John 21:1-19 | Jesus by the Fire

Hi, my name is Bien. I'm a member here at First Baptist Church of Artesia. It's my joy and privilege to give God's Word this morning. If you don't have a Bible, there are Bibles in front of you. And if you don't have a Bible, please go ahead and grab that one. Feel free to keep it; it's our gift to you. If you already have a Bible and you didn't bring yours today, you can go ahead and keep it, but please put it back so that others without a Bible can take them at a future time. I'm going to go ahead and turn to John 21. This is where we'll be spending our time this week and next week.

These next two weeks we'll be going through the final chapter in John, and it's a little weird for us to be jumping into the final chapter of a book, but I hope that as we go through the sermon, it'll become ever more clear for us the reason why we'll be preaching through it. And as you turn there, let me read for us John 21, verses 1 to 19.

After this, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (called “Twin”), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples were together. “I’m going fishing,” Simon Peter said to them.“We’re coming with you,” they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus. “Friends,” Jesus called to them, “you don’t have any fish, do you?”“No,” they answered. “Cast the net on the right side of the boat,” he told them, “and you’ll find some.” So they did, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish. The disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer clothing around him (for he had taken it off) and plunged into the sea. Since they were not far from land (about a hundred yards away), the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread. “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus told them. So Simon Peter climbed up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish—153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. “Come and have breakfast,” Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?”“Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.”“Feed my lambs,” he told him. A second time he asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”“Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “you know that I love you.”“Shepherd my sheep,” he told him. He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”“Feed my sheep,” Jesus said. “Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.” He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. After saying this, he told him, “Follow me.” — John 21:1-19 (CSB)

Father, as we hear your word and as we consider it this morning, would we understand it? Would you make it known to us? We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Purpose of John 21

So as we've turned our Bibles to John 21, we're kind of breaking a few rules in how to read a book this morning. As you'll notice, John 21 is the final chapter of the Gospel of John, but that's precisely the chapter that we'll be looking at in these next two weeks. And to best properly frame what we're going to be talking about, I'm going to go ahead and turn back to John 20 to just give us a picture of what's happening in the book of John in preparation as we head to chapter 21. The Gospel of John is a gospel written by the Apostle. It's a gospel of the account of Jesus's life. It's the fourth of the four. And what we see in this particular gospel is the way in which Jesus is the bread of life, the way in which Jesus is the incarnated Word.

In chapter 20, after Jesus being crucified, buried, the disciples now come to the tomb, and it's empty. Jesus died, Jesus resurrected, the tomb was empty, Jesus was risen. He revealed himself to Mary Magdalene, and he revealed himself to the disciples. And so the trajectory of John's Gospel as we begin from John 20 to the very end is that the biggest event of salvation history, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, has already happened. Christ has already gone to the cross. He has already resurrected. He has already shown himself to the disciples. John even gives us the purpose of his book in John 20:30-31 where he says:

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. — John 20:30-31 (CSB)

Now if John finished his Gospel in giving the purpose statement, it would make perfect sense. Because if you read the end of chapter 20, it actually feels like the book is already ended. John is describing the life of Jesus. He describes the primary events that take place. He gets to the end of his Gospel and says, “This is the reason why I wrote this book, and this is the reason by which Jesus is to be known as the Messiah.”

And so the question that we have as we look at chapter 21 is, why would John write this chapter after having already established the most important parts of the book and the life of Jesus? And what we'll find is precisely the answer to that question: if John chapter 1 is the prologue, the introduction to the story of the Gospel of John, then John 21 is the epilogue. It's the end of all things, wrapping up certain themes and pictures that have appeared throughout the Gospel. Because a question that the disciples still needed to answer at the other side of Christ's resurrection is: Is the Jesus that resurrected the same Jesus that washed their feet in the upper room? Is the Jesus that resurrected the same Jesus who loved them and out of his great love for them went to the cross? Or is this resurrected Jesus now coming to enact vengeance on those that deserted him in the most difficult day of his earthly life? Was the resurrected Jesus the same as the pre-crucified Jesus? And this is a question that we know the answer to, and yet we'll consider how John tells his story.

