I recently read John 21, one of my favorite chapters, about which I’ve written before in a blog entitled Last Lessons. It’s worth reading the blog if only to see the beautiful way an artist captured the main points. This time I saw remarkable parallels between the fishing story in John 21 and the one recorded in Luke 5.

Here’s how they start:

On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” (Luke 5.1 – 5, ESV)

After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. (John 21.1 – 3, ESV)

You can read both stories in their entirety in Luke 5.1 – 11 and John 21.1 – 22. Here’s what I saw:

• Same lake (Gennesaret is on the west side of the Sea of Tiberias (or Sea of Galilee)
• Some of the same men, including Peter, James, and John
• Fished all night and caught nothing
• At Jesus’ word, they almost had more fish than they could bring in
• Peter sees himself as “a sinful man” in Luke 5 and is guilt-ridden (by inference) over his denial of Jesus in John 21
• Peter is called: to fish for people in Luke 5 and to “feed my sheep” in John 21
• Both stories end with “follow me” (comparing Luke 5 with Matthew 4.19, 20).

Two separate events, one at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and the other at the end. Peter is twice called to leave an unsuccessful fishing adventure turned monumentally successful. “Do you see this miracle? Follow me.” Repetition. Confirmation. My job is to hear and respond to Jesus’ call no matter how many times he has to repeat it and no matter what his will is for someone else.

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” (John 21.20 – 22, ESV)

Amidst the tragic fires that destroyed the historic town of Lahaina, Maui, there is a story too good to pass up: the banyan tree survived!

Surrounded by near total devastation the tree lives. Having not been to Lahaina (I’ve only sailed into and out of Honolulu as a small boy), I had not heard of the tree. Here is the official description:

Dominating the courthouse square in downtown Lahaina is one of the most remarkable aboreal specimens. One-quarter of a mile in circumference, its octopus-like limbs stretch outward, spreading a vast network of branches, leaves and aerial roots towards the streets and buildings surrounding it. Extraordinary, almost surreal, it seems more like a fantastic prop from a Tim Burton film than an organism in real life. How did this giant come to lay its roots in this tiny port of Lahaina? Here’s the story:

On April 24, 1873, to honor the 50th anniversary of the first Protestant mission in Lahaina, which was started at the request of Queen Keōpūolani, the sacred wife and widow of King Kamehameha the Great, Sheriff William Owen Smith planted the exotic Indian Banyan. At the time it was only eight feet tall.

After settling in, the tree slowly sent branches outward from its trunk. From the branches, a series of aerial roots descended towards the earth. Some of them touched the ground and dug in, growing larger until eventually turning into trunks themselves. Over the years, Lahaina residents lovingly encouraged the symmetrical growth of the tree by hanging large glass jars filled with water on the aerial roots that they wanted to grow into a trunk. In time, what was once a small sapling matured into a monumental behemoth.

It now stands over 60 feet high, has 46 major trunks in addition to the massive original and shades nearly two-thirds of an acre. Maui County Arborist Committee carefully maintains the health and shape of this majestic tree. It is the largest banyan tree in the entire United States. In recent times, the courthouse square was renamed “Banyan Tree Park” in its honor. Lahaina Restoration Foundation takes care of the park grounds. – https://lahainarestoration.org/lahaina-banyan-tree/

I think it’s noteworthy that the tree was planted in honor of Protestant missionaries who first came to Hawaii. I don’t know how big a banyan tree seed is, but this tree was only 8 feet tall when planted. A sapling. But growth occurs over time. In this case extraordinary growth. I’m reminded of Jesus’ story of the mustard seed:

The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches. (Matthew 13.31, 32, NIV)

Trees are important in the Bible’s storyline:

Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.” (Ezekiel 47.12, NIV)

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. (Revelation 22.1, 2, NIV)

And those who follow God are compared to resilient trees – like the banyan!

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. (Psalm 1.1 – 3, NIV)

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. (Jeremiah 17.7, 8, ESV)

We were meditating yesterday on “So Send I You,” often called “the greatest missionary hymn of the 20th century.” I grew up with it. Today, the rest of the story: here’s what author Margaret Clarkson said about it:

In 1935 teaching jobs were so scarce that I had to take my first job as a teacher in a lumber camp some 1400 miles from home, out in the Rainy River District of northwestern Ontario. From there I moved to the gold mining camp of Kirkland Lake, 450 miles north of Toronto. In all, I spent seven years in the north. I experienced loneliness of every kind; mental, cultural, but particularly spiritual, for in all of those seven yeaars I never found real Christian fellowship – churches were modern [not Bible-believing] and born-again Christians almost non-existent.

