We're continuing to savour the appearances of the Risen Lord to his disciples, and we're in John Chapter 21, last week at the end, where they first met him in Galilee, as he'd promised. And it's when they were fishing, and he gave them that wonderful catch of fish, and they had breakfast on the lake shore. Verse 15 of John 21. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Jesus said to him, Feed my lands. A second time he said to him, Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Jesus said to him, Tend my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, Do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you used to fasten your own belt and go wherever you wished. But when you grow old you will stretch out your hands and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go. He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God. And after this he said to him, follow me. Very precious moment, isn't it? And three times Jesus said to him, do you love me? Corresponding with the three times that Peter denied Jesus. And I think that's why Peter was so hurt at the end when he came to the third time. Depends how you read it a bit, doesn't it? Whether you think that Peter was protesting his love. I'm not sure that he was. Because he knew he had no grounds on which to protest his love. Because his love had failed three times. And he knew that he had no love that he could call his own. I mean, Jesus had said to him, rather pointedly the first time, do you love me more than these? Why do you think he said that? Because just before he was betrayed, Peter had said, though all these fall away, yet I will not forsake you. And so Jesus is saying, do you love me more than these? Like you said. But again, it depends how you read it. Is Jesus trying to sort of rub salt in the wound or what? I don't think it's that either. Because what has happened since that event, since Peter denied Jesus? Well, Peter has seen his Lord on the cross for him as a lamb destined before the foundation of the world to be slain for his sins and for the sins of the whole world. As a lamb destined, as he later wrote in his epistle. He has, Jesus has come to him, especially personally, that visit that's not recorded but which is alluded to in the Gospels more than once and in 1 Corinthians 15. And he's heard those words, peace be with you, in a very direct and personal way. And so he's come into the forgiveness of all his sins. So it's not a case of Jesus saying, uh-uh, Peter, you remember, uh-uh, you don't really love me, do you? And it's not a case of Peter saying, oh yes, but I do, but I do. I think what is happening here is that Jesus is helping Peter to discover and articulate all that has happened. And so he asks Peter those very pointed questions, do you love me? Do you love me more than these? And Peter is able to say, yes, you know that I love you. And Jesus should know more than anyone else because Jesus has been through all of that for Peter. And Jesus knows that he's been through all of that for Peter, and Peter knows that too. So again in his first letter he said, not having seen him, you love him. with... what is it? Although you have not seen Him, you love Him. And even though you do not see Him, now you believe in Him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. So if Peter had any doubts about his love for Jesus, and he had plenty of grounds for those doubts, did he not? Jesus was saying to him, look inside yourself and see what I've done there and tell me if you love me. He says, oh, yes, yes, I love you. And then he says, do you love me? There are different words for love used here. There's the agape word and the filio word. And sometimes people have made something of that, but it seems that they're just words that both mean love. And John often rings the changes on words to, because he starts with agape, do you love me? And then he uses philio the second time, which is a sort of brotherly love. And some people say, well, he's saying, yeah, but do you love me with a brotherly love if you don't love me with an agape love? But I think, as I say, it's passed beyond all of that now. And it's love. Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? And Peter almost surprises himself perhaps by saying yes, but discovering that it's true, that he does, that there's a love being planted in him for Jesus that is unquenchable and has been secured by Jesus himself. Like when Jesus was saying beforehand, Simon, Satan has asked to have you that he might sift you like wheat But I have prayed for you, and after you have turned, strengthen your brethren." So it was Jesus' prayer and Jesus' faith in Peter, nothing of Peter himself, that held that love there and that secured it for eternity. So when Peter says in the end, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. You know everything I've done to deny you. You know everything you've done to deal with that. And you know the love that is there for you now. It's beautiful, isn't it? It's the power of the resurrection. And then Jesus gives him that prophecy. Peter, who's always in his headstrong way, chosen his own way of going about things, is not going to have that option in the end. And in that life that he's just affirmed, he'll be bound and he'll be taken. It's thought that Peter was crucified about 64 AD, same time as Peter, as Paul was executed. who is only too happy to follow Christ, even to that. Verse 20, Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. He was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, Lord, who is it that is going to betray you? One who's only ever called the beloved disciple in John's Gospel whom we identify, as we'll