Our need –
His need
Jn 21
John 20:31 says, “But these are
written 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 was the third time Jesus revealed
Himself to them after His resurrection. How many times has He revealed Himself to you?
Why did they go fishing? It is not
necessary to condemn them. They were doing what was practical. It could be that they had
little (since Judas was probably dead and had the purse). Their need was food and money
(they could have sold the fish)
JESUS CAME TO THEM AT THEIR POINT OF NEED
Jesus knew that they had laboured all
night and were now hungry, and He was concerned for them. Though Jesus was now risen in
His resurrection body, He still cared for their physical needs.
JESUS IS ALL KNOWING – EVEN THE FISH
v.6 Jesus, as God is omniscient (ie,
all-knowing), He knew that a school of fish was swimming on the right side of the ship.
Jesus is also omnipotent (ie, all-powerful) and could have created a school of fish at the
right side of the ship, or directed a school of fish to the right side of the ship.
PETER COMPARED TO JUDAS
Peter lost interest in the fish but
just wanted to get close to the Lord Himself. So different from Judas who had probably
also cried in his misery, yet he moved further from the Lord until in utter hopelessness
and consumed with self-pity, he killed himself.
Despite Peter’s enormous failure and
his acute consciousness of it, wanted to be close to Christ. Notice that the women at the
empty grave were told to go and “tell Peter and the others”. Christ was bringing
assurance of acceptance to Peter. Our failures bring us face to face with the inadequacies
that lie within.
APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING
John 15:5 says, “Apart from me you
can do nothing. That’s why the disciples caught nothing, so Jesus could teach that
truth to them again.
Start each day with breakfast with Jesus.
Eat spiritual food daily.
THE GREATEST FIND
Discovering Christ again is by far the
greatest gift. As usual John (ie, the disciple whom Jesus loved) was quick to
discern (he felt the pull of the full net and Knew!) from the marvellous catch, that the
one on the shore was the Lord. As usual, it was Peter who was quick to act. Peter had
removed his fisher’s coat so that he could fish more easily in his underclothes. When
he went to meet the Lord he put on his fisher's coat because he felt too underdressed to
meet his Lord. The great inventor Sir Thomas Simpson discovered chloroform and made many
other discoveries. One of his students once asked him, “What is the greatest
discovery you have ever made?” He replied, “Discovering my Lord Jesus.”
SIMON SON OF JONAS – PETER IS
NO LONGER SELF-CONFIDENT
Jesus addresses Peter as Simon son of
Jonas to remind him of who he originally was before Jesus chose him as one of His apostles
(1:35-42). Peter had claimed that he would not forsake Jesus even if the other disciples
did.(Therefore, Jesus asks him, "lovest thou me more than these other
disciples?" to remind him of his arrogant over-confidence (“so you love me more
than these disciples do you?”). Peter answered "thou (who can see my heart)
knowest that I love thee" but refuses to say that he loved Jesus more than the other
disciples. He had learned, from his denial, not to be arrogant. Can we, like Peter, say to
Jesus "thou knowest that I love you.”
JESUS MAJORS ON THE MAJORS NOT THE MINORS
Also, Jesus doesn’t dwell on deep
discovering of prophesies: the meaning of the toes in Daniel; the mark of the beast, or
whether there will be animals in heaven. He dwells on the only really important question:
Do you love me?
Some
questions cause grief. Peter was grieved. But Christ was preparing him for useability.
THE MOST
IMPORTANT QUESTION
Jesus asked Peter the most important question of all, ie, whether he loved Him. Jesus did
not ask Peter whether he believed, or whether he thought that Jesus had forgiven him, or
whether he understood all the doctrines.
You must unmask your sin. You must name
your sins. What was Peter’s sin? He denied Jesus three times. But notice that Jesus
did not say, “Don’t you ever lie again! Say I’m sorry now!” Jesus is
not like that. He doesn’t talk about what Peter did, rather He says, “Do you
love me?” Isn’t that interesting? Christian sin is never just behavioral. It’s
motivational. Sin is not merely something one does; it comes out of the heart. Sin is
always related to your heart. Peter’s denial with his lips came out of his heart.
[Matthew 15:19, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual
immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.”] That’s exactly what Peter did out
of his heart.
Peter says, “You know” twice. I
believe “you know” is very important. Peter knows that Jesus knows by now,
because before he denied him Jesus already knew. Peter is utterly convinced that Jesus
knows all things..
FORGIVEN PEOPLE CAN FEED OTHERS
Jesus tells Peter that since he loved Him
then he should "feed His lambs." (Jesus had fed them on the beach) Peter needed to learn that the evidence of genuine
love to Jesus was not a bold boastful profession of zeal and faithfulness (as Peter had
earlier done), but a simple feeding of Jesus' disciples. Genuine faith and love always
result in actions. Though Jesus spoke particularly to Peter; the principle of expressing
our love to Jesus by serving others applies to all Christians. Also, the word “feed”
is the verb, not the noun. That means, we have a function, not necessarily a title. This
public reinstatement of Peter is to say that He is forgiven, in order that he can minister
to others. Forgiven people can minister with joyful and grateful hearts in humility.
GO CONQUER – GO FEED
In the Great Commission, Matthew pictures
Jesus as a king, and says, “Go and conquer.” John is picturing Jesus as a
shepherd, and says, “Go and feed.” The Great Commission says, “Go and teach”;
the great shepherding says, “Go and feed”. We must conquer the world. How? One
sheep at a time.
CHRIST’S NEED
Our need is also forgiveness, assurance
of it; to be close to Christ and hear instructions from Him. Christ’s need (though
God has no need for He is infinitely perfect) but He has chosen to have this need, which
is for His disciples to truly love Him so that His children (sheep and lambs) would be
cared for.
