The Post-Resurrection Appearances of Jesus (3)

We have just a few events left, a few post-resurrection events left. Basically the one we are in the middle of tonight, John 21, the meeting with the disciples who have gone fishing on the shore. We finish up that one tonight. Then there is one other appearance of Christ, actually two others, but one more in Galilee, where he gives them what we refer to as the Great Commission. Then there is one final appearance recorded in Luke 24 and Acts 1, and then the ascension of Jesus. Basically three and a half events left, and I'm hoping to cover those this week and next. If we need another week, we'll finish up before the end of August or about the end of August. We are very close to being done with this series on the life of Christ. Just to review very quickly the resurrection appearances of Christ, there are nine of them recorded in the Gospel 8, recorded in the Gospel 1 to Peter. That is not really recorded there, but in 1 Corinthians 15. Another one mentioned of 500 disciples at once that is recorded in 1 Corinthians 15, but not in the Gospel. Possibly you will see a question mark about that tonight. Anyway, here are the ones that we have looked at thus far on the screen. Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene. She is the first one to see him. She runs to tell the disciples. Then he appears to the other women who have come to the tomb as they are going back to tell the disciples about the empty tomb. After the guards have reported to the Jewish rulers and sometime during that day on Resurrection Day, Jesus appears to Peter. He appears to two disciples on the road to a mess who then come back to Jerusalem where the disciples are gathered in the upper room. And Jesus appears to the disciples in the upper room. So five appearances on Resurrection Day. And then the next appearance is a week later as the disciples are once again gathered in the upper room, this time with Thomas. And Jesus appears to them there. And then Jesus appears to the seven at the Sea of Galilee. And that is where we are right now. I want to remind you of this very important distinction. The first six appearances are all designed to prove to the disciples that Jesus is alive. The five on the Resurrection Day and the one a week later all focus upon confirming the fact that he really is resurrected and assuring the disciples that it is him confirming their faith. They have to get over the shock and the kind of the unbelief, the doubt of what's happened. So all of those appearances in the first week are geared toward that, confirming the disciples in their faith that he really is alive. The last three that we have sufficient information about in the Gospels all have a different purpose. And they all are geared more toward training the disciples. And you can see that the focus of Jesus shifts from just convincing them that he is alive. To actually preparing them for the ministry they will be given as a stewardship in the book of Acts. They will be entrusted with the ministry of launching the church, obviously into the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit. But they'll be entrusted with that ministry. And so Jesus begins to train them to prepare them for that ministry. The appearance at the Sea of Galilee to the Seven who have gone fishing, we began looking at last time. And again this is designed to help them with the responsibilities they will have when they begin in the book of Acts to start the church. So he reminds them of their call and their commission. Remember we saw last week that the whole setting of what happens in John 21 is almost a mirror image of what happened when Jesus called them to be fishers of men at the beginning of his ministry in Luke 5. Now there were several calls in the early part of the Gospels and it's easy to get them confused. Jesus called them first of all to salvation. Then he called them to follow him. And then then he called them to leave everything. And the time that he called them to leave everything and follow him was the time in Luke 5 where they were fishing. And they didn't catch anything all night and then Jesus instructs them to go back out and they catch a huge quantity of fish. And they recognize that he is the Lord and he says to follow him. So what happens here in John 21 is almost exactly the same thing. And we saw that last week and we saw that Jesus is teaching them the need for his power. That's a very important lesson as they begin to prepare for ministry and that is the need for his power. They can't catch fish on their own. They have to be under the sovereign direction of the Lord who tells them when and where to catch them. And they recognize his power and remember Peter does a cannonball into the Sea of Galilee and that 100 meter freestyle world record to the shore and sees Jesus there in Jesus is cooking breakfast for the men there. They need his power and that's a lesson that we still need to remember today that we in order to do his work in catching people fishing for people and carrying out the great commission. We certainly need his power. But then Jesus impresses on them another lesson and that's the one we begin with tonight in verses 15 to 17. And it's this the need for his pardon. The need for his pardon or his forgiveness and he does this individually with Peter. Let's just read verses 15 to 17 and then we'll take a look at what is happening here. Verse 15, When they had finished eating Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon son of John, do you love me more than these? Yes, Lord, he said, you know that I love you. Jesus said, feed my lands. Again, Jesus said, Simon son of John, do you love me? He answered, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Jesus said, take care of my sheep. The third time he said to him, Simon son of John, do you love me? Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, do you love me? He said, Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said, feed my sheep. Now this interchange, this Q&A between Jesus and Peter is designed to teach a lesson to Peter. It's designed to teach him that he can be restored, that he can be pardoned, that he can be forgiven. Now although Peter has seen Jesus, there's no question in my mind that he probably is still struggling with his denial. I mean, no doubt it is still fresh in his mind that evening. His threefold denial of Christ, his, you know the caught crowing and the look that Jesus gave him and the bitter tears of recognition of what he had done. No doubt that's still haunting him and no doubt Peter probably wonders what a miserable failure I've been is it even possible for me to be restored to ministry. Is it really possible for me to ever serve again? I mean I promised great things and I failed completely. Is it ever possible for me to serve again? And this interchange with the Lord will answer that. We're about to find out Jesus view of pardon forgiveness and restoration to ministry. There are several important elements of restoration here that are very important in the story of Peter here. And they are so instructive for us today I want to take a few moments to look at them. Three important elements of restoration. The first is that we have to face up to our failure. If we're going to be restored, we have to come face to face with our failure and understand how desperately we fail Christ. We have to see that we have to understand that this whole encounter seems designed to cause Peter to face squarely his failure. What are you done? Really there's a sense in which Jesus is bringing out of him confession because confession of failure confession of sin really is nothing more than facing up to what we've done and admitting it. And being honest with God and agreeing with God about what he says about what we've done. And so that's exactly what Jesus is doing with Peter is causing him to come face to face with his failure. The whole setting seems designed to do that. Where are they? I know besides the Sea of Galilee, but what have they just sat around or they're still sitting around? A fire. Where was Peter when he denied the Lord? Warming his hands around a fire. Then Jesus calls him what? What's the name he uses for him? Look at Simon. Simon. Remember Simon was his name and when Jesus first called him to follow him, he said, I'm going to change your name. Your name is going to be called Peter because you will become a rock. Was Peter a rock steady when he denied Christ? No, and there's a sense in which Jesus is reminding him of who he was in his own human weakness. He wasn't a rock that night and Jesus is reminding him of how weak the flesh really is. Three times Jesus asks him if he loves him. How many times did Peter deny the Lord? Three times. Then Jesus remember asks him in verse 15, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? Now, there's some debate about what the these refers to. Is he referring to the fish? Those who believe that Simon was committed to leaving the ministry and going back to fishing pretty much take that view. Jesus is saying, do you love me more than these fish? Those who take the view that Peter was not abandoning discipleship but there had been no instruction yet as to what they were to do. And he's trying to supplement his income, make a living as he knows how to do. Those who believe that believe that when Jesus says, do you love me more than these? He may well be referring to the other disciples. What was it that Peter boasted the night he betrayed the Lord? He would never betray him, but he was even a little more forceful than that. Even if others did, read it in Matthew's Gospel and Luke's Gospel, maybe in Mark 2, I can't remember, but he says, even though all failed you, I will not. Strong words. Peter, do you love me more than these? I think everything in this scene is designed to bring Peter face to face with his failure. I am sure that his heart raced, his stomach was churning, his cheeks burned. I'm sure that his eyes filled with tears. Sometimes God is mercifully brutal. If you don't understand what that's about, you haven't gone very deep in the Christian life and your relationship with God. Sometimes he is mercifully brutal. He is brutal in the sense that he causes us to come face to face with the agony of our sin so that we recognize in the light of his holiness how grievous it is, how awful it is, how weak we really are. But in that very recognition he is merciful because it is in that very agony of recognizing how grievous and unholy we are and how terrible our sin is that we begin the process of restoration. And it doesn't begin until you face that. It really doesn't. Now some would say, well what about that interview that Jesus had with Peter alone? We have no idea what that was about. The Bible doesn't describe it. So we don't know if this was addressed or if Jesus told Peter you need to be in the upper room tonight. Come on, get back to the upper room. We don't know really what he said to him on that first Sunday afternoon, but we know what he said here. And he is bringing him face to face with the agony of his sin. That's the first element of restoration. If we are going to be restored we have to come face to face with the awfulness, the horror, the unholyness of our sin in the light of his absolute holiness. But there is something else that happens here I believe with Peter. And with us too, if we are going to be restored we have to face up to what we have done. We have to face up to the awfulness of sin. But we also have to be willing to admit where we are right now. Where are you right now? And I think that is the thrust of the three questions that Jesus asks Peter. It's difficult to see this in our English translations, but it's very clear in the Greek that it was originally written in. Jesus asks him three times, do you love me? The first one he says in verse 15. Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Sounds like the same word to us, Peter is using as Jesus, but he didn't. It was a different word. When Jesus said Simon, do you love me? He used the strongest word for love in the Greek language, the verb agapato. It's the, what we hear agape love. That's the noun form. The verb form is agapato. Do you love me with that deep self-sacrificing willing to give all kind of love? Well, Peter is going to admit where he really is. He uses a different word. Lord, you know that I love you. He chooses a different word. Faleo. Faleo is a fondness, a friendship kind of love. It's a strong love, but it's not the kind of self-sacrificial. I would die for you kind of love that agape is. Peter has not done that. Peter claimed he would die for the Lord, but he denied him. So Peter is honestly admitting, Lord, you know I can't say that. I've demonstrated that. I'm too weak in myself to have a confidence to even say that, but Lord, you know that I do love you. Maybe not as much as I thought I did. Maybe I can't boast like I did before, but here's where I am, Lord. I'll be honest with you. I Faleo you. So Jesus asks in the second time, verse 16, Simon, son of John, do you love me? And once again, he uses the word agape agape. And Peter says, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. Again, Faleo. He's not willing to use the stronger word. What's he doing? He's admitting honestly where he is right now. Not only is he brought face to face with the horror of what he did in the past, and he has to admit that, but he's honest with where he is right now. No more boasting. No more boasting, Lord, if everybody denies you, I'll never, I'll go to death for you. That's what he said the night before Jesus died. But no more of that nail, Lord, I'm being honest. I realize now I wasn't near strong as I thought I was. The third time Jesus asks him in verse 17, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Guess what word Jesus uses? Faleo. The lesser word. Simon, do you love me enough to sacrifice everything for me? Do you love me with agape love and Simon twice, as basically said, Lord, I can't make that claim. I'm sorry. I do love you, but I've demonstrated I'm not willing to give up everything for you. And the third time Jesus condescends and says, Peter, do you love me fondly as a friend? And that's why I believe John records Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, do you love me? I don't think it was necessarily his heart about it being the third time. I think he was hurt because Jesus said, okay, Peter, I'll use the lesser word. And it was a recognition of Peter that, Lord, it's where I am. Now, in restoration, in recovery from sin, we have to first of all understand the horror of what we've done in light of the holiness of God. But then we have to admit where we are honest. We have to be honest with where we are. And Peter does that. I commend him for that. There's no more boasting about Lord. Everybody else failed you. I'll die for you. There's no more of that. He's not even able to use the strongest word for love. But he's honest. He's honest. Lord, this is where I am. This is where I am. Okay. Now, that's exactly where Jesus wanted Peter to be because it is only when we recognize our sin and admit it, brought face to face with it. And when we are honest about where we are, no more excuses, no more claims, no more rationalizations. This is where I am. It's exactly where I am. It is only then that we can come to the third stage of restoration. And that is now you can look forward to a useful future. Now, Jesus will say, I've got something else for you to do. Notice three times, He basically says, feed my lambs. Take care of my sheep. Feed my sheep. Once Peter has come face to face with his sin. Once he is honest with where he is, then Jesus says, okay, Peter, that's done. That's behind us. Now, I've got something for you to do. And that is complete restoration. If the other two are in place, then okay, let's move on. I've got work for you to do. Feed my sheep. Take care of my lambs. Feed my lambs. It's such a beautiful picture of restoration. And in Jewish culture, to repeat something three times, was to nail it down, to solemnize it, to, in a sense, put it in a holy category. So what Jesus really is doing here for Peter is saying, you are restored completely, completely. I know that you understand your sin. I know that you're honest with your human frailty and weakness. Now, you're exactly what I can use. God cannot use any of us until we recognize we are sinners who are weak and frail and capable of failing our Lord. Because until we realize that, we'll go out in our own flesh, our own strength. And think we can do great things, just like Peter thought before he denied Christ. It's only when we come to this point that Jesus can say, okay, now I've got something for you to do. Now I can really entrust you with something. You're ready now. Peter is now ready, just waiting the endowment with power, the Holy Spirit. He's now ready for pinnacost. He's ready to be the preacher of pinnacost. It's a beautiful picture of restoration. And it is a fantastic lesson of what Jesus pardon is all about. The way he brings us to a point of