CHAPTER 21

1 After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself.
2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.
3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.

Jesus visited with the disciples at least ten recorded times after His resurrection.
The one John records here is the seventh of those visits.
The names of those present are given as witnesses to the event.

BEFORE Jesus' appearance in this instance, John records that Peter desired to go "fishing."
And, the other disciples went with him.
However, they "caught nothing."
This leading the way to the appearance of the Lord.
And, this leads to the understanding that when we least expect it, Jesus is there!

4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.
5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.
6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.
7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea.

Out on the sea, in the boat, they did not recognize Jesus (on the shore) immediately.
It is very interesting to note the sequence of events here.

First, Jesus questioned their success.
They had obviously fished all night, and had NO success.

Second, Jesus gave them directions for success.
Following His direction, they had GREAT success.

Can we have genuine success without the aid and direction of Christ?
Benjamin Franklin didn't think so.
During the constitutional convention in 1787, there had been trouble in the form of argumentativeness and discension.
The "chair" of the convention had suspended the daily prayer.
Benjamin Franklin rose to be acknowledged, and said, (short version)
"I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth- that God Governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?"

"WITH God, all things are possible!" (Mark 10:27)

Having taken the direction of Jesus, the nets captured so many fish they "were not able to draw" them in!!
Shall we Christians not follow the direction of Christ and bring many to Him and thus to the church?

John ("that disciple whom Jesus loved") realized it was Jesus!
When he said so, Peter immediately jumped into the sea and swam toward Jesus.
He did so, grabbing his coat and dragging it with him!
Peter was excited!
Should we not also be excited to hear the direction of our Lord?

8 And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fishes.
9 As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.

Jesus' direction is not without prior preparation!
He already had a fire started to cook the fish!
Jesus was prepared for their success!

Jesus has given the church "direction," and has certainly "prepared" for their success! Matt 28:19-20 says,
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
AS we go to bring others to Christ, He promises His PRESENCE!

Mark 2:3-4 says,
3 And they come unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four.
4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.

The REAL "evangelists" and "preachers" in the church are the people in the pew!
Pastors (and other ministers) are there to "equip the saints" for the purpose of bringing the lost to Jesus.

Rely upon Jesus' direction, and be assured of His preparation for your success!

10 Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.
11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, and hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.

Just go bring in the "catch"!
Jesus Himself will "clean" 'em!

When Jesus says "GO," we shouldn't be concerned that the "net" (our ability) will break!
He has prepared us for this purpose.
What has happened IN us makes us WITNESSES to His power to change us. (See Acts 1:8)

12 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.
13 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.
14 This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead.

When a Christian brings some lost person to Jesus, he/she can certainly KNOW that it was the Lord's power!
We are mere vehicles of the Gospel and of what God has done IN us.
And, we can "dine" (feast) on the fact that Jesus was "with" us when we gave witness to Him!
What a great joy to know that Jesus is WITH us when we share the Gospel with others!!

Christian, how many times has Jesus showed up with power to YOUR witness?

15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

There's a progression to be seen in these verses.

The first time Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him, he gave the command: "Feed my lambs."
The Greek text says bosko (fodder, feed) My "lambs" (arnion - little ones).
This would be indicative of feeding the weakest (lost) with the Gospel to bring them to salvation.

The second time Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him, he gave the command: "Feed my sheep."
The Greek text says poimaino (shepherd, supervise) my "sheep" (probaton) sheep in a sheepfold.
This would be indicative of being a caring shepherd of the saved and feeding them the Word for sustenance.

The third time Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him, he gave the command: "Feed my sheep."
The Greek text says bosko (feed again) my "sheep" (probaton) sheep in a sheepfold.
This would be indicative of feeding the sheep the Word for growth to maturity.

It's the same as the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) which was quoted above.
GO! TEACH (how to be saved). BAPTIZE (in the water, and bring them into the "sheepfold" - the church). TEACH (again -- this time for sustenance and growth).

The Christian responsibility does not end with giving "witness" to Jesus' change in our life, or mere presentation of the Gospel.
The Christian repsonsibility does not end with introducing the newly saved sinner into the church.
We are also to TEACH them the Word of God so they may GROW and mature in the WILL of God!

18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
19 This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

This is a very solemn prophecy about Peter.
While Peter was (at that time) young, he was very physically able to dress himself, be active, and do as he pleased.
But, when he is old, others will guide him where he physically did not want to go -- a cross!

Though Peter did not wish to die by cruel hands, he loved Christ MORE than he loved life!
Therefore, he would willing embrace the cross for the glory of Christ!

Now, Jesus concludes His speech to Peter with "FOLLOW ME!"
REGARDLESS of persecution, and even death -- "FOLLOW ME!"

20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?
21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?
22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

Peter was, to say the least, a little "set back" by this personal confrontation!
You might say he asked, "Well, Lord, if you're going to tell people's future -- what about John here?"

Jesus replied, "What difference does it make Peter? Suppose I keep him alive until I come again? It doesn't matter. FOLLOW THOU ME!"

Here are words to live by!
When your circumstances are dim, your friends have deserted you, and all seems vain, FOLLOW CHRIST!

23 Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?
24 This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.

Just to clarify the statement, John includes this.
Jesus did NOT say He would keep John alive until He came again.
The manner in which Jesus made the statement indicated that whether He did or didn't was not the issue!
The issue was determining to follow Jesus REGARDLESS!

25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

John says many, many books could be written about Christ and the things He did during His short earthly ministry.

Let me return to what he had previously stated in John 20:31:
"But these are written , that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name."

What John said there adequately sums up The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).
They are handwritten, personal experiences written for the purpose of producing evidentiary proof through witnesses of Jesus Christ.
By the hands of these witnessing, nothing conflicting, one can "know" that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God!
One can "know" from these writings that Jesus was:
born of a virgin,
lived a sinless life,
died on the cross to pay for men's sin,
rose from the grave,
appeared often to His disciples after His resurrection,
ascended to heaven to take the "right hand" of the throne of God,
and, is one day coming again to bring all believers to eternal bliss, and send all unbelievers to eternal damnation.

The "proof," as they say, "is in the pudding!"
The question is: will you partake of it to find its goodness, or just let it lie there?