Pray with me, Father in Heaven, as we come to this passage, the
end of the gospel according to John as you carried him along to
write these words. Thousands of years later and
until you return, your church is going to feed on this living
word for many. We've seen and heard this
narrative of how you restored Peter, but Lord, take us deep
into this narrative that we might see new things and have
our lives transformed by the one and only one who is the Lord
Jesus Christ and whose name we pray.
Amen. This morning I'm going to read
the entire chapter of John 21, the final page of the Gospel
According to John, and there's three basic stories that are
unfolding. The context is that this is the
third time Jesus has appeared to his disciples as a group.
The first time there were 10 present.
Thomas wasn't there. The next time, which we were in
last week, Thomas was present. Thomas, having Jesus show him
his hands on his side, cries out.
My Lord and my God, Jesus breathes on them.
And then comes this narrative of seven of the disciples,
including Peter and John, are on a boat fishing, when this is
what happens again, verse 1 of chapter 21.
After this, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples
by the sea of Tiberius, 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 Peters 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 will 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 100 yards
off. When they got out on land they
saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it and
bread. And 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, 153 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
to 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. When they'd 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.
He said to him a second time, Simon son of John, do you love
me? He said to him, Yes, Lord, you
know that I love you. He said to him, Tin 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?
And 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 were 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. Peter turned and saw the
disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also
had leaned back against him during the 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 remain until I come, what is that to you?
You follow me. So the sayings spread abroad
among the brothers, that the disciple was not to die.
Yet Jesus did not say to him that this that he was not to
die. But if it is my will that he
remain until I come, what is that to you?
This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these
things. And it was written these things,
and we know that his testimony is true.
Now there are also many other things that Jesus did for every
one of them to be written. I suppose that the world itself
could not contain the books that would be written.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Please be seated. August 18th of last year we had
our first sermon in our series on the Gospel of John.
Today is our last and we'll be moving into the book of Jonah
next Sunday. 48 verses. That little book will occupy our
time up to Advent and following Advent.
As we move into 2026, we plan to go into a study of the book of
Ephesians that will take us the rest of the way through spring
and into summer. Today we come to this final
chapter of John. It's been a great study for us
personally, and I hope and pray for you as well.
In the chapter preceding the one I just read, John told us his
purpose. He said Jesus did many other
signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written
in this book. And then verse 31 of chapter 20,
John says, but these are written so that you may believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you
may have life in His name. That's why he wrote these words.
And what that means is that John, the beloved disciple, the
son of Zebedee, the one spoken of at the end of this chapter,
is the one that was carried along by the Holy Spirit to
write these very words, to record every story that we've
heard to in the gospel the way he did.
Today, as we look at these verses, I want to focus on three
parts. 1st, how the Lord revealed himself.
Secondly, how the Lord restored Peter.
Third, how he recommissioned Peter.
And then one final thought. Do we?
The reason I want to start with the word revealed is because
it's used twice in the first verse of chapter 21 and then
again in verse 14. Go with me to verse one.
After this, Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples
by the sea of Tiberias and he revealed himself in this way.
Then in verse 14 after the first story of the catch, this was now
the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after
he was raised from the dead. The Word revealed is an
important word in Christianity. It's what separates us among
many other important doctrines from every other religion in the
world. What it teaches us is that God
had to reveal himself to his people.
That's why John starts the gospel.
He the way he did. What we looked at a year ago in
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. The Word is more than an idea.
It's more than just teachings. It's the very person of Jesus
Christ. And God sent his Son so he could
reveal who He is and who we are and who we can be if we belong
to Him, if we rest and receive in Him.
But we will never rest and receive Jesus unless He has
revealed Himself to us. This is grace.
When God speaks about His Word being revealed, it is not just
for justification. It's not just for that woman
when our eyes are opened, when our ears are open, when our
heart suddenly beats for Christ and we're transformed.
It's also part of our sanctification when we are being
made more and more like Jesus. If God is not faithful to reveal
to us His Word through His Word and Spirit, we will never be
transformed. So picture the context.
