John 21:15-25: “Jesus Restores
Peter To Himself And To Ministry”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study we looked at verses 1-14 of chapter 21 of the book of John.
1.1.1.
This study concerned Jesus’ appearing to seven of the
disciples at the Sea of Tiberias where they had gone fishing and had a rough
night of fishing, having caught nothing.
We saw how that these disciples looked back on their previous life
before Christ and returned to their previous career as fisherman.
1.1.1.1.We talked
about walking in the flesh verses the Spirit for the disciples make this
decision to return to fishing on their own, not at the Lord’s leading.
1.1.1.2.We looked at
how we Christians can become discouraged and how that this can lead to our
walking in the flesh.
1.1.2.
Jesus appeared to them as a stranger on the shoreline
perhaps a hundred yards away and told them to throw their net on the right side
of the boat and that they would make a big catch. For some reason they followed Jesus’ command
and threw the net on the right hand side of the boat.
1.1.3.
When the disciples threw the net on the right side of
the boat they indeed made a great catch of fish. Catching these fish at Jesus’ command then
caused the disciples to realize that it was in fact Jesus who was the one on
the beach.
1.1.4.
Jesus then cooked some fish for them and they ate
breakfast.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at verses
15-25 of the gospel of John.
1.2.1.
In this study, we will see that Jesus restores Peter
to Himself (Peter had denied Jesus three times) and calls Peter to be leader of
the entire group of disciples.
1.2.2.
Peter had failed and denied the Lord because he didn’t
really know himself. He didn’t realize
that there is a sinful nature within each of us and that we cannot trust even
our own hearts for the Lord tells us they are “desperately wicked.” The apostle Paul had come to know himself for
he wrote the following in Romans 7:18, “18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my
flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.” Paul would
later write the following to the Philippians:
Philippians 3:3, “3 for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the
Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.” The Lord will in this study bring Peter to the point
where he no longer will trust in the strength and will power of his own flesh.
1.2.3.
Jesus in restoring Peter to Himself removes any trace
of self-righteousness within him. We
will see how that the Lord has to reveal to each disciple His sinfulness before
he is ready to be effectively used and sent out by Him.
1.2.4.
Jesus brings Peter to the end of himself and his own
self righteousness as He makes Peter truly come to grips with whether or not
and to what extent he really loves Jesus.
2.
VS
21:15-17 - “So when they had 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, ‘Tend My lambs’. He said to him again 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, ‘Shepherd 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
all things; You know that I love
You’. Jesus said to him, ‘Tend My sheep.’”
- Jesus asks Simon Peter three times if
he loves Him, and each time Peter responds that he loves Jesus and then Jesus
tells him to feed and tend for His sheep
2.1.
In our
last study we saw the context of this study.
Jesus had now raised from the dead and even appeared to the disciples
corporately on the first evening and then a week later, again on Sunday
evening. Jesus had also appeared to
individuals within the disciple ranks.
The disciples had been told to go to
2.2.
Peter had
denied the Lord initially on His last evening when he had followed Jesus to
where they had taken Him, and as he was warming himself by the charcoal fire
with unbelievers while Jesus was being tried in the next room. Because Peter had denied Jesus while warming
himself at the charcoal fire of the enemy, Jesus decides to restore Peter at
this charcoal fire cooking fish for their supper. These are the only two references to charcoal
fires in John’s gospel.
2.3.
Peter’s
confrontation by Jesus as he was being restored by Jesus was done publicly in
front of the other disciples because Peter’s denial was also done publicly.
2.4.
As was noted at the beginning of this chapter, Jesus
calls Peter by his pre-Christian name of “Simon Peter” all throughout
this chapter because it was the pre-Christian self (the old sinful nature)
within Peter which caused him to deny Jesus and retreat to living in his former
self-life.
2.5.
Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him three times because
Peter had denied the Lord three times. However,
Jesus was also pressing Peter and trying to impress upon him the importance of
his whole-hearted effort in shepherding Christ’s church, to which Jesus was
calling him.
2.6.
