The disciples had gone through so very much with Jesus. At first they doubted him. Then they witnessed many miracles and began to believe in Him as their King. Then they witnessed His murder and ran, they scattered and hid in fear. They saw Jesus resurrected and believed. What a taxing up and down cycle of events. They had to be confused, exhausted, and wondering what they were to do. In Matthew 28:7, while at the tomb, an angel told Mary to tell the disciples Jesus was going ahead of them to Galilee which explains why they were there.
Jesus' choice to be with the disciples at the sea of Galilee was important in my opinion. This is where it all started for many of them. They were fishermen going about their own tasks when Jesus came along and called them to follow Him. This area was home, the place of their family businesses and the place they might just feel most comfortable and safe. Waiting at the Sea of Galilee, for some of them, may have brought back the memories of how they first met Jesus. It may have given them a reason to remember and relive all that happened between then and now. They could now see that everything Jesus taught and promised had come true. I would think they had no more reason to doubt anything about Jesus.
While waiting, Simon Peter decided to go fishing and the others joined him. Does that sound familiar?
(Matthew 4:18-22 (NLT) “One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers - Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew - throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, “Come follow Me and I will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and followed Him.
A little farther up the shore He saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And He called to them to come, too. They immediately followed Him, leaving the boat and their father behind.”)
They fished all night but caught nothing. At dawn, Jesus was standing on the beach but the disciples could not see who it was, most likely due to some early morning fog because a couple of verses later we are told they were only about a 100 yards away.
Jesus called out to them asking if they had caught any fish. To which they replied "no." Then Jesus said they should throw the net on the right side of the boat and they would get some. They did and their net was so full of fish they could not haul it into the boat.
At that point, the disciple Jesus loved told Peter it was the Lord. Peter dressed and jumped into the water and headed for shore. The others stayed in the boat and hauled the fish back to shore. (Can you just feel the excitement running through Peter? Remember, he was the first to rush into the empty tomb. Can you feel the rush of the other disciples wanting to get to shore as fast as possible?)
When they got to shore They found breakfast waiting for them. The breakfast was fish cooking over a charcoal fire and some bread. Jesus said, “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught.” Peter went back to the boat and dragged the net to shore. It was filled with 153 large fish but even with that many fish the net did not break. The tradition back then was that when a group of men went fishing, they would haul the catch to shore and divide the fish. This time they brought the catch in and left them undivided.
Jesus invited them to come and have breakfast. Jesus served them fish and bread. This was the third time Jesus appeared to them since He arose from the dead. In Acts 10, Peter briefly described encounters with Jesus after His resurrection. In this part of Acts, Peter is talking with Cornelius a Roman army officer. Cornelius told Peter that while he was praying a man in dazzling clothes appeared to him. The man told Cornelius that God heard his prayers and noticed his acts of kindness to the poor. He was told to send for Simon Peter and he did. In Peter’s sharing of the good news of Jesus and His resurrection, Peter mentioned the encounter at the Sea of Galilee. In verses 39- 41, “And we apostles are witnesses of all He did throughout Judea and Jerusalem. They put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross but God raised Him to life on the third day. Then God allowed Him to appear, not to the general public, but to us whom God had chosen in advance to be His witnesses. We were those who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.”
Get a picture of this in your mind. There is a charcoal fire burning. The smell of food in the air for they had just eaten. They were full, content, and with the Lord. To me, it kind of paints a similar setting as the last supper they had together at Passover.
Following breakfast, they were “sitting around a charcoal fire."
After Jesus was taken and they entered the courtyard of the priest, we read back in John 18:18, “Because it was cold, the household servants and the guards made a charcoal fire. They stood around it, warming themselves, and Peter stood with them, warming himself.”
This charcoal fire was now in the center of what was about to happen. Peter finds himself, once again, face to face with a charcoal fire. I had to wonder, if sitting there, his mind drifted to that day in the courtyard when he denied Jesus. You know how it is when you sit around a fire. You focus on the flames and your mind takes you all kinds of places. On the other hand Peter may have simply been there enjoying the time with Jesus and his close friends. Regardless, Jesus was about to do something about Peter’s denials.
Jesus began. “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” We don’t know for sure what is meant by “more than these” but we might consider He meant the other disciples. Peter answered, “Yes, Lord. You know I love you.” Jesus then said, “Then feed my lambs.”
