John 21 - Part C

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That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. I was speaking to a preacher from Halifax, Nova Scotia the other day I was up in Toronto, Canada. And after I spoke a preacher from the east coast of Canada way up in the north.

Up in St. John, Nova Scotia, far east coast of Canada, came up to me and said, I listen to you all the time. I found your sermons and I listen all the time and he's asking about the church and how it grew and what is the explanation for it. It's the Lord. It's not, well we have an organ that costs thousands of dollars, the largest pipe organ in the area.

People come out to hear that or we have this or that. There is no explanation except it's the Lord. So in catching all of those fish, from moving that net seven and a half feet, he goes, it's the Lord. So watch what Peter does.

Verse 7, John 21. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment for he had removed it. And he plunged into the sea. He just had his undergarments on, his skivvies on so to speak. And you take off the coat that you use to keep you warm.

He's working up a sweat, toiling all night, catching nothing. And so he puts on his coat and he jumps in. Now that to me is funny. Because it's not a wetsuit, it's not neoprene.

2000 years ago it's wool or cotton. So putting on a coat to jump in a lake isn't going to help you. It's not going to get warmer. It's going to provide more drag. It's going to take you longer to get to the shore. You're going to get colder because you're standing around in that little wet blanket that you got over you. But Peter, I don't know, he puts his coat on.

Maybe his little hat. He jumps in for he had removed it. But the other disciples came in the little boat for they were not far from the land, about 200 cubits dragging the nets with the fish. Then as soon as they had come to the land, they saw a fire of coals there and fish laid on it and bread. Jesus said to them, bring some of the fish which you have just caught.

Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to the land full of large fish, 153. And although there were so many, the net was not broken. I don't know why, but somebody counted.

Hold on. 19, 20, 153. Somebody counted.

I can only think, I've tried to work through this a lot. I can only think that that's what they were used to. And they would catch fish and they would number them because they're going to take them to the market. So as soon as you bring it in, you count, you take it to the market and you sell it.

You know what your profit's going to be. That's just probably how they used to work it. But I will say this. Jerome, one of the early church fathers from 4th century AD, Jerome said 153 were the number of species of fish in the world at that time. And the significance was that Jesus was telling them, had told them, and was recommissioning them to catch men instead of fish.

And Jesus commissioned them to go out into all the world and preach the gospel. Interesting. I don't know. I don't want to press the point and try to make all these mystical, numerical things out of it. There's people who do that.

I'm not one of them. I just think somebody counted. So John wrote it down. If you want to get all mystical and numerical, have fun.

Just don't tell me what you found. John said to them, Jesus said to them, come and eat breakfast. Wouldn't you love for Jesus to do that?

Cook you breakfast and say, hey, glad you woke up. Let's come and have breakfast. Yet none of the disciples dared ask him, who are you? Knowing that it was the Lord, Jesus then came and took the bread and gave it to them.

Likewise the fish. Now this was the third time Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. Notice some of the details here. First of all, Jesus made a fire.

Why is that important? Well, Peter was pretty cold standing around in that overcoat that got nice and wet. Nice to go by that fire and get warm. But more than that, Peter had denied Jesus at the fires of the enemy at the court of Caiaphas the high priest. There standing by the fire, he denied that he even knew Jesus. Now he's standing with Jesus at a fire that Jesus made for him.

Notice something else. Jesus not only made him a fire, he made him breakfast. The creator of the universe, the God of everything, made them breakfast.

I bet it was good. There is a significance to this. You know in ancient times to eat with somebody meant intimate fellowship, right?

You know that. Behold, I stand at the door and I knock. If anyone will open the door, I'll come in and have a meal with him, eat with him, sup with him. But to eat a meal with somebody who has done you wrong is a gesture of forgiveness.

Peter denied Jesus. Peter, look, I've cooked you a meal. It's a gesture of forgiveness. It's saying I'm willing to reconcile.

I'm not holding anything. Let's have a meal together. So Jesus made a fire. Jesus made them breakfast.

