Ep. 15 - The One Where Jesus Restores Peter [John 21:1-25]

In this episode we talk about Jesus standing on the beach when the disciples had fished all night. Similar to the story of Jesus first time calling Peter, Jesus fills their nets with fish! Then, he cooks them some breakfast and has a conversation with Peter, restoring him and telling him to follow him again!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

This is the Leader Lounge Podcast, a place where we have conversations about scripture and ministry in hopes of helping us all put God's word in our hearts and in our minds so that we can share it with others.

SPEAKER_00 0:11

We talked about how this was almost the same story as Peter being called the first time, and then he does it again, and he says, follow me again, almost like, hey, I know exactly what you did, I know what you said, and I still want you.

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Hey everyone, welcome back to the Leader Lounge. My name's Chris.

SPEAKER_00 0:29

I'm Emily.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

And we love to dive into scripture. We've been doing this in every podcast we've done so far, uh, just kind of reading scripture, being curious about it. And today we're gonna be in the book of John, which I would encourage you to go get your Bible and sit down with us and kind of read along. And we're gonna be in John chapter 21, and this is the story of Jesus appearing to seven disciples. So this is the end of the book of John, and Emily's gonna go ahead and read.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

All right. After this, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter, Thomas, called the twin, Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing. They said to him, We will go with you. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore, yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, Children, do you have any fish? They answered him, No. He said to them, Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you'll find some. So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved, therefore said to Peter, It is the Lord. When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. Shall I keep going to the end of that section?

SPEAKER_02 2:05

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

When they got on a land they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish that you have just caught. So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty three of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, Come and have breakfast. Now none of the disciples dared ask him, Who are you? They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

SPEAKER_01 2:42

So the scene here is the disciples or Jesus has appeared to the disciples a second time, and in that time Thomas was with them. So the first time he appears, Thomas is not with them. And then Thomas is like, I'm not going to believe it unless I put my hands in the holes, right? And so Jesus appears when Thomas is there, and he does put his fingers in the holes, and um and he says, My Lord and my God. That's his response. So now in in this chapter 21, it says, after this, so this is the third time, Jesus is gonna reveal himself again by the sea, which is the sea of Galilee. It's also called the Sea of Tiberias. So it's the same sea that Peter initially, when Jesus calls Peter, and that he says, push your boat out and put down your nets for a catch. It's a very similar story, right? And so I love that Peter, they're together, and Peter just decides to go back to his former life, right? I mean, Jesus has called him, they spent three years with Jesus, and then Jesus dies, and they're confused and they don't know what to do. And so Peter's initial thing is I'm just gonna go back to doing what I know how to do, which is catch fish. And so he's like, I'm going fishing. You ever have a friend like that who like is kind of the leader? Is is like, I'm going to do this. Who's with me? You know? Uh maybe that's you. I feel like that's kind of you, you know. But um, yeah, that's kind of the guy Peter was.

SPEAKER_00 4:14

And they go all night, right? Because as day was breaking, Jesus is there again, kind of a pattern. They don't know it's him. It really is a very similar story to when Peter's called.

SPEAKER_01 4:27

I I think this shows Jesus' sense of humor. Yeah, I think it and it also shows his just care. I mean, he calls them children, right? Like it's almost like Jesus is being playful. Because he could have appeared in any any number of ways. But but he chose, it's almost like when, you know, like when you're married, um, maybe when you go back, you don't know? No. You don't know what I'm talking about? No, like when you're married and you you have your anniversary, and like you're like, hey, let's go back to the the restaurant where we first met. Or you know, you you kind of try to to those points in your relationship that mean a lot to you. Um I think that's what Jesus is doing here. I think, you know, it's that just a rem reminding them yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

I think it's so funny that Peter jumped out and swam because I bet the boat reached the shore about the same time, if not before, because a hundred yards, I mean, that's not that far, is it? Like a boat can go faster.

SPEAKER_01 5:30

Yeah, well, they are dragging fish.

