Scripture Reading: John 21:1-23
Many years ago I wondered why chapter 21 was included at the end of the Gospel of John. I thought that this chapter was too simple to be the last chapter in a book that covers profound, divine, and mysterious things. But eventually I came to understand that without such a chapter, we would not know how to experience in a practical way the divine and mysterious things revealed in this book.
In chapter 1 of the Gospel of John, we have the eternal Word, which was with God and was even God Himself. This eternal Word became flesh and lived on earth to fulfill God’s purpose. Eventually, He went to the cross and died there to accomplish God’s redemption. He took away the sin of the world, He judged the world, He cast out Satan, the ruler of the world, He dealt with our serpentine nature, and He released the divine life from within Him. All this was accomplished as a result of the Lord’s crucifixion. In resurrection the Lord brought us into the divine life. Therefore, through His resurrection we were regenerated. According to chapter 20, in resurrection the Lord came back in the form of the Spirit. Hence, He became the pneumatic Christ, and as this pneumatic Christ He breathed Himself into His disciples. This is the wonderful revelation of the Gospel of John.
I would ask you to consider the last two verses of chapter 20: “Many other signs also Jesus did before His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you may have life in His name” (vv. 30-31). It seems that these verses are the conclusion of this Gospel. Many readers of the Gospel of John may have the feeling that they have come to the conclusion of this book when they have completed chapter 20. However, if we consider this matter more carefully, we will realize that there is the need of a concluding chapter.
We have seen that in chapters 1 through 20 we have a revelation of the eternal Word becoming flesh to accomplish everything related to God’s purpose. After dying an all-inclusive death, this One became the life-giving Spirit in resurrection, and as the Spirit He breathed Himself into His disciples. Although this is marvelous, up to this point nothing has been said concerning our practical living on earth. How are we to live? How should we earn a living? Peter may have taken the lead to ask, “Lord Jesus, it is wonderful that You are now the life-giving Spirit and that You have been breathed into us, but, Lord, how can we make a living here on earth?”
A second question we may have after reading chapter 20 concerns the carrying out of God’s purpose. To be sure, God’s purpose has not been fully carried out in chapter 20. Actually, the breathing of the Lord into His disciples was the beginning for them to carry out God’s purpose. This is indicated by the fact that before He breathed into them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit, He said to them, “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you” (v. 21). This word indicates the Lord’s commission, for His sending was His commission. But how in a practical way should the disciples carry out the Lord’s sending? What should they do to fulfill His commission?
Another question concerns the disciples’ future. How should they follow Him in the future? They had followed the Lord for three and a half years. But after the Lord’s death and resurrection they could no longer follow Him in that way. The Lord’s resurrection was a new beginning with respect to their following Him. How, then, should the disciples follow Him after His resurrection?
We have asked three questions: the first, concerning the practical living of the disciples; the second, concerning the way to carry out the Lord’s commission; and the third, concerning the way to follow the Lord after His resurrection. If we did not have chapter 21, we would find it difficult to answer these three practical questions.
John 20:20 says, “The disciples therefore rejoiced at seeing the Lord.” In the church meetings sometimes we are like the disciples in that we also are happy and joyful in the Lord. However, after the meeting we may have certain questions. We may wonder how to make a living in this world. Perhaps we will say to ourselves, “In the meeting we received a commission from the Lord. But what should we do to carry out this commission? We were deeply touched by Him in the meeting, and we even received the holy breath through the Lord’s breathing upon us. But how should we follow Him now? What will be our future as followers of Christ?” As we will see, the answer to these questions is found in chapter 21. For this reason, John 21 is an intimate chapter, and we appreciate it very much.
We have been considering the signs in all the chapters in the Gospel of John. Now we need to see that everything in chapter 21 is a sign. I cannot say how many signs there are in this chapter. Instead, I would prefer to say that this chapter is an aggregate of signs, that here we have a concluding sign that involves a number of things.
Before we begin to consider the aspects of the aggregate sign in chapter 21, I would like to point out a few matters concerning the pneumatic Christ as revealed in this chapter. According to the record of John 21, there is no doubt that the pneumatic Christ is omniscient. He knows everything. What is written in this chapter definitely indicates that the Lord knows everything.
The pneumatic Christ is also omnipresent. He is everywhere. There is no way that we can get away from Him. For example, when the disciples went fishing, He was standing on the shore watching. This indicates that He is omnipresent.
Furthermore, the pneumatic Christ is omnipotent. As the omnipotent One, He is altogether powerful and capable of controlling the environment. I believe that in this chapter the Lord controlled the fish and caused them to stay away from Peter and those with him in the boat. Peter and the sons of Zebedee (John and James) were professional fishermen, the sea of Tiberias was large and full of fish, and the night was the right time for fishing. Nevertheless, through the entire night they caught nothing. It must have been that the Lord commanded all the fish to stay away from their net. The omnipotent Lord Jesus controlled every fish.
