Easter Is Over, Now What?

I hope that everyone had a great day celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ yesterday! For me, Easter has to be the biggest day in the life of the church. Although, while we celebrate the resurrection with special emphasis this one day every year, we should absolutely remember and thank God for the resurrection every day! For some, Easter is a time for family get-togethers especially in our ministry area with the kids being out of school. Then there is the Easter parade, we can't forget the Easter parade! What's that you say? You know, where everyone buys new clothes and shows them off at church :).

But Easter is over, now what?

For years, the disciples had spent every moment with Jesus Christ. They had heard His teaching, seen the miracles that He performed and witnessed Him heal many who were sick. They were also there with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane when Judas betrayed Him and handed Him over to be arrested. We know that at least John was present at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. When the women reported the angels news that Jesus had been resurrected, Peter went and verified the empty tomb. By the time we get to John 21,the disciples had even seen Him twice after His resurrection. The disciples were faced with the very same question - Easter is over, now what?

After witnessing all they had seen the Messiah do and hearing everything that He had taught, what did they decide to do? Go fishing! 

"After this, Jesus revealed Himself again to His disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed Himself in this way: ² Simon Peter, Thomas (called “Twin”), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of His disciples were together.³ 'I’m going fishing,' Simon Peter said to them. 'We’re coming with you,'  they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.'" - John 21:1-3

Remember where Peter was when Jesus called him to follow Him as a disciple? 

"As He was walking along the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, since they were fishermen. ¹⁹ 'Follow Me,' He told them, 'and I will make you fish for people!' ²⁰ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.²¹ Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called them. ²² Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him." - Matthew 4:18-22

After meeting Jesus and serving with Him, what did the disciples do? The disciples went right back to their old way of life in the very same spot where Jesus first called some of them! (The Sea of Galilee and the Sea of Tiberias is the same sea, different name). How could they go back to their old life after meeting Jesus? 

Jesus has an illustration for them in John 21 (remember, they hadn't caught any fish): 

"When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore. However, the disciples did not know it was Jesus. ⁵ 'Men,' Jesus called to them, 'you don’t have any fish, do you?' 'No,' they answered. ⁶ 'Cast the net on the right side of the boat,' He told them, 'and you’ll find some.' So they did, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish." - John 21:4-6

The disciples had walked with Jesus Christ and it was now their responsibility to be Christ's ambassadors in this world! By going back to their old life, they were not following Christ. Jesus was calling them to be obedient in doing His will. As Christians, Jesus Christ is calling us to do the same!

For many pastors and churches, the week after Easter can be depressing. At our church, we put a lot of emphasis into inviting people to our Easter services. We passed out around a thousand invitations and I know of one person that came because they were invited. Many will look at that as a failure however I do not. Many will see smaller crowds this week and it will bring discouragement. I cannot emphasize enough that our task is to be obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ and we are to leave the results up to Him. Unfortunately, many Christians are not obedient. Too many Christians just want to show up at church for the show. They do not want to live out their faith in the church. These are also the very same people who sit and wonder why the church isn't growing or the nit pick and say "We should be doing _____."

So Easter is over, now what? Christians, it's time that we get about doing the Lord's work and "cast our nets on the right side of the boat!"