SPEAKER_00 5:31

That's true, that is true, but he's always so just impulsive and wants to see the Lord, which is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 5:39

He is so impulsive. Like, if if I'm telling this story, I'm reminding people like Peter's the guy who cut off the ear. Peter's the guy who told Jesus who rebuked Jesus. Yeah. Our pastor mentioned that yesterday. Like, yeah, like Jesus said he was going to die, and Peter took him aside and like rebuked him. Can you imagine rebuking God? I mean, uh, and then Peter's the one who runs straight into the tomb. And now Peter's the one who jumps in the water, right?

SPEAKER_00 6:08

Yeah. Walks on water at one point, like he steps out of the boat.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:12

It's crazy they counted all the fish. That's funny that that's recorded. 153.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

And that John remembers that when he's writing, because he's writing years later. I really I think it's awesome. Like, where did Jesus get get the f there's fish on a fire? Where did Jesus get those fish? Did he just walk over and grab them, you know?

SPEAKER_00 6:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:32

Did they just flop up on shore?

SPEAKER_00 6:34

I also love that he says in verse 10, bring some of the fish that you have just caught. When really he caught them. Like he told them, he put them in their nets, like he told them where to catch them. But I have written in my Bible, Jesus worked through them to catch the fish, but he also attributed the work to them to like let them join in the celebration, which is exactly what he does with us. Like anything we do, if you're in ministry or really anything, Jesus is working through you. It's not anything you're doing, but he wants you to get to join in the celebration with him. It's like a partnership, which is really cool, even though he doesn't need us.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

Yeah. And it goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, really. Like when we're we were first created, it's like Jesus is restoring that partnership between God and humanity of I, you know, God creates us to be co-creators. Like in, you know, in the garden, like Adam and Eve were supposed to live in this garden, and humans were supposed to live there and flourish and create things and thrive. Um, and it's all broken because of sin. But Jesus, in as he's bringing his kingdom, he's restoring those things and allowing us to participate in what he's doing, you know. Um and you're right, it's not anything we do on our own that we can't take pride in in any kind of ministry because it's only through the grace of God that we get to do what we get to do and see what we get to see. I've never noticed this before, really, but in light of our conversation on the last podcast where we talked about the Rhode Emmaus, in verse 13, in the last podcast, we talked about how they their eyes were opened when Jesus broke bread. And here in verse 13, it says Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them. And uh and so would the fish. Like he's serving them again, right? I mean, he washed their feet just a few days ago, and now he's continuing to serve and love them. And yeah, this morning in our Bible study, our campaigners Bible study, we were reading where it says in Philippians 2, where it says that Jesus humbled himself and became a servant, you know, and um and that's what I see here is him serving. Alright, let me read let me read on. We're in verse fifteen. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? He said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, Feed my lambs. And he said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? And he said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, Tend my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, Do you love me? He said to him, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep. Truly, truly I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go. This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God. And after saying this, he said to him, Follow me.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible, I think.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Why?

SPEAKER_00 9:56

I just love how intentional Jesus is. One, so Peter had denied Jesus three times, which we talked about, and he's probably still because Jesus has appeared to Peter before this moment. He appeared to the disciples, Peter was in the room with Thomas and without Thomas, so he's at least seen Jesus twice, and it doesn't seem like they might have, but it doesn't seem like they've actually talked about Peter denying Jesus at all at this point, and so it's probably still in the back of Peter's mind, like he's so excited, but he's also still probably feeling guilty, um, feeling shame from that. And so I just love Jesus' intentionality. In we talked about how this was almost the same story as Peter being called the first time, and then he does it again, and he says, follow me again, almost like, hey, I know exactly what you did, I know what you said, and I still want you to follow me. Like it doesn't change anything. I want, I still want to use you, I still want you with me, and just the fact he asked him three times, do you love me? Like, I don't know exactly his reason behind that, but it seems like it wouldn't be a coincidence that he denied him three times and then he asked him three times and gave him three times to proclaim his love, which is just so beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 11:30

Yeah, it's interesting to me that the focus, like when when Peter proclaims his love for Jesus, Jesus turns it to other people, to lambs, right? And so to me, that shows the greatest command that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And the second command is like it, or the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. And it's basically one command, right? And so here Peter's saying, Yes, I love you, and Jesus is like, feed my sheep, care for my sheep. That's the way that you love me is by loving others too. What do you think, Peter? So you just said that part about follow me, right? In verse 19. What do you think went through Peter's mind when Jesus says to follow him? There's gotta be some confusion. Like, okay, I I followed you for three years when you were walking on the earth. Now you look different. You're appearing out of nowhere, like you're you're appearing and disappearing. How how am I gonna follow you?

