Author: Jeff Englund

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”)
When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

The scene has shifted here a little. In verse 15 we are finishing up with breakfast when Jesus starts talking to Peter. In this verse, Peter and Jesus appear to be walking with John following behind.

Jesus has just told Peter how he will die. When Peter notices John following them he asks, “Lord, what about him?” I understand Peter to mean if that is what is going to happen to me, what is going to happen to him?

The phrase, “What about him?” has special meaning for me. I grew up with three younger brothers. If one got to do something special the others would cry, “What about me?” When I read Peter’s words I hear the same tone of voice I heard from my brothers when I was young.

Jesus’ answer is classic, but we will talk about that tomorrow.

Application: How much do we need to know about other people’s lives? Isn’t it enough for us to know what God expects of us? Is it unfair if God has a different expectation for someone else? Peter is about to get a lesson in minding his own business.

Food for Thought: God knows every intimate detail of every life on the planet. He knows every thought you have ever had and every tiny part of your body. What would be the benefit or harm if one person (you) could know that much about someone else?

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Continue reading “What About Him? – John 21: 20-21”

Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

Peter, James, and John were the “inner circle” of Jesus’ disciples. John is writing this gospel account at the direction of the Holy Spirit. And we know from John 16: 13 (See, “From God’s Lips to Your Ears”) that the Holy Spirit only speaks what God has told him to speak.

Why does John tell us what Jesus told Peter about how he will die?

There are a few reasons I can think of. I don’t know if any of them are right.

One is that this is another example of Jesus knowing things only God would know. He knows how Peter will die because God is both the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He knows all. This is a reason to believe in Jesus.

A second is that John wants us to know that Peter is faithful to the end. Even though he denies Jesus at the crucifixion, his relationship with God through Jesus strengthens him and makes it possible for him to face death courageously.

A third possible reason is that this comment sets the stage for the last few verses in the chapter.

Application: Knowing the future is a two-edged sword. Living in the present moment is much simpler and more enjoyable.

Food for Thought: Why do you think Jesus made a point to tell Peter what his future holds? How do you think this affected Peter?

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Continue reading “Two-Edged Sword – John 21: 18-19”

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”
Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”
The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

The morning before Jesus was crucified, Peter denies knowing Jesus three times. (This was after bragging that he would die for Jesus.) After Peter denies Jesus for the third time Luke records that:

“The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: ‘Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.’ And he went outside and wept bitterly.” (Luke 22: 61 – 62)

It doesn’t take a big stretch of the imagination to figure out how Peter must have felt afterward. The words “wept bitterly” express his immediate reaction. How he felt in the days that followed must have been horrible. Yes, he had been with the disciples twice when Jesus appeared before. Yes, he had seen and touched the risen Lord. Yet those visits had been short. There had been no opportunity to express how he felt.

Perhaps he wanted to go fishing because he was trying to escape his demons of guilt? Maybe the work of fishing was a distraction for him? How appropriate then, if that was the case, that he caught no fish. How appropriate that he was left to think about what he had done even while he was trying to avoid doing just that.

Now, after breakfast, there is time. They have eaten their fill, and I imagine that everyone is expectantly quiet. They wait for a time and then Jesus turns to Peter and asks, “… do you love me more than these?”

Three times Jesus asks, do you love me? Three times Peter responds, “Lord… you know that I love you.”

After each response Jesus says:

Feed my lambs.

Take care of my sheep.

Feed my sheep.

Shortly after this Jesus is gone… again. Yet he has left something behind. Instead of escaping to a fishing boat to evade his demons of guilt, Peter is told to take care of Jesus’ sheep.

What does that mean? Answering this question will keep Peter busy for the rest of his life. In a sense, Jesus gives Peter a roadmap to guide him home.

Application: As Rich pointed out in his comment on yesterday’s post, Jesus did not come to earth to be served, but to serve. (Mark 10: 45) Like Peter, we need to find ways to serve as well if we want to follow Jesus.

Food for Thought: What are some ways we can help Peter feed and care for Jesus’ sheep?

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Continue reading “Roadmap – John 21: 15 – 17”

Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

There is a surreal element to this entire scene. The disciples have gone back to Galilee. They are aimless and lost without their master. They know he is alive, but they have not heard from him since they were in Jerusalem. Wanting to do something productive they decide to go fishing. Though they work all night through the dawn comes and they have nothing to show for their efforts. Nothing.

A man calls to them from the beach and says, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” They do and their net is immediately filled with more fish than they can pull out of the water. John looks up at the man on the beach and says, “It is the Lord!” The next thing they know there is a splash as Peter jumps ship leaving the rest of them to wrestle with this massive catch.

The six disciples left in the boat make their way to shore dragging the net full of fish with them. As soon as they can they leave the net and fish in the water and join Peter and the Lord on the beach. There is a coal fire burning and fish and bread being cooked on the fire. After a long night of hard work, the smell of fresh bread and fish is inviting. Jesus says to bring some more fish and Peter runs back and somehow drags the net to the shore.

