Lesson 251 - Junior

Memory Verse

"I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore" (Revelation 1:18).

Notes

Back to Fishing

The Apostles had seen Jesus alive, and they believed definitely that He had risen from the grave in a body. But He did not stay with them, so what were they to do now?

One day, seven of the Apostles (Peter, James, John, Thomas, Nathanael, and two others) met on the sea-shore, and Peter suggested that they go back to their old occupation of fishing. The others went with him, and they fished all night. These were the men who were going to turn "the world upside down" with their preaching of the resurrected Christ; and they should have had no time for any other occupation. Their business was to tell men that Jesus would save them from their sins. They were to be "fishers of men."

But these men had not yet been baptised with the Holy Ghost, and they did not have the power to go out and preach. They had done some preaching when Jesus was in their midst, but now He was gone, and they felt helpless. They had no one to guide them.

Jesus had promised that after He had gone away He would send the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, to guide them into all truth; but the Comforter had not yet come.

The Man on the Shore

When the morning grew light, the Apostles noticed a man on the shore who asked them for meat. They had to tell him that they had not had success. Not a fish had been caught in their net all night long. The man advised them to cast their net on the right side of the ship; and when they did they caught 153 fishes " right out of the same water where they had fished all night and had caught nothing!

Recognised

John the Beloved was the first to recognise the Man as Jesus. No one else could have performed such a miracle. Peter, who had been the first to want to go fishing, now wanted to be the first to greet the Saviour; so he jumped into the water and made his way to shore. The rest of the Apostles brought in the great catch of fish.

Jesus knew they would be hungry after working hard all night, so He had a fire burning and had some fish already cooked for them to eat, and bread also. This was one more proof that Jesus had risen from the dead and was alive in His body.

Peter's Love for Jesus

Peter, before the Day of Pentecost, was quick to make big statements about what he was going to do but sometimes he failed miserably to fulfil them. Jesus now centred him out, and asked, "Lovest thou me more than these?" Did Peter love Jesus more than the fish? Would he rather preach Jesus than return to his occupation as a fisherman? Peter answered quickly, "Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." But that did not close the conversation. Jesus asked Peter the same question again: "Lovest thou me?" And Peter answered as before, "Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee," Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."

And once again, Jesus asked the same question. Peter did not know what to think. Had he not made it plain that he loved Jesus? But Jesus wanted him to be sure he knew what he was saying this time. He wanted him never to forget what he said today. Peter was promising to become a preacher who would boldly declare that Jesus was the Son of God and had risen from the dead.

Jesus then gave Peter a little glimpse into the future. He told him that now he was young and could choose what he wanted to do; but when he grew old, others would make him do what he did not want to. In this way Jesus was telling Peter that he would be a martyr, and would die for his faith rather than stop preaching that Jesus was the Christ.

Peter was curious to know what would happen to the other Apostles, but Jesus told him he would be busy enough in his own field of labour without worrying about them.

This was the third time that Jesus had appeared to the group of Apostles.

Paul's Account of Jesus' Appearances

Paul tells us that Jesus next appeared to more than 500 people. Paul was speaking many years after the ascension, but he said that some of those who had seen Jesus were still alive. They were true witnesses that Jesus had come forth from the grave.

James (who was perhaps Jesus' brother and who had not at first believed He was divine) was the next to see Jesus; and then the eleven again.

Last of all, Paul himself had seen Jesus. This had been after the ascension. Paul had not believed the preaching of the Apostles that Jesus was the Son of God and was risen from the dead. In his piety and religious zeal, Paul thought he was doing God a favour when he persecuted the new church who believed in the resurrection. He put people in prison and had them put to death for believing that Jesus had come forth from the grave in His body.

Then one day when Paul was on a new mission of persecution, Jesus Himself appeared to Paul. Paul saw Him. From that moment Paul knew that Jesus was alive; and he, too, was willing to be persecuted and even killed for that faith. Paul was very definite in his belief that Jesus had risen from the dead.

Our Hope Through the Resurrection

Why is it so important that we believe that Jesus rose from the dead? It is because if we believe not, we will have no salvation. Jesus is the only One who can forgive sins; and He can forgive sins only because He is the Son of God. If He did not rise from the dead, He is not the Son of God.

Paul was surprised that people would not believe that Jesus had risen. If Christ were not risen, then their preaching was all in vain, and they were still sinners, without hope. But if He was risen and alive, then He had power to forgive sins; and because He lives, we who are born again shall live also with Him.

Paul said that if we had no hope of living in another and better world, we would be of all men most miser-able. Why should he suffer beatings, shipwreck, hunger, cold, and martyrdom if he did not know that he would enjoy eternal life with Christ afterward? Peter wrote: "Rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" [1PE:4:13]).

The Faith of the Patriarchs

Abraham believed in the resurrection. He was very rich, and could have chosen the best land in which to live; but he sojourned in tents. His heart was set on another City, "which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God" [HEB:11:10]). Because he and others like him had their hope in a better country, "God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city" [HEB:11:16]).

Job had that same faith. He knew he would have to die, but he knew, too, that he would live again and in his body would see Jesus. He wrote: "Though this body be destroyed, yet out of my flesh shall I see God" [JOB:19:26], margin). He even knew that Jesus would come the second time in His body, for he wrote: "I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth" [JOB:19:25]).

Great King David, who had everything in this life that should have satisfied a person, wrote: "As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness" [PS:17:15]).

Isaiah prophesied: "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust; for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead" [ISA:26:19]).

If those worthy prophets could look ahead and see the resurrection before Jesus died and rose again, how much more should we, who know He rose from the dead, believe that we will be changed and be like Him in a glorified body forever.

Life from the Dead

Some people believe that the Christian will live in Heaven as a spirit, but Paul makes it very plain that we will have a body. Resurrection means life from the dead, coming back to life after dying. When a man dies his spirit goes right back to God who gave it [ECC:12:7]). It never dies. You cannot bury a spirit. Therefore, if there is to be a resurrection, it must be of the body.

There is a difference between the body we now have and that with which we shall rise: "There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial." The celestial bodies are the glorified bodies within which we will rule and reign with Christ throughout eternity. We will be able to appear and vanish, as Jesus did after the resurrection. Everything that body will need and desires will be heavenly. The terrestrial body is of this earth, occupied with earning a daily living. But in both cases they are bodies.

Longing for Redemption

We are saved from sin, redeemed by the Blood of Jesus. We live a new life in Christ. But we are longing for that day when our bodies will be made new. "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" [ROM:8:22];[ROM:8:23]).

The Christian dead will be raised with glorified bodies when Jesus comes, and the living Christians will be changed, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed" [1CO:15:52]).

Questions

1. After the eleven had twice seen Christ alive, where did they go?

2. What was going to be their life's work from now on?

3. What did these Apostles lack for their new work?

4. When they returned from their night's occupation, what did they see on the shore?

5. How successful had they been through the night?

6. What did their Visitor tell them to do?

7. How did they know their Visitor was Jesus?

8. Relate the conversation between Jesus and Peter.

9. How did Paul come to believe in Jesus?

10. How do we know that it will be our bodies rather than our spirits that will be resurrected?