Jesus Meets Our Greatest Need

And so as you look at chapter 21, the primary point that we'll see is this: that Jesus meets our greatest need. Jesus meets our greatest need. And we see him realize this in three particular scenes: We see him do this in the sea (verses 1 to 8), and then on the shore (verses 9 to 14), and then around the fire (15 to 19).

Jesus by the Sea (John 21:1-8)

So look with me again in your Bibles in John 21, verses 1 to 8, and we'll consider the disciples on the shore. This is how the picture is unraveling. John writes that by the Sea of Tiberias, which is also known as the Sea of Galilee, and I'll mention why that's important down the line. But Jesus revealed himself to his disciples, and John recounts Peter, the leader of the disciples, decides to go fishing, of all the things that they could be doing. So the very thing that Jesus in one sense called them out of, Peter decides, and so the other disciples follow. They go fishing.

And mind you, before they became disciples of Jesus, they were career fishermen. They had been fishermen for a really long time. I don't know anything about fishing, and I have no fishermen in my family. But for him to go out, to back to a profession that he had already practiced, certainly this guy would know what he was doing as he goes out into the sea to catch fish. And that's precisely what he says in verse 3: He's going to go fishing; others go with him. He gets on the boat, and yet the ending of verse 3 says something about their little fishing expedition: It says that they caught nothing.

And if we're to skip over that, that they caught nothing, remember, Peter is a fisherman. He's a great fisherman. He's got other great fishermen on the boat with him. But over the course of the night, they caught nothing. And specifically in the book of John, there's something interesting happening with the way John writes that they caught nothing. John 15:5 is Jesus in the upper room with the disciples, and this is what he tells them:

I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. — John 15:5 (CSB)

Now that doesn't mean believe in Jesus and he will fill your nets with fish. That's not the point that we're trying to make. But John is trying to poke at something essential in this 21st chapter of John, after having given the reason why he wrote the book of John. The disciples are going back to something that they were good at, something that they were proficient at, and yet after the whole night, there was nothing in their net. They caught nothing. And when we think about Jesus describing himself, him as the very light of the world, the way that John chapter 1 describes how the Word, who was God, who was in the beginning, how Genesis 1 describes that God in the beginning made the heavens and the earth, called nothing, called light out of darkness. And so that should be in the back of our minds as we read verse 4 in the backdrop of John's Gospel, that the disciples can't do anything apart from Jesus. So verse 4 reads, “When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not know it was Jesus.”

Can you see how John's telling this narrative? It begins with saying that Jesus revealed himself once more to the disciples. The disciples go out into the sea to go fishing, and overnight they caught nothing. And verse 4 says, “When daybreak came, Jesus was on the shore, and yet the disciples didn't know that it was him yet.” Jesus was still far off. And what's the first thing that Jesus tells the disciples from a hundred yards away? He says, “Friends,” calling from really far away, “Friends,” Jesus called to them, “You don't have any fish, do you?” And they said, “No.” They didn't have any fish.

And Jesus commandingly says, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat and you'll find some.” And if you are a career fisherman, you have been fishing the whole night, you haven't caught any fish. Now this guy, randomly on the shore, shouts out to you, calls you “friends” (in another translation, “children”). And he tells you to cast your net on the other side of the boat. If you were a fisherman who had been doing this for a really long time, why would you listen to the guy who's on the shore who doesn't know what's happening in the boat? It's the same way that a high school student if he were trying to teach a golfer who's in the Olympics (is there golf in the Olympics?), but if it's a younger golfer trying to teach one who's a professional, trying to pick at their form and whatever else in their swing, it's the very same thing. Why would the guy in the boat who knew what he was doing listen to the person on the shore?

And yet John, in writing his Gospel, writes at daybreak Jesus is on the shore. And he says to his friends, “Cast the net and you'll find some fish.” And so they listen, whether because of frustration or maybe they just found themselves more listenable that morning. They cast the net, and they haul in fish. And notice how simply John writes that they cast the net, they caught the fish, and then verse 7, “The disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’” Can you hear the recognition in the way that John writes his Gospel? Jesus told them to cast the net and they caught fish. John's response, who typically across the Gospels is actually the one who notices what Jesus is saying first and actually notices him first, and so he says, “It is the Lord!” The Lord is on the shore.

