John 21: 1-25
1
The disciples had gone to Galilee, as Jesus had instructed them, through the angel at the empty tomb Matthew 28: 7
2-4
While in Galilee, one night, the disciples went fishing on the Sea of Galilee
Of the remaining 11 disciples, only 7 of them are mentioned here and only 5 of them are named
As usual, John, ‘the disciple Jesus loved’, continued to hide his identity and refers to himself here as one of the ‘sons of Zebedee’
Throughout his Gospel, from start to finish, John hid his identity and referred to himself anonymously
John 1: 35 as one of ‘two of (John the Baptist’s) disciples’
John 13: 23, 25 ‘the disciple Jesus loved’ and ‘that disciple’
John 18: 15-16 ‘another of the disciples’, ‘the other disciple’ and ‘the disciple who knew the High Priest’
John 19: 26-27 ‘the disciple Jesus loved’ and ‘this disciple’
John 20: 2 ‘the other disciple, the one who Jesus loved’
John 20: 4 ‘the other disciple’
John 20: 8 ‘the disciple who reached the tomb first’
John 21: 2, 7, 20 ‘the sons of Zebedee’, ‘the disciple Jesus loved’
John 21: 24 ‘this disciple’
John hid his identity for a very good reason; he wanted us to be totally focused on Jesus alone
John began his Gospel focused on Christ’s eternal existence – Jesus Christ, the One, True, Sovereign, Creator God; the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us John 1: 1-3, 14
John continued his Gospel focused on Christ saving and transforming the lives of those who believed in Him John 1: 4 – 21: 23
1) There was – Nicodemus John 3
He was a J.R.L enslaved by the sin of self-righteousness and academic pride, the greatest Old Testament scholar of that time, ‘the teacher of Israel’ John 3: 1-21
Later, Nicodemus defended Christ against the other J.R. L’s who wanted to condemn Him John 7: 50
And it was Nicodemus who came with Joseph of Arimathea to collect and bury the body of Jesus in the Garden Tomb John 19: 39
2) There was – the Samaritan woman and the whole Village of Samaritans John 4
They were Gentiles, once excluded from the favor of God, but now welcoming Jesus into their Village
It was the Samaritans who were saved and confessed, ‘Now we know that He is indeed the Savior of the World’ John 4: 42b
3) There was – the blind man John 9
Falling to his knees in worship upon receiving the miracle of sight and confessing his salvation with the words, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe’ John 9: 38
4) There was – Martha John 11
Who even before seeing the miracle of Lazarus resurrection confessed her salvation to Christ with the words, ‘I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the One who has come into the world from God’ John 11: 27
5) There was – Mary Magdalene John 20
Set free from demon possession by Jesus; she was the first to go to the empty tomb that Sunday morning and the first to witness the resurrection of Christ
Luke 8: 2; John 20: 1, 14
6) There was – Thomas John 20
Who refused to believe the eyewitness account of the other disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead; on seeing for himself the infallible proof that Christ was indeed alive, fell to his knees before Jesus and confessed his belief ‘My Lord and my God’ John 20: 28
7) And, then there was – Peter John 21
Who denied that he even knew the Lord John 13: 38, 18: 17, 25-27
But now, by the Sea of Galilee Peter is gently restored back to Jesus
John 20: 5-18
Look at Jesus final instruction to Peter
19 ‘Follow Me’
Illustration: Middle of last year, myself, Ps. Shalom, and Alex were travelling with Ps. Kong in China and had arrived in a very large train Terminal
As we got off the train and into the Terminal Ps. Kong said to us “Follow me”
I turned to Ps. Shalom and said to her, “That is good theology”
This life is very much like trying to find your way through a massive, crowded train Terminal where all the signs are in the Chinese language
It’s a little bit scary and by ourselves we are lost!
As Jesus called Peter “Follow Me”, so He calls us to follow Him and be saved
Then, John concludes his Gospel focused on Jesus, deflecting the attention away from himself about a rumor that he would never die 20-23
Lastly, John makes his 3rd and final appeal to the record of his eyewitness account of Christ’s life, death, burial and resurrection
John’s 1st appeal was his eyewitness account of Christ’s death on the cross – he was there, he saw it
John 19: 35 (This report is from an eyewitness giving an accurate account. He speaks the truth so that you also can believe.)
John’s 2nd appeal was his eyewitness account of Christ’s miraculous signs including His own resurrection – he was there, he saw it
John 20: 30-31 ‘The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you will have life by the power of His name’.
John’s 3rd appeal was to the truthfulness of his eyewitness account – he was there, he saw it ALL
John 21: 24-25
Amen!
revdotdavid 