Verse 9 says, “When they got out onto the land, they saw a fire of coals laid there, and fish lying on it and bread.” Here we again see the Lord’s omnipotence: He provided fish and bread for the disciples. We also see His care for them in the details of life.
How marvelous the Lord is! He is complete, perfect, merciful, and kind. As the omniscient One, He even predicted that Peter would be martyred and that John would outlive him. This chapter, therefore, is rich in what it signifies concerning the all-inclusive pneumatic Christ.
In this chapter we see not only the all-inclusive and all-capable Christ; we also see the situation of the disciples. In chapter 20 they received two great blessings on two successive Lord’s Days. No doubt, what the disciples experienced was marvelous. However, 21:3 says, “Simon Peter said to them, I am going fishing. They said to him, We also are coming with you.” To be sure, the Lord Jesus did not send Peter fishing. Peter decided on his own to go fishing.
The account in chapter 21 of Peter’s experience in fishing reminds us of what is recorded in chapter 5 of the Gospel of Luke. This chapter tells us that Peter was called by the Lord through a miracle related to fishing. The Lord said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (v. 4). Simon answered Him, saying, “Master, through the whole night we toiled and caught nothing; but based on Your word I will let down the nets” (v. 5). The result was that they caught “a great number of fish” (v. 6). After this incident the Lord said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will be catching men alive” (v. 10). Through the miracle in Luke 5, Peter was called by the Lord.
I doubt that during the years he followed the Lord Jesus Peter went fishing on his own initiative at all. Except for Matthew 17:27, can you find any hint in the Gospels that Peter went fishing between the time he was called and the incident recorded in John 21? But now we see that even after two meetings with the resurrected Christ, meetings in which the disciples received great blessing, Peter decided to go fishing again. Peter probably felt that he had nothing to do. He may have said to himself, “Where is the Lord? I followed Him for more than three years. I did see Him after His resurrection, and He came back to meet with us twice. Those were wonderful meetings we had with Him. But where is He now? And what should I do about the practical problem of finding something to eat? I can’t endure having nothing to do day after day, and we hardly have anything to eat. We must do something. Since I cannot bear the situation any longer, I’m going fishing.”
For Peter to go fishing meant that he was going back to his old profession. Peter may have felt that the Lord had left them and that they had nothing to do, nothing to live on, and nowhere to go. Hence, he went back to his old way of life, to his old occupation. We know from 21:2 that six others of the Lord’s disciples went with him.
The disciples did not realize that the Lord Jesus had not left them. From the time that He breathed Himself into them, He remained in them. There is no record in chapter 20 of the Lord’s leaving the disciples. Because the Lord was in the disciples, when they went fishing, He went with them. Concerning this, it is significant that 21:1 tells us, “Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.” Notice that this verse does not say that the Lord Jesus came to them. It says that He manifested Himself to them.
The disciples spent the whole night fishing. Possibly they began in the evening. The Lord did not appear to them until morning. It seems that He was silent and hid Himself as they spent the entire night trying to catch fish.
Verse 4 says, “Now as soon as the morning broke, Jesus stood on the shore.” The Lord manifested Himself to them again. We should not think, however, that the Lord was away from them during the night. No, He went fishing with them. Actually, they brought the Lord to the Sea of Tiberias, for He was in them. Although the Lord dwelt in them and went with them wherever they went, they did not realize this. Therefore, the Lord’s main purpose in this chapter was to train His disciples to realize His invisible presence.
The disciples had enjoyed the Lord’s visible presence for three and a half years and were accustomed to it. Then suddenly the Lord changed His way of being with them. Now He was the pneumatic Christ. When the Lord was in the flesh, He was visibly present with the disciples. Then in resurrection He became the invisible pneuma. This pneuma is real, but it is not visible to human eyes. Therefore, it was necessary for the Lord Jesus to train the disciples to experience and enjoy His invisible presence. He did not want them to think that He had left them. He wanted them to realize that He would always be with them. This was the reason the Lord took forty days, from the day of resurrection until the day of His ascension, to train the disciples to realize His invisible presence. In the Bible the number forty signifies a period of testing or training. During this period of forty days the Lord trained His disciples to appreciate His invisible presence. Actually, the Lord’s invisible presence is more precious and prevailing than His visible presence. This is the basic lesson the Lord was teaching the disciples in John 21.
When the Lord Jesus manifested Himself to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, His word exposed the reason they went fishing: “Little children, you do not have any fish to eat, do you? They answered Him, No” (v. 5). Here we see that the disciples went fishing because they had nothing to eat. They came to the Sea of Tiberias expecting to catch fish. But they labored the whole night and caught nothing.
