Scripture Reading: John 21
In the foregoing chapter we pointed out that all of John 21 is a sign, an aggregate sign. Everything recorded there is a part of this aggregate sign. In this chapter we shall go on to consider more aspects of the sign in John 21.
John 21:9 says, “When they got out onto the land, they saw a fire of coals laid there, and fish lying on it and bread.” In the foregoing chapter we pointed out that this verse indicates the Lord’s ability to provide food for His disciples. Now we want to pay attention to the significance of the fire.
This fire must have been a reminder to Peter of the fire by which he was warming himself on the night he denied the Lord Jesus. Mark 14:54 says that Peter “was there sitting with the attendants and warming himself in the light of the fire.” Here in John 21 the Lord Jesus seemed to be saying to Peter, “The night I was betrayed and arrested, you were warming yourself by a fire when you denied Me. Now I have made a fire here in order to prepare food for you.” Do you not think that this fire served as a reminder to Peter of that other fire?
First, in John 21 Peter experienced the miracle concerning the abundance of fish, and then he saw the fire. The miracle reminded Peter of the Lord’s calling of him three and a half years before, and the fire reminded him of his denying the Lord some days before. We should not think that the miracle of the fish and the fire have no purpose. I believe that the Lord performed a miracle for the purpose of reminding Peter of His calling of him and also made a fire for the purpose of reminding Peter of his denying of Him.
When Peter denied the Lord Jesus, he denied Him three times. Now in John 21 the Lord asked Peter three times, “Do you love Me?” (vv. 15-17). Verse 15 says, “Then when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” On the night Peter denied the Lord, he said to Him, “Even if all will be stumbled, yet I will not!” (Mark 14:29). Here in John 21 the Lord Jesus seemed to be saying to Peter, “Do you love Me more than the other disciples do? You should remember your word spoken on the night I was betrayed. You told Me that even if all the others would fall away, you would not be stumbled. Eventually, Peter, you were the one who denied Me. Now I ask you this question: Do you love Me more than all these?” To be sure, this question was a reminder of what Peter had done on the night he denied the Lord Jesus.
In 21:15-17 two different Greek words are used for love: agapao and phileo. Agapao denotes a love that is higher and nobler than phileo. In verse 15 agapao is used in the Lord’s question, and phileo is used in Peter’s answer. This indicates that Peter did not dare to say that he loved the Lord Jesus with a higher, nobler love. In verse 16 agapao is again used in the Lord’s question, and phileo is used in Peter’s reply. Then in verse 17 phileo is used both for the question asked by the Lord Jesus and the answer given by Peter. This verse says, “He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love Me? Peter was grieved that He said to him the third time, Do you love Me? And he said to Him, Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Here Peter seemed to be saying, “Lord, when I boasted that I would not be stumbled because of You, I was full of self-confidence. You told me that I would deny You three times, and this happened, just as You said it would. Lord, You know everything. You know that I love You.”
I do not believe that Peter was at peace when the Lord was questioning him. He was very troubled by the Lord’s questions, and he may have felt like covering his face. Instead of giving Peter a long message, the Lord set up a fire as a reminder to him. Then He fed him and questioned him concerning his love for Him.
Even though the Lord did not question Peter until the disciples had eaten breakfast, I find it hard to believe that Peter enjoyed that breakfast very much. As he was eating, the fire must have reminded him of that other fire. Immediately after breakfast, the Lord began to question Peter. The Lord’s third question bothered him very much. In his answer Peter seemed to be saying, “Lord, You don’t need me to tell You whether or not I love You. Even if I say that I love You, I am not able in myself to fulfill my word. But whatever You say, Lord, will be fulfilled.” Here also Peter was being trained by the Lord Jesus.
In verse 15 the Lord said to Peter, “Feed My lambs”; in verse 16, “Shepherd My sheep”; and in verse 17, “Feed My sheep.” Here the Lord seemed to be saying, “Peter, since you love Me, you should feed My sheep. You don’t need to go fishing anymore. Instead, take care of My sheep; shepherd My flock. Instead of taking care of your own eating, you need to feed My flock. You should not only feed the sheep — you should also shepherd them.”
Shepherding includes feeding, but feeding does not comprise shepherding. Feeding is a matter of providing food to the hungry ones. A shepherd, of course, will feed the flock. Psalm 23 has the thought of feeding. According to this psalm, the Lord as our Shepherd makes us to lie down in the green pastures, and He leads us beside waters of rest. He even spreads a table for us in the presence of our adversaries. This points to the shepherd’s feeding of the flock. The main thing the shepherd does is to take care of the feeding of the sheep. However, shepherding includes more than feeding. When a wolf comes, the sheep need to be protected. Therefore, in Psalm 23 the Shepherd has the rod and the staff to use in protecting the flock from anything that would cause harm.
In John 21 the Lord first told Peter to feed His lambs; then He charged him to shepherd His sheep. In these verses the words lambs and sheep refer to the flock, which is a collective noun denoting the church. Shepherding is for the flock (10:14-16), which is the church (Acts 20:28).