And notice Peter, Simon Peter, when he hears that it's the Lord, even though he's not the first one to recognize, he immediately ties his outer clothing around him and plunges into the sea. The picture that we're supposed to have is that the moment John recognizes that Jesus is on the shore and says it to the disciples, Peter is the first one to jump into the sea and swim some one hundred yards to go see his Savior. So then verse 8, “Since they were not far from land (about a hundred yards away), the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish.” This is a fishing story, and they caught the fish. When we say that Jesus meets our greatest need, one of the first pictures we see in this Gospel is that they went fishing, they needed fish in their nets, and so Jesus provides fish in their nets. And yet, that's not the main point that we're trying to get at, and we'll see that as we continue forward.

Jesus on the Shore (John 21:9-14)

So the second scene and the second point of our passage for this morning: Remember that Jesus meets our greatest need, and so he does that in the sea. So then he meets the disciples' greatest need, rather their need, as they come to the shore, verse 9.

“When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish lying on it and bread.” And I want us to note that now notice that it says “charcoal fire.” There's one other instance where that particular word is used, and it's in the night of Jesus's crucifixion, and it describes the place where Simon Peter warmed himself, and after having denied Jesus. So this picture of a charcoal fire is again placed in John's Gospel. And then Jesus has, “Bring some of the fish you've just caught,” Jesus told them. So Peter goes and helps, and there was a lot of fish, 153. We're given a number. The net wasn't torn. And then verse 12, Jesus tells them, “Come and have breakfast.” And none of the disciples ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord.

Again, as we consider this story, think of this picture: The disciples have seen the resurrected Jesus, so they know that he came back to life. The disciples, before the crucifixion, saw that Jesus healed the sick, healed the blind, caused the winds and the waves to obey him, that he proclaimed before them that he was the bread of life, that he is the life, truth, and the way. And after his resurrection, of all the things that Jesus could be doing, here he is on the Sea of Tiberias, having just filled the nets of his disciples with fish, and he tells them to come and have breakfast. If in the first picture, we see Jesus filling the nets of the disciples in something that they thought that they needed, here is Jesus displaying the same humility of serving his disciples by serving them fish and bread.

John 21, verse 1 says that this is the Sea of Tiberias. John 6:1 is John also telling us another story, but he clarifies that the Sea of Galilee, which is also called the Sea of Tiberias, is the very same place where Jesus performed the miracle of feeding the 5,000, of splitting the loaves and fish. So notice what John's doing in this particular chapter. He's bringing up these pictures of what already happened in the past to the disciples, where Jesus broke fish and bread. They're here at the Sea of Tiberias, at the Sea of Galilee. Peter's rejection of him, where he warmed himself by the fire, now again is a charcoal fire. Verse 14 repeats, “This was now the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.” And how many times did Peter deny Jesus? Three. But this picture of a Savior who humbles himself, who came and took the bread and gave it to them, verse 13 says, “He did the same with the fish.”

He who was the divine Word, who is the bread of life, who is the door of the sheep, who is the good shepherd, who is the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth, and the life, the true vine, the light of the world, the Son of God, the Son of Man, he was abandoned. And how does he respond? Being on the shore for his disciples, being by the fire with his disciples, that this Jesus who was with them in the upper room is the very same Jesus now who is with them on the other side. Jesus has already commissioned them in John chapter 20. He says in verse 21:

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” — John 20:21-23 (CSB)

The picture is this: they had already been commissioned. In one sense, there was nothing left to do, and yet John 21 is giving us a picture that wherever the disciples will go, however far that will be, called to do, Jesus will be with them and he will sustain them. That he is their source, their provider. All that he has described himself to be is the very thing that he's fulfilling before them now. So Jesus fills their nets, and then Jesus fills their stomachs. And not just that, but the one who washed the feet of the disciples is the resurrected Jesus who prepares food for them. In the sea and on the shore, Jesus is displaying that he will not abandon his own, not even one who would deny him three times, not even those who would flee in his final moments on the earth before he would be crucified.