Number three, notice this detail. Jesus made them add their fish to his fish. By the time they got there, there's a fish that Jesus has on that fire. He says bring some of those fish that you cut, put them on there with it. Now he didn't need to do that, did he?

He is the creator after all. Couldn't he have created a nice fish breakfast? Couldn't he have, if he wanted to, brought in Argentinian sea bass just like that, bam, on the plate with capers and a little olive oil, a little seasoning. That's breakfast. I know, it sounds a little fishy, but he could have done that. But please notice the detail. He made them bring what they caught to add to his fish.

Here's the principle. Jesus doesn't need your help, but he loves your involvement. He doesn't need your fish, but he invites you to bring them. He can make his own.

He doesn't need your help, but he wants your involvement. So the little boy with the loaves and the fish, Jesus didn't need them, but he used them and he multiplied them. I love that. He loves us to bring what we have.

It's not much, so we can't go around saying, I'm pretty awesome, because you're not. And what you have isn't much, but put that in Jesus' hands, that'll feed a multitude. That'll go a long way. Doesn't need your help, but he loves your involvement. Jesus came and he took the bread and he gave it to them.

Likewise the fish. This is the third time Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. Now, let's say we have a microphone. We're interviewing the disciples right now. Say, boys, what's the highlight of your day?

Or in Jesus' terms, children? But we'll be nice. Boys, what was the highlight of your day? They're not going to say, fishing. They're not going to be the ones to put on their chariot, the bumper sticker, I'd rather go fishing. I'd rather be fishing.

Okay? The highlight of their day wasn't the fishing. The highlight of their day, you could ask them. They would have said, eating breakfast with Jesus. Hanging out with Jesus. In fellowship with Jesus. Okay, it's fun to go fishing, but it can't compete to hanging out with Jesus.

It just can't. And they knew that. That was the highlight of their day, being in fellowship with him. Sometimes, we who serve the Lord and work hard for the Lord, fishing for men, those of us who have the privilege of being on the staff of a church or being full-time in the ministry, there is a danger. We can get so busy about the king's business, we forget the king himself. We forget hanging out with the king. And if we forget hanging out with the king, your business is going to be full-time. And if we forget hanging out with the king, your business is going to be full-time. And if we forget hanging out with the king, your business is going to be full-time.

You've got no business doing his business unless you make your business hanging out with the king. So in the book of Revelation, the church of Ephesus, Jesus said, I commend you. You work, you labor, you do a lot of great things, but I have something against you. You've left your first love. You're busy like that, you do good like that, but you and I, we're not hanging out together much. So you begin there, you begin in fellowship with him, then the labor flows from that, the ministry, the service flows from that.

So let's finish this up. So it was when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon son of Jonah, 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. He said to him again a second time, Simon son of Jonah, do you love me? He said to him, yes Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, tend my sheep. He said to him a third time, Simon son of Jonah, do you love me? Peter was grieved because 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. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we return to Skip's teaching, misunderstandings about Jesus abound. Some see him as a prophet, others as a moral teacher, and still others as just a myth or mere historical figure.

But the Bible tells a different story about who Jesus is. We want to help you know the real Jesus of the Bible by sending you Skip Heitzig's nine message CD series, Who Is This Jesus? In this eye-opening series, Pastor Skip addresses common misconceptions about Jesus, clarifying both Jesus's humanity and his divinity to equip you to confidently answer questions about who Jesus really is. We'll send you the Who Is This Jesus? series as well as Skip's booklet for new believers titled Life Change as thanks for your gift of $50 or more to reach more people with God's love through Connect with Skip Heitzig.

Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give. Now let's get back to Skip for more of today's teaching. Some have asked why would Jesus have this encounter with Peter who had been hurting? He was discouraged because he carried on his shoulders the denial of Christ. Why would Jesus have this conversation with Peter publicly with all of these other buddies of his listening in? Isn't that cruel that Jesus would do it publicly?

