John Chapter 21
Read verses 1-14
The Sea of Tiberias is very much connected with the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ before and after His resurrection.
This is an amazing group of men.
Here is Simon Peter, warm hearted, yet often impulsive.
Here is Thomas, that magnificent skeptic, who has a question mark for a brain.
Here is Nathanael, the wisecracker, who was also a doubter at the beginning.
Here is James and John, sons of thunder (Zebedee), and John is the writer of this Gospel.
And there are two other disciples here who are not named.
Perhaps this small group of men represents a cross section of society; perhaps this little group represents you and me.
It was springtime at the Sea of Tiberias, and the warm winds made ripples near the shore.
The surrounding hills were green and beautifully adorned with wild flowers.
The disciples fished all night and they caught nothing.
Now they are restless and frustrated.
It’s easy to fish when you’re catching fish, but it’s frustrating when you don’t catch any fish.
I can remember when I was a teenager, my father and I fished all day long out from "Stump Hole Landing" at Lake Santee.
We caught nothing that day.
These disciples knew how to fish, but that night of total failure was also in the plan and purpose of God.
In verse 4, I think it was a normal experience that the disciples “knew not that it was Jesus.”
Jesus was in His glorified body and He could not be recognized.
Jesus asked if they had any meat and they gave him a short answer, “No.”
That’s the question Jesus is bound to ask every one of us someday: “Did you catch anything?”
“Did you win anyone to Christ because of your testimony and witness?”
I hope your answer will not be the same as the answer the disciples gave: “No, we haven’t caught a thing.”
In verse 6, the whole thought here is that Jesus directs the lives of His own.
Jesus gives us His instructions, and these instructions are to be obeyed.
When we fish according to His instructions, the nets are filled to capacity.
Notice that the net does not break even though it’s full.
The net is strong, the net keeps us eternally safe.
Notice in verse 7 that Peter is naked.
Peter may not have the discernment of John, but have you noticed that at every opportunity Peter gets as close as possible to his Lord?
The other men sit in the boat and wait until they get to shore, but not Peter.
Peter can’t wait, and he cast himself into the sea to be close to his Lord.
In verses 8-11, we see the last recorded miracle of Jesus.
This is the only miracle of Jesus recorded after His resurrection.
Folks, we are no longer joined to the baby in Bethlehem, but today, we’re joined to a resurrected, living, glorified Christ, who sits at God’s right hand.
There are several things of importance here in Jesus’ final recorded miracle:
1. Jesus uses the possessions people have as a basis for His miracles.
The disciples are fishing and they catch nothing, but the Lord Jesus gives them an abundant harvest of fish.
At Cana, the water pots were empty, and the Lord Jesus filled the water pots with water, and then changed the water into wine.
God asked Moses what he had in his hand, and Moses says it’s a rod, and with that rod Moses possessed, God performs His miracle for Israel.
David is faithful as a shepherd, and with his shepherd’s crook God gives him a scepter to hold in his hand.
It’s interesting that whatever you already possess, God can use.
Have you asked God lately to help you to use your possessons to help someone in need?
2. Another thing of interest here is that whatever God does, He does in abundance.
The water pots were full of wine, and the people had much wine left over.
The baskets of food left over were in abundance after the more than 5,000 were fed.
The nets were full of fish.
3. Also notice that Jesus already had fish laid on a bed of coals for the breakfast, but Jesus asks for some of the fish the disciples caught.
Jesus always accepts our Christian service to Him.
There was another time when Peter caught a miraculous number of fish, recorded by Luke.
It was in the early days of Jesus’ ministry, and Jesus was calling Peter to be a fisher of men.
That time the net broke and many fish swam away.
This time the net held and it did not break.
With the Word of God, with the Gospel of a risen, glorified Christ, the Gospel will not only save, but it will hold, safe and secure, in the arms of our God.
Believers are kept by the power of God through all eternity.
Folks, Jesus always has a purpose for His own.
He wants to direct your life and my life.
In verse 12, Jesus said, “Come and have breakfast.”
What a wonderful invitation!
Before you go into all the world and preach and teach the Gospel, Jesus wants you and me to come and have breakfast with Him.
The lovely part is that the resurrected Lord feeds us, as we read and study His Word.
Read John 21:15-17
Jesus reinstates Peter:
Jesus calls Peter into Christian service!