The night before Jesus’ arrest, Peter had boasted of
loving Jesus more than all of the rest of the disciples, saying in Matthew
26:33, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never
fall away.” Now, Jesus asks Peter if after
what he had done in denying Jesus three times if he truly believed that he
loved Jesus more than the rest of the disciples? Jesus asks Peter, “’ Simon,
son of John, do you love Me more than these?’”
2.7.
Jesus is getting Peter to
the place where he realizes just how inadequate he is in his flesh to resolve
to love and serve the Lord. Peter must
come to completely distrust self and the old sinful nature before he will be
ready to be able to serve in ministry for the Lord as an apostle.
2.8.
Have you ever wondered
why Jesus allowed Peter to fall in denying Him those three times? The Lord could have kept Peter from that
temptation, yet He didn’t because He knew that Peter needed to come to the
place of brokenness before God before he could ever be effective in
ministry. In Luke 22:32
we see Jesus encouraging Peter telling him that He has prayed for Peter and that
after Peter has been restored that he will be usable by God and will then be
able to strengthen his brothers, “32 but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once
you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”” Peter’s ministry could not have been
successful as long as his heart was self-righteous and his trust was in the
resolve and will power of his own flesh.
2.9.
The Greek words that are translated “love” in
this section of scripture are very revealing.
2.9.1.
The first two times Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him,
Jesus uses the Greek word “agape.”
2.9.1.1.This is the
unconditional type of love that defines God’s love and requires commitment and
self-abandonment. It is a love that is unconditional
and made as a choice not based upon feelings which can be fickle. It always seeks the best of the one who is
loved.
2.9.1.2.Peter
replies each time, ‘Yes Lord, You know that I love You.’
2.9.1.3.Each time
Peter seems to correct the Lord, responding that the Lord knows that he loves
Him. However, Peter uses in response the
Greek word “phileo,” which is the type of love and affection that is
used for where friendship is involved.
2.9.2.
The last time that Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him,
He uses the same word for love that Peter had used, “phileo.”
2.9.2.1.Because
Jesus uses this same word that Peter had used, which questions Peter’s
sincerity, Peter is therefore grieved.
Peter is grieved because the Lord is pressing him to consider the fact
that in reality his actions in denying Jesus indicated that Peter didn’t even
have the friendship type of love for Jesus.
Peter is grieving then over his own sinfulness and failure.
2.9.2.2.Peter
doesn’t say, “Yes,” this last time because he is aware of his own inability to
love and serve the Lord.
2.9.2.3.Peter
responds that Jesus knows all things and that he loves Him, and he uses the
Greek word “phileo” for this love.
2.9.2.4.Peter’s
self-righteousness is now destroyed.
2.10.
Each time that Jesus asks Peter whether he loves Him or
not, He then implores him that if it is the case that he loves Jesus, he must
show that love by demonstration: “If
you love Me then show it by feeding My sheep.” For us as Christians if our life is not being
lived in obedience to Jesus and trying to do those things that He wants us to
do in our lives, then how could we say that we truly do love Him? Jesus once said, “How can you call Me Lord
and not do what I say?”
2.11.
In telling Peter to demonstrate his love for Him by
feeding and tending His sheep, Jesus is both calling him to ministry and also
affirming Peter that he is loved and trusted by Jesus.
2.11.1.The first time, Jesus tells Peter that
if he loves Him, he should ‘feed His sheep.’ My translation says that Jesus said ‘tend
My Sheep,’ however the word for tend, “bosko” in the Greek, also
means to ‘feed,’ and this seems to render the sense of what Jesus is
asking.
2.11.2.The second time Jesus tells Peter that
if he loves Him, he should show that love by ‘shepherding His sheep,’
however this Greek word translated ‘shepherd’ means “to rule or
govern,” and the sense here is that Jesus asks Peter to be a pastor or
shepherd ruling over the flock of His disciples which had come together after
originally being scattered after His crucifixion.
2.11.3.The third time that Jesus asks Peter if
he loves Him, Jesus uses the same word as the first time, “bosko,”
however He tells him to show his love by ‘shepherding’ or ‘feeding
His little sheep.’
