Jesus, Our Savior and Friend

John 20 has provided an effective close to John’s Gospel with Jesus’ appearances to Mary and the disicples, then Thomas’ confession in Jn. 20:24-29, followed by the profound summary of Jn. 20:30-31.  Now that exultant chapter leads us to see John 21 as a very specials told us He will see us in heaven and He has also told we see him on the Mt. of Olives.  In 1 Thess. 4:16-17, Paul tells us that we will “meet the Lord in the air.”  The Lord does want to give us points of reference for our future hope of living with Him eternally.  He also gave the disciples some encouraging hope by anticipating meeting with Him after His Resurrection.  In Acts 1 we read that Jesus met with the disciples in Jerusalem, and it is there that He ascends into heaven from the Mt. of Olives.  But first He planned a “side trip” by going up to the Capernaum for a short fishing trip with seven of His men.

ln this remarkable epilogue to his gospel, John is inspired by God to point us forward to the ongoing work of Christ in His Church to the present day.  You might want to review John 1:1-18 to compare the inspired prologue to this final chapter.  Along with the disciples, we might have some questions – for example:  How will the Lord Jesus now be related to His followers?  What is to happen to the disciples?  Do we have the whole story of Jesus’ ministry?  Also one more time, Jesus counsels Peter and as a result provides teaching to the disciples as a group.  As fellow disciples today, we are advised to listen up. Also note from Jn. 21:25, although this is John’s epilogue, yet he is quick to remind us that no amount of human words could be written that would totally sum up the wonders of Jesus Christ and His ministry on earth.

Bible Study Journal

Take some time now to read all of John 21.

    Some questions to guide your thinking as you study John 21:

• • • • What actions does Jesus make?
      • What key statements does Jesus make?
      • What do we learn about Christian love?

Meet Me There

Jesus has told us He will see us in heaven — In 1 Thess. 4:16-17, Paul tells us that we will “meet the Lord in the air.”  He has also told us we will see him on the Mt. of Olives (Zech. 14:4; Rev. 19:14).  The Lord does want to give us points of reference for our future “blessed hope” (Tit. 2:13) of living with Him eternally.  He also gave the disciples some encouraging hope by anticipating meeting with Him after His Resurrection.  In Acts 1 we read that Jesus had another meeting planned with the disciples in Jerusalem, and it is there that He ascends into heaven from the Mt. of Olives.  But first He planned a “side trip” by going up to Capernaum for a short fishing trip.

In Matt. 28:7, at the Tomb, the angel told Mary to go to tell the disciples what has happened, and that they should plan to meet with Jesus in Galilee – they would have naturally thought that meant Capernaum because they had spent many days there together during the last three years. Galilee is also where the majority of Jesus’ followers called home. We don’t have a detailed timeline of these days after the Resurrection, but at some point during the forty days of appearances, we arrive at John 21. We know that at the end of the 40 days of public appearances by the resurrected Lord, Jesus and the disciples were in Jerusalem as He prepared for the Ascension (Acts 1:4). Jesus instructed them in Luke 24:49 to stay in Jerusalem until they receive the power of the Holy Spirit.

John now tells us about a very personal time with Jesus and seven (Jn. 21:2) of His disciples in up on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, which occurs at some time before the Ascension.  This occasion has an important place in the final days of ministry of Christ for His followers. John 21:14 refers to this event as the third appearance, but that is likely a reference to the third of a subset of appearances which John records in his gospel (the first two being in 20:19-33).

Two meetings, two locations. Why did He send them to the Sea of Galilee? It is the seed bed of Jesus’ public ministry as the Messiah, He probably traveled north along the Jordan River after being baptized to establish His home in Capernaum and call His first disciples. Why did He select the Mount of Olives? It is there that the prophet Zechariah announced (Zech. 12:8-10; 14:4) that the Messiah would return to Earth, “in that day” of His Second Coming and the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom. Anticipation of Israel’s restoration (Acts 1:6) for the disciples then, and still for us today, points to that event. Jesus was about to go back to heaven to complete God’s work of Redemption, and the Day will come when Jesus the Messiah returns to the same spot to establish His 1000-year reign on the throne of David from the glorious New Temple in Jerusalem (Eze. 20:40; 37:24-28). He made these choices for final meetings because He was focused on sending them forward into the Church Age. They will be its first champions, soon to replicate to thousands and then millions more, and His message to anticipate meeting with Him in heaven is passed down to us to continue spreading the word!