SPEAKER_02 12:31

You know?

SPEAKER_01 12:31

I mean, I wonder what that following Jesus looks way different than it initially did. But Peter has already seen things like the transfiguration.

SPEAKER_02 12:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:44

So he's Peter has witnessed the spiritual realm, you know, in a way that like I think he'll look back on and be like, oh, okay, so Jesus is gonna and Jesus is going to ascend, so and the Holy Spirit's gonna come, and so Peter's probably like, okay, following Jesus means following the Spirit, and you know, um, which is what we do today. Yeah. Do you want to finish it out?

SPEAKER_00 13:07

Yes, I would love to. So in verse 20, Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who had also leaned back against him during supper and had said, Lord, who is it that is going to betray you? When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, Lord, what about this man? Jesus said to him, If it is my will that he remains until I come, what is that to you? You follow me. So the saying spread among the brothers that this disciple was not to die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but if it is my will that he remains until I come, what is that to you? This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. I think this is so interesting because Jesus says right before in verse 19, he says, Follow me. And immediately, the next thing we have recorded is that Peter turned. So he essentially got this command from the Lord and then immediately looked at someone else and was like, What about him? Which is crazy, but I think we do that all the time. Like we get we feel the Lord calling us to do something, or we know, like, no, this is my path towards the Lord, like I'm following Jesus, but then we're constantly looking at other people, comparing ourselves, or being like, Well, why did you call them to do this? And you called me to do this, um, and just questioning Jesus. And I love Jesus' response. He's like, if this is my will, if it's my will that he remains until I come back, like what is that to you? You're supposed to follow me. And I just think that's so good, such a good reminder.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

Yeah, that's really good. I want to give a different perspective though on that. Um, because I agree with you. Like, I do think I think Jesus' point in that is like, don't worry about anybody else. You do what I'm I'm asking you to follow me. That's what I want you to do. And that that's an important part of our spiritual walk is keeping our eyes on Jesus, right? But also I wonder if Peter could have been asking that because he was so close to John. And he's like, maybe he's saying, can he come to?

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Can you come too?

SPEAKER_01 15:22

Can can he follow you?

SPEAKER_00 15:23

Or am I gonna be alone in this?

SPEAKER_01 15:25

Like, yeah, can he? And then this is where we find out that John wrote the book. Yes. At the very end, right? So he's been referring to himself in third person all along, which if you listen to our resurrection one, um, I think it's um episode 12. We talk about how John referred to himself or talks about how fast he is. Yeah. You know, the other disciple outran Peter.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

I just love verse 25 too. It's just a great reminder that like Jesus did so much more that is not included in the Bible because it couldn't even contain everything he did. And I just think that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 16:05

Or everything he said.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

Everything he said, everything he taught, yeah, all of it.

SPEAKER_01 16:09

So it, you know, there there's a there I heard one time about um a group of Christians who were called red letter Christians, and they they take the view that only the red letters, or not only the red letters, but the red letters, meaning if you have a Bible with red letters, it's basically everywhere that Jesus talks, and that they elevate the red letters above all the other words in the Bible. Um and I take a different view on that. I think Jesus wrote the entire Bible. I think the whole the Holy Spirit, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, it's all inspired by God, and it's it's the inerrant word of God, you know, and um and so Jesus is in every word of the Bible, not just the red, the red letters, in my view, which is important to me because I love to teach it. And when I teach it, I like to know that like what I'm teaching is true. All right. Well, thanks for being with us on another Leader Lounge podcast. Emily's gonna pray, and then we'll see you guys next week.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

Dear Lord, thank you for just recording even part of the things that you did and said, so that we can learn from you and learn about you and learn your character. Um, I just thank you for restoring Peter. Thank you for being so intentional and showing us that you are the same way with us. It is just so beautiful that you call us to follow you, even when we're broken, even when we do deny you and mess up, just as Peter did. But you continually call us and restore us back into relationship with you. And so we praise you for that. I always thank you for this opportunity, and I thank you for everyone listening. I pray that you would be working in our hearts this week. We love you so much, Lord. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

Amen.