2.11.3.1.Jesus’ sheep
are tender and young, precious in His sight, and Peter must be willing to guard
over their souls as a good shepherd guards over the young and tender of his
flock.
2.12.
The role of a pastor is that of both shepherding as
well as feeding. Just as the 23rd
Psalm tells us, the role of the shepherd is to protect from harm, guide, to
provide rest, to water, and to feed.
2.13. Peter has
learned finally that Jesus knows everything that is within a man’s heart, and
at the same time he knows that he cannot trust himself.
2.14.
However, since Peter denied the Lord and as a result
has been severely humbled, he does not
claim anymore to have a superior faith or love than any of the other
disciples. Though Peter is still a bit
impetuous, he is now in the place where Jesus can use him, since he no longer
has confidence in his flesh, resolve, or wisdom.
2.15.
Our motivation for serving Jesus and especially
shepherding His sheep must be our deep love for Jesus. We must do what we do in ministry as unto the
Lord, otherwise we shall be only half-hearted in our effort.
2.16.
The Lord is asking all Christians whether or not they
love Him, and if they love Him, then they must be willing to set aside their
own selfish concerns in order to be able to care for His sheep that He places
in their lives.
2.16.1.Shall we be the hirelings Jesus taught
about in chapter 10 of this gospel, looking out for our own self interests and
not truly concerned for the sheep? Or
shall we show our love by imitating the “Good Shepherd” and His care for
us? Shall we flee God’s sheep when we
see the wolf coming? Or, shall we refuse
to leave the care of His precious sheep when the wolf comes?
2.16.2.Shall we be concerned for His sheep only
when there is something in it for ourselves?
Or, shall we purge any thought from our minds about what we shall
receive as a result of our ministering?
God’s sheep are precious in His sight, and He has placed some of them
under each of our care. Our lives should
be a reflection of His good care in shepherding us.
3.
VS
21:18 - “‘Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird
yourself, and walk wherever you wished;
but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else
will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go’.”
- Jesus tells Peter that he must go
wherever He leads him
3.1.
Some have confused the point that Jesus is making in
this verse by saying that Jesus was indicating to Peter that the stretching out
of his hands meant the type of death which he was to die, namely
crucifixion.
3.2.
Although Jesus is telling Peter that his obedient
following of Him would result ultimately in a martyr’s death, what Jesus was really indicating was that
Peter had previous to meeting Jesus done the things he wanted to do and gone
where he wanted to go. However, now
Peter was no longer going to do his own will, but God’s will. This is symbolized in Peter’s girding himself
in his previous life, and God girding him when he grew older. Jesus tells Peter that there will be times
when he will have to do things that he would not like to do.
3.3.
In John 13:36-38, Peter had told the Lord that he was
willing to lay down his life for Jesus, and though Peter had failed the Lord
miserably by denying Him, now as Jesus is restoring Peter to Himself and to
ministry He tells Peter that he will indeed fulfill that highest honor of
laying his life down for Jesus as a Christian martyr, “36 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, where are You going?”
Jesus answered, “Where I go, you cannot follow Me now;
but you will follow later.” 37 Peter said to Him, “Lord, why can I not follow You right
now? I will lay down my life for You.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay
down your life for Me? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow
until you deny Me three times.”
3.4.
We Christians must resolve that we have given up our
individual rights, and that we have been called not to do our own will, but
that His will be done in our life. We
must be willing to be obedient to the Lord, even to the point of death if God
calls us to that.
4.
VS
21:19 - “Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify
God. and when He had spoken this, He
said to him, ‘Follow Me!’” - John tells
us that Jesus was telling this to Peter so that Peter would realize that
following Jesus would result in martyrdom for him
4.1.
In the previous verse, Jesus indicated to Peter that
his following of Him would eventually result in a martyr’s death. Jesus calls Peter once again to follow
Him. Jesus had originally called Peter
to follow Him when He began His ministry, and we saw that following Jesus
involved following Him in regard to His example in conduct, to be willing to go
wherever He wanted him to go, and just to be with Him.