Jesus by the Fire: Peter's Restoration (John 21:15-19)

So then the third scene: Jesus and Peter by the fire. Notice what's happening; it's as though somebody had a camera and slowly zooming in closer and closer. If in the beginning we had the sea and the shore, and then we had the shore, now we zoom in once more, and we see by the fire. And it would give us every indication in this passage that this upcoming conversation actually takes place in front of the disciples, because the disciples were together as they ate the bread and the fish. The disciples were called together by Jesus. And so this conversation that takes place between Peter and Jesus is a conversation that takes place in front of the disciples. And so verse 15 reads, and where we see Jesus meeting our greatest need, “When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John,’” and we'll stop there.

Why would it be significant that when Jesus asks Peter the question that he calls him Simon? John 1:42 is where Jesus calls Peter as a disciple and he renames him. What does he name him? He names him “Cephas,” which means “rock,” which also is Peter. So Jesus, early on in the Gospel, has already renamed Peter. “Peter, that's your name, rock.” And yet here, in this questioning, Jesus begins by saying, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” It's as though Jesus is putting before Peter that your rejection of me has colored who you are to a degree.

People reading John's Gospel, the very last thing they would have heard of Peter, apart from running to the tomb, is that he had denied Jesus. And there hasn't been a conversation up to this point of us being able to peek into that conversation between Jesus and Peter. The first time around, we know that there's been some reconciliation because Peter jumped into the ocean in order to see Jesus. But what John records for us here is this conversation that takes place where Jesus in his first question says, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” When it says “than these,” most likely what John is meaning, or rather what Jesus is meaning, is that, “Do you love me more than these other disciples love me?” I mean, Peter was the one to say that all of these others might fall away, but I won't fall away.

Peter is the one to tell Jesus, when he's talking about being crucified, “Jesus, that's not going to happen to you! Come over here, let me tell you why that's not going to happen to you.” Peter is the one in the upper room when Jesus begins washing his feet. Peter says, “Jesus, don't do that! What, why would you lower yourself and wash my feet?” And when Jesus tells him that it's only a regular cleansing that he's already clean, Peter goes and says, “Then wash all of me! Wash all of me, Jesus!” Peter's disposition is one where it's very big. He's quick to act. It's the very same Peter who in John 6:68-69, after the other disciples left and Jesus asks, “You don't want to go away too, do you?” Peter responds, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” And it's that same Peter in John 18:18 who denies Jesus for the third time when the rooster crows.

So the passage again: “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” And notice Peter's answer: He says, “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “You know that I love you.” He doesn't say he doesn't give him a defense. He doesn't say that I love you more than these. He simply says, “You know. Jesus, you know that I love you.” And Jesus's response is, “Feed my lambs.” Jesus doesn't elaborate. He just tells him, “Feed my lambs.” And the text says, “A second time he asked him, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’” Peter responds, “Yes, Lord,” he said to him, “You know that I love you.” And again Jesus responds to his question, “Shepherd my sheep,” he told him. And imagine as Peter is hearing it unfold, why would Jesus ask him the same question a second time? And so verse 17 reads, “He asked him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’” Peter was grieved that he asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” And Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.”

When we look at the biblical story, and we consider Peter's denial, it's heartbreaking. He even told Jesus that he wouldn't deny him. He promised Jesus that he wouldn't deny him. And then we read John 18, and all we see is Peter denying him. If you were the Savior of the world, and you have this guy who you've taken on as a disciple, you've lived with him the past three years, you've taught him all that he needs to know for life and godliness. He denies you. Anybody else would be quick to think and say that if that was the kind of friendship and relationship that you had, you might as well just put that person away, go make new friends, go on with your life. And yet the picture we see here is Jesus fervently restoring Peter. Peter's answer is not based on anything in himself. Notice the way that he responds; he says, “You know. Jesus, you know that I love you.” Peter didn't need the physical fish so that he could be full. Peter needed this conversation. He needed to be restored, and the threefold questioning of Jesus was a reminder to Peter that he had already been forgiven, that forgiveness had already been purchased.