Reunion and Renewal

A lot of John 21 is Jesus’ focus on Peter – following after the glory of John 20, this chapter provides a deeper and more intimate time as the Lord Jesus establishes closure and next steps with His disciples, His closest friends. After the extended journeys of the last three years, Peter, James & John would have been ready to return to their homes and families. The clear message of their mission (Matt. 28) was still being defined by their Leader, and the men were in a holding pattern.

John 21 begins with a “new day breaking”, and with what had to have been a flashback for Peter as well.  In earlier days of Jesus’ ministry (Lu 5:1-11) as they were just getting acquainted with Him after His temptation, the men were also in Galilee and they had decided to go fishing.  In that account, Jesus was on the shore and He tells Peter to go out deeper to cast his nets – Peter didn’t respond very wisely that time either.  Now Jesus is on the shore watching the men having no success at fishing once again.  Interesting that although Peter and the others don’t recognize Jesus, when He suggests they try the other side of the boat, they go with the suggest and move their nets to the other side of the boat, with amazing results.  As the large haul of fish hit the nets, and the men work to pull in the net, John looks back at the man on the shore and says “Wow, that’s the Lord!”  This is another “resurrection aha” moments, like Mary and Thomas (Jn. 20:16, 28). Think about how John’s perspective demonstrates the in-depth, personal knowledge of Who the Lord Jesus is, in the midst of life struggles, and how that changes one’s life direction. Peter was distracted by an immediate task and he needed to have his focus back on the Lord, then handle life’s tasks and challenges.

Peter rushed forward again, plunged into the water, and swam about 100 yards (the length of a football field) – not me!).  The other guys rowing the boat and dragging the full net of fish may have taken a few minutes longer – talk about a great fish story, they even counted the fish (153)!  This was a “big memory moment” having this breakfast with Jesus after the resurrection.  Peter recalls this special memory later when preaching to Cornelius in Ceasarea (Acts 10:41), noting that breakfast as when Jesus began telling the disciples to begin preaching redemption through the resurrected Christ to the world.

There was Jesus, on the shore cooking fish – “…now we can talk about the really important things.  They didn’t need what was in the net, Jesus was all the satisfaction they needed.  As Peter sits around the campfire rejocing with the resurrected Lord, his memory likely recalled his failure just a few days earlier at that other campfire in the Temple courtyard (Lu. 18:18).  We all realize that past failures often need to be dealt with, but there is more that Jesus needed to deal with in Peter’s heart.  After they were done eating (Jn. 21:15), Jesus seems to speak more privately with Peter, addressing him in an elevated way with reference to his father John, making this interaction strategically important (see Matt. 16:21).  He had already had a meeting alone with Peter (Lu. 24:34), but now He asks Peter three personal questions (like Peter’s three denials) – it is likely that Peter still struggled deeply with his previous denial of the Lord.  Jesus wants to point Peter and the others forward, and as He had done in Jn. 15, He emphasizes a life and ministry of love, using two key Greek words for love in order to emphasize the different ways to express love.  He used the Greek “agape” first, sacrificial love – Peter’s love for the Lord Himself and for us as well – it’s a daily issue, so where is my priority?  It may be that Peter considered himself to be more loyal than the other disciples (“than these”).  We shouldn’t press the meaning of the Greek words too deeply, the nuance and variation are likely more from conversational vernacular, but there are two main thrusts:  1) how deeply do you love Me? and, 2) going forward in caring ministry and service, you must have devotion and mission, essential for any disciple.  With each question, Peter always responds with the Greek “phileo”, a love of a friend for a friend.  Actually the two Greek words can be used interchangeably (cp Jn 3:16 with 16:27), using “phileo” doesn’t diminish Peter’s sincere response.  Three times Jesus repeats His commissioning of Peter – three times Peter denied the Lord, and three times he states his love for Him.  This experience brought the passion of Christ to Peter’s passion.  Note that after each question, Jesus’ guidance to Peter and the others was to “feed my sheep”, that is, nurture and build up the people of God.

Bible Study Journal

• Read Lu. 5:1-11, and Jn. 21:1-14 and make somes of the comparisons, differences, what you learn from each passage.
• Jn. 21:14, “third time” – what were the first and second times?
• Why did Peter think he needed to be at Jesus’ side immediately (Jn. 21:7) instead of taking the time to row the boat to shore?
• Between leading them to the great catch, and then having the fish cooking on the fire for them, what was the Lord wanting to teach the disciples?
• In Jn. 21:20-22, why do you think Peter was worried about John, and what does Jesus mean in His response?
• How does Matt. 26:33 relate to Jesus questioning Peter’s love for Him?
• How does 1 Pet. 5:1-4 show Peter got the lesson Jesus was teaching Him in this campfire conversation?
• In Jn. 21:22, what does mean by “until I come”?