We learn an important lesson here; love for Christ is the prerequisite for our Christian service.
Why did Christ interrogate Peter three times?
The reason lies in the fact that Peter denied Christ three times, and now Christ jogs Peter’s mind and heart to affirm his devotion to Christ three times.
Peter lost his commission around a little fire of coals that had been built in the courtyard of the palace of the high priest the night Jesus was arrested.
Now, by the Sea of Tiberias, around coals of fire Jesus built to cook breakfast, Jesus restores Peter’s commission.
In John’s Gospel, this last scene is the last loose end that must be woven back into the fabric of Jesus’ perfect plan.
Join me in agonizing with Peter as he labors through his interrogation by our Savior.
Peter’s first interrogation:
“Simon, son of John, do you truly love (“agapao”) me more than these?” (John 21:15).
Saying, “Simon, son of John” cuts through to Peter’s identity as a Jewish man.
Jesus specifically challenges Peter’s boast to follow Him, no matter what the other disciples choose to do, when Jesus adds the words, “more than these.”
Peter replies, “Yes, Lord…you know that I love (“phileo”) you” (John 21:15).
Jesus said to Peter, "Feed my lambs" (verse 15).
In other words, "feed those who are babes in Christ."
Notice the transition in this passage from "feed my lambs" to "take care of my sheep" to "feed my sheep."
Notice how Peter omits comparing himself with the other disciples.
In verse 15, Jesus uses the Greek word “agapao” for the word love.
“Agapao” is the highest and noblest word in the Greek language for love.
Jesus was saying, “Peter, love me with all your heart.”
In verse 15, Peter uses the Greek word “phileo” for the word love.
The word “phileo” is a lesser word for the word love than is the word “agapao.”
Peter is saying to Jesus, “You know that I have an affection for You.”
Jesus surprised Peter with His second interrogation:
Jesus repeats His initial question, “Simon son of John, do you truly love (agapao”) me?” (verse 16).
Notice that Jesus dropped the comparison with the other disciples.
After all, Jesus never compared one disciple with another.
The same is true with us; for Jesus doesn’t compare any of us with another, for we are all unique and individual before God.
Peter sticks with his original word for love, “phileo.”
Twice now, Peter has affirmed his affection for Jesus.
Then, Jesus grieves Peter with a third interrogation:
Here, Jesus adopts the word of Peter, “phileo”, asking “do you really have an affection for Me?” (verse 17).
Peter is grieved now!
Peter was grieved, not because Jesus asked him the question three times, but because in his heart he knew that Jesus had to stoop to Peter’s level in using Peter’s word for love, “phileo.”
Perhaps Peter remembered in his heart the time he denied his Lord and the cockcrew.
Peter still cannot say any more than that he has a deep affection for Christ and that Christ knows he has this affection.
Peter is not bragging now for he realizes that Christ knows his heart, that he has a real affection in his heart for Christ.
Let me impress upon you that the acid test of any person today is “do you love Christ within your heart?”
Read John 21:18-25
Jesus is telling Peter that Peter is to become a martyr.
Peter’s question back to Jesus is, “Now You have told me what I am going to do; now tell me what John is going to do” (verse 21).
Jesus told Peter that what John does is none of his business; even if John lives on earth until the Second Coming of Christ, what John does should not affect what Peter needs to do.
Some people say they won’t serve the Lord if they cannot get all the answers to their questions to their satisfaction.
Well, there are a lot of things that we don’t need to know, and there are things that are none of our business to know.
What we need to be doing is following Christ.
Tradition says that Peter was crucified, but Peter asked to be crucified upside down, saying he was not worthy to be crucified with his head up, as his Lord Jesus had been crucified.
In verse 25, John is not exaggerating when he says the whole world itself could not contain the books about Jesus if all that was known about Him was written.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the One who died on the Cross and rose again from the dead.
Jesus is the eternal God, our Savior.
I pray that you have gained great heart knowledge of our Lord and Savior from this Bible study series in the Gospel of John.
I would love to hear from you personally about your walk with the Lord.
Please contact me:
Rev. Jimmy Davis
Bayview Baptist Church
5300 Two Notch Road
Columbia, SC 29204
Telephone: 803-754-8690
Email: BayviewBaptist@aol.com