see in a moment, as John the Apostle himself. When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, Lord, what about him? Jesus said to him, if it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me. So we've all got, each got a different calling, haven't we? And Peter's calling was one thing and John's was another. And it was determined by Jesus' own will, if it's my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me. So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but if it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. So there's a story behind all that that we don't fully know, isn't there? That John had written these things, that it's thought that he finished his days or his ministry, considerable ministry in Ephesus, and that this would have been written there, that there would have been a group or a school of disciples or a community or a church there that would have preserved and copied that writing and would have given their affidavit to the genuineness of the author. And they knew whether he was still alive or not when they wrote that, or whether he had died, and they were just saying, well, everyone thought he wouldn't, but Jesus never said he wouldn't. But there are many other things that Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. And I think that's probably referring not just to the things that Jesus did before his crucifixion, but all the things he did after and is still doing now. That's why the world wouldn't contain all the books. Now we've gone a bit over. some other things there. There are three answers that the Lord gives, feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep. I don't know the original Greek or Aramaic, are they the same in those? No, there are slight differences in the words and the English would reflect that, but they are all giving him pastoral responsibility. It's lovely actually to look at that and then compare it with aspects of Peter's first letter, where he talks about, for instance, returning to the end of chapter 2. You were going astray like sheep, but now you've returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls." Still a very strong image or sense in Peter's, the way he operates and tends to the church in that, tend my lambs. He would have never forgotten those words. And he knew who the real shepherd and bishop, which is the word there, overseer of your souls is. OK. He even says later in the letter, tend the flock under your charge. Yes, that's right. I was looking for that bit too, but that's... Chapter 5. Chapter 5. Yes. As an elder myself and witness to the sufferings of Christ as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight. not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you do it. And do not laud it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you'll win the crown of lauding that never fades away. So he was shepherding to the end, wasn't he, and passing on that shepherding role to those elders to whom he was writing there. Martin, I find the words, when he, the third time, he confesses to Jesus, You know everything. It's wonderful, isn't it? You know what I did. You know my whole life. You know me inside out. You know before we met. All the things you mentioned. Yeah, but you know most of all what you've done for me, yeah, and the depths of that in the Father's heart, even if I can't fully comprehend why that would ever be. Okay, well, still in Galilee, Matthew chapter 28. Though this comes at the end of the Matthew's Gospel, there's no description of the Ascension there. It's only in Luke's Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles that we have a description of the Ascension. So, this isn't necessarily his final words to the disciples. And Luke tells us actually that the Ascension took place out of Jerusalem, back there. So, this is another of those appearances in Galilee. and as had been promised by the Lord beforehand and the angels after his resurrection and in 1 Corinthians 15 there's a reference there in verse 6 to then he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time most of whom are still alive though some have died now if you want to try and put all these together this one would fit with that Though it just talks about the 11 disciples here, but maybe there are others as well. Matthew 28, verse 16. Now the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. There they go again, you see. Always that reference to doubt that needs to be overcome. It's not by any means a foregone conclusion that he would rise. And Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Tells us something about his resurrection, doesn't it? Paul says, designated son of God in power by the spirit of holiness through his resurrection from the dead. All authority. Jesus is Lord and God raised him from the dead are two ways of saying the same thing that we're going to see in Romans 10. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. If the all authority in heaven and earth has been given to him then it's the authority over all nations. And so he's there to go and make disciples of all nations. That isn't individual disciples out of all nations, but go and disciple the nations. Make them learning nations from me. There have been disciple nations in history, haven't there? Nations who've sat at the feet of the Lord and sought to learn from him. Pray that Australia would become one of those nations. Baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And in there is really into, baptizing them into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So the whole life of God, the Father, the Son, the Spirit, we have to go into the middle of that. And teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. Well, if you're in the life of the living God, then you live as the living God lives, all things that I've commanded you. And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age. and that to the end of the age isn't that's how long I'm going to be with you. It's I am with you always with a view to that end of the age. In other words, it's purposeful time and I am with you to see that that purpose is carried through to bring us together to the end of the age, the climax that God has planned. There's quite a lot in what he says there, isn't there? I'm with you always to the end of the age. Next year, we're going to be doing here on Monday nights, the whole of Matthew's Gospel. And it begins with Jesus' name, Emmanuel, God is with us. And it ends with these words, I am with you always. So, a wonderful way to begin and end a Gospel, but that's for next year. Okay, any questions about that? Right? Next, in 1 Corinthians 15, after he'd appeared to more than 500 brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died, that means you can go and ask them, and they'll tell you what they experienced. Verse 7, then he appeared to James, and then to all the apostles. Now, which James is this? Well, it's not actually the James who was one of the 12 apostles. Well, there are a couple of James's there. There's James the brother of John and James the son of Alphaeus, but this was another James. This James was the brother of Jesus. Did you know he had several brothers? Well, let's have a look at Mark 3 verse 21 and just trace through the story of these brothers and in particular this James that he appeared to. Mark 3, 21. This was when Jesus went home and the crowd came together again so that they could not even eat and when his family heard it they went out to restrain him for people were saying he's gone out of his mind. What an embarrassment to the family to have a son who's the eldest in the family it would seem, possibly going mad. and in a very public way so they go to restrain him and the mother and the brothers turn up at the end of that chapter standing outside they sent to him and called him and a crowd was sitting around him and they said to him your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside asking for you and he replied who are my mother and my brothers and looking around looking at those who sat around him he said here are my mother and my brothers whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother Now we know that his mother did the will of God. She said, be it to me according to your will. Not so sure about his brothers at this stage. But there were those who were around Jesus whom he regarded as his family perhaps even more than those who were trying to restrain him. Martin, is it right that the Roman Catholic faith doesn't believe that Mary had any other children? Well, they would say that these brothers and sisters of Jesus were perhaps the children of Joseph by an earlier marriage, but that's because they have a thing about wanting to say that Mary had perpetual virginity. And that's something that arises from a little later in the history of the Church where sex is not quite seen to be the most wonderful pure thing, you see, and might have been a defilement to her. I'm not sure that's the way the Bible sees it. It's more sort of, we don't know, really, and arguments can be made for that. But we're told that Joseph didn't know her, in that intimate way until after Jesus had been weaned. Presumably he did know her then in that intimate way and they had other children. We get their names in Mark 6 verse 3. This is when he came to his hometown. And on Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue and many who heard him were astounded. They said, where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that's been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon? There they are, see, James, Joseph, Judas and Simon. And are not his sisters here with us? They took offence at him. So James is one of these brothers. In John chapter 7, We see where they stood with regard to Jesus and his ministry very clearly. After this Jesus went about in Galilee. He did not wish to go about in Judea because the Jews were looking for an opportunity to kill him. Now the Jewish festival of Booths was near. So his brothers said to him, leave here and go to Judea, so that your disciples may also see the works that you're doing. For no one who wants to be widely known acts in secret. If you do these things, show yourselves to the world. In other words, his brothers thought there's a bit of a PR opportunity here, and they wouldn't have mind managing his, being his agents, you know, in this popularity, but The comment is, for not even his brothers believed in him. In other words, they'd missed the boat as regard what his ministry was really all about. So James and the other brothers weren't really believers in their brother Jesus. Well, we'll see. Jesus said to them, My time has not yet come, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me, because I testify to it that its works are evil. Go to the festival yourselves. So there Jesus identifies James and the others with the world that is evil. Not designed to endear him to his brothers, I imagine, but true words. But then in Acts chapter 1 verse 14, Lo and behold, after the ascension they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. When they had entered the city, they went to the room upstairs where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer. That's the 11 and we're familiar with them. together with certain women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers. What are they