Later, in his first Epistle Peter charges the elders to shepherd the flock of God (5:1-4). According to 1 Peter 2, we need to long for the milk of the word so that we may grow. This is a matter of feeding. Growth is for the building of the spiritual house, the church. As we have seen, the church is God’s flock. In his first Epistle Peter regards the Lord as the Chief Shepherd and all the elders, including himself, as shepherds caring for God’s flock. This indicates that the matters concerning which the Lord trained Peter in John 21 were deeply impressed upon him. Peter certainly received the Lord’s training.
In John 21 the Lord Jesus went on to give Peter further training, training concerning his death to glorify God (vv. 18-22). In verse 18 the Lord said to Peter, “Truly, truly, I say to you, When you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go.”
Here the Lord was telling Peter, “Peter, when you were young, you went wherever you wanted. If you wanted to go fishing, you went fishing. But for the sake of My commission to take care of My flock, the day will come when another will gird you and carry you where you do not want to go. You will be arrested as I was arrested, and you will be put on a cross even as I was put on a cross.” The Lord said these words to signify “by what kind of death he would glorify God” (v. 19). After the Lord had spoken these words to Peter, He said to him, “Follow Me.”
Peter, when he heard that he would be martyred to glorify God, wanted to know what would happen to another disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. “Peter therefore, seeing him, said to Jesus, Lord, and what about this man?” (v. 21). In this matter, we are the same as Peter. If we were called by the Lord to be martyrs, we would want to know about the destiny of other brothers in the Lord. The Lord answered Peter in a wonderful way: “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me” (v. 22).
Apparently, what is described in 21:18-22 is simple and easy to understand. Actually, what is recorded here is deep, for it is part of the aggregate sign in this chapter. In these verses we have two matters: martyrdom and living until the Lord’s coming. Many of the Lord’s followers will die, but some will live until His coming. If we die, we should die in such a way as to glorify God. If we live, we should live in such a way that we shall give a good account to the Lord at His coming. This is the real sense of the Lord’s word here. Those who die should die for the glorification of God, and those who live until the Lord’s coming need to prepare themselves to give a good account to Him at His coming back.
If we put together all the matters covered in chapter 21 of the Gospel of John, we shall see that this chapter is all-inclusive. It answers the questions we may have about our living, about the way to carry out the Lord’s commission, and about our future as followers of the Lord.
The span of the things covered in the last two chapters of the Gospel of John is very broad. It begins with the discovery of the Lord’s resurrection and ends with His coming back. Between these two events are all the things related to the Christian life during the church age: seeking the Lord with love toward Him; seeing the Lord in resurrection; receiving the revelation of the issue of the Lord’s resurrection concerning the brothers and the Father by experiencing His manifestation; meeting with the believers to enjoy the Lord’s presence; being breathed on by the Lord with the Holy Spirit and being sent by the Lord with His commission and authority to represent Him; learning how to live by faith in the Lord and trust in Him for our daily living; loving the Lord with the natural strength dealt with; shepherding the flock for the building of the church; and practicing the Lord’s invisible presence, in which some follow Him even to death to glorify God, not by self-will but according to His leading, and some live until He comes back.
At the beginning of chapter 20 the Lord’s resurrection is discovered. At the end of chapter 21 there is a definite reference to the Lord’s coming back. Between these two events, the Lord’s resurrection and His coming, we have various matters related to the Christian life during the church age. First, as exemplified by Mary the Magdalene, we have the matter of seeking the Lord with love for Him. Mary certainly was one who loved the Lord and sought Him. Because she sought Him in love, Mary saw the Lord in His resurrection and received the revelation concerning the issue of His resurrection regarding His brothers and our Father. What a great revelation this was!
We all need to see the revelation concerning the issue of Christ’s resurrection — the producing of His many brothers. Because of the Lord’s resurrection, God is our Father, and we have been begotten, regenerated, by Him to be His many sons. We need to receive this revelation through experiencing Christ’s resurrection.
Furthermore, we need to meet with the brothers in the church to enjoy the Lord’s presence and then be breathed on by the Lord to receive the Holy Spirit. This enjoyment of the Lord’s presence and this receiving of the Holy Spirit take place in the church meetings.
We also need to be sent by the Lord with His commission and authority to represent Him. As those sent out by the Lord, we must learn to live by faith in Him. We need to trust in Him for all the needs of our daily living.
Moreover, we should love the Lord, but we should not love Him with our natural strength. We should be those who have had the natural strength dealt with. No longer should we be like Peter before he denied the Lord. As we have seen, in chapter 21 Peter was reminded not to love the Lord Jesus with his natural strength. After reminding Peter of this, the Lord charged him to shepherd the flock for the building up of the church. We also should carry out the shepherding of the sheep.
Finally, we need to practice the Lord’s invisible presence either until we die to glorify God or until He comes back. We need to consider all these matters and then apply them to ourselves in our Christian experience.
