A Work in Progress Bible Commentary
By: Chip Crush

JOHN
CHAPTER 21

Jesus and the Miraculous Catch of Fish

1Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias.[1] It happened this way: 2Simon 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.
4Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
5He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?"
"No," they answered.
6He 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.
7Then 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. 8The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.[2] 9When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
10Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught."
11Simon 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. 12Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. 13Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus Reinstates Peter

15When 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."
16Again 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."
17The 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." 18
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. 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." 19Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"
20Peter 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?") 21When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?"
22Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." 23Because 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?"
24This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.
25Jesus 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.

After chapter 20 the gospel of John is, in a sense, finished. John has brought everything to its proper conclusion, the sober wonder of Calvary bursting forth in the triumphant exultation of the empty tomb, the greatest of Jesus’ works producing the greatest confession of faith, and the author’s purpose statement bringing it all to a close. But in another sense this is only the beginning, for just as Jesus prayed for His disciples ahead of time, He was about to send them into the world with a mission just like the mission He was completing. When He finished His work of accomplishing redemption, He then commissioned His disciples with a new work of taking the news of that redemption to the ends of the earth. And so John included chapter 21 as a sort of epilogue, in which he relates how the resurrected Jesus prepared the disciples for their new task, following in the footsteps of Christ.

  1. V1-4 - Peter, likely still bitter in heart over his great failure, had prepared to return to his former life as a fisherman (remember, he was married and likely had a family to support); and six of the other disciples, perhaps confused and uncertain what to do now that Jesus was not with them, were ready to go with him. But Jesus had given His life to prepare these men for more than just salvation (discipleship), and He would not leave them now without any direction; so He appeared to them again and worked for them one last miracle; but whereas all the other miracles in John’s gospel symbolize Jesus’ own redemptive work, now, after His resurrection, He is working a miracle that symbolizes the disciples’ work which they were about to undertake. Remember when Jesus first called the disciples, and promised to make them “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). In this miracle, He is going to show them just what kind of men-fishers they would be. One who is fishing for men on the basis of his own strength and abilities will never be successful, no matter how knowledgeable he is; for a mere man can never open the heart of another man, no matter how he floods his ears with pleas and arguments. Thus the disciples, though experienced fishermen, did not catch any fish all night; then Jesus came. Where were the other 4 apostles?

  2. V5-8 - The disciples didn’t know it was Jesus when the voice called out, “Haven’t you any fish?” It would have been an irritating question to a fisherman who had been trying to catch fish all night. A simple, “No,” was their reply. The stranger (Jesus) told them to throw their net on the right side of the boat. Now Peter had heard that before; in fact, the last time he heard that, he grudgingly obeyed and caught two boatloads of fish. He said to Jesus back then, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” This time around, he obeys, perhaps not even considering that it could’ve been Jesus. They were at a loss for what to do, since not a single fish had been caught. Yet, by obeying Jesus, the large catch is netted, and John says to Peter, “It is the Lord.” This time, Peter doesn’t say, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinner.” Instead, he zealously jumps overboard and wades/swims to shore to get into the presence of Jesus. It’s very different response. And the other disciples follow in the boat, towing the catch.

  3. V9-14 - Now Jesus tells the disciples to bring some of the fish, but He’s already got some fish on the fire. The point is that the harvest has nothing to do with them. Yes, bring the fish, but it’s not about your catching them. Jesus catches the fish; He does with them what He wishes. We bring them in through Him. It should have been impossible to drag the net to shore without tearing it. But Jesus governs that as well. This is all to do with the supply and providence and governance and control of Jesus; how Jesus puts a boundary and a hedge around our lives. And it’s as though He’s saying to Peter as the disciple who’s trying to return to the old way of life, “I’m not going to let you return to your old life, because I’ve got something for you to do.” That’s what He does with us too. Have you let the Savior down? Well, Jesus won’t let you return to your old way of life for good. You may visit it occasionally, but you know that doing so isn’t the answer. Going off by yourself or having a pity party isn’t the answer. Coming humbly to Jesus is the answer. Serving Him by loving others is walking in newness of life.

    Why is the number of fish – 153 – detailed here? In this sign, we can foresee the amazing results of the disciples’ ministry, when with one sermon, filled with foolishness in the world’s eyes, Peter caught 3000 souls in one day, because the Spirit of Christ was empowering him (Acts 2). And this was only the beginning – soon the foolishness of their message would turn the world upside-down, calling out from every kindred, tongue, people, and nation a multitude of souls redeemed by the blood of the Lamb and caught with the gospel-net of Christ’s fishers of men.

    In v12, we read that none of them dared to ask Him, “Who are You?” because they knew He was the Lord Jesus. Some commentators suggest that they weren’t really sure, but they didn’t want to offend Him by asking. Other commentators say that John is simply pointing out that they didn’t have to ask, because they were so certain. Finally, Jesus had appeared to His disciples more than seven times, but John reveals only three. He sets these visitations apart into intervals to show that Jesus confirmed His resurrection on multiple occasions for their benefit.