doing there? Well, Jesus has appeared to James, and that's settled it, hasn't it? That's wonderful, isn't it? And then in Acts chapter 15, where do we find James? Well, he's actually a spokesman, a chief spokesman for the church in Jerusalem. and after they've had a long debate about the circumcision question and the whole matter of the Gentiles being admitted to the church without necessarily having to become Jews. And verse 13, after they'd finished speaking, James replied, my brothers listen to me. Simeon has related how God first looked favorably on the Gentiles to take from among them a people for his name. So he goes on and quotes the Old Testament and sums up the decision. Therefore I've reached the decision, verse 19, that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, but we should write to them to abstain only from certain things, you see. So James is the one in position there to summarize that, to announce the decision. which they later say it seems good to the Holy Spirit and to all of us together, that that should be so. Well, he's referred to again as one of the pillars of the Church in Galatians chapter 1 and 2, and then there's the letter of James, which we presume is the letter of James, the brother of Jesus, writing as a leader of the Church in Jerusalem and a man who's very much looked up to. There are various legends concerning James, too, that he had the knees of a camel. He had the knees of a camel because he spent so much time in prayer, talking to his brother, who appeared to him after he rose from the dead, Paul tells us. That's just a little story there of the difference that made. Very individual stories, aren't they, each one of them, when we come to the resurrection appearances. Very wonderful stories. It's a very good letter too. It's a good letter, the letter of James, yes. And it's in the New Testament, so there you go. And then to all the apostles, Paul says, appeared to James, and then to all the apostles, and that could well be the time when he appeared to them again at the time of the Ascension. So we'll turn to Mark chapter 16, This is part of the longer ending of Mark. Remember, we were looking at that, and we'll just finalize that. We saw how he appeared to the eleven in verse 14 and upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness as they sat at table. It seems to be the time when he came to them as described in Luke 24. But then it says this, and this sounds more like a kind of final word just before the Ascension. He said to them, go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe. By using my name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues, they will pick up snakes in their hands and if they drink any deadly thing it will not hurt them. They will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover. So... Yes, all of those things happened in the New Testament, except we don't know of anyone who drank any deadly thing and it didn't hurt them, but Paul was bitten by a snake and it didn't hurt him. And of course there was speaking in tongues, there was the casting out of demons, there was the healing of the sick. So then the Lord Jesus, after he'd spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and proclaimed the good news everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied it. Same as in Matthews, and I'm with you always to that end of the age, and doing the work while you speak the word. the shorter ending, just before that, if you've got that in your Bible, another alternative found in some texts, and all that had been commanded them they told briefly to those around Peter, this is the women, and afterward Jesus himself sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of its eternal salvation. That's good, isn't it? Good summary, eh? Doesn't sound like Mark, but it's good words anyway, isn't it? And it's true. Sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation from the risen Lord. How about that? Okay. Now, let's have a look at that in Luke chapter 24. I hope we're getting the sense as we go through these now that the resurrection is something that actually happened and isn't of a different order, but it happened in our world, and so it's something that, while you could never say the disciples became accustomed to, it was something that was so real and woven into the fabric of their being and of their proclamation that there wasn't any question about it as something that is true. Luke chapter 24 verse 44. This was after he'd eaten, after Luke has given the account of the eating of the fish and so on. But this could well be much later because it concludes with the account of the ascension which Luke says in Acts was 40 days later. Then he said to them, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and said to them, thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day. Now, we spent some weeks looking at that, didn't we? How it's in all the Scriptures, the resurrection from the dead, the law of Moses, it's the Torah, the prophets, the prophetic books and histories, and the Psalms and the other writings, the whole of the Old Testament. He showed them in all the Scriptures, the things concerning him, thus it is written. And repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Remember in the appearance in John 20, where he said, whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven. Whose sins you retain, they are retained. Those who accept and those who refuse to accept the gospel either come into the repentance and forgiveness of sins or are locked into what they choose. Beginning from Jerusalem, you are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my father promised." Who was