John 21
1 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way.
2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together.
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.
4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.”
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.
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.
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.
9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread.
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.”
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.
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. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish.
14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.
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.”
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.”
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.
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.”
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.”
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?”
21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”
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 remains until I come, what is that to you?”
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.
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.
Hello everyone, I am Kiki. The Chinese name of our second phase of the program is “读经大讲堂”. The English name is “Bible Study.”
We will adopt a relaxed and enjoyable learning style to take you into a new learning world. Each time, I will make a personal summary and analysis from the perspective of a learner, and then Sister Ingrid will help me conduct in-depth learning and problem discussions with everybody.
I hope that such an interesting and interactive process can bring a new experience of knowledge to you all. The following is my interview with Sister Ingrid on related issues. Today is the thirty-fourth lecture on the Gospel of John.
Everyone is welcome to leave a message in the comment area for discussion!
2. My summary of the thirty-fourth study of John
Well, everybody! Firstly, here is my personal study summary for today.
After Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to his disciples for the third time by the Sea of Tiberias. Peter decided to go fishing, and the others joined him, but they caught nothing all night.
At sunrise, Jesus stood on the shore, though they didn’t recognize him. He told them to throw their net on the right side of the boat, and they caught so many fish—153 in total—that they couldn’t pull the net in. John recognized Jesus, and Peter excitedly jumped into the water to swim to him.
On the shore, Jesus had a fire ready with bread and fish. He invited the disciples to bring some of their catch and eat breakfast with him. After eating, Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Peter replied yes each time, and Jesus told him to “feed my lambs” and “tend my sheep,” meaning to care for his followers. Jesus also hinted at Peter’s future, saying he would glorify God through suffering.
When Peter asked about John’s future, Jesus told him not to worry about others but to focus on following him.
The chapter ends with John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, saying his testimony is true. It also states that Jesus did many more things that couldn’t all be written down, because the world itself could not hold all the books.
Now let Sister Ingrid give a further summary.
3. Sister’s comment on my study summary
We are now in the last chapter of the Gospel of John.
We read about the three-year ministry of Jesus and his disciples, and at the end came a great change: The one who kept the money betrayed the Master, and Jesus, who had provided life for them by multiplying fish and bread and performing other miracles when necessary, was crucified.
Sure, he arose from the dead, but he told Mary Magdalene that he would go to the Father. And so, the disciples certainly asked themselves what they would do now on earth.
Peter made the most reasonable decision: They returned to their old job. Since most of them were fishermen, they went fishing. But as so often happens when we do things without Jesus, it did not succeed—they caught no fish, not a single one.
Then Jesus entered the situation and told them where to fish, and they caught an overflowing amount. The Bible gives us the exact number. Many have asked if the number 153 has a spiritual meaning. My personal opinion is that there were exactly 153 fish that day, and John recorded the number because every one of us is important—and for Jesus, every fish was important.
The fish is often in the Bible a symbol for the end-time harvest, and Jesus will not come back until the number of Christians he wants to have in heaven has entered the kingdom of God, as it is written in the Gospel of Luke, which we will also read soon.
Then Jesus prepared a breakfast at the fire for them. Perhaps the open fire already reminded Peter of that night when he denied knowing the Lord Jesus.
It is written in the Bible that Peter and Jesus met in person before this chapter, but now Jesus restores Peter’s place among the disciples and gives him a new ministry.
Jesus asked Peter twice if he loved him using the word for divine love. Peter answered twice using the Greek word for friendship love, aware of his own limits, and acknowledged that Jesus knows everything.
The third time, Jesus asked with the word for friendship love if Peter loved him. This made Peter sad, and he simply answered that the Lord knows.
With every question, Jesus gave Peter a ministry. He was to feed the lambs and the sheep of the flock belonging to Jesus. Then Jesus spoke about Peter’s future—that he would also be crucified at the end of his life.
Then Peter asked about John’s future. Jesus made it clear that he should not worry about other disciples—his call was to follow Jesus. The other disciple’s future was not important for him.
Finally, John closed the Gospel by saying that Jesus did many more works on this earth, so many that all the books in the world could not contain them.
4. Q&A section based on John 21
1. Why did Peter and the disciples go fishing, and what happened?
Peter wanted to return to the job he had before Jesus called him. But he did it without Jesus, and the consequence was that they caught no fish.
2. How did Jesus help them catch fish?
He commanded them to cast out the net and told them where they would find fish.
3. Who recognized Jesus first, and how did Peter react?
John, the disciple who loved Jesus, recognized him first. Peter put on his clothes and jumped into the water to reach Jesus as quickly as possible.
4. What did Jesus prepare for the disciples on the shore?
He prepared a charcoal fire with bread and fish.
5. Why did Jesus ask Peter three times, “Do you love me?”
Peter had previously said before the crucifixion that he loved Jesus more than the other disciples and that he would even die with him. But in the end, he denied Jesus to save his life.
Now Jesus confronted him with his own words, and Peter had to admit that he could only love with friendship love, not with the divine love that Jesus has for us.
6. What does “Feed my lambs” mean?
Jesus wanted Peter to care for the new believers in the church. Those who had just become Christians were the lambs. With the other questions, Jesus also gave Peter responsibility for the rest of the church.
7. What did Jesus say about Peter’s future?
Jesus said that Peter would be bound and crucified too.
8. How did Jesus respond when Peter asked about John?
Jesus said that Peter should simply follow him without asking about the other disciple.
9. What does John say about his own testimony?
He said that his testimony was true. The whole Gospel of John was written about 70 years after Jesus’ crucifixion while John was on the Isle of Patmos, where he had been exiled.
John wrote the Gospel to defend true Christian doctrine against Gnostic and other false teachings that were beginning to appear at that time.
10. Why couldn’t all of Jesus’ actions be written in books?
John had spent three years with Jesus and experienced many unbelievable things with him. He chose those events that carried the most spiritual teaching and revealed the most about Jesus, his Father, and the Holy Spirit, to write down for us.
The other three evangelists gave a more global view of Jesus’ life, while John gave a more intimate view of Jesus’ time on earth.
