John 21:1-25
Galilee. Why Galilee? Prior to and after the resurrection, Jesus had instructed His disciples to wait for Him in Galilee (cf. Matthew 28:10). But Jesus ascended into Heaven from Bethany, not Galilee (Luke 24:50). On a good day, Galilee was about a three to four day walk from Judea. Why have the disciples walk all the way up to Galilee, only to turn around and walk all the way back?
I believe it was primarily to restore and recommission Simon Peter.
Remember, that before the arrest of Jesus and the crucifixion, Simon Peter had claimed that even if all the other disciples left Jesus in the lurch and deserted Him, he alone would not (cf. Mark 14:28-30). Jesus responded by predicting correctly, that Simon Peter would deny that he knew Jesus three times. A lesson that Simon Peter had yet to learn was that while the spirit might indeed be willing, the flesh was weak and prone to failure (cf. Matthew 26:36-46). This is a lesson we as disciple makers as well as the disciples we walk with need to learn too. Without Jesus we are nothing and can do nothing…we need Him and need to abide in Him if we are to avoid the pitfalls of life in a fallen, broken world.
As we have already seen, Simon Peter’s failure to watch and pray with Jesus in the Garden ended in disaster as he tried to fulfil his boastful claims not to desert Jesus – he defended Him in the Garden, chopping off the High Priest’s servant, Malchus’ ear – he followed Jesus and the soldiers from a distance and gained access to the courtyard of the High Priest where the mockery of a trial of Jesus took place and there he denied that he knew Jesus three times. In his culture, threefold repetition resulted in the thing said becoming permanent.1 Which means that as far as Simon Peter was concerned, he was no longer a disciple.
But then hadn’t he told Jesus as much that day on the boat when they had pulled in nets almost bursting with fish after an unproductive night of fishing? “Leave me Lord and go look for someone else. I’m not the man You are looking for…I am a sinful man…a weak man…a business man…a fisherman…I’m no disciple…no follower of a Holy Man.”
One can only speculate as to what went through Simon Peter’s mind as he fled into that dark night of his soul, but his actions in the opening verses of John 21 indicate that he understood only to well the consequences of his threefold denial. “I’m going fishing”, he said…in other words, he was returning to his old vocation as he had rendered his calling obsolete.
It is interesting to take note of the way in which Jesus reinstated Simon Peter. It all started with a Déjà vu experience. Simon Peter and his partners had spent the whole night fishing and yet they had not caught so much as a fin. Then in the orange/pinkish mist of the early morning so characteristic of that area, they saw someone on the beach…they heard the person ask whether they had caught anything to which they responded that they had not…then the stranger told them that they ought to cast the net on the other side of the boat. We are not told why they obeyed…perhaps they were so despondent that they would have tried anything…or perhaps they figured that from his vantage point on the slightly raised shoreline, the stranger might have perceived a darkness in the water indicating the presence of a shoal of fish. Nonetheless, they complied with the command and the result was immediate and abundant. This ought to have brought to Simon Peter’s mind the miraculous draught of fish at his calling to be a fisher of people…but it is John that remembered, not Simon.
Despondency and defeat and depression produce powerful emotions that can prevent the sufferer from being able to see any alternative positive perspectives and this may very well have been the case with Simon Peter. Nevertheless, there appears to have been a spark remaining and his rather impulsive response may indicate that hope was not completely quenched. He swam to shore to meet Jesus, but as he emerged from the water another memory was triggered…this time by the aroma of a coal fire burning close by. The Greek word ανθρακιαν (coal fire) is only used twice in the New Testament…once in John 18 at the trial and the other time here in John 21. Aromas can evoke powerful memories and I am sure this action on our Lord’s part was intentional. It was a gentle yet effective reminder of his sincere but foolish reliance on himself as an individual.
One can only imagine the scene…the awkwardness around the fire as they consumed the fish…what was going on in Simon Peter’s mind? How did he view this encounter? As a farewell? He had failed at the most crucial moment of his life…surely there was no turning back…He had proved to be what he thought he was when he had told Jesus to find someone else…a sinful man. But Jesus never gives up on anyone…even though we have given Him ample reason to discard us, He never does.
But note the progression in the questions that follow. The first thing to note is that our Lord addressed his self-flagellated disciple as Simon, not as Peter, the new name He had given him at their first meeting (John 1:42) and at the high point of his walk when he was the first to recognise Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of the Living God in Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:15-19). But the first question brought back yet another memory: “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” While some scholars believe by “these” Jesus meant the fish Simon Peter loved to catch as opposed to the fish he had been called to catch, I believe Jesus was alluding to Simon Peter’s remark in Mark 14…that somehow he loved Jesus more than the others…that while their lack of love might result in them deserting Jesus, his would prove to be stronger. While one cannot read between the lines here, I am sure that in his humble, mumbled reply, Simon Peter indicated that his love was not as strong as he once believed.
Now much has been written about the different Greek words used by Jesus in His questions and Simon Peter in his answers…that Jesus was asking if Simon Peter loved him sacrificially (αγαπας) to which Simon Peter replied that he loved Him as a brother (φιλω)…but I am not convinced as the words are used interchangeably elsewhere (cf. John 13:23, 20:2, 11:3, 5, 36). What is perhaps more interesting is that the word for love in Aramaic that Jesus would have used in this speech was taken from a root word that means, “to set on fire”.2 In other words, sitting around the coal fire, Jesus would have asked Simon Peter, “Do you burn with love for Me?” The rekindling of love for Jesus in a failed follower is key to restoration.
In the Aramaic version of this passage, Jesus’ statements at the end of each reply included ‘rams’, ‘sheep’, and ‘ewes’. While some have seen this as an indication that Simon was given charge over three flocks, Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles, the important thing to note is that Jesus looked beyond Simon Peter’s failure and once again saw the rock that he could be if he would but live a surrendered life. The key to successful discipleship is surely no more than a life totally surrendered to Christ.3
Also, note that the question of love comes before the statement of commission because caring for others is a direct result of love for Jesus. Love for God is the first and greatest commandment…the second, to love others, is a result and manifestation of the first. Without the first there can be no second.
By the end of this short discussion, with all the gentle reminders rendering Simon Peter ready for the eventual threefold challenge and charge, the Apostle had no doubt finally gotten the point. The call to make disciples who, in turn, can make disciples is not something we can do in and of ourselves…even the best of us, the most erudite, the most gifted, the most talented…without Jesus our claims and boasts are but hot wind and we are setting ourselves up for failure. He alone knows all things and He knows our weaknesses and our need for His wisdom and strength to face the unforeseen.
It is comforting and perhaps amusing to catch a glimpse of the old Simon Peter peeking out at us from the pages as he questioned Jesus about John’s future. “Well, if I am going to die a martyr’s death, what about him?” But the deep work of both humiliation and love had already brought about a maturity that would result in this broken, sinful man being called a “pillar of the church” by those who knew him best…
[1] This was part of the oral law,
later written down in the Mishnah, and was called “chazakah”. It usually had to
do with legal matters with regard to ownership of property or the presumption
of personal status.
[3] The Passion
translation renders John 15:4-5 as follows: “So you must remain in life-union
with Me, for I remain in life-union with you. For as a branch severed from the
vine will not bear fruit, so your life will be fruitless unless you live your
life intimately joined to Mine. I am the sprouting vine and you’re My branches.
As you live in union with Me as your sources, fruitfulness will stream from
within you – but when you live separated from Me you are powerless.”
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