Remember what has happened. Not much time has passed since
Peter said to Jesus. Even if all of them deny you, I
will lay down my life for you. Jesus tells them that that's not
the way it's going to happen, but that Peter will deny him.
And he does. Christ has been arrested.
Christ is then crucified. He is placed in the tomb.
He is dead three days later. Christ is risen.
He's risen. He is alive now.
John records this third visitation, meaning it's the
collective time he's appeared to marry as well, but with the
disciples as a group. This is his third time.
First was when he suddenly appeared when the disciples were
hidden because of fear behind closed doors.
Second was in the same way only 8 days later because Thomas
wasn't there. And when Jesus appeared to
Thomas, what Thomas had demanded was unless I see his hands and
put my hand in his side, I will never believe.
And he was right. So what does God do?
He meets him and he reveals himself to him and he says to
Peter, see my hands, put your hand in my side.
And then he says, stop disbelieving, believe.
And Peter says the greatest thing we could ever say about
Christ, my Lord and my God. Now Peter, we don't know why,
decides to go fishing. The others join him.
Seven of them are on the boat. But here comes Christ.
For the third time, Christ appears on the shoreline, this
time not behind any walls. He begins to cook breakfast for
the disciples. Jesus is revealing himself to
his disciples as he sits on the shoreline.
He cries out, calls out to his disciples, but they don't know
it's Him. John tells us that it's about
100 yards away, so you need to think of a foot.
I know some of you don't want to think of a football field, but
you need to think of a football field.
It's 100 yards away and Jesus is there next to a charcoal fire
and he shouts out and his voice carries over the water, the same
water he walked on that Peter also walked on, the same water
that he calmed in the storm. He calls out, children, have you
caught anything? Have you caught any fish?
Jesus knows the answer and they speak back.
It's brief, probably out of frustration, weariness, but also
because of the distance. They simply say no.
Then in verse 6 Jesus says cast the net on the right side of the
boat and you will find some. So they do that.
You may not realize it, but they're obeying the word of God.
Cast your net on the right side. They did it.
And when they did, they had a catch that was so great they
were unable to haul all of it in because of the quantity of fish.
When that happened, verse 7, that disciple whom Jesus loved,
we know it's John, the son of Zebedee, the one who's writing
this letter is the Holy Spirit carries him, says to Peter 4
words, it is the Lord, it is the Lord.
This is important. John could have said it's Jesus,
He could have said it's the Messiah, He could have said it,
it's our Savior, it's our friend.
But he doesn't. He said it is the Lord.
And it's not because it's just a formal address, what John is
saying about Jesus, the same thing Thomas said, My Lord and
my God is everything because Jesus is the Lord.
John Frame, long time professor of Westminster Seminary, has
written so powerfully and beautifully, primarily in
systematic theology, and the way he seeks to frame the way he
teaches his students, whether it's in reading his books or
whether you sit under his lectures, is to think through
all of it through the lordship of Christ and helping frame
that, no pun intended. Because of his last name, he
focuses on this aspect of the lordship of Christ, control,
authority and presence. Now think about this.
The Lord is in control. The Lord is all authoritative.
Everything he says has authority, but he's also present
here on this shoreline. When the when the disciples pull
in this large catch, John recognizes it because not as his
physical appearance, but because of his lordship.
This man cooking breakfast on the shore is in control.
He is in control of the water and of the fish.
He created the water. He created the fish.
He created the shoreline he's walking on.
He created fire. Christ is present as Lord and He
still is. His presence means so much
because he present on that shoreline is fully God, truly
God, fully man, truly man. When John says to Peter it is
the Lord, it's because Jesus revealed that to John.
When Peter hears John's words, he does what Peter does.
He just moves into action. He jumps out of the boat and
begins to swim towards the shoreline.
The other disciples, 6 of them now haul in 153 fish.
What caused John to say it is the Lord?
Likely it's because of the story that took place in Luke 5.
Early in the Gospel of Luke, we learned that Jesus said to his
disciples, Peter particularly, Come follow me and I will make
you fishers of men. Remember, Peter was fishing.
He had another night like this one, a night of failure.
A fisherman not bringing home fish.
