John 21 Feed My Sheep

Joh 20:31  but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. This episode in the narrative, shows the importance of making disciples. With the important command, “feed my sheep,” we find there is work to be done until the Lord returns or calls us home. It is John’s intentions to show how the Risen Lord made an impact on all of them, and turned their disbelief into true faith and submission. HE confronted the disciples and they believed, they saw the Risen Lord, heard Him speak, felt His wounds. The apostles needed these encounters with the Risen Jesus to empower them for the mission ahead. They needed the empowering from the Spirit of God to set the bedrock for the early church and beyond. Thomas needed to feel the wounds before He cried out, “my Lord and My God,” as an act of worship. We saw in our message last week, how Thomas was transformed by the Risen Lord, changed from full blown skeptic to worshipper of the Risen Jesus. Thomas had he feet firmly planted in His skepticism, but then He saw and heard Jesus. Joh 20:28  Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Then, as if Jesus is preparing them to have faith then seek understanding, says this, Joh 20:29  Jesus told him, "Is it because you have seen me that you have believed? How blessed are those who have never seen me and yet have believed!"

Today, I will ask you to bear with me and let the Word of God speak. Whether it is a literary device used by John under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, or just how the narrative flows, there is right in the middle of this narrative a very intimate time between Peter and Jesus. This is the meat of the narrative and we will stream line and focus most of our time on this area in the scriptures. It’s like a nicely packaged theological and missiological sandwich, it speaks to a Theology of vocation and much as it does missions.

*prayer*

Let us set this background:

Joh 21:1  After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Joh 21:2  Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.

• There at Tiberias, the capital city of Galilee, Jesus gave further revelation of Himself to seven of the disciples. Jesus life on earth was to constantly give God’s special revelation to humanity. He is God in flesh. This portion of the narrative is John’s way of showing the apostles have been collected together, and called for the mission ahead. It shows that the core group of disciples have genuinely seen and believed in the Lord, but there is much work still to be done. We find that Peter is a major player in the role of the church. Now that Peter is restored he is at least ready and willing to begin. That speaks volumes to many of us today. We come from all kinds of backgrounds, all of us entrenched in sin before the Lord changed us and begin to change us into His image, but He has even used many of us to proclaim His gospel. This is an encounter that moves the apostles into, believing without seeing, because Jesus is not always going to physically be with them. To the seven disciples, Jesus revealed Himself once again. To one that was a doubter, one was from Cana there at the miracle of Cana, one James who would be killed under Herod, the beloved apostle John, and two of the disciples that were there from the beginning, Andrew and Phillip.

Joh 21:3  Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We will go with you." They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Joh 21:4  Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

• Peter, the fisherman, said “I’m Going Fishing.” They have been waiting on the Lord, or they have pondered returning to their former occupation until the Lord returned with further revelation. It is evident that Peter was a leader for the others followed into the waters to fish yet again. There have been a few liberal theologians over the years that have stated the apostles turned their backs on Jesus and went back to their roles outside of ministry. There is something more going on, in fact, there is what I call a theology of vocation seen right here in the words before us. What we see is working until the Lord returns. God has called us to work for Him until He returns or calls us home. Christ has not called us to lock ourselves in our homes with our eyes on the eastern sky. He has called us to be like Peter, work until we see the Lord. What Peter teaches us is to not set idle, use your occupation, your vocation for the Lord. He also teaches us to have faith in the Lord that He will provide, but food isn’t going to fall out of the sky into your lap as if it is manna. They had to eat!! Work in this world for the glory of God. These apostles fished all night long and caught nothing. As a fisherman, I know that they best time to catch fish is either early morning, or late in the evening. Some of the best fishing can be in the late night hours as well. So they were out at a prime time to catch fish. I firmly believe, the Lord over the elements, set this up as a way to further reveal himself to them. The disciples did not know it was Him, and as we keep that in mind, it makes the miracle of the congregating of fish, that much more meaningful as a revelation of the character of God. The distance from the shore to the boat kept them from realizing it was the Risen Jesus.

These few verses teach us something about work and the value of working to the glory of God, and teaches of its necessity. We can thank the early and significant reformer Martin Luther for a resurgence in a work ethic within the body of Christ. The early reformer resurrected or initiated a Biblical doctrine of work. He wrote much on Domestic duties, civil duties, and vocations. Luther wrote, “…the works of monks and priests, however holy and arduous they may be, do not differ on whit in the sight of God from the works of the rustic laborer in the field or the woman going about her household tasks…all works are measured before God by faith alone.” Jesus, as He summed up the commandments of God said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Luther in exposition of this command states, “we respond to the call to love our neighbor by fulfilling the duties associated with our everyday work.” We get off our butts and work for the Lord and do so for His glory, and as we go, we lift up the gospel of Jesus.

Joh 21:5  Jesus said to them, "Children, do you have any fish?" They answered him, "No."

• Of course Jesus knew they had no fish. Remember, they still had no idea it was the Lord.

Joh 21:6  He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.