confession, recognition of our human weakness and our need of dependence on him. And then he says, okay, here you go. I got something for you to do. Come on, I do it. Feed my sheep, feed my lambs. Take care of my lambs. I got work for you to do. That's a blessed picture of restoration. Comments, questions, before we move to the last lesson that Jesus gives on this day. What? Well, they may have been, it's kind of hard to tell. He's addressing Peter alone, but it's hard to tell if the others are still within your shot. They may be. They may well still all be in a circle, but he is definitely speaking to Peter as if it's the two of them. But yeah, it may well have been a public, at least in the sense of the seven who were gathered around the fire may have been. Okay. Anything else? Okay, there's one more lesson that Jesus is going to teach. And again, he's basically addressing Peter here. And that is the need for his perspective. Okay, when we're going to serve Christ, when we're going to be restored and given work to do and God has something for us to do, anytime we serve him, we've got to have his perspective on life, on ministry, and on everything. And that's what Jesus fine tunes with Peter in these next few verses. First of all, he tells him, expect trouble. You can expect trouble. Okay, that's a good perspective to have. Whenever you're going to serve the Lord, you can expect trouble. Look at verse 18. Verily, or very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you dressed yourself and went 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. What does that sound like? The prediction of his death. Yeah, what else does it sound like? Yes, it sounds like old age and someone having to care for us, doesn't it? It's what it sounds like to me. It sure fits, doesn't it? As we get older, the need for others to help us. But verse 19 makes it clear. Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. So he really is referring to Peter's death. Anybody aware from tradition, church history, how Peter died? He was crucified upside down. That's tradition at least. We know that he died in about 67 AD under the persecution of Nero and Fox's book of martyrs and other church tradition tells us that Peter was crucified. And that he did not want to be crucified like his Lord. He did not feel worthy of that. So he asked to be crucified upside down. Jesus is probably referring to his hands being stretched out, someone else preparing him for death and taking him where he did not want to go. Well, obviously he was talking about the kind of death he would die. Bible tells us that. But we understand from church history that that was indeed a death of crucifixion. But don't lose sight of the fact that Jesus is telling him. He's just told him, I got work for you to do. Feed my lambs and now he's telling him you can expect to die in my service. You can expect trouble. And I think it's important to recognize that sometimes following Christ means hardship. Sometimes following Christ means misunderstanding or suffering, maybe even death. Does that sound like what a lot of TV preachers preach today? It's not like the health and wealth gospel that we are so accustomed to hearing today, which says if you really follow Christ, then everything will go well for you. God promises you health. He promises you wealth. And basically they take a few Old Testament promises meant for the nation of Israel under the, under the mosaic covenant, which did tie into crops and bounty of the land and so forth and misapply it to the church. And that's where those people get those kind of things. That's certainly not new Testament teaching. Certainly not the teaching of the scriptures about serving Christ. We may well find trouble, suffering even death when we serve him. You can expect difficulty, can expect trouble. Now that's not meant to be gloom and doom. It's meant to be realistic. Jesus said, the world hated me. They're going to hate you too. Speaking to the disciples. That's just very realistic. We can expect that. But it's a good perspective to have in light of the fact that it's not what we typically hear in many places today. And thus when people suffer, they think something's wrong. They think God's being mean to them or God's abandoned them. Not at all. God promised us that we would have suffering. He told us we would have trouble. Why should we expect anything different? Okay, so it's the right perspective to have. I think to be quite honest, I think we swallow more of the health and wealth prosperity gospel than we'd like to admit. I don't know how many times I have people who should know better say to me, I don't know why I'm experiencing this trouble. I've tried to serve the Lord all my life. I've tried to live for him. Why am I so... Why not? Are we promised that everything will go well for us just because we serve the Lord? That will never have any heart-acre problems? No. That's not biblical theology at all. So we shouldn't be surprised if we have trouble in this life. God never promised to remove that from us. He did promise us His presence, His strength, the fact that He would accomplish great purposes through that in refining us, purifying us like gold. Making us more like Christ, conforming us to His image. All those great things can come out of suffering because we know the Lord. But He never promised that we would have an easy road. So don't be fooled by the prosperity gospel. And don't get upset when something terrible happens and you think, why did God allow this? He's not being fair to me. I've served Him all my life. Well God never promised if you served Him all your life you'd have it easy. Never promised that. Promise Peter the exact opposite. Come