No, it's not and here's why. Number one, Jesus and Peter had already privately met. They'd already met privately before. We know this from the Gospel of Luke chapter 24. The two come from Emmaus road and they come with the other disciples and the disciples say, the Lord is risen indeed and has appeared to Simon. That happened in Jerusalem. A private meeting with Simon Peter. First Corinthians chapter 15 Paul the Apostle says Jesus died, was buried, he is risen and appeared to Peter and then to the 12 and then to 500 also. So he already had a private meeting with Peter to hash it out.

Here's the second reason or here's the second thing to note. Charles Spurgeon said a man's repentance should be as notorious as his sin. Listen to that again, a man's repentance should be as notorious as his sin. Peter denied Jesus publicly three times. It's only fitting that Peter gets to affirm Jesus with a friendly public, his friends, the fishermen, the apostles, three times.

So he comes publicly to restore Peter. Now quickly notice there's three parts to this little interrogation. First part is a question, do you love me? Second part a reaction, of course I love you. The third part is the commission, feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep. Question, reaction, commission.

Three parts and each is done three times. Now what does it mean when Jesus said Peter do you love me more than these? What is he referring to?

Any answers? And I'm glad you're hesitating because the answer is we don't know, we weren't there. These could refer to a number of things. He could have been looking at the nets, the boats, the fish. Peter do you love me more than these tools of your occupation? Do you love me more than your occupation, life itself, what you're used to doing, what you've been trained to do? Do you love me more than doing that? He could have meant those things.

He could have been looking at the other apostles. Do you love me more than you love them, your friends? Do you love me more than your friends? Number three he could have meant in a comparative sense do you love me more than they love me?

Do you love me more than these love me? And that is a possibility because at one time Peter said he did. He said you're all going to be offended because of me tonight and Peter said oh Lord they might be offended because of you but I will die with you. Well you're going to deny me before the night's over three times.

Peter believed that he could die with Jesus. He was saying in effect I love you more than they love you. Somebody once said he who stops to admire his own halo looks up to admire his own halo will get nothing more than a pain in the neck.

Not only will they get one they'll be one. People are a pain in the neck when they talk about what they are willing to do for God and their sacrifice and where they've been in the world while other Christians aren't as holy as they are. I get bored hearing those things. Do you love me more than these? Now he's very sheepish about it. In fact the language is important and I've gone in depth several times so I'm not going to go too much in depth except to say there's wordplay here. Peter do you love me? The word he uses is agapao. Do you love me with the 100% love, the divine self-sacrificing God kind of love where you're willing to put me before all else? Do you love me with 100% agape love, agapao? When Peter answers the question he doesn't use that word. He says Lord you know that I love you it's the word phileo.

I admire you. Peter do you love me at 100%? I'm about 70. He asked me again Peter, agape, agapao, thou me?

Well Lord I'm about 70. The third time Jesus asked him the question he moves from the highest form of love down to Peter's level and he questions now if Peter even admires him. That's why it says Peter was grieved when he asked him the third time. It wasn't because it's like you asked me this question three times. That was a very common thing to do in Judaism to ask a question or to say things three times.

What bothered Peter is that Jesus didn't use the term agapao but phileo. Do you love me at 100%? 70%. You love me at 100%?

70%. Peter do you really love me at 70%? Do you really phileo me? Now notice what Peter does. Lord you know all things and you know that I admire you. He's appealing to Jesus' knowledge of him. At one time what he said in effect to Jesus when he said they may all flake out on thee Lord but I will die for thee. What he was saying in effect is you don't know me. You say I'm going to deny you. You don't know Peter.

I'll die for you. Now he says Lord you know everything and you know that I admire you. I can't even claim that I agape you.

I'd like to but I can't. But notice that three times Jesus commissions him. He says feed my sheep.

Three times he commissions him. Now what an encouragement that would be to Peter. We would understand it if Jesus would have said you know Peter come over here. Puts his arm around Peter.