That is a night of failure. Jesus and Luke 5 tells him cast
the net on the other side after going out into the deep and they
bring in so many fish that the Nets are bursting.
John remembers and says it is the Lord.
Those words lead Peter to action.
But remember, as Peter is swimming, he denied that he knew
Christ more than that he said to those who said to others he was
with them. And his final curse, it was a
curse he brought up on himself. If I'm found to be related to
this man, equated to this man in any way, connected to him in any
way, may I become like what you were about to do to him.
And he caused on them to slander and spit upon him.
Peter wanted them to not think he had anything to do with
Jesus. And then the rooster crowed.
Peter and the other disciples get to the shoreline and there
they hear Jesus. He's revealed himself to them.
And he says, bring verse 10, some of the fish that you have
just caught. So Simon Peter went aboard and
hauled the net ashore full of large fish, 153 of them.
And although there were so many, the net was not torn.
I'll come back to that in a minute.
Jesus said to them, come and have breakfast.
Is that how you picture Christ? When you pray to the Lord, do
you pray to Him only as this transcendent, far away mass of
God which he is, and you should, but you also know that through
His Spirit he lives inside us. Dutch theologian decades ago, O
Housby's his name. Writing a book on prayer begins
this way. He places a verse at the top of
the page and then he says, I doubt I know of another verse in
all of Scripture that says more about prayer than this one.
I've taught conferences on prayer.
I've preached this and never once have I had, no matter the
size of the audience. Somebody guess what verse he
selected? It was Revelation 320.
Jesus, behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in
and eat with him and he with me. In fact, many of you probably
came to saving faith by somebody giving you that verse, even
though that verse is not primarily about that.
Housby was saying this is the greatest verse on prayer in the
whole Bible because that's what prayer is.
It is communion with the Lord through the powerful presence of
His Spirit. It's feasting with the Lord.
This imagery of the Lord's Table.
This imagery of the fish. And the loaves present here on
the shoreline shows us how powerful that imagery is.
The disciples are eating fish and bread with the one they saw.
Multiply the fish and the bread as they carried around
basketfuls. This is remarkable.
Come have breakfast. I wonder where did Jesus get the
fish? There weren't enough because he
called for them to bring some of their own.
What a great picture of the way we served together.
Where did he get the bread? It doesn't tell us, but don't
forget he's the Lord. He made those fish.
He made that bread, He made that fire and the elements that could
even create fire. That's who we're talking about.
Jesus says come and have breakfast.
Verse 12. Now none of the disciples dared
ask him, Who are you? They knew it was the Lord.
Jesus came, took bread, gave it to them, and so with the fish.
This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to them.
If Christ didn't reveal Himself to them, and through His Spirit
and Word didn't reveal Himself to us, we would never believe.
We would never know who He is. This is a profound element of
our Christian faith. God initiates.
He often initiates in times we weren't expecting.
These men were not expecting to see Jesus on that shoreline, but
that's where He was. You may have come to this place
today, or you may be listening to the sermon even years after
I'm preaching it, and you had no idea that this was Christ
essentially on the shoreline holding out who He is and who
you might be in Him. If you will trust Jesus says
come have breakfast. He reveals who He is.
This is why John was carried along to write these words that
you might believe, and if you believe, it's because he
revealed Himself to you. Never get over that second part
though. Now that the meal is over, He
moves from just revealing who he is to the disciples to now
restoring Peter. And what he's going to reveal
here is the powerful nature of his grace and his powerful
calling to what He wants Peter to do.
Verse 15, When they'd finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon
Peter. Now many of you know these three
statements. Jesus first says, Simon, son of
John, that formal language that he used when you first called
him, Do you love me more than these?
Now what did he mean by more than these?
I'll go back to that in a moment.
Peter said, yes, Lord, you know that I love you.
He said to him, feed my lambs. Verse 16.
He said to him a second time, Simon son of John, do you love
me? He said to him, yes, Lord, you
know that I love you. He said to him, tend my sheep,
verse 17. He said to him the third time,
Simon son of John, do you love me?
Well, Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time,
do you love me? And he said to Jesus, Lord, you
know everything. And he does.
He's omniscient. Lord, you know everything.