The net should have burst with so many fish in it, but it was still intact. They brought the fish ashore and counted them as they unloaded the net. One hundred and fifty-three large fish. They bring some to Jesus, at the same time not believing their eyes. They want to ask, “Is it really you, Lord?,” but they know it is.

When they have done what Jesus asked and brought the fish, Jesus takes the bread and fish from the coals and gives it to his disciples. It is at this point that I am reminded of this passage from Luke:

It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.

(Luke 12: 37)

Jesus, the God of the Universe, Creator of All That Is, is waiting on his disciples. He has prepared a meal for them and now he serves them.

Application: Jesus is showing us another demonstration of his love. He came bringing the light of God to the world, healing the blind, deaf, and mute. Making the lame walk and raising the dead. On his last night before his crucifixion, he washed his disciples’ feet. Now, after being raised in glory, he serves breakfast to his disciples.

Food for Thought: What do you make of a God who acts like this?

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Continue reading “Surreal – John 21: 13 -14”

Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.

I find this verse fascinating. John reports that the disciples wanted to ask the man on the beach, “Who are you?” He suggests that they were all afraid to ask because they knew it was Jesus. As odd as this sounds, I can relate to it.

Every once in a while I find myself in a situation where I “know” what the right thing to do is, yet at the same time I question it. It is as if my mind is made up of two different people. One part wants to do what is right, the other part, well, it wants to do what it wants to do.

The disciples have already seen Jesus twice at this point. John does not say that this is the last time they saw him. This is the third time. They are eighty miles north of Jerusalem where Jesus was killed. That is a four to six-day walk, so some time has passed since they last saw Jesus.

Even though these men have all seen the risen Jesus, they are still wrestling with the fact that he had been crucified. Since then, everything had changed. Before the crucifixion, Jesus had been with them every day. Being with Jesus was something they took for granted. They expected to continue being with him. Then he was brutally killed. They expected that they would never see him again. Then they saw him. Now what? Now they are struggling to reconcile what they believe is possible with what they know to be true.

Part of their brain wanted to ask, “Who are you?” It is the part of everyone’s brain that likes to ask questions, verify everything, and argue about everything. The other part of their mind, perhaps the heart, knows who Jesus is. That part of their mind will not let the other part ask, “Who are you?”

Application: Each of us is built the same way. We all have a part of the mind that likes to question everything. We also have a heart. The part of our mind that recognizes God, knows the truth, and can hear and discern the whispers of the Holy Spirit.

Food for Thought: What advice do you have for people who struggle with these two opposing parts of their minds?

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Continue reading “Two Minds – John 21: 12”

Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.”  So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn.

There appear to be several miraculous aspects to this particular catch of fish. First, they had fished all night and caught nothing. Then, on the word of the man on the beach they dropped the net in one more time and found it so full that they could not pull it back into the boat. Second, the fish they caught was not a mix of small, medium and a few large fish. They were all large fish. Third, the number of fish, 153 is recorded. A few days ago JEC suggested that this number is prophetic. It might be. Yet taken at face value it still represents a large number of large fish. So much so that the disciples thought to record the number.

So how big is a “large” fish? Five pounds? Ten pounds? More? It turns out that there are three general categories of commercially harvested fish in the Sea of Galilee. The largest is the “binny” or “barbel.” The medium-sized fish is called “Musht.” The Musht is a type of Talapia and is also known as “Saint Peter’s Fish.” The third type of fish is the tiny Kinneret sardine. Apparently, they had pickled herring in Jesus’ day, too.

If John literally meant “large fish” when he wrote his gospel, then he was probably talking about the largest of the three, the binny. According to a quick internet search, a large binny will run about 15 pounds. So ten pounds might be a bit conservative. Let’s live large and imagine that John’s large fish were large binny. That means 153 fish would have weighed 2,295 pounds. Over a ton of fish! No wonder they could not pull the net back into the boat. This also helps us understand the final miraculous aspect of this story: the net didn’t break!

Application: One take away I see in this story is that when God gives us a bountiful blessing of some kind, he also gives us the capacity to manage the blessing.

Food for Thought: Since there was already fish on the fire, why do you think Jesus asked the disciples to bring more?

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Continue reading “Big Fish – John 21: 10-11”

When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

Have you ever wondered where the fire, fish, and bread came from? Did Jesus call them into being or did he find the wood and build his own fire? Had he been waiting a long time? Does it matter?

At the beginning of his ministry, when Jesus was tested in the wilderness for forty days without food,

The devil said to him, ”If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
Jesus answered, ”It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”
(Luke 4: 3-4)

The devil knew who Jesus was, and he knew what Jesus was capable of. He knew that Jesus could turn rocks into bread. The reason Jesus refused to make the bread even though his body was near death from starvation was that it was God’s will that he master the flesh. Jesus passed that test. Now it is God’s will that Jesus is glorified in everything he does. If Jesus wanted to turn rocks into bread he was free to do so.