Let's take a walk you and me. Peter listen I love you buddy but I can never use you in the ministry again because of your failure. You understand that right? I mean this betrays a deep character flaw.

You'll never be able to be used again in the capacity you once did. And if Jesus would have said that I'm sure he and the others would have understood. But what he says to him is Peter I'm going to entrust you with the most important thing in the world to me and that is my sheep. Not only are you a fisher of men I want you to be a shepherd of sheep. I'm commissioning you into service not just to catch people but to feed them.

Once they are caught and they become my sheep I want you to nourish them, tend them, feed them. What an encouragement to Peter. Most assuredly I say to you verse 18 when you were younger you girded yourself and walked where you wished but when you are old you will stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish. This he spoke signifying by what death he would glorify God.

And when he had spoken this he said to him follow me. Jesus was predicting Peter's death by crucifixion. To stretch out one one's hands was a euphemism for crucifixion. The church historian Eusebius tells us that Peter went to Rome. They took him out to be crucified for his faith in Christ.

He asked to be crucified upside down rather than right side up because he said I am not worthy to die as my Lord died so they crucified Peter upside down. Now Jesus is predicting that. You go well that's disturbing. That's pretty gross. No let me just tell you it's encouraging for two reasons.

Quickly I'll say them. Number one it's encouraging to Peter because Peter once claimed he died for Jesus. In this little interview Peter now realizes I don't even know if I can live for you. Jesus said in effect not only will you live for me and feed my sheep the day is coming when you will die for me. Something you always wanted something you boasted and you're not able to now you haven't been able to. Not only will you live for me the day is coming when you will die for me.

That would be encouraging. Number two notice it says when you were younger you did what you wanted but when you are what? Old. So now it informs Peter that he's not going to die anytime soon. He'll die as an old man.

This is important when we get to Acts chapter 12 because he is put in prison chained between two guards. The orders have come from Herod to kill him in the morning. If you know you're going to die the next day are you going to be able to get sleep?

Probably not. It says Peter was chained between two guards sleeping. How could Peter sleep under those conditions? Because he knows he's not going to die tomorrow. But Herod said he's going to die but he knows he's not because Jesus said you'll die when you're old and he's still a young man so I'm going to sleep. This isn't going to happen tomorrow. He's still a young man so I'm going to sleep.

This isn't going to happen for a long time. I just want you to hear that because that's what the promises of God can do for a person. He'll give you a good night's sleep. Then Peter, got to finish this quick, then Peter turning around saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following who also leaned on his breast at the last supper or at the supper and said, Lord who is the one who betrays you? Peter seeing him said to Jesus, but Lord what about this man? Jesus said to him, if I will that he remain till I come what is that to you?

You follow me. Now Peter is still Peter. My friend used to say, still does, people change but not that much. So Peter is still Peter. Peter's worried about John. Okay you told me about me but what about him?

And you know don't we often get really kind of like worried about other people when what we really should be worried about is our own personal walk with the Lord. What about him? What about her? How come she's not doing that? How come he's not doing that?

Forget about them. In fact, Jesus said if I want him to live till the rapture, what do you care? Now because he said that, notice how the book closes, then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die, yet Jesus didn't say to him that he would not die, but if I will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? It wasn't a personal prophecy, it was it was a hypothetical statement, that's all it was. If that's what I want, who cares? I'll worry about him, you worry about you.

This is the disciple who testifies of these things, John speaking of himself, and who wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true, and there are also many other things Jesus did which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that could be written. One more word, amen. We're done. We're glad you joined us today. Before you go, remember that when you give $50 or more to help reach more people with the gospel through Connect with Skip Heitzig, we'll send you Pastor Skip's series, Who Is This Jesus?, and his booklet, Life Change, to help you better understand both who Jesus is and why you can trust what the Bible says and who you are as a believer in Christ. To request your copy of these resources, call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888, or visit connectwithskip.com slash offer. For more from Skip, be sure to check out the many resources available at connectwithskip.com slash store. Come back next time for more verse by verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times.