives.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, some of us are very tired because we have been casting our nets again and again and again with nothing to show for it. We are discouraged and feel like failures. We have lost sight of Your purpose for our lives. Help us not to give up, but to keep pressing on by faith in Your Word which tells us Your purpose has not been lost. You are working behind the scenes in our lives to accomplish Your good will for our lives all for Your glory. In Your mighty name we pray Lord Jesus. Amen.

ENDNOTES:

1. Some critics claim that the apostle John concluded his gospel in John 20:31 and an anonymous writer wrote chapter 21. “But the linguistic evidence does not support this notion. In addition, other great books of Scripture have appendixes after reaching a grand climax (cf., e.g., Rom. 16 following Rom. 15:33). Thus John 21 is neither without value nor out of harmony with other Bible books.” (Edwin A. Blum, The Bible Knowledge Commentary Gospels, Editors John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck, (David C Cook, 2018 Kindle Edition), pg. 701; see also J. Carl Laney Moody Gospel John Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1992), pg. 373 cites Barclay M. Newman and Eugene A. Nida, A Translator’s Handbook on the Gospel of John (London: United Bible Societies, 1980), pg. 623; Donald A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, and Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1991, pp. 665-668. Constable writes, “The structure of this chapter is similar to the rest of the Gospel’s. John first narrated an event (vv. 1-14), and then related Jesus’ teaching based on that event (vv. 15-23). Finally he concluded his Gospel (vv. 24-25).” Tom Constable, Notes on John (2017 Edition), pg. 387.

2. Laney, pg. 374.

3. Ibid.

4. Blum, pp. 701-702.

5. Laney, pg. 374 cites Michael Avi-Yonah, The Holy Land (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1966), pp. 205-206. “Fish were salted at Taricheae or Migdal Nunay (‘Tower of the Fisher’) for export.”

Will King David be in Heaven?

“So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had committed against the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because he consulted a medium for guidance. But he did not inquire of the Lord; therefore He killed him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.” 1 Chronicles 10:13-14

The writer of Chronicles records detailed genealogies from Adam to the family of King Saul in the first ten chapters of I Chronicles to encourage his original readers to remain faithful to God following their Babylonian captivity. Instead of being like King Saul whose family dynasty experienced a tragic end due to his disobedience and unfaithfulness to God (10:13-14a), the Chronicler wants his readership to be the opposite of King Saul. He is admonishing his readers to be “committed” to the Lord and “keep the word of the Lord” more like King “David, the son of Jesse” (10:14b-29:30).

When some of us read that God wants us to be more like King David, we may ask, “Why would God want us to be more like a man who committed adultery and murder (cf. 2 Samuel 11:1-27)!?! The Chronicler presents David as a strong model of a king by recording the crowning of David as king which reveals God’s choice of David (I Chron. 11:1-3); David’s capture of Jerusalem (I Chron. 11:4-9) and his desire to build a temple there (even though his son, Solomon, would eventually do that – I Chron. 17:1-27) which shows his heart for God (I Chron. 13:1-14; 15:1-17:27; 22:1-29:30); David’s mighty men which revealed the impact of David’s character on others and the power he had (I Chron. 11:10-12:40; 14:8-17; 18:1-21:30); and the gathering of the multitudes behind his leadership which showed his influence on the nation (I Chron. 14:1-7, 17; 16:36; 18:14-17; 29:30).

Some Christians would go so far as to say that King David will not be in heaven because he committed adultery and murdered Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah. They think that such sins are unforgiveable. But what does the Bible say about this?

Even though David had committed adultery and murder, the Bible refers to David as an example of those who are justified (declared totally righteous before God) by faith alone in Christ alone apart from any works. “⁵But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, ⁶just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:⁷ ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; ⁸Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin’ ” (Romans 4:5-8; cf. Psalms 32:1-2). Paul quotes David (Romans 4:7-8) who wrote in Psalm 32:1-2 of the blessedness of forgiveness as he looked ahead to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ which would pay the penalty for the sin of the world (John 1:29), including David’s adultery and murder (cf. Psalm 16:8-11; Acts 2:24-36; Colossians 2:13-14).

Paul is saying that the righteousness of Jesus Christ was credited to David and all who believed in His coming death and resurrection in the Old Testament (Romans 4:5-8; cf. Genesis 15:6; Isaiah 61:10; John 8:56; Hebrews 11:26). So when a person in the Old Testament or in the New Testament believes in the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, he or she is covered with the righteousness of Jesus Christ so that God no longer sees their sin, He sees the perfect righteousness of His Son ( Genesis 15:6; Romans 3:21-4:25; 2 Corinthians 5:21).

Henry Ironside shares a helpful illustration about what it means to be justified before God. One morning on his way to a sheep ranch, he noticed a very peculiar sight. He saw an old ewe loping across the road followed by the strangest looking lamb he had ever seen. It seemed to have six legs, and the last two were hanging helplessly as though paralyzed. When one of the sheep ranchers caught the lamb and brought it over to Ironside, the rancher explained that the lamb did not really belong to that ewe. She had a lamb that was bitten by a rattlesnake and died. This lamb that Ironside saw was an orphan and needed a mother’s care. But at first the ewe refused to have anything to do with it. She sniffed at it when it was brought to her, then pushed it away, saying as plainly as a sheep could say it, “That is not my lamb!” So the ranchers skinned the lamb that had died and covered the living lamb with the dead lamb’s skin. When the covered lamb was brought again to the ewe, she smelled it once more and accepted the lamb as her own as if to say, “That is Mine!”