Again Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Again Peter said, “Yes, Lord. You know I love you.” Jesus responded, “Then take care of my sheep.”
A third time, Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” This time we are told Peter was hurt by Jesus asking him a third time and he said, “Lord, you know everything. You know I love you.” Jesus answered, “Then feed my sheep.”
I cannot help but think, considering Peter’s passion for Jesus and his bold proclamations about never deserting Jesus, that his denial never left his mind. I think Peter relived those moments over and over again. Psychologists talk of there being a trigger that is formed during a traumatic event. Long after such an event, anytime that trigger is felt, a person goes back to the event. Considering that, it is my opinion, Peter’s trigger may have been afire. As the disciples traveled, camped, and ate, fires were a part of daily life. I would think Peter was haunted by the fires. However, I don't think Peter knew where Jesus was going with His questioning.
I see that Jesus continually taught He was the Good Shepherd. The Father sent Him into the world to do His will and that was to be a shepherd to His people. Jesus told the disciples that as the Father had sent Him, He was now sending them. He was sending them into the world to continue His work, to be the shepherd for the people in Jesus' absence.
As a shepherd cares for the flock, there were things to be done. First, consider the young ones. They were less able to care for themselves. They were less able to defend themselves. Jesus' first instruction after Peter answered that he loved Jesus was for him to, “feed my lambs.” Take care of those young in the faith, feed them, nourish them, and grow them into adult believers. Perhaps we can say feeding them would give them all the right things they needed to grow into mature creatures, the sheep.
The second time Peter told Jesus he loved Him, Peter was instructed to “take care of my sheep.” Next on the list of a shepherd’s care of the flock was to look after the sheep. He was to care for the more mature of the flock. Make sure they had all they needed. Perhaps let them know their shepherd was close at hand and available to them. He was to guide them and lead them to pastures and water. Also, as the lambs grew into sheep, a shepherd's work with them changed and now instead of just feeding them, he was to lead and care for them and provide direction for them.
The third time Peter told Jesus he loved him, Jesus instructed him to feed His sheep. Now, the lambs had been cared for and grown into sheep. They had been cared for along the way and guided and protected. Now, it was time to feed the sheep. Feeding the sheep would be to give them what they needed to grow into all they could be. Nourish them, give them strength and stamina. Help them to grow into full and healthy adults.
Some say this is a picture of discipling others and I agree. Peter and the men who sat at the fire were discipled by Jesus and now He was telling them to disciple others. How can I say that? Jesus' instruction to them in Matthew 28:19, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations...”
As I mentioned, I am not sure Peter knew what Jesus was up to with the questions about loving Him. But the third time is when I believe it hit home with Peter and it hurt him. I think when Jesus asked the third time, Peter realized he was being taken back to the three denials. Peter must have understood how his third denial hurt Jesus because he felt hurt himself. Jesus showed Peter complete mercy regarding those denials and doing so at the fire may have changed what fires trigger in his mind. Now, when Peter would be seated at a fire, he would think not of his own failure but of Jesus' mercy, grace, and complete forgiveness. No matter where Peter would be the rest of his life, a simple fire wold remind him of the goodness of Christ. It would be that message he would carry to the world, not a message of condemnation or guilt. He would share the news of a merciful Savior come to set all free through faith in Him.
Jesus then told Peter how he would die. He told him he used to dress himself and go where he wanted but the time was coming when others would determine where he would go. He told him they would stretch out his hands and dress him and take him where he didn't want to go. Jesus wanted him to know how this death, his death would glorify God. Then Jesus told him to, “Follow Me.”
Peter did follow Jesus. He carried on with Jesus' message and teaching. He took the good news to many places. Eventually he followed Jesus into death by having his hands and arms stretched out as he was crucified for his faith in Jesus. His undying faith and belief in Jesus unto death brought great glory to God.
When Jesus told Peter to follow Him, Peter looked at “the disciple Jesus loved” and asked what his fate might be. Jesus said, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”
Some took what Jesus said incorrectly. They thought He told Peter the other disciple would never die. That was not what Jesus said, He just said if that was what He wanted what was that to him.
At the end of chapter 21, the disciple who wrote the book testified that all these things were true. He close with this, “Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.”
So ends the Gospel of John.