John 21

John 21:1-25

(Sea of Galilee.) J 1-25.       [see ; he had not come to buy, but to supply.] [Peter, being already wet, could lend material assistance in bringing the net to shore. John tells us the exact number of the fishes to show the magnitude of the miracle, both as to the catch and as to the unbroken nets. The latter form a sharp contrast to the broken nets of . Possibly when the hour approached when they would become fishers of men, Jesus meant to show them that a greater and fuller miraculous power would attend and bless their efforts.] [756] [It was not, as some suppose, because they stood in a new and special awe of him, that they durst not question him, but it was the nature of the question itself. They feared a mild rebuke like that once administered to Philip– .] [Thus he gave to them when he fed the multitude and thus it may be hundreds of times he had given to them when they sat at meat together– , .] [It was his seventh appearance, but his third appearance to a of disciples, and the third appearance witnessed by John. John counts as follows: 1.

An appearance to the apostles without Thomas; 2. an appearance to them with Thomas; 3. this appearance.] [after the eating of a meal together had calmed and quieted the excitement of the disciples, and made them susceptible of teaching] [Jesus here means: Do you love me more than these fishes and this fishing business? , . 3. In a group around a fire of coals Peter here thrice professes his love for Christ, thus revoking the threefold denial which he had made under similar circumstances– .] [Peter had just shown this freedom by girding himself and plunging into the sea] [Thus our Lord, by delicate but unmistakable suggestion, shows Peter that the freedom which he now enjoyed would be taken from him, and that he would lift his hands to permit others to bind him that they might lead him to martyrdom to which his flesh (though not his spirit) would go unwillingly.] [John, who wrote after Peter’s death, tells us what the words of Christ meant.

His words show that tradition is true in saying that Peter suffered martyrdom, but it is no voucher that tradition is true as to the time (about thirty-four years after this), place (Rome), or manner (crucified head downward) of Peter’s death. There is certainly no trustworthy evidence that Peter was ever at Rome.] [This saying bore the usual double sense in which Jesus employed it. Peter was to follow him now (and he did arise and follow), and he was also to