89 Jesus Forgives Peter [John 21]
The Bible passage: [John 21]
The Story:
Jesus revealed Himself to His disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He did it in this way:
Seven of Jesus’ apostles were together.
Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”
“We’re coming with you,” the others told him.
They went out in a boat, but they didn’t catch anything that night.
When daybreak came, Jesus was standing on the shore. However, the disciples did not know it was Jesus.
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.”
They did, and they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
John said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”
When Peter heard that it was the Lord, he plunged into the sea. Since they were not far from land (about 100 yards away), the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. When they got to the land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread.
Jesus told them, “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught.”
Peter got up and hauled the net ashore. It was 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.
Jesus took the bread and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish.
This was the third time Jesus had appeared to the disciples after He was raised from the dead.
When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Peter, “Simon, do you love Me more than all this?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said to Him, “You know that I love You.”
“Feed My lambs,” He told him.
A second time Jesus asked him, “Simon, do you love Me?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said, “You know that I love You.”
“Shepherd My sheep,” He told him.
He asked the third time, “Simon, 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 I love You.”
“Feed My sheep,” Jesus said.
Jesus continued, “When you were young, 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 show the kind of death that Peter would suffer.
After saying this, He told him, “Follow Me!”
Peter turned around and saw John following them. When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”
Jesus answered him, “If I want him to live until I return, what is that to you? But you, follow Me.”
A rumor began to spread among the followers that John would not die. But Jesus didn’t say that; He simply said it wasn’t something that would affect Peter.
There are so many other things that Jesus did. If they were all written down, I don’t think the world could hold the books that would be written.
The Lessons:
- When Jesus first called Peter to follow Him, his name was Simon. Jesus later said that He was going to call him Peter. Here, Jesus calls him Simon again.
- Jesus wanted Peter to know that he was forgiven.
- In 83 Peter Denies Jesus, Peter denied Jesus three times. Here, Jesus has Peter confess his love for Jesus three times.
- There is a progression in what Jesus tells Peter to do: feed my lambs; shepherd my sheep; feed my sheep.
- In [John 10:11-16], Jesus refers to Himself as The Good Shepherd and talks about caring for His sheep. In this passage, Jesus appears to be telling Peter to start doing that job.
- Later in his life, Peter wrote a letter to believers in Jesus and he instructed the church leaders to take over as shepherds for the church. [1 Peter 5:2-4]
Next: 90 The Great Commission [Matthew 28:16–20]
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