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We are indebted to John for this account. We know, from the account, that John was there, therefore, it is an accurate account. Much is prophesied in this account, some left a question on the heart of John.
Up to this time, Jesus had limited His appearances to the first day of the week and it had become a day of fellowship and worship. Here we find the Disciples fishing so obviously, it was not Sunday. As to how long it had been since His last appearance, we are not told. Jesus had instructed them to go to Galilee and there He would meet them. They had done so and were fishing that they might not become impatient with waiting. Seven of them were fishing together. Peter, Thomas, James and John, Nathanael and two others that are un-named.
Notice again that Jesus appeared to the group. God always blesses those who are met together in His name. They had met together for support and fellowship as their time had not yet come to go out and witness of all that Jesus had taught them, yet they still had needs that had to be met and they were busy doing what they knew best.
Notice, they had not caught any fish. Why do you think that was? Perhaps it was because they were no longer fishers of fish, they had been called and ordained to be fishers of men. They knew this and their heart was not in what they were doing. Also, God was not blessing their activity, they must not be encouraged to go back to their old jobs.
Notice how Jesus makes Himself known to them. He appeared on the beach close to where they were on the lake, verse 8 says about 100 yards from the shore. Verse 4 says it was about daybreak. The distance and the darkness would explain why they did not recognize Him. Other reasons are suggested, perhaps they were not expecting Him or perhaps He had not as yet revealed Himself to them and hid His identity as He did to the two men on the road to Emmaus.
Why did He address them as "children"? Perhaps because they were the children that God had given Him. What about the question that He poses to them? "Have you any meat?" These were fishermen not herdsmen. But to Galileans, fish was meat. Jesus knew that they had fished all night and had caught nothing. The Disciples knew what He meant by the question and answered what He already knew, they had fished all night and caught nothing.
Notice the instructions that He then gives to the Disciples. "Cast your nets on the RIGHT side of your boat." What was so different about the RIGHT side? Why not the left side? Nothing. He made specific instructions to test their obedience. Remember Naaman, the Syrian Commander who had leprosy? The Prophet Elisha said to him, "Go dip seven times in the Jordan and you will be cured." Would not six times have done it? Did that seventh time make him any cleaner? No, but it did demonstrate obedience and it did bring about the cure.
Notice the Disciples had fished all night as was their custom. Experience had taught them that if fish were going to be caught, it would be at night. It was dawn and they had brought up their nets and were getting ready to dock their boats and go home. Then this "stranger" calls from the shore and tells them to try once more by putting down their nets on the RIGHT side of their boat. They could have simply ignored this stranger, after all, they had fished that lake for years, they knew when and where fish could be caught. But they didn't. They did as the stranger told them to do and they caught so many fish that they were unable to haul them up into the boat. They caught 153 large fish, far beyond the capacity of their nets which began to break.
There are lessons to be learned from this:
I'm sure Peter remembered this morning on the Day of Pentecost as he cast out the "net" of the Gospel and drew back, not 153, but 3,000 souls. Notice their reaction when they finally realized that the stranger was Jesus. It appears that it was John that realized Him first. "He whom Jesus loved, was the first to say, it is the Lord."
Notice what John did then. He immediately told Peter. Peter was the unofficial leader of the Disciples. John knew of Peter's denial of Jesus at His trial. John knew that Peter needed to see Jesus as he was going through a bad time in his life. Notice what Peter did. He put on his cloths (robe) and jumped into the water and headed for shore. They fished in nothing but their under garment that was like a robe which they gathered up between their legs and tucked in around their waist and made something like pantaloons.
Why would he have dressed and them jumped into the water? We believe that Peter did this out of respect for Jesus. Fishermen, in those days, wore a coat back and forth to work. It was probably the best garment that they had, thus they took it off when they worked. This was probably what Peter put on before jumping out of the boat. Sink or swim, Peter was going to get to Jesus in his best coat, wet or dry.
What about the others? They were the dedicated, dependable workers, in the early church of Christ. They remained in the boats and completed the task that this vast catch of fish brought upon them. We see three different types of people in this appearance. All three are needed in today's church.
Matthew Henry says that these three types of people are the heart, hands and feet of the Church, all equally called for the good of the whole Church.
Notice Peter. Impulsive, jumping into the water to get to Jesus then suddenly realizing that he had deserted his friends and left them with the big task of bringing in that huge haul of fish. So he hurried back and helped them with the task. Notice what provisions Jesus had made on the shore. He had prepared breakfast, charcoaled fish and toast. The Disciples were bewildered, not knowing what the future would hold, tired, wet, cold and hungry. Jesus, as He always does, met all their needs. Some think Jesus underestimated their hunger for they ate all that He had prepared and then were told to go get some of the fish that they had just caught and cook them also. Why? This was to give them a small part in this endeavor. Christ still does this today.
Notice that it was Christ that served the food. He, again, showed the nature of His coming, that of a servant. It was to be the example for them and for us. John's Gospel closes with them seated around the fire eating, but there is something more that we must note about this meal.