• This had happened once before if you recall. (Luke 5: 4-7), Peter has seen this before. To add to the miracle, these men knew how to fish, they hardly need advice from a stranger on the shore. As you can imagine, what happens next has been reframed through the eyes of liberal theologians who say Jesus saw a school of fish on the right side. Now, if Jesus had control over life and death, could He also have control over a school of fish? Could He command that school of fish to come right under the nets that were about to be thrown? The cast it out and caught so many that the net could hardly hold them, the net was dragging down the boat. They caught so many, under the direction of the Lord, that not even the seven in the boat could haul them without a struggle. Joh 21:7  That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
• Peter and John recognized the miracle from before, they recognized God’s handiwork. Peter tied up his garment for he was naked or with very little covering him. Peter could have jumped in with hardly anything on, but for him to greet the Lord in such a way would be disrespectful. Out of reverence, Peter dressed himself appropriately, even if is awkward to swim in. There is much that can be said about reverence, and how we approach the Lord. When we approach God in prayer, we don’t come flippantly, we don’t come as if God is some elderly father figure in the great blue yonder, we approach Him with reverence and Hollow His name. Peter jumps out the boat once he realizes it is Jesus.

Joh 21:8  The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off.

Joh 21:9  When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread.

Joh 21:10  Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught."

• The Lord had prepared a place to cook the meal. Jesus made these appearances to His apostles to show He is genuinely alive, these are not hallucinations you are having, I am not a phantom or ghost, something the Gnostics would propose in a few short years from the events surrounding Jesus’ life. Ghost don’t eat meals, phantoms don’t build fires, Jesus is alive. Jesus instructs them to add some fish to the ones He already had laid out. Simon Peter goes back and positions the nets so he can count them…

Joh 21:11  So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.

• This was a miracle, 153 fish Peter hauled in. Where it took seven to haul to the boat would only take one person whose feet were on land, he pulls them onto the shore and before them is another work from the Lord.

Joh 21:12  Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord.

Joh 21:13  Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.

Joh 21:14  This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

• They was no doubting, they knew this was Jesus. The disciples can certainly teach us to look for the work of the Lord in everyday life. In everything we do and go through in life, look for those divine Godly appointments. Even in the simplest of things, such as breakfast, the Lord is there. Many times, our lives are so complicated that we can’t even commune with the Lord over a meal, we can hardly even chew our food good enough before we are up at our next task for the day. Maybe there is a dichotomy of sorts concerning fast food, it is convenient when we are on the run but is a hindrance when we need to slow down and have a meal, and think about how the Lord has blessed. Jesus said, come and dine.

We enter into that more personal time with Simon Peter, the time when Jesus will press Peters motives. This is actually what one might consider Peter’s re-installment as apostle.

Jesus and Peter

Joh 21:15  When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs."

• There are some slight nuances that occur in the language that need to be brought out. It appears that Peter would now follow Jesus even till death, right? If Peter is to be instrumental in the early church, Jesus must expose his motives to him. Jesus askes Peter if He loves Him (agape) and Peter says, I love (phileo) you like a brother. Peter does not even use Christ’s word agapaō for high and devoted love, but the humbler word phileō for love as a friend.

Joh 21:16  He said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep."

• He askes Him a second time. Same scenario, now using the words for sheep. Feed my people in short, those in Israel and Gentiles alike, feed all my people, disciple them. It will take more than a superficial response to please the Lord. You say you love me, act like it, prove it.

Joh 21:17  He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.

• Now Jesus flips the words and uses the term love in reference to brotherly or friendly love. As if to say, “do you love me more than a brother, do you love me as Lord?” Upon hearing this, Peter was grieved or disheartened. It is no mistake or coincidence that Jesus addressed Peter three times, as a reminder or his past denial, in order to reveal Peter’s deepest motives. We say we are a Christ follower and yet disobey the simplest commands, maybe our devotion isn’t as true as we think. We say we trust Christ and yet worshipping Him takes second place to everything else in life, maybe we are not as committed to Jesus as we think. This doesn’t speak to salvation but to our servitude and motives.

Joh 21:18  Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go."

Joh 21:19  (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, "Follow me."

• This is a foreshadowing or pointing to Peter’s denial. Jesus, speaking an emphatic truth, informs Peter there will come a time when he will be stretched out and tied to a cross. Traditionally, Peter’s died about 40 plus years after Jesus spoke to him. Traditionally, When Peter was put to death, we are told that he requested that he might be crucified with his head downward, saying that he who had denied his Lord as he had done was not worthy to die as he did. Jesus informs Peter to feed His people and follow Him.

Jesus and the Beloved Apostle

Joh 21:20  Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, "Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?"

Joh 21:21  When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?"

Joh 21:22  Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!"

Joh 21:23  So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?"

Peter was curious about the beloved apostle following behind them and what might happen to him. Peter does what many of us do, we worry about someone else. Jesus in short says, “you let me worry about him, you follow me.” We, often times, get jealous over people in ministry, where we think we can do better. It is good to have a vibrant and healthy church or community of believers, but you must answer for yourself.

Joh 21:24  This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

Joh 21:25  Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

 

Much has been discovered as we worked through this gospel together, but two words can be the applicable take away, “follow me.” Now that you know “I Am He who has come to dwell among you and to redeem you,” follow me.