The Lord said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some” (v. 6). “They cast therefore, and they were no longer able to haul it in because of the abundance of fish” (v. 6). Here we see that the Lord was training His disciples to trust in Him for their living. The Lord seemed to be saying, “You don’t need to go fishing in order to have something to eat. I will feed you. Simply stay with Me, and I will take care of your living.”
Some of the saints may say, “Brother Lee, we agree with you concerning what you minister about spiritual things. But when you tell us that the Lord Jesus will feed us, that He will take care of the practical matters of our daily living, we need to consider further. I’m not sure that the Lord Jesus will really feed me. Maybe I should go back to my old profession.” Regarding this, I do not care to argue with anyone. I would simply point out that according to history the Lord always feeds His people. Yes, you need to work at a job. That is your duty, your responsibility. But you need to realize that the environment is not under your control. Rather, the environment is in the Lord’s hands and under His control.
In John 21 the Lord Jesus was training Peter and other disciples to trust in Him for their living. I doubt that Peter prayed to the Lord concerning their living after those two meetings with the resurrected Christ on two successive Lord’s Days. The disciples did not have the proper spiritual realization, the right spiritual habit. They did not practice living in a spiritual way. There is nothing to indicate that Peter prayed to the Lord when he was in need of food. Instead of praying, Peter said, “I am going fishing.” This utterance indicates Peter’s disappointment with his situation. Because he could no longer tolerate not knowing what to do, he decided to go fishing.
In John 21 the Lord Jesus was training the disciples by keeping all the fish away from them. Here the Lord seemed to be saying, “Do you think that you are able to catch fish? I am the One who created the fish. If I had not created these fish, how could you get any? I am still the Creator, and the entire universe is under My hand. If you don’t go My way and carry out My commission to be sent out, you will not be able to catch anything. All I have to do is say the word, and the fish will stay away from you. I want you to know that I am here. Listen to Me, and don’t go fishing by yourselves. When I say, Go fishing, then you should go fishing. When I say, Let down the net, you should let the net down. Don’t do anything by yourselves.” According to verse 6, the Lord told the disciples to cast the net on the right side of the boat. When they did this, they caught an abundance of fish.
When the disciples got onto the land with the fish, they saw a fire of coals with fish lying on it and bread (v. 9). According to the Lord’s word, they had caught an abundance of fish. But then they learned that the Lord had already prepared fish and bread for them. By this the Lord trained them to realize that He is able to provide fish for them. Though they caught many fish according to the Lord’s word, the Lord did not use these fish to feed them. No doubt, this was a real lesson to Peter.
There is no indication that the disciples asked the Lord Jesus how He obtained the fish and the bread. I certainly do not know where these fish came from. Here the fish and the bread signify the riches of the Lord’s supply. The Lord provided the disciples with the riches of the sea and of the land.
The disciples, especially Peter, learned a great deal from the Lord in John 21. There is no further record to indicate that Peter was ever again troubled concerning the matter of having food to eat. Furthermore, there is no hint that Peter went fishing again. Instead of remaining in Galilee, he went to Jerusalem according to the Lord’s word, a place that was not safe for the followers of the Lord Jesus. Nevertheless, he and the others had the boldness to remain in Jerusalem for ten days praying. We do not know how they obtained the necessary supply of food. But it is clear from Acts 1 that Peter was not concerned about this. On the contrary, Peter was taking care of the Lord’s commission. For example, he spoke of the need of a replacement for Judas (vv. 15-22). But he had learned the lesson not to say, “I am going fishing.” In this matter, he was trained by the Lord. By this we see that chapter 21 of the Gospel of John is very practical.
I can testify from my experience with the Lord that He is able to provide for our needs. On the day I was saved, I was walking home, and I stopped and said, “Lord, I am willing to give up the whole world. I simply want to take my Bible and go throughout the villages preaching Christ. I don’t care what I eat, and I am willing to suffer poverty. I only care to preach Christ.” That was my only intention, and I made that decision before the Lord in 1925. Some years later the Lord raised up a church in my hometown. As the number increased and the need became greater, the Lord burdened me to give up my job and to serve Him full time. He reminded me of what I had said to Him that day on the street. Then He told me that it was time for me to leave my job and serve Him by taking care of the church. I knew that He did not want me to serve as a hired one, but He wanted me to serve Him by faith. After more than fifty years of experience, I can testify that the Lord is faithful.
On the one hand, Peter was trained by the Lord in John 21 in a strict, thorough way. On the other hand, the Lord used the situation in His wisdom to restore Peter. It was by a miracle related to fishing that the Lord had called Peter three and a half years earlier. Then after Peter’s backsliding from the Lord’s calling to his old profession, the Lord manifested Himself again to restore Peter through another miracle related to fishing. I believe that the Lord used this as a sign purposely to remind Peter of how He had called him three and a half years before. Therefore, in this aspect of the aggregate sign in chapter 21 we see that Peter was not only trained but also restored.