This was symbolic of GRACE. Christ provides it, He chooses to whom it is given, and puts it into their hearts and minds. It is a gift of God (Eph. 2:8).
John says that this was the third time that Jesus appeared to the Disciples. We know, from our study, that this was His sixth appearance sense the resurrection. He appeared previously to Mary, and to Peter and to two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus turned to Peter and began to speak. Lets stop here and consider what may have been going through Peter's mind about now. Three times Peter had denied that he knew Christ. Three times Peter had seen Jesus sense the resurrection, and three time Peter had expect to be taken to task for what he had done. Each time Jesus had not spoken a word about it. Many times Peter had condemned himself for what he did certainly he could not expect Jesus to do any less. So lets see what exactly Jesus did say to Peter.
First of all, Jesus puts Peter in his place. Notice how Jesus addressed Peter. "Simon, son of John..... Why Simon, why not Peter? Jesus did not wish to be harsh with Peter, but He did want him to know that he, Peter, was back to "step 1". He called him as He did the first time, when He called him to be a disciple. He wanted Peter to recognize the seriousness of what he had done. Simon, who had been nicknamed by Jesus, Peter, was suddenly back to Simon again.
So having established where Peter stood with Him, Jesus asked him a question. "Simon, do you love me?" Peter did not need to inquire why the question was asked, he knew why. After he denied Jesus, he cried tears of remorse. But the question from Jesus was not, "Peter, are you sorry for what you have done?", the question was, "Peter, do you love me?" Now we know that Jesus was soon to commit unto Peter the care of His flock. If he did not love the Master, would he love the flock?
"Peter, do you love me more than these?" More than what, we would ask? More than the other disciples, more than his family, more than life itself? Perhaps Jesus wanted to know if Peter thought he loved Jesus more than the other disciples did. Peter answered, "Yes Lord, you know that I love you." Three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved him, three times Peter said, yes Lord, you know that I love you.
Most scholars believe that these were three different questions that were asked by Jesus. It has to do with the four Greek words that are translated "love" in the English. It is believed that the first question used the word "storge" which denotes family affection, and that the second question used the word "philia", which denotes friendship and that the last question used the word "agape" which denotes God like love. Thus wishing to determine the degree of the love that Peter had for Him.
The last time Peter answered Jesus he acknowledged that Jesus knew everything and thus he must know if he, Peter, loved Him and to what degree. Three times Peter had denied Jesus, three times Jesus asked him if he loved Him. It is said that every reminder of past sins, even pardoned ones, renews the sorrow of a penitent person. I have trouble with that for I believe that Jesus separates us from that sin as far as the east is from the west and remembers it no more, why then should we?
Each time Peter acknowledged his love, Jesus answered, "Feed my sheep." Those who are young in the faith and those who are old in the faith, need feeding. Thus commanding Peter to be a Pastor to those who belonged to Him. Feed them, teach them, take care of them and heal their sorrows. The commission was given to Peter as evidence that Jesus had accepted him back into His confidence.
Having confirmed on him the honor of being an Apostle, He then prophesied Peter's martyrdom. "Now you are free to walk where you want, but when you are old, you will be carried where you do not wish to go." Matthew Henry says that it is not only appointed to all but once to die, it is also appointed to each what death he shall die." "There is but one way into this world, but many ways out and God has pre-ordained which way we shall go."
When Jesus had spoken these things to Peter, He said to him, "Follow me." What was Jesus telling Peter? Did He say this to all the Disciples or just to Peter? Did He literally mean "follow me", or was He speaking figuratively? Most scholars believe that He was calling Peter to be be a follower and as such, be dedicated to the work of the Lord and to expect to be treated as He had been, persecuted and eventually killed for his witness.
Then Jesus turned and started to walk away and Peter followed, but suddenly he thought about John, and said to Jesus, "What about this man?" "Whats going to happen to John?" We can only speculate why Peter asked this question. Perhaps out of concern for John. John and Jesus had been very close. What would be John's destiny? We do not know if Peter knew of the responsibility that Jesus had put upon John that of caring for His mother, Mary. Maybe, Peter was only showing concern for himself. Was he the only one that was to continue the work of the Lord and be killed or would the others be involved also.
Notice Jesus' reply. "This is none of your business." (paraphrased) "If I choose to let John live until I return, what is that to you?" Perhaps Jesus was prophesying that John would live to an old age, as indeed he did, and die of natural causes. Most believe that it was simply a rebuke of Peter telling him and also us, that we must not be envious or curious about our brothers position in Providence.
There was a mis-conception that arose out of this statement that Jesus made about John. The early church believed that this meant that Christ would return before John died. Even Paul believed that Christ's return was eminent. Also many believed that John would never know death but would be "translated" into heaven like Elijah. So we see that there has been misunderstandings concerning these words of Jesus from the beginning. Only through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit can we know the truth.
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