that? Holy Spirit. So stay here in the city until you've been clothed with the power from on high. Then he led them out as far as Bethany. And lifting up his hands, he blessed them. And while he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him. and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple blessing God." So it's by no means a sad parting for them, was it? They'd had that promise, I'm with you, always. And worshipped him, my Lord and my God, Thomas had said. Returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and blessing God in the temple. So he withdrew from them, or he was removed from them, and so after that he didn't continue to appear in the same way that he had up to that time. As Jesus had said to Mary Magdalene, you won't be able to hold me, do not hold on to me, because I've not yet ascended, but I am ascending. Once I've ascended, you won't be able to hold on to me. in the same way that you've been doing. So Luke again picks it up at the beginning of the Acts of the Apostles and gives us a little more detail regarding that time, summarizes all the resurrection appearances. In the first book, Theophilus, that's the one he's writing both the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles 2, volume 2, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning, or that all that Jesus began to do and to teach, until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering, he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days, and speaking about the kingdom of God. Wouldn't you love to have been in on those Bible studies? But you are, because we've got them all here. And what else do you think we've been doing on Monday nights? And speaking to them about the Kingdom of God. Forty days, different appearances. So we probably haven't got all of them here. It's wonderful the ones we have got. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. There it is again, this, he said, is what you've heard from me, for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. So when they'd come together, they asked him, Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel? Now, sometimes that's presented as being a stupid question, but it's not so stupid after all, because he's just talked about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And John the Baptist spoke of the kingdom of God and the forgiveness of sins and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. So, it's natural that they would associate those things as some of the first things they'd been taught about. So, if he says, you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit, they think, ah, kingdom time. So they say, you're going to restore the kingdom to Israel. And he says, well, it seems that their conception of what the kingdom being restored to Israel is, is not as big as it's actually going to be. Because he goes on to say, first of all, it's not for you to know the times or periods that the father has set by his own authority. So if it's the father's kingdom, it's the father who's going to arrange that. Jesus said a little earlier even that he didn't know the day or the time when the kingdom would come and it's not just for Israel as they've known it but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth so the kingdom is going to come as promised to Israel to the whole earth and it's going to be through their proclamation of the forgiveness of sins and repentance. When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight. It probably wasn't just any old cloud. Where's the cloud been before? In the wilderness, the cloud of the glory of God, the presence of God. So that tells us where He's gone, doesn't it? As that longer ending of Mark said, to the right hand of the Father, that's where He's gone. That position of prominence and power in the whole universe. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. So there's the promise of his coming which they kept very much alive and which Jesus himself had spoken of. Reading on in the Acts of the Apostles, we have many allusions, as we've seen, to the resurrection of Jesus, but eyewitness accounts like that in Acts of the Apostles, chapter 10, verse 40. Peter is recounting to those in the house of Cornelius that they put Jesus to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day. and caused him to appear not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. And all the prophets testify about him. So Peter's heard all of those Bible studies, hasn't he, from the Old Testament over that 40 days. that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name. Faithful witness there. And that was Peter and this is Paul in chapter 13 of Acts. Verse 31. For many days God raised him from the dead and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem and they are now his witnesses to the people. And speaking of Paul, we might just look again at 1 Corinthians 15 to see how Paul included the appearance of Jesus to him on the road to Damascus. as one of those resurrection appearances, a post-ascension one, obviously, but no less real and no less personal. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 8, Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. but by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we proclaim, and so you have come to believe." Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead. And so Paul, as one born out of time, one untimely born on the tail end of all the others, but no less an appearance to him of the risen Christ, which set him up for a life of ministry by the grace of God, and made his testimony to the resurrection one with that of the other apostles and witnesses. Let us pray.