That the story of Peter as a disciple who rejects Christ is a story for every disciple who has ever rejected Christ. It's a story of every rebel who has chosen sin over and against the perfect love of Jesus. John 1 begins with the lofty picture of the Logos, Jesus, the divine Word. Verse 14, saying that he became incarnate, he was enfleshed for what reason? Because we rebel sinners have rebelled against a holy and just and good God. That when he created us, he meant for us to delight and enjoy in his presence. And yet sinful man as we are, we chose otherwise. We would rather be the gods of our own world than choose to listen to God who is in heaven. And yet Jesus would not leave his disciples where they were. Jesus who became God-man, went to the cross, despising the shame. He paid for the penalty of you and me, and at the end of the cross, after he's resurrected, this Jesus who stands now and is sitting with Peter before this fire, knowing that Peter had already denied him at a previous charcoal fire. He says, “Peter, feed my sheep.” The very same sheep that I paid and laid down my life for, the very same sheep I now call you to care for and love, because you're among them.

How weighty this picture rests in the Apostle Peter's mind when he says so many years later in his epistle, this is him encouraging other pastors in 1 Peter 5:1-5:

I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and witness to the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory about to be revealed: Shepherd God’s flock among you, not overseeing out of compulsion but willingly, as God would have you; not out of greed for money but eagerly; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, becauseGod resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. — 1 Peter 5:1-5 (CSB)

By what measure can Peter say, “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble”? He can say that because he knows that that was him. He can say that because he knows that he was the one who was prideful, trusting in himself to not be able to deny Jesus, and yet in the final accounting in the story of the Gospel of John, is that Jesus is the one who humbles himself not only to the cross but in restoring this disciple. And he goes on to tell him, verse 18, “Truly I tell you, when you were younger, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don't want to go.” He said this to indicate by what kind of death Peter would glorify God. After saying this, he told him, “Follow me.”

A Call to Follow and Trust

Peter answered correctly that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus died for him and for us so that we would know that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us at the right time. Christ died for the ungodly. If you're here this morning and either this is not making sense, heed the words of Jesus in verse 19, to follow him. This is Peter after being restored, and Jesus still calls him to follow him.

Jesus is the very one who meets our greatest need, and our greatest need are not material things, things that we can obtain in this life. The greatest thing that has been purchased for us and has been given to us is restoration and reconciliation with God. For that very thing, the disciples would go on to be martyred. For that very thing, the disciples would go on to proclaim the word. And for that very thing, generation upon generation, that if we were to ask the question if the disciples succeeded in the mission that they were given, we can say to look up and look around and see that there are Christians among us who are the recipients of the gospel that has gone from generation to generation. That this generation of the First Baptist Church of Artesia is the recipient of the gospel of grace that was protected and guarded and given and handed down since the time of the apostles. Purchased by Jesus on the cross.

John was written so that you, the reader, the hearer, might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. These are written so that you might believe and trust him, that you will have life in his name. Because are we not the same disciples who venture back into what's comfortable? Are we not the same disciples who forget the Savior when he calls? Are we not like Peter who have denied Jesus in both word and action at different points in our lives? And yet if we're ever to think that we're ever too far from grace, Jesus displays before us that in the life of an apostle, in Peter, that he forgives and he restores and that promise is for you. You are not too far gone that the Savior of the world will cast you aside.

His promise for you is that he is with you, that he's your shepherd. He meets our greatest need. That in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. John 1 says that “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In Genesis 1, or rather in Genesis, sin enters the world because man sinned, desiring to be like God. In John 1, verse 14 describes how God became man in Jesus Christ. And where do we find this heaven-born Prince of Peace in the final chapter of John? He's preparing breakfast for his disciples and restoring them.

Saints, when you would hear the metaphorical rooster crowing, signaling that you've betrayed Jesus once more, whether it's something that's ruined your life entirely, or maybe it's the angry outbursts that carry on week to week, are you reminded of your sin? Does it rend your heart that you've caused grief to your Savior? At the same time, do you realize that you're forgiven in Christ? Do you realize that just as his disciples stood with him by the fire, you too can experience the warmth of eternal love that fixes its gaze on you all the days of your life and will not let you go? Think much of the Savior who prepares breakfast for his disciples. He meets all of our needs. And if even there are some in this life that we would have multiple questions as to why this or that happens, or why this or that is insufficient, remember that the greatest need that we would ever have has already been obtained, fulfilled, accomplished, and that's Jesus on the cross. Pray with me.