4.2.
Here in this verse, we can hear Jesus saying in this
call to ‘follow’ that He wants Peter to continually “abide” in
Him as a branch, as Jesus had taught the disciples the day before His
crucifixion.
4.2.1.
We Christians need to be constantly reminded that we
are to be followers of Jesus,
continuously abiding in Him.
5.
VS 21:20-22 - “Peter,
turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them;
the one who also had leaned back on His breast at the supper, and said,
‘Lord, who is the one who betrays You?’
Peter therefore seeing him said to Jesus, ‘Lord, and what about this
man?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If I want him
to remain until I come, what is that
to you? You follow Me!’” - Peter asks Jesus what will happen to the
disciple whom Jesus loved (the apostle John himself), and Jesus replies saying
in essence that it is really none of Peter’s business
5.1.
Peter saw the apostle John, author of this gospel,
following behind them as they were walking.
Over and over again we have seen that John always refers to Himself in
this gospel as, ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved.’
5.2.
Peter wasn’t content to know that he was being called
to die a martyr’s death in following Jesus, he wanted to know what would happen
to other disciples, and what was the nature of their calling. Jesus rebuffs Peter for this attitude and
tells him in essence that it is none of his business what God is calling other
disciples to do or suffer, he must keep his eyes on Jesus and just fulfill his
own calling.
5.3.
We Christians need to realize that we must not be
worried about what other Christians are or aren’t doing in their life. We need to just keep our eyes on the Lord and
not be too worried about what others do.
5.4.
We Christians can become jealous or bitter when we are
always keeping our eyes on our brothers and sisters. We are actually looking back while plowing
when we do that, which Jesus said would make us unworthy of His kingdom. One who is plowing has to keep his eyes
straight ahead in order to plow in a straight and consistent manner, and we
Christians need to keep our eyes on the Lord and always be sure that we are
doing what He wants us to do.
5.5.
The Bible Exposition Commentary states the following
about taking our eyes off of Jesus and putting them on others:
The Lord rebuked Peter and reminded him that his job
was to follow, not to meddle into the lives of other believers. Beware when you
get your eyes off the Lord and start to look at other Christians! “Looking unto
Jesus” should be the aim and practice of every believer (Heb. 12:1–2). To be
distracted by ourselves, our circumstances, or by other Christians, is to
disobey the Lord and possibly get detoured out of the will of God. Keep your
eyes of faith on Him and on Him alone.
This does not mean that we ignore others, because we
do have the responsibility of caring for one another (Phil. 2:1–4). Rather, it
means that we must not permit our curiosity about others to distract us from
following the Lord. God has His plan for us; He also has plans for our
Christian friends and associates. How He works in their lives is His business.
Our business is to follow Him as He leads us (see
I recall a critical time in my own ministry when I was
disturbed because other ministers were apparently getting God’s “blessing” in
abundance while I seemed to be reaping a meager harvest. I must confess that I
envied them and wished that God had given their gifts to me. But the Lord
tenderly rebuked me with, “What is that to thee? Follow thou Me.” It was just
the message I needed, and I have tried to heed it ever since.
6.
VS 21:23 - “This
saying therefore went out among the brethren that that disciple would not
die; yet Jesus did not say to him that
he would not die, but only, ‘If I
want him to remain until I come, what is that
to you?’” - John tells
us that as a result of this dialog between Peter and Jesus that some who heard
this story went around telling others that Peter would never die.
6.1.
John includes in this gospel how a false rumor got
started as a result of Jesus’ previous teaching. Some had misunderstood Jesus’ words to Peter
concerning John and they thought that Jesus was telling Peter that John would
remain alive until Jesus returns for the church. John corrects that rumor saying that Jesus
did not say that John would never die.
6.2.
Note here that Jesus tells Peter that He is returning
for His church, for He says to Peter, “until I come.”
6.3.
Jesus says to Peter, ‘what is that to you.?’ As
was mentioned, Jesus already has to give Peter a rebuke here even as He is
restoring Peter to Himself, even as Peter has been broken in spirit by the
Lord. Peter’s question has revealed that
he has taken his eyes off of Jesus already and begun to look around at
others.