You know that I love you. And Jesus said to him, feed my
sheep. Let's spend a little time here.
When Jesus said, do you love me more than these?
What did he have in mind? I think there's only three
options. One, do you love me more than
you love these other men? 2 do you love me more than you
love being a fisherman, this hollow fish or Three, do you
love me more than these other men love me?
Theologians debate what might have been meant, but the point
isn't missed. There's one supreme love and
that's what Christ is going after in Peter's life.
I believe he meant do you love me more than these men love me
and the why? The reason I think that is true
is because Peter said so. He said even if all these
others, his fellow disciples reject you or deny that they
know you, if they flee, I will never and he believed it.
I will never deny you. I will lay down my life for you,
Jesus said that's not going to be the way it happens.
Before the rooster crows, you will deny that.
You know me three times. And he did.
And that's why Peter is sad when Jesus says for 1/3 time, do you
love me? Peter loved Jesus.
Jesus knew he loved him. Why did he ask him?
Jesus Christ, in restoring Peter shows us that He is going
towards the thing that always matters most.
Jesus could have asked Peter anything He could have said.
Peter, are you sad that you denied me?
Peter, have you wept tears over your rejection of who I am to
other people in our relationship?
Peter, you fasted, put on sackcloth and ashes, beat
yourself because of the way you denied me.
Peter, do you remember everything I taught you?
Peter, do you have gifts that I've given you that you know I
need for the church? Jesus only asked Peter about his
love. There's a play on the Greek
language here that's beautiful. Whether there's significance,
theologians debate one way or the other, but the point isn't
missed. It could be that it's just
John's style and it's beautiful. But Jesus says to Peter, Peter,
do you agapeo me this high level of love?
A choice to love? Peter answers.
Lord, you know I phileo you. Jesus says, Do you agape of me?
Peter says, You know I flay of you.
Then Jesus says, Peter do you flay of me?
And Peter responds with sadness. Lord, you know everything, all
things. I flay of you.
The love that Christ is asking about is what restores Peter as
he experiences what is ultimate and supreme in his life, and
that is his dependence upon Christ and his forgiveness.
This is remarkable. He didn't ask him anything else.
But do you love me because of the size of our church, because
of the kind of body that brought, God has brought here,
which is beautiful and broken and full of people who truly
love the Lord and those who are on their way, All of us.
It's not uncommon for me to receive a dozen or so request
from search committees to help them find their next pastor.
Even the church, we came out of Highland Park Press meeting with
their search committee and helping them think through what
they would be looking for and the person who's called next.
It's a privilege. But I want to tell you, almost
every time after I've read everything they've sent me,
here's the letter, here's the qualifications, here's the job
description, Almost every time when they say, is there anything
you see that's missing, the answer is yes.
Nowhere and anything have you written, have you asked or said
this man must love Jesus Christ and love the flock.
It's not there. And every time I pointed out,
they say, well, of course, of course, that's assumed.
Well, we assume it too. Here's how I know.
Last Sunday we ordained and installed men for the office of
elder and Deacon. We do it every year.
I ask the same questions that the Book of Church Order calls
for me to ask of the elders and the deacons.
Ruling elders and deacons. Look at your bulletin from last
week. Not one of those questions
addresses a man's love for Christ, but we assume it because
you wouldn't recommend them if you didn't know that that was
present. I want to tell you that should
change. Do you love Jesus?
Should be the first and most frequent question ever asked.
Sitting in many ordination exams at Presbytery, I've never heard
somebody from the floor ask the man, Do you love Jesus?
Friends, I think that needs to change.
It's the first question we should ask, and it's the most
frequent question we should ask. So I ask you, in your small
groups, as new ministries have a new calendar cycle about to
start, how often do you ask one another?
Do you love Jesus? How often to your spouse, to
close friends, to your children? Do you love Jesus?
It's a really important question.
It's the only question Jesus asked Peter, and He used that to
restore Peter to the office. And in doing so, he revealed
himself to Peter again. He restored Peter, and then he
recommissioned him. Here's how it happened.
Look at me at verse 18 after Jesus responded to each of
Peter's statements. Yes, Lord, you know that I love
you. Let me say this, I forgot notice
in Peter's answer, he didn't put the attention upon himself.