Like that orphan lamb, all people are born as outcasts, separated from God because of their sin. But God’s only Son, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God (John 1:29), died in our place on the cross and rose from the dead (I Corinthians 15:1-8), so that when we believe or trust in Him alone, we are clothed with His righteousness (Romans 4:5; 2 Corinthians 5:21). God can accept us into His family now because He sees the righteousness of His Son instead of our sin. He can say, “That is Mine!”

Knowing that King David was justified and forgiven because of his faith in the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, not only assures us that he will be in heaven, but it can also assure us that we will be in heaven if we have believed in Jesus for everlasting life no matter what we have done in this life before or after our faith in Christ (cf. John 6:35, 37-40; 10:28-29; 2 Timothy 2:13).

But the Bible also tells us that even though King David was an adulterer and a murderer, God still assessed his life “as a man after My own heart” because he did the will of God (Acts 13:22). God did not let David’s moral failure blemish his entire life. For example, God showed patience toward evil King Abijam because of David’s godly life. We read, “⁴ for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, by setting up his son after him and by establishing Jerusalem; ⁵ because David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from anything that He commanded him all the days of his life, except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite” (I Kings 15:4-5). God can say this about David because even though he did fail miserably, he confessed that sin and continued to do God’s will. He trusted and obeyed the Lord as he faced the severe consequences of his own sin. David was not defined by his failure. He was defined by God’s Word.

From God’s assessment of David we learn that if we do not give up, we cannot fail in God’s sight! David continued to trust and obey the Lord the remainder of his life after his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah. Was it easy? Not at all. But David did not give up on God. He was not perfect, but he was honest with God as seen in his writings in the Psalms. David is very honest about his sin (cf. Psalms 32; 51) and his feelings of abandonment (Psalm 6; 13; 22), anger (Psalms 4; 13; 38), anxiety (Psalm 37; 119), awe (Psalm 8), betrayal (Psalm 10), despair (Psalm 3; 9), dismay (Psalm 30), distress (Psalm 6), exaltation (Psalm 18), fear (Psalm 3; 55), guilt (Psalm 32), hate (Psalm 31), heaviness (Psalm 32), hopelessness (Psalm 12), joy (Psalm 4), peace (Psalm 37), sadness (Psalm 6), and thanksgiving (Psalm 26; 100). And as a result, God could say that David was a man after his own heart.

From this study of Saul, David, and Solomon, we see three types of believers:

King Saul represents an immature or carnal believer (I Sam. 10:9; 28:19; cf. I Corinthians 1:10-16:17; James 1:21-5:20) whose persistent disobedience invites God’s severe discipline now (Hebrews 12:5-11) and the loss of eternal rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ (I Corinthians 3:15; Revelation 2:25-27). Since Saul committed suicide he will forfeit rewards that require faithfulness to God to the end of one’s life (cf. Matthew 19:27-29; Romans 8:17b; I Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21b; Ephesians 5:3-5; Colossians 3:23-24; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 2:25-27), but it is possible that he will receive some rewards that cannot be lost once earned (Matthew 6:19-21).

King Solomon represents a believer (I Chronicles 28:6; 2 Peter 1:21) who starts out well but finishes poorly (I Kings 11), and will experience God’s discipline on earth and forfeit rewards that require faithfulness to God until the end of one’s life on earth (cf. Matthew 19:27-29; Romans 8:17b; I Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21b; Ephesians 5:3-5; Colossians 3:23-24; 2 Timothy 2:12; James 1:12; Revelation 2:25-27). It’s likely, however, that Solomon will have some rewards that cannot be lost once they are earned (cf. Matthew 6:19-21).

King David represents a believer (Psalm 32; Romans 4:5-8) who imperfectly (2 Samuel 11) perseveres in a life of faithfulness to God to the end of his life, and therefore will be richly rewarded in heaven (cf. Matthew 19:27-29; Romans 8:17b; I Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21b; Ephesians 5:3-5; Colossians 3:23-24; 2 Timothy 2:12; James 1:12; Revelation 2:25-27).

There is no guarantee that a believer will persevere in good works till the end of his life on earth. Otherwise, why would God warn believers of the consequences of failure (I Chron. 10:13-14; cf. John 15:6; I Cor. 10:1-12; Hebrews 4:11-13; 6:4-8; 10:26-39; 12:5-11) and the loss of rewards in the future (Matt. 10:32-42; 22:1-14; 25:24-30; I Cor. 3:14-15; 9:24-27; 2 Tim. 2:12; I John 2:28) if all “true” believers finished well for God? It makes no sense to conclude this.

The truth is God is good to those who refuse to give up (Lamentations 3:25-26; Matthew 7:7-11; Luke 11:5-13; 18:1-8). He will richly reward believers who remain faithful to Him till the end of their lives (Matthew 25:20-23; 2 Timothy 2:12; Hebrews 3:6, 12-14; 4:1-13; James 1:12; I Peter 1:3-12; 2 Peter 1:5-11; Revelation 2:10-11, 25-27; 3:5, 11-12, 21-22).