answer questions on that. So listening for all of us, bring a hymn of What서, is it the most distinguished priest or rady of all your thoughts? It's the most beautiful. Jesus Christ that brought Dusseladd is the Son of God? I know it's Jesus Christ, man. The water is a leaders. Its isn't here, but our sire has a word on me. Could well be GM. I'd not thought about that, but that could well be it could be that that Jesus really is saying to him What you claimed you would do before Peter you will actually do But now you're ready for it you weren't Then you're ready now It could could well tie into what Peter's claim was before the dial Hmm good point Okay, anything else there? His perspective God's perspective teaches us to expect trouble Not health and wealth prosperity necessarily Okay, second perspective is don't compare with other people Don't compare with other people notice what happens in verse 20 to 22 Peter turned and saw the the that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and said and had said Lord who is going to betray you When Peter saw him he asked Lord what about him? Jesus answered if I want him to remain alive until I return what is that to you? You must follow me Now I don't think Jesus is Is Denying Peter's interest in John or saying that he should not be interested in what happens to John I think really he is He's telling Peter Don't compare yourself to him. See Jesus is just told Peter you're gonna die and Peter looks at John says well, what about him? What's gonna happen with him? and Jesus has said I wait a second No, don't don't go there What I have planned for John may not be what I have planned for you and What difference does it make to you if I have something different planned for John? That's a good lesson to learn by the way in lots of different applications God never wants any two of us To be or do or experience exactly the same thing God has no cookie cutters up in heaven, you know saying this is exactly what you're you're like Obviously all of us are being patterned and shaped into the image of Christ, but that That's different it takes a different road for all of us And so we're not all gonna serve the Lord the same way we don't all have the same callings the same gifts We don't all have the same experiences some people will suffer more hardships some people want some people will will will Be well-known some people will be completely obsolete and unknown to anyone in what God calls them to do and That's totally up to God Peter and John are different and When Peter says I kind of want to know his story so that we can compare the two He's gonna die like me or what's your plan for him and Jesus says that's up to me. It's not up to you. Just leave that alone Peter And that's a good lesson to learn that God doesn't make us all the same doesn't give us all the same thing to do I mean think about it Peter was a shepherd and He would be he would talk about that in his first epistle About feeding the sheep John was a prophet He would be the man that God would use to write the book of Revelation Peter was a preacher John was more of a writer Peter was Someone who would die in agony John John would live until he died a natural death in exile Yeah, Fox's book of martyrs tell us he was poured into a he was put into a pot of boiling oil, but it didn't kill him But he was then exiled we know that from the local revelation he died a very old man He died about 60 years after the death of Christ So he died a very old man God has different paths for different of his children and Same same thing Jesus said to Peter could be said to all of us What is that to you don't worry yourself about John you just take care of following me Don't don't worry about what I'm gonna do with John that's between me and John You just follow me and That's the third perspective I'd like to point out and that is we all have the perspective of following Christ We should have the perspective when we serve God we can expect trouble We should have the perspective that we don't need to compare ourselves with other people. We should also have the perspective Focus on following Christ twice. He tells him that doesn't it verse 19 He said the Peter follow me and then after Peter asks about John He says the end of verse 22 you must follow me Don't worry about John don't worry about what's gonna happen with you just follow me That's to be your focus and that's to be the focus for all of us Follow Christ and What Christ has for you to go through and experience and do is not gonna be the same for me and To expect us all to be and do exactly the same Is the exact opposite of what the scripture teaches it denies the giftedness in the body of Christ it denies the whole functioning of the body that we're all in different part of the body You know it denies Peter's or Paul's teaching about not everybody's the eye Not everybody's the foot we have we're different God expects this to be so just focus on following Christ and Whatever God whatever doors the opens for you whatever he wants you to do wherever he calls you to go or be Just focus on following him don't compare yourself to others. It's so easy to start to start saying well that person doesn't Do all that I do or that person doesn't do everything the same way I do it I'm doing this and this and this and then they're not well, maybe God didn't want them to do that Maybe God doesn't have that for them Maybe has a totally different path for them in all likelihood he does Because you've got a place in the body they've got another place in the body So that's the perspective we have to have We can all expect trouble Don't expect health and wealth and prosperity But don't compare to other people just focus on