“Jesus’ Need – Our Need”

John 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.

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. 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.

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, an hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. 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.

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.

18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest 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.

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. 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. 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 20

31 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, he 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 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.