Here is a teaching on chapter 21 of the book of John. If you want to check out previous Bible studies and chapters going forward, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.
First I want to say a quick prayer.... Lord I pray that you lift up every single person reading this right now. Please give us knowledge and understanding to know exactly what it is that we're reading and how to implement it in our daily lives. Please open up our eyes to see the truth of your words and open up our mind, our ears, and our hearts to you Lord. I pray that you just help us, guide us, lead us, and direct us through every aspect of our lives. I love you with my whole heart. In Jesus' name, Amen.
John Chapter 21:
1 Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberius. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 "I'm going out to fish," Simon Peter told them, and they said, "We'll go with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4 Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?" "No," they answered. 6 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.
7 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. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread. 10 Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught."
11 Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
I'm going to stop there and discuss these verses with you guys here. So in verses 1-6, some disciples went out to catch fish and they didn't catch any that night. The next morning Jesus asked them if they caught any fish and they didn't realize that it was him. Jesus was standing on the shore and they were a hundred yards away on the boat. Jesus told them to throw their net on the right side of the boat and they'll find some, and then they had so many fish that they couldn't even haul the net in. This just goes to show that whenever we follow Jesus and we do what he tells us to do that he will provide for us and we will reap a harvest.
In verses 7-10, John told Peter that it was Jesus (he knew that it was the Lord). After that Peter jumped into the water and started swimming towards Jesus and the other disciples followed in the boat. Again this just shows the courage that Simon Peter had and that he loved Jesus. Peter was willing to jump out of the boat for Jesus and there were a lot of times where he showed his courage and love for Jesus, but he also denied him three times. And we will see in the verses in just a little bit where Jesus reinstates Peter. So whenever the disciples landed they saw a fire of burning coals with fish on it and some bread. So Jesus already had fish and bread, but I think that he wanted the disciples to see what they could do if they just listen to him, follow him, and do what he says. I think that Jesus wanted to show them the amount of fish that they could catch if they just let him guide them and he wanted them to bring some of the fish that they caught.
So in verses 11- 14, Simon Peter dragged the net and even though it had 153 fish, the net was not torn. These weren't just any regular fish. This wasn't any regular net. This was the net and the fish that Jesus told the disciples to catch, so the net wasn't going to be torn. I want to emphasize here, the power is not in the net or the fish, the power is in Jesus Christ. So then in verse 12 Jesus told the disciples to come and have breakfast and none of them even asked him who he was, because they knew that he was the Lord. And this was the third time that Jesus had appeared to his disciples. We saw the first two times in our last Bible study on chapter 20 of the book of John and then now this is the third time.
15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." 16 Again. Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." 17 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. 18 I tell you the truth, 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." 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"
So before Peter's denials that we see in chapter 18 of the book of John he had claimed to love Jesus more than the other disciples. This was in Matthew 26:33 and it says: "Peter replied, 'Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.'" So that's why in verse 15 of chapter 21 of the book of John, Jesus asked Simon Peter if he loves him more than these (more than the other disciples.)
Alright, now let's discuss the 3 different things that Jesus says to Simon Peter whenever he asks him those 3 times if he loves him. He says: "Feed my lambs," "Take care of my sheep," and "Feed my sheep." Jesus was telling Peter how to act towards God's people. Peter could show his love for Jesus by offering the bread of life to the people and guiding them to Jesus. When Jesus says "Feed my lambs;" Peter can offer the bread of life (which is Jesus Christ) to other people that don't know about Jesus Christ. Peter can offer this to people that don't believe in Jesus or don't even know anything about him. When Jesus says, "Take care of my sheep" and "Feed my sheep," this is his call to Peter to guide others into the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, testify about him, make sure that they know about Jesus, and that they have the bread of life (or at least he offered the bread of life to them) so that they may have eternal life in heaven with Jesus Christ.
Then in verse 18 Jesus tells Simon Peter the type of death that he's going to die, which is going to be on a cross with outstretched hands and someone else is going to dress him and lead him where he doesn't want to go, and that is the death that's going to glorify God. Then Jesus says, "Follow me!" and that's a challenge to Peter to focus on the work ahead, to follow Jesus, spread the gospel, to let other people know about Jesus, and to live the way that he has seen Jesus live. Peter has seen the example that Jesus has led and it's time for Peter to follow Jesus, even whenever Jesus goes back to heaven. Peter and the other apostles have a duty to testify about Jesus Christ, spread the gospel, and baptize in the name of Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
20 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?") 21 When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" 22 Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." 23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?"
24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. 25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
Alright so those are all the verses of chapter 21 of the book of John and this completes the book of John, but I'm going to discuss these verses with you guys here. In verses 20-23, Peter asked about John and Jesus wanted Peter to see that his plan for Peter wouldn't be the same as his plan for John. Peter must follow Jesus and he shouldn't worry about what's going to happen to the other disciples or anyone else but Jesus and his relationship with him. The most important thing is him having that relationship with Christ, spreading the gospel, and letting other people know about Jesus Christ so that they may be saved and go to heaven also. In verse 24, John is the disciple that testifies to these things. John is the one that wrote the book of John and he's the one that Peter was asking about.
In verse 25 it says that Jesus did many other things, but we didn't see all of those because if we saw all of the miraculous signs and all of the amazing things that Jesus did, there wouldn't be room in the whole world for the books that would be written. So we see a lot of miraculous signs that Jesus performed in the book of John. We see a lot of amazing things in the book of John and all throughout the new Testament of Jesus Christ living on the earth, dying on the cross for our sins, raising three days later, and appearing to his disciples. And that's only just some of the amazing things that Jesus Christ did.
John Ch 21 Study Guide
Why didn’t the disciples realize that it was Jesus?
What does verse 6 show us about our life and relationship with Jesus?
Why do you think that Jesus wanted the disciples to bring some of their fish over when he already had fish and bread?
In verse 11, why do you think that the net was not torn?
In verses 15-18, why did Jesus say these 3 different things to Peter?
Why do you think that Jesus said what he said in verse 22 to Peter?
What is your biggest takeaway from this Bible study?
So over a year ago whenever I first really read and studied the book of John, I was still teaching you guys Jeremiah and doing the Bible studies on the book of Jeremiah. I had no idea why God had led me to read the book of John and study it, but through reading it and really understanding it I was able to really strengthen my relationship with Christ and I got rebaptized in September of 2020. I know I've talked about it a little bit before and I said that I may do an episode on it if it's something that you guys want to hear about, but I got rebaptized. Then after I did our Bible study on chapter 23 of Jeremiah I knew that God led me to just go straight into the book of John. I didn't even finish out Jeremiah because I knew I was called to study the book of John with you guys.
Now that the book of John is done and these Bible studies are completed, I just feel so blessed that God called me to do this and that I was able to help you guys in any way to understand the truth of God's words, to understand these Bible verses, and to really just take some time to reflect and understand God's words. I just feel beyond blessed and grateful and I'm just so thankful for Jesus Christ and all he's done, how he led by example, he showed pure love, made the ultimate sacrifice, and whoever believes in him has eternal life in heaven with him and God the Father. So these Bible studies on John are completed and I hope everyone that listened to these were able to soak in and understand the truth of God's words and follow along with all of these chapters with me.
In our next Bible study we're going to go straight into the book of Acts about the apostles, them going to different places and spreading the gospel, and just all of the different things with that. So I'm really excited to do the book of Acts with you guys and we're going to start on chapter 1 next week. A few weeks ago God led me to the book of Acts and I've been studying it on my own and going through it. I know that God wants me to teach you guys about the book of Acts so I hope you guys come along with those Bible studies. We'll start those next week, we'll do them weekly, and just go from there.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
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