  4. V15-19 - Even with this sign, Peter is still in need of assurance and comfort. So at the end of their supper together, Jesus comforts Peter’s heart with the exact words that he needed to know that his shocking sin was forgiven, and that he would be used to minister the gospel to the hungry and wayward sheep for whom Christ died. Here, even as Peter had denied Jesus three times, so Jesus extracts from him a confession of love three times (a confession which He knew to be sincere), as if to say, “Your bitter denial is over, and in its place is a true and loyal confession of Me, which will never again be shaken.” Jesus gave to Peter a threefold commission to be His minister, caring for and feeding His flock as a loving and faithful shepherd under the Great Shepherd, Jesus Himself. This call to be a shepherd, or a pastor, is in itself laborious and troublesome; since nothing is more difficult than to keep men under the yoke of God, among whom there are many who are weak, others who are wanton and unsteady, others who are dull and sluggish, and others who are slow and un-teachable. And we, as husbands and fathers are called to a resemblance of this role as well. So the lesson is this: As great as his sin was, Peter was forgiven indeed, and restored to true and fruitful ministry in the service of the King! Truly, God’s grace abounds to the chief of sinners, a fact for which we ought to be most grateful.

    Christ does not give to Peter and others the office of feeding all sorts of persons, but only His sheep or His lambs. He elsewhere describes who they are whom He reckons to belong to His flock (John 10:5,27). Calvin says, “Faithful teachers ought to endeavor to gather all to Christ; and as they cannot distinguish between sheep and wild beasts, they ought to try by all methods if they can tame those who resemble wolves rather than sheep. But after having put forth their utmost efforts, their labor will be of no avail to any but the elect sheep; for docility and faith arise from this, that the heavenly Father delivers to His Son, that they may obey Him, those whom He elected before the creation of the world. Again, we are taught by this passage, that none can be fed to salvation by the doctrine of the Gospel but those who are mild and teachable; for it is not without reason that Christ compares His disciples to lambs and sheep; but it must also be observed, that the Spirit of God tames those who by nature were bears or lions.”

    Before we continue on, let us note in passing that the difference in the Greek verbs (agape and phileo) for “love” is perhaps not as significant as some would have it be. John often moves back and forth between synonyms for mere stylistic purposes – in fact, he moves back and forth between different words for “sheep” and “feed” in this same passage – and this is probably all that he is doing here. Other commentators make a big deal about the Greek switch, but the key to this passage is the three-times restoration to compliment and overturn the triple denial.

    In v18-19, Jesus reveals to Peter the kind of death he would die. It would not be pleasant, but it would be the least Peter could do after comprehending the forgiveness and grace he had received from the Lord Jesus. He would be led where he wouldn’t want to go. The dread of death is certainly natural, for being separated from the body in which our spirits dwell is an uncommon occurrence – indeed only once will we die. Jesus Himself undoubtedly experienced this dread, and He forewarns Peter that he will experience it as well. But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” Whatever we experience in our lives is what we are called to experience. The question is this: Are we following Jesus? It may not be pleasant, but there is joy in suffering. So follow Jesus. The exhortation to follow Him is meant to comfort, for Jesus leads us and never drives His sheep. He has been there, and He endured. We experience nothing He has not overcome. So take heart and follow Him. It is noteworthy that a few extraordinary individuals have died with no dread in the most terrifying of tortuous experiences. This can certainly be attributed only to the grace of God in granting an extra measure of His presence and peace during those times.

  5. V20-25 - Now, John’s gospel closes out with an account of John himself, with the suggestion (although as John himself notes, it was not a promise or a prophecy) that he should outlive the other disciples – some thinking, mistakenly, that he would actually live until Jesus’ return. Of course, as Jesus’ response to Peter’s question indicates, there is no more room to boast in a short and passionate life which ends in the glory of a martyr’s death than there is in a long life lived in faithful service and unswerving testimony to the Savior. And the latter is what John’s life would be.

    Each of us has a race marked out for us as followers of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:1-2). Every man will bear his own burden (Galatians 6:5). Calvin says, “Out of ten persons it may happen that God shall choose one, that he may try him by heavy calamities or by vast labors, and that he shall permit the other nine to remain at ease, or, at least, shall try them lightly. Besides, God does not treat all in the same manner, but makes trial of every one as he thinks fit. As there are various kinds of Christian warfare, let every man learn to keep his own station, and let us not make inquiries like busybodies about this or that person, when the heavenly Captain addresses each of us, to whose authority we ought to be so submissive as to forget every thing else.”

    John would be the faithful eyewitness, testifying to the truth of what he had seen and heard and known of the Word of Life, Jesus Christ our Savior. How solemnly he undertook this responsibility, as we may learn from his three epistles to the Church – and how grateful ought we to be for his long and faithful testimony, for it has given us the great and precious wonders of a gospel which outshines all other literature in the history of mankind, three letters which address the most pressing needs of every generation and tenderly apply the most precious wisdom ever vouchsafed to us by God, and an apocalyptic revelation which shows forth more clearly than any other writing the glory of Christ the eternal king, and the blessedness of our final destiny with Him. What a rich legacy John, the faithful witness, has left us. But let us not praise him, but the One who shone through him, with all power and authority, with all meekness and humility, with all the inexhaustible wonder of the Word of God, who alone reveals the inexhaustibly glorious nature of the Almighty Deity, showering all who belong to Him with these unfathomable riches of wisdom and knowledge that all eternity cannot begin to exhaust. This is Christ, the Lion and Lamb, our Savior and God, diverse in all His myriad excellencies!

That’s John’s gospel. Let me encourage you to continue in the practice of regularly meeting with others to study God’s word, to discuss the issues we face today, and to carry out the service of the Lord through faithful witness. Above all, let us exhibit love for one another in serving others to the glory of God.

Footnotes

  1. 21:1 That is, Sea of Galilee
  2. 21:8 Greek about two hundred cubits (about 90 meters)


Bible text from Gospelcom.net.  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

BACK TO MENU   PREVIOUS CHAPTER