Click here for sermon manuscript
The Reality of Hope: John's Encounter with Jesus
AI-generated 500-Word Summary
The world is broken. From 9/11 to daily headlines, we are constantly reminded of this reality. This brokenness isn't unique to our time—every generation has faced its own forms of devastation, from wars to assassinations to personal tragedies. When asked, "Do you feel the world is broken?" people across centuries consistently answer, "We do."
In first-century Galilee, brokenness was equally present. The Jewish people had endured slavery, invasion, exile, and temple destruction. In AD 30, they lived under Roman occupation with a lifeless religion. Among them was John, a fisherman working with his brother James and father Zebedee on the Sea of Galilee. Life hadn't turned out as he hoped—he was, like all of us, a victim of this broken world.
Everything changed when Jesus appeared. This teacher gathered crowds around the Sea, speaking of a Kingdom that offered freedom and hope. One day, Jesus used John's boat as a floating stage to teach the crowds. Afterward, He told Peter to put out into deep water for a catch. Despite Peter's protests that they'd fished all night with no success, they obeyed. The result was miraculous—nets so full of fish that the boats nearly sank.
For John, this moment was transformative. For the first time, he felt something he'd never truly experienced before: hope. When Jesus called them to "fish for people," John immediately dropped his nets and left his father to follow Jesus. He realized that while fishing paid bills and put food on the table, Jesus fed the soul—and that's what everyone truly needs.
For three years, John witnessed incredible signs: water turned to wine, 5,000 fed with five loaves and two fish, storms calmed, the lame walking, the blind seeing, and the dead raised. He heard Jesus declare, "I am the light of the world, the bread of life, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life." John saw that Jesus wasn't just healing bodies—He was healing souls and fixing brokenness.
As part of Jesus's inner circle with James and Peter, John witnessed the transfiguration and other special moments. Uniquely among the disciples, John stood at the cross and watched Jesus die, then witnessed His resurrection. Jesus commissioned them to go and tell the broken world that healing was available.
John faithfully shared this message, even facing imprisonment and eventually losing his brother James to King Herod's persecution. Church history tells us John planted churches in Ephesus, where people traveled miles to hear his firsthand stories of Jesus. He wrote his Gospel, declaring that even the whole world couldn't contain all the books about Jesus's works.
Years later, when people began questioning whether Jesus was real or just too good to be true, an aging John wrote his first letter with tears in his eyes. He testified to what he had "heard, seen with our eyes, looked at and our hands have touched." John knew that without a real Jesus, there could be no real hope.
John's message to us is clear: Jesus took a "smelly, down-on-my-luck fisherman" and gave him hope, purpose, and forgiveness. He took all the broken pieces of John's life and made something more beautiful than John could have ever imagined. If Jesus could do that for John, He can do that for anyone—because that's what He does. Only a real Jesus can provide real hope for real brokenness.