6.4.
There is a motto that makes a lot of sense. It goes like this, ““Look at others, and be distressed. Look at yourself,
and be depressed. Look to God, and you’ll be blessed!”
7.
VS
21:25 -
“This is the disciple who bears witness of these things, and wrote these
things; and we know that his witness is
true. And there are also many other
things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that
even the world itself would not contain the books which were written.” - John
tells us that if all of the things that Jesus did were written in death that
the world itself would fall.
7.1.
John reveals that he was the disciple who was
following behind Peter and Jesus as they were walking, and thus that he was the
one to whom he referred to all throughout his gospel as, “the disciple whom
Jesus loved.”
7.2.
Using hyperbole, John indicates that Jesus did so many
things that His disciples were eye witnesses of, that there would not be room
in the world to hold all of the books that could be written of the things that
Jesus did. As John wrote at the end of
chapter 20, he only included the stories and teachings of Jesus which he under
God’s inspiration deemed necessary so that people might read this book and come
to believe in Jesus as their savior and Lord.
8.
The book of John has been a great blessing to us as we
have gone verse by verse through it in exactly one year.
9.
We have seen how that the book was written for the
purpose of revealing Jesus as the eternal Son of God incarnate, and thus John
picked stories to tell concerning Jesus relative to that theme. We’ve seen Jesus’ power over all of nature,
and we’ve seen His glory in all that He did.
We’ve seen Jesus in control of every situation and incident and that it
was only when He willingly laid down His life for mankind that anyone was able
to lay a hand on Him.
10.
We have seen how that the book was not written so much
chronologically but rather based around expounding upon seven signs Jesus
performed, 10 discourses He taught, and seven “I am” statements He made:
10.1.
The seven signs (attesting miracles) that Jesus performed
:
10.1.1.Changing water into wine in
10.1.2.Healing an official’s son in
10.1.3.Healing a crippled man at the pool of
10.1.4.Feeding the 5,000 near the
10.1.5.Walking on the water on the
10.1.6.Healing a blind man in
10.1.7. Raising
Lazarus from the dead in
10.2.
The discourses of Jesus found in the gospel of John :
10.2.1.On the new birth : 3:1-21.
10.2.2.On the water of life : 4:4-26.
10.2.3.On resurrection and life : 5:19-47.
10.2.4.On the bread of life : 6:26-59.
10.2.5.On the deity of Jesus : 8:12-59.
10.2.6.On the shepherd and flock : 10:1-21.
10.2.7.More on the deity of Jesus : 10:22-38.
10.2.8.On redemption : 12:20-50.
10.2.9.On life while Jesus is gone : 13:31-14:31.
10.2.10.On union
with Jesus : 15:1-16:33.
10.3.
The seven “I AM” statements of Jesus :
10.3.1.I am the Bread of Life : 6:35.
10.3.2.I am the Light of the World : 8:12
10.3.3.I am the Gate for the sheep : 10:7
10.3.4.I am the Good Shepherd : 10:11,14
10.3.5.I am the Resurrection and the Life
: 11:25
10.3.6.I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life
: 14:6
10.3.7. I am the
True Vine : 15:1.
11.
CONCLUSIONS:
11.1.
In this
epilogue story in the book of John in which Jesus restores Peter to Himself and
to ministry, we have learned how we must come to the place in our life where we
place no confidence in our own flesh, nor the will power or abilities of the
flesh.
11.2.
We have
also seen how that we need to rid ourselves of self-righteousness and learn to
distrust our own hearts and motives.
11.3.
We have
seen also how that we need to not worry about what brothers and sisters in the
Lord are doing or not doing in their life, but concentrate upon our own life
and keeping our eyes upon Jesus and doing the things that He has called us to
do.
11.4.
Jesus asks
each of us, “Do you love Me?” If
we do love Him we must demonstrate that love by obeying and following Him, and
by shepherding and caring for those whom He puts under our charge.