I was studying the Word one night and meditating on the loneliness of my situation and came in my reading to John 20, and the words ‘So send I you’. Because of a physical disability I knew that I could never go to the mission field, but God seemed to tell me that night that this was my mission field, and this was where He had sent me. I was then twenty-hree, in my third year of teaching. – Margaret Clarkson

“This was my mission field, and this was where He had sent me.” Where? To a mining camp in the middle of nowhere Canada. Doing what? Teaching school! The greatest missionary hymn of the 20th century was written by a schoolteacher. The hymn certainly applies to out-in-the-bush missionaries like Elisabeth Elliot, but it applies to the rest of us too. Wherever we are, working at whatever we’re doing, God wants us to feel “on mission” and Join the Adventure!

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9.37-38)

I’m a sucker for alliterative outlines, and it’s hard to miss this one from John 20 after the resurrection:

¹⁹  On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
²⁰  When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
²¹  Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
²²  And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
²³  If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.” (John 20.19 – 23, ESV)

• Peace (19, 21) “Peace be with you.”
• Proof (20) “He showed them his hands and his side.”
• Process (21) “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
• Power (22) “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
• Pardon (23) “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven.” (Compare Luke 24.45 – 48)

Let’s focus today and tomorrow on “So send I you.” How did the Father send Jesus? Into the world…to invest in people. There’s a song about that, called by many “The greatest missionary hymn of the 20th century.” If you’re unfamiliar with it, you can hear it sung here. Speaking of alliteration, the lyrics are filled with it – it’s a beautiful hymn, written by Edith Margaret Clarkson in 1938.

So send I you to labor unrewarded
To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown
To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing
So send I you to toil for Me alone

So send I you to bind the bruised and broken
Over wandering souls to work, to weep, to wake
To bear the burdens of a world a-weary
So send I you to suffer for My sake

So send I you to loneliness and longing
With heart a-hungering for the loved and known
Forsaking kin and kindred, friend and dear one
So send I you to know My love alone

So send I you to leave your life’s ambition
To die to dear desire, self-will resign
To labor long, and love where men revile you
So send I you to lose you life in Mine

So send I you to hearts made hard by hatred
To eyes made blind because they will not see
To spend, though it be blood to spend and spare not
So send I you to taste of Calvary

A great “missionary” hymn, yes? But wait! There’s more…stay tuned.

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” (John 20.21, ESV)

It’s a bit technical, but I don’t want us to miss the significance of what Jesus said when he was arrested in the garden:

When Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the brook Kidron, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. (John 18.1 – 6, ESV)

Why did all those people (a band of soldiers along with officers from the chief priests) fall down when Jesus said, “I am he.”? The reason is that “I am he” isn’t what he said. If you look closely at those translations which italicize words not in the original (e.g., NKJV, NAS, LSB), you’ll see that “he” isn’t there. So what Jesus said was, “I AM.”

It’s the same construction that appears in John 8 and answers the question, why did they pick up stones to throw at him?

So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple. (John 8.57 – 59, LSB, emphasis mine)

The Passion Translation makes it clear in the text and the footnote:

Jesus said to them, “I give you this eternal truth: I have existed long before Abraham was born, for I AM!” (John 8.58, TPT)

Proper English grammar would be, “Before Abraham was born, I Was.” However, Jesus identified himself with the “I AM that I AM” of Exodus 3.14, when Yahweh appeared to Moses in the flames of the sacred shrub. – The Passion Translation note on John 8.58

At the very beginning of the crucifixion narrative, Jesus reveals his identity and his power, then lays them aside.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2.5 – 8, ESV)

I’m reading John 18, which contains the proof text for The Truth Project:

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18.37, ESV)

The Truth Project is certainly a good series, but I’m not sure I’d choose John 18.37 as THE single reason Jesus came. There are several verses that speak to Jesus’ purpose:

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (Luke 19.10, ESV)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3.16, 17, ESV)

…The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. (1 John 3.8, ESV)

Why did he come?

• To seek and save the lost
• To save the world
• To destroy the works of the devil

All of which he did through the cross. But BEFORE the cross, we have this provocative statement:

I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do…I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. (John 17. 4, 6, ESV)

What work did Jesus accomplish before the cross? Investing in men who would tell people about it!

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1.8, ESV)

For the law was given through Moses; grace AND truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1.17, ESV, emphasis mine)

Here is yesterday’s mantra:

Walk with God, invest in people, and help them do the same

And investing in people doesn’t mean only trying to help believers be more effective disciples. We invest in people before they become believers. In today’s climate, that may involve more than just sharing some true but “canned” gospel presentation. The problem is that we are “post-Christian” in America (and Europe). Or as some say, “Christendom is dead.” Not “Christianity is dead,” but a culture built to support churches and church attendance, such as the one in the South when I grew up in the 50s and 60s, is dead.

