DEFECTION AND RESTORATION OF A LEADER
[p. 56] DEFECTION AND RESTORATION OF A LEADER
John 21:1 - 19; Matthew 28: 16 - 20
The passage we have read in John shows that the Lord is always supreme. Although His own may have departed from Him, He remains the Master; and the defection of the saints provides Him with a fresh opportunity to manifest Himself. It is to be noted that the thought of a manifestation is mentioned before the defection had taken place; so it says in the first verse that “Jesus manifested himself again to the disciples”, and in verse 14: “This is already the third time that Jesus had been manifested to the disciples”. At the beginning of this chapter, the manner in which Jesus manifested Himself is indicated; it says, “he manifested himself thus”, and the manifestation took the form of correcting His own; while in verse 14 the manifestation is mentioned to stress the fact that it was the third time that Jesus had been manifested to His own, and the failures of the people of God become the occasion for the service of the divine Persons. The fact is also to be noted that when there has been failure, adjustment must always follow before service can be resumed.
It says in Matthew that “some doubted”, and although their number was incomplete (eleven instead of twelve), the Lord did not stop to adjust that defect, but continued, saying: “All power has been given me in heaven and upon earth”. In these last days the Lord would teach us that we must go forward in all circumstances; if some are missing, we must pursue and go on, for the Lord is going on, whatever happens. That is what has characterised God from the beginning. The failure of Adam and Eve only served to bring out new features. God has gone on.
To return to John 21, it is to be noted that the [p. 57] defection was with the principal servants. Simon Peter and Thomas are seen together. Those who fail have the tendency to be together until they are restored. We often see persons who have turned aside get together when there is an attack to be made on the testimony. Another very sad feature comes to light: that is that the chief in service becomes the leader in error. Peter leads the disciples into a false path. He says: “I go to fish”. And the others answer: “We also come with thee”. It is quite true that we ought to follow our leaders, to obey them, to be subject to them, and considering the issue of their conversation, to imitate their faith. But in the passage which says that, it is also added: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come”, Hebrews 13: 8. It is He alone whom we can follow with absolute confidence.
What comes to light here is that the Lord did not allow them to have success in their failure. It is a great mercy, if we fail, that we are not allowed to achieve our end, and that we are ready to receive correction. Judas was able to succeed in his path of departure, and alas! many others since then. In our days there are many who have turned aside in their own path, and they have not been recovered. It is very solemn when God allows us to attain our end in following a path of error. How striking it is that David was allowed to number Israel! But the avenues to the conscience are near to those who are to be restored: David had a prophet, Gad. It was a mercy from God who, by means of Gad, reached David’s conscience.
So here, the Lord quickly found a way of reaching the conscience and heart of His disciples. It says, “And early morn already breaking, Jesus stood on the shore”; but it adds that “the disciples however did not know that it was Jesus”. The circumstances bring out how easily one disciple may displace another in leadership. Generally the apostle John occupies the second place with relation to Peter; but here John reaches the [p. 58] first place, which shows that the one who excels in love has always the advantage. He had not made excessive profession of love for Christ; but everything shows that he had more love for Christ than Peter.
The Lord said to them: “Children, have ye anything to eat?” That word ‘children’ shows that the Lord was not regarding them as erring disciples. He said: “Cast the net at the right side of the ship and ye will find”. Then they cast it. The Lord addresses us as ‘children’, not as erring disciples, which establishes confidence and renews the link of affection. Many of our brethren are easier to recover through the affections than the conscience; the conscience must be reached before final adjustment, but the affections are more ready to receive appeals.
“That disciple therefore whom Jesus loved says to Peter, It is the Lord”. John has the first place and Peter is content to take the second. John says: “It is the Lord”. The one who has discernment enough to see that it was the Lord is the one who has the first place. The position of a servant is never final; one such who leads well today might not do so tomorrow. John said: “It is the Lord”. That was precisely the light that was wanting at that moment. If we can discern the Lord, the whole scene will be immediately clarified for us.
Simon Peter, having heard that it was the Lord, does not take the place of obedience to a leader, but occupies afresh the first place. It says: “Simon Peter therefore, having heard that it was the Lord, girded his overcoat on him (for he was naked), and cast himself into the sea”. He did not wait for the boat. John himself got into the boat. It says in verse 8, that “the other disciples came in the small boat”; it was an auxiliary boat, no doubt. Peter did not wait for the boat, and he became leader once more. Leadership among us is the result of moral qualities, not of what is official.