following Christ Just follow me Jesus says And I'll take you individually along the path I want you to go on Somebody else go a different way different path Good perspective to have as Peter gets ready to serve the Lord in the book of Acts. It's good perspective. It's good for us to Okay, comments or questions before we begin the next appearance of Jesus anything else here Yes, what max Hmm That's great Yeah, yeah, right exactly Good perspective. Yeah, we do have the wrong perspective sometimes as far as eternity is concerned Grasping on to this life rather than recognizing heaven is our home Very good Okay, let's take a few moments at least to look at Matthew 28. This is the next to last appearance of Christ There's one other But in this one he meets with the disciples On a mountain in Galilee Matthew records this mark records a little bit about it First Corinthians 156 many believe this is where he actually met with the 500 First Corinthians 156 mentions Jesus meeting with 500 at once some put this Those two together I've put a question mark by it because it's not at all clear That's the case the setting for this meeting is described in verses 1617 and it just mentions the 11 Verse 16 Matthew 28 verse 16 says Then the 11 disciples went to Galilee to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go remember Jesus On the first day of the resurrection he kept telling the women to tell the disciples Go to Galilee and meet me there and we don't know time frame necessarily, but this appears to be Right before or soon before the ascension And so this is finally taking place many harmonies of the gospels as as I'm doing tonight put this in tandem with Jesus meeting with the seven at the sea of Galilee because they're both in Galilee So maybe the other disciples meet with them and Jesus may be reinforces when he sees them at the sea of Galilee that they need to go to such a mountain and This is where he has his meeting with them, but the setting is at a mountain in Galilee. We don't know anything else about where that would be But verse 17 when they saw him They worshipped him but some doubted That's the reason why some say this may have included a larger group because by now the 11 are pretty well convinced You know that Jesus really is alive unless you place this near the beginning of the resurrection appearances It doesn't seem to fit as well there So that's the reason some say this includes the other the 500 and there were some of them who maybe had not even seen yet or maybe at only seen him one time but This is their first engagement with him in resurrection form. Maybe that's the reason But it may have still been some of the 11 who have not had as much opportunity to see Jesus and they're still questioning It's interesting that the gospels are very honest Even at this time there are still some that are doubting Whether Jesus really is alive whether it's really him But that's the scene setting for the meeting in Galilee to mountain they worship him Some are still questioning But notice the instruction at this meeting and will this briefly Get started here Jesus gives them what is Typically called the great commission and again Jesus is preparing them for the work they'll do This is the focus of these last few meetings is you can see that he's preparing them training them for what they're supposed to be doing and This is this is very clear Jesus kind of lays out a pattern for their ministry Here, but he begins with this statement verse 18 Jesus came to them and said all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me Now that's a key first statement Because what he's going to say next is going to ring with authority as to what their marching orders orders are As they begin the process of establishing the church in the book of Acts So he establishes first of all his authority once again his sovereign authority to tell them what their job description is And he's going to give them basically a fourfold job description in In the next couple of verses we're not going to get into that because we're just about out of time But he begins with this statement of his authority all authority has given him that that Reinforced his first of all who he is And confirms in their minds again if they're still doubting as some of them are That he really is the Lord that it is him and that he is He is now on the other side of the grave in a position of authority. He will soon ascend to be exalted at the right hand of God and Be made head of the church Ephesians 1 and The church will begin, but he is he is an authority and he reinforces that Before he tells them what he wants them to do Okay, any comments or questions I think we'll we'll pause there and not get into the the great commission itself Any questions comments Disagreements Okay, all right, let's pray Father Father, thank you for our Savior and again the example of how he deals with us as his children For Lord we admit we are all like Peter We sometimes make great claims or have great thoughts as to what we will do and we miserably fail Thank you that you mercifully and yet very uh directly Restore us I thank you father for that process which brings us face-to-face with your holiness the offamus of our failure Causes us to recognize how weak we really are And then graciously mercifully says I've still got work for you to do. Thank you. Thank you father For we need that every day we need that assurance that we can be restored That we can still serve you I pray father that we will do so with your perspective on what life and ministry really is all about Look at things from a biblical heavenly worldview I pray father that you will remind us of these truths every day We ask in Jesus name. Amen