Application: Remembering that Jesus is God can be difficult. He is so human in appearance that it is hard to imagine him existing before anything had been created. (John 1: 1-3) Yet he is God. God can control the storm and walk on water. Turning rocks into bread is hardly a challenge for The Source of All That Exists.

Food for Thought: What part of the fire, fish, and bread would exist without Jesus? What about the beach? The water in the sea? The men in the boat?

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Continue reading “Bread – John 21: 9”

The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.

Yesterday, we talked about Peter’s reaction to discovering it was Jesus who had called to them from the beach. Peter doesn’t think, he reacts. We see this time and again with him. Sometimes his impulses are good and at other times they are not so good.

When Peter affirms that Jesus has that “words of eternal life,” (John 6: 68) that was good.

When Peter refused to let Jesus wash his feet (John 13:8) that was not so good.

When Peter says “I will lay down my life for you.” (John 13: 37) that was good.

Then Peter denies he even knows Jesus. (John 18: 15, 25, 27) Not so good.

Peter runs hot and cold.

The other disciples have different temperaments. Each is how God made him. Thomas made one little mistake and became known as “Doubting Thomas.” James was one of the three disciples who were closest to Jesus. John, the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” (John 13: 23) was himself on the boat fishing that night.

When Peter jumped into the water and started for shore, he left the others to finish up the task Jesus had given them.

Application: Following Jesus is not an excuse for abandoning our responsibilities. Jesus was not happy with the Pharisees who used religion to avoid taking care of their parents. (Mark 7: 9-13) Jesus himself had a responsibility to provide for his mother. When he was being crucified he passed this responsibility to John, not Peter. Submitting to our Lord often means submitting to the place, people and work that he has given us.

Food for Thought: What would the world be like if everyone were like Peter?

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Continue reading “Good and Not So Good – John 21: 8”

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.

In chapter 14 of his gospel Matthew tells the story of Jesus walking across the Sea of Galilee just before dawn. The wind was against the boat and strong. The waves were threatening. The sky must have been clear because there was enough light for them to see Jesus as he approached them. Peter, in his excitement at seeing Jesus walk on the water says, “… tell me to come to you on the water.”

Jesus, probably smiling to himself, says, “Come.” So Peter steps out of the boat and … walks on water! The experiment does not last very long. After a few steps, Peter takes his eyes off of Jesus and instead focuses on the waves and the water. At that moment, when his focus changed, he started to sink.

I am thinking of this because once again Jesus is outside the boat that Peter is in. This time Peter simply jumps in. The text goes on to say that they were not far from shore so maybe Peter was able to wade to the shore from where the boat was. Instead of walking on the water he walks through the water, something he knows he can do.

Application: Being close to Jesus can have a powerful effect on a person. Peter was inspired to walk on water and jump into it, whatever would get him close to his Savior. Being close to Jesus is a very good thing.

Food for Thought: What does it say about the other disciples that they stayed with the boat?

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Continue reading “Close Proximity – John 21: 7”

He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

What is going on here? Jesus, unrecognized by his disciples, calls out from the shore. He asks if they have any fish.” “No,” they holler back.

Putting this in context, if one sport fisherman says to another, “Caught anything yet,” the answer is usually a friendly yes or no. The kind of fishing that the disciples were doing was not sport. It was hard work. During the night when the fish were closer to the surface, they would cast a net out into the water. Then they would pull it back hoping to trap a few fish. It is dark and dangerous work. Pulling nets out of the water whether empty or full is hard work. Doing it all night long is very hard work.

They would usually catch something. Catching a few fish would not be enough to make a living but catching none was a complete waste of time. At least a few catches would keep them hoping for more.

When the voice of the man on the shore came over the water they were tired and worn out. Very likely they were discouraged, too. All that work and nothing to show for it. The man says, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat…” Who says that? Why the right side? What??

Why did the men obey the voice? Did Peter, as tired and discouraged as he was, sense a glimmer of deja vu? Did he feel the subconscious tug of an earlier memory? A time when a teacher had borrowed his boat to preach from and then commanded him to let down his nets? (Luke 5)

Whatever the reason, they did as the voice instructed. They cast a net on the right side of the boat. Instead of running from the shadow of the men and their net, the fish seemed to swim into the net. Not just any fish, but large fish. More fish than they could physically pull into the boat.

Application: As desolate and discouraging as the night of useless fishing was, the blessing of Jesus was exciting, rewarding and abundant. God’s blessings far exceed any suffering we might endure. His generosity overshadows any want we might have. Faith is continuing to believe during the night of our trials trusting in God’s generosity at the end of the day.

Food for Thought: What form does God’s generosity take in your life?

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Continue reading “Abundance – John 21: 6”