The Lord can bring out that which really existed in [p. 59] them, but which was obscured for the moment. He says: “Cast the net at the right side of the ship”. In these circumstances the Lord gives us every advantage. The right side is always an advantage. When Peter had to do with the Lord in other circumstances similar to these (Luke 5), he reasoned a moment. The Lord had said to him: “Draw out into the deep water and let down your nets for a haul”. At the word of the Lord he let down the net, which broke on account of the great quantity of fishes. But here he did not reason; he did not call the Lord’s word in question. Together they realised the power that belonged to Him, and the power of the net, for “though there were so many, the net was not rent”. So when the Lord would bring us back into the right path, He knows how to use the latent power which is in us. It is a great encouragement for an erring disciple, to see that there is in him a power which will enable him to resist that which is not according to the Lord, and to recover himself.
I desire now to draw your attention to the position of the Lord in these circumstances. “Early morn already breaking, Jesus stood on the shore”. He is on well-known ground. When one is on the water, one does not always know what is the depth of the lake or sea, the bottom, it may be, being at various depths, while the shore is characteristically a known ground, a solid place. In spite of our failures, the Lord is going to treat us with dignity. That is another feature of recovery, a feature that the Lord gives us to understand. We may, for the moment, become the servants of sin; but we do not cease to be sons. “When therefore they went out on the land, they see a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread”. The hand of One who was thinking of them had been active. Who thought of us? We were busy fishing all night, without taking anything; but Someone has been occupied about us. They saw that, it says, but only when they went out on the land. In order to see, we must take up a certain position.
[p. 60] John saw the Lord from the ship (he had recognised Him); but it was not from the ship that he saw the fire of coals. To see all the Lord’s goodness we must leave the position into which our faithlessness had led us.
Then the Lord says to them: “Come and dine”. He would not merely give them something to eat. It is true that they were erring disciples; but they were also dignified persons. The reception that was going to be given them was according to their dignity; although they had gone astray, they were going to be placed in all the dignity of the counsels of God. And, as if to set them at ease, the Lord says to them: “Bring of the fishes which ye have now taken” — fresh fish, not of that which they might have had from their previous efforts, but of that which they had just taken. It is as if the Lord would say to them: ‘Since I began to recover you, you have had results, and I can change all those results into a feast for you’. Simon Peter becomes the leader again in verse 11, and it says that he “drew the net to the land full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty-three”. The results are not negligible; they are very great. The Lord assures our hearts that, in spite of the defection which has taken place, we are with Him on a dignified ground.
Then it tells us that no one dared inquire of Him, Who art Thou? knowing that it was the Lord. The Lord has no interest in forms of prayer. They knew that it was the Lord, and they did not ask Him. Not only had the Lord provided the fire of coals, but He had Himself prepared the meal. He never ceases to serve us.
The Holy Spirit adds that “this is already the third time that Jesus had been manifested to the disciples, being risen from among the dead”. This last chapter really forms part of the gospel; this third manifestation was necessary to complete the subject.
Having spoken of the affections, I wish to say a few words about the conscience, for Peter must be restored [p. 61] into the full position of leader. This chapter shows us in a mysterious way how the Lord has made provision of the truth for the whole time of His absence. He challenges Peter as to his profession, for the Lord never forgets what we have professed to be. Jehovah recalled to Jacob the vows he had made twenty years earlier. The Lord recalls to Peter the affection he had professed to have for Him. This passage is very familiar to us. Perhaps we have not noticed that the last allusion made by Peter to the Lord’s knowledge is objective, while at the beginning it was a matter of conscious knowledge: “Thou knowest that I am attached to thee”. The third time, Peter changes his language: “Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I am attached to thee”. An erring brother can say: Thou knowest my heart. But is there in me anything that others can see as to my love? The Lord knows it, of course; but others should know it. They can only know it by that which is seen in me. If a brother speaks of his affection for the Lord he ought to bear witness to it. That is a very important point to notice, and it shows how Peter made progress in the knowledge of the Lord. He discerned that if he spoke of his affection for the Lord he was testifying of something which he could manifest. Then the Lord can speak to Peter of the perfect way in which he would finish his course down here, and for that He uses the familiar expression: “Verily, verily, I say to thee”.
I believe, dear brethren, that the Lord would give us to understand that transparency in our conduct is the proof that we shall continue to the end. Peter is now established as the one who will feed the lambs and shepherd the sheep, the one who will die gloriously as a martyr. It will be the same with John. Nothing is said of the others. Peter and John, in their ministry, are characteristically to continue to the end.
Matthew teaches us that we should persevere in all circumstances. Although they were only eleven and [p. 62] some doubted, the Lord says to them: “All power has been given me in heaven and upon earth. Go therefore ...” — they are to continue and make disciples, baptising them to the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And He says to them: “And behold, I am with you all the days, until the completion of the age”. It should touch us that He says “call the days”. There are bright days and dark days; but He is with us all the days, until the completion of the age. Everything is fixed: the Lord has all authority in heaven and upon earth. He is with us every day; yes, from daybreak. He anticipated our needs, even before we presented them to Him, and that will continue until the completion of the age. And in that day, the Lord will not fail us.
May God bless His word!