No one articulates that principle better than the late Tim Keller in this article written shortly before his death: Lemonade on the Porch (Part 1): The Gospel in a Post-Christendom Society. Even if some of us know that things are different now, we don’t always grasp the implication. These paragraphs capture it:

The U.S. had no national state church (though some states did) yet there were powerful social expectations that a “real American” went to “the church of their choice.” 

That meant two things at least. First, it meant that most people felt “attending church is a good thing” and therefore it was not that hard to get them in the door, especially for holy days (Christmas and Easter) or for major life transitions (weddings, funerals, baptisms). Second, when they did attend, preachers could assume that nearly all the visitors had four fundamental beliefs: 1) there is a personal God who created us and who judges us, 2) there is some kind of objective moral standard by which we are judged, 3) no one lives up to that standard perfectly and so we need forgiveness, 4) there is an afterlife, a heaven and hell. If you think for a moment of these beliefs as “dots,” then evangelism for centuries in the West has consisted of simply connecting the dots. Ordinarily this was done by increasing listeners’ sense of guilt and presenting Christ as a solution. Here’s how that may happen:

“You want to be sure you’d go to heaven when you die, right (dot #4)? And you know that will only happen if you live a good life, right (dot #2)? But I can show you that you are not good enough, that you do not live up to the moral standards, and you know in your heart that you don’t, right (dot #3)? Well, God (dot #1) sent his Son Jesus to die in our place and take the punishment we deserve so we can be forgiven and given eternal life as a free gift. Then you can be sure you are right with him. And here are the Bible passages that support this message of salvation I am giving you.”

This is how evangelism has been done in the West and in the U.S. for centuries and, with regard to its basic theological content, this message is perfectly true and accurate. But how does it fall upon the ears of someone who never lived in the forecourt—who lacks any of the “dots?” – Tim Keller

Paul certainly presented the gospel differently to Jews, who had a background in what we call the Old Testament, and pagans. We need to do the same.

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. (1 Corinthians 9.19 – 22, ESV)

So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. “It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, TO THE GOD NOBODY KNOWS. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with… (Acts 17.22, 23, MSG)

Yesterday we reminded ourselves from John 17 that Jesus has left us “in the world.” Clearly, we are to be “in the world but not of the world” (John 17.16 – 18), but what are we to be doing?

I was writing a short note to a couple who have been involved in a disciple-making ministry, going back to when June spent time with the wife when she was in high school! I wanted to close the note with something pithy and encouraging, and before I knew it, this sentence came out:

Walk with God, invest in people, and we’ll do the same!

I said to myself, “That describes our life and ministry as well as anything, especially if I modify it to include the generational piece:

Walk with God, invest in people, and help them to do the same.

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2.1, 2, NIV)

For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel. (Ezra 7.10, NAS)

I was reading Jesus’ extraordinary prayer in John 17 the other day and was struck by a recurring theme:

I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world…I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours…I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one…I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them…I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world…My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. (John 17.6 – 18, NIV)

It’s about “the world.” After all, “God so loved the world…” (John 3.16)

• The disciples came from the world.
• Jesus came to the world but is leaving soon.
• The disciples are “still in the world” and need the Father’s protection.
• The world hates Jesus’ followers.
• But Jesus is leaving his followers in the world.
• The disciples are to be “in the world but not of the world.”
• Jesus is sending the disciples “into the world.”

Jesus’ plan for the twelve and, by extension, us, is not that we withdraw from the world but that we stay in the world, on a mission to the world. Doing what? Stay tuned.

In the meantime, we have Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount:

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5.13 – 16, ESV)

I probably shouldn’t post this because I really don’t like to be critical, but a few days ago a brief news report juxtaposed with my reading from John 15 got my attention.

A particular denomination wrapped up its annual (or something) meeting by clarifying positions on a few eschatological issues. (Eschatology is the study of “last things” like the Second Coming.) There are a lot of variations of such teaching revolving around the timing and nature of certain events. I don’t want to get into the details of this group’s positions: they are widely but not universally held. That is, there are plenty of Bible-believing, Jesus-loving people who would have different positions.

That’s why some verses from John 15 caught my eye:

My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. (John 15.8, LSB)

“Bear much fruit” and so prove to be my disciples. Not “have all your doctrinal positions accurately defined.”

Here are some more…

¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love…¹²  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you…¹⁴  You are my friends if you do what I command…¹⁶  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷  This is my command: Love each other. (John 15.10 – 17, NIV)

There are a lot of things more important than how we define our eschatology.

• Obedience, verses 10, 14
• Loving each other (even those who might not share your particulars on escatology!), verses 12, 17
• Bearing fruit, verse 16 (and 8 quoted earlier)

As a well-known pastor said once, “A focus on end times is a distraction.”

Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1.6 – 8, NIV)