Instead he said, Lord, you know, he had learned I can't put
confidence in the flesh. Lord, you know Jesus said feed
my lambs 10 my sheep. It's a different word means
shepherd means encourage, lead, discipline.
And then he says for the third time, feed my sheep.
Then verse 18 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.
OK verse 18 truly, truly. The last time Peter heard Jesus
use those words was in John 13 where Jesus said to Peter,
truly, truly before the rooster crows, you will deny 3 times you
knew me. Another powerful picture is the
last time the word charcoal was used is when Peter in the Gospel
of John is when Peter is warming himself by a charcoal fire.
When the woman says certainly you were with him, Peter was
warming himself by a fire and by that fire he denied that he even
knew Christ three times. And now he's just been with
Christ that another charcoal fire.
And Jesus says truly, truly. And what Jesus says, John tells
us is that Peter actually is going to fulfill what he said he
would do. He is going to die for Christ
because he has been restored and recommissioned.
Jesus ends that section at the end of verse 19.
After saying this, he said to Peter, follow me.
He told Peter early in the Gospels, Come follow me and I
will make you fishers of men. There's powerful symbolism that
first catch so many fish. The Nets broke.
That caused those men to recognize that the man who said
those things is not an ordinary man.
They followed him for three years.
Now when he says cast your net on the other side and John says
because 153 are not on the net, it is the Lord.
John tells us in the net did not break.
What that means is that we are not the ones who catch the fish.
We are used by God. Peter was used by God, still
being used by God, but when those that are his or caught in
that net, that net will not break those to whom Christ has
revealed himself, who come to saving faith.
We are the Church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against
us. The Nets not going to break.
Peter then is still Peter. He turns as he walks with Jesus
side by side, and he sees John, the beloved disciple.
Following verse 21. When Peter saw him, he said to
Jesus, Lord, what about this man?
And Jesus said to him, if it is my will that he remains until I
come, what is that to you? You follow me.
He knows how easy it's going to be for Peter to compare himself
to another man, to lose focus, and so once again he reveals
himself to Peter. Peter, that's none of your
business. Stay in your lane, butt out.
I know what I'm doing. I'm the Lord, I'm in control, I
have authority, I'm present. Listen to me.
And so he does. Jesus reveals himself, he
restores, he recommissions, and then John ends his gospel with
these words and so will I. Now there are also many other
things that Jesus did where every one of them to be written.
I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that
would be written. Well, that's, that's our dear
brother the apostle John, carried along by the Holy Spirit
using hyperbole to show us how great and awesome is God.
Psalm 145, we said it in the call to worship your greatness
is unsearchable. God, Christ, Father, Son, Holy
Spirit is so much greater than we know.
And by his grace, he reveals himself to US time and time and
time again. And here's what that means.
If you know anything about Christ, it's because it was by
His grace that He revealed it to you.
And no matter what you know or how much you know, and I hope
and pray it's a lot and I hope it's a lot more before He calls
you home. It is still such a small portion
of knowledge of who He ultimately is, and one day
that's going to be revealed to us that hyperbole should create
true humility. I didn't deserve it.
I don't deserve to know what I know.
But it should also create profound hunger.
I want to know more. And he said, blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be
filled. And as he fulfills that promise
and reveals more of himself to you, never forget grace.
Humble yourself. This word is living and
powerful. There's so much more for us to
know. Lord Jesus, thank you for every
word that you've given us, and thank you that Holy Spirit, you
revealed to us that all this Scripture, all your word is God
breathed and is useful. Lord, I thank you for every word
that you carried the apostle John along to write.
And I thank you that throughout the history, really of the
world, but especially of the church, what John felt led to
write has truly happened and will continue to happen.
People like us have believed, and because of that belief, we
have life in your name and nothing can take that away.
Humble us, Lord, and make us hungry.
Help us, O Lord to think constantly of the question, Do
you love me? And Lord, enable us to use
whatever gifts you've given us to help feed the sheep that are
desperate for this living word. We pray this in Jesus name,
Amen. Please stand.