Verse 1 After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself.
The Apostle John recorded this encounter with Jesus in the following verses possibly because this encounter was one that involved his future and the future of his friend and rival, Simon Peter, and so it would have been very important and personal to him.
Verses 2-3 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.
Seven disciples were together, the number 7 representative in Scripture of divine perfection. However, these disciples who had seen the risen Jesus were not preaching the Gospel as of yet. Perhaps they were still afraid of the Jews, or perhaps they were waiting for the Comforter to come, or perhaps they were simply going back to the lifestyle and profession that they had left when they answered the call of Jesus to follow Him. Simon Peter, being the impetuous disciple, was naturally a leader and when he said, “I go a fishing,” the others followed, and they all went to do that with which they were familiar and with which they could earn some money. The problem arose, however, in that they caught nothing all night.
Verses 4-6 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.
The disciples had seen the resurrected LORD two times prior to this event, and so they should have recognized Jesus standing on the shore. Because they did not, this writer concludes that their ship was too far out from the shore for them to identify Jesus, and that only after the miracle catch of fish did they realize who they were seeing.
Application: Jesus told the disciples to cast their net on the “right” side of the ship and they would catch fish. They obeyed, and they caught fish. The Greek word translated as “right” is “dexios” and it means the right, the right hand, and metaphorically a place of honour or authority. Scripture records that at the final judgement of this Earth, Jesus will separate all the people of the Earth, the sheep (his people) on the right and the goats (the unsaved) on the left. “And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.” Matthew 25:33 When Jesus ascended up into Heaven He sat on the right hand of the Father. “So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.” Mark 16:19 It was with authority that Jesus told the disciples to cast their net on the right side of the ship. Likewise, it is with authority that Jesus has commanded His followers to seek out the lost and preach the Gospel message to them, to heal the sick, to raise the dead, and to cleanse the leper. Jesus will bring people into the lives of His followers that need to be on His right side, and who need to be told how to get on the right side of the LORD. It is the duty of each converted, Christian believer to obey Jesus as the disciples did, and to “cast” the Gospel message out for unbelievers to hear.
Verse 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.
The Apostle John who wrote this book identified himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Now Jesus loved all of the disciples, but this was the way the Apostle John used to describe his relationship with Jesus. He loved Jesus and Jesus loved him. So the Apostle John identified Jesus and alerted the Apostle Peter that Jesus was the man standing on the shore. Peter was so excited about seeing Jesus that he did not wait for the others to secure the mass of fish they had in the net and get to the shore, but he jumped overboard and swam to Jesus.
Application: Unfortunately, often in the Christian walk one gets in a rut and becomes less enthusiastic about coming to Jesus in prayer, praise and worship. It is easy to skip meeting with God’s people at church, to skip reading the Bible, and to skip prayer times as the things of this earthly life take precedence and drown out the things of the Spiritual life. If one does not discipline oneself to keep “swimming” towards Jesus and the things of the Spirit, one will drown in the things of this world. The believer needs to remain vigilant and steadfast to the end in order to attain eternal life in Heaven.
Verses 8-11 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.
It is amazing that the fishes were counted and that the number was recorded here. No words in Scripture are unimportant and, even though this number may seem insignificant to the reader today, it most likely was important to past readers who understood fishing in those days and who understood what a standard fishing net could tolerate as far as the weight of the fishes caught by the disciples. The details of the greatness of this miracle were recorded by the Apostle John so that people could see the awesome love and power and authority of the LORD Jesus Christ.
Verses 12-14 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.
Jesus shared a “last super” with His disciples at the Passover celebration, and here He is sharing another meal with them by the side of a lake. Perhaps the disciples remembered the words of Jesus at the Passover meal before the crucifixion. “And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Luke 22:18-19 Jesus was now eating with them, but He had fulfilled prophecy and ushered in the spiritual Kingdom of God and His disciples were now part of that Kingdom just as all converted Christian believers today are part of that Kingdom.
Application: This Earth is not the Christian believer’s home. All believers are just passing through time on Earth with the destination of eternity In Heaven.
Verses 15-17 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.
Remember that the Jews called male descendants “sons” regardless of the generation and not grandsons or great grandsons. So the Apostle Peter was a descendant of the Prophet Jonah who was swallowed by a great fish when he ran away from the LORD. Jesus was reminding Peter of his heritage. His ancestor was responsible for an entire city repenting and avoiding destruction from God. Jesus’ questions to Peter were unnecessary in that Jesus already knew Peter loved Him. Jesus asked the question three times, the number 3 representing perfection, for Peter’s benefit so that Peter would never forget that he publicly said he loved his LORD and Master, Messiah and Savior, and so that he would preach the Gospel to the lost sheep everywhere. It was to Peter that the LORD gave the keys to the Kingdom which meant that the Apostle Peter was the first disciple to preach to first the Jews on the day of Pentecost, to the Samaritans, and then to the Gentiles, fulfilling the prophecy of Jesus in Acts 1:8. “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Although Peter remained most of the time in the Church in Jerusalem, he opened the door for evangelism to the other apostles.
Verses 18-19 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst 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.
Jesus was telling the Apostle Peter that he would be sustained physically until he was old. Perhaps this is why Peter, as recorded in the book of Acts, seemed to be unperturbed when arrested and thrown in jail and almost beheaded. He knew he would live to an old age as told by Jesus. So the Herods and the Romans could not kill him until it was time for him to leave this Earth and enter eternity in Heaven. The stretching forth of the hands indicated death by crucifixion which was the Roman manner of capital punishment. Crucifixion originated in Babylon where people were impaled on pikes. The Romans who were a practical people and who had iron tools found it easier to nail prisoners and so they added the cross bar for the hands and arms. History via tradition reports that the Apostle Peter was killed by crucifixion upside down as he thought himself to be unworthy of being crucified in the manner that Jesus Christ was crucified. This is not verified by Scripture.
Application: This writer has a problem with wearing a cross as jewelry. The Catholic Pope has one huge gold cross on his belt, and since everything that is done in Catholicism is anti Christ, perhaps Christian believers should take note and not wear crosses as necklaces or earrings. The cross was a killing device and not something that represents the Christian faith, and it is also worn by members of the occult. Catholic tradition brought this into the Christian Church and this writer believes it is offensive to the LORD Jesus Christ. No one today wears a guillotine, a hangman’s noose, or any other symbol of capital punishment and death as jewelry, so why wear a cross? “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2 Prisoners were stripped naked and tortured in front of the gawking, bloodthirsty public. That is what the cross is a reminder of. Think about it.
Verses 20-22 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.
The Apostle Peter wanted to know what the future held for his friend, sometimes rival, and fellow disciple John. They had been together for many years and Peter had a genuine concern and desire to know the future.
Verses 23-25 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 21)
Jesus’ earthly ministry was only 3 1/2 years, but according to the Apostle John what He did during those years was so immense that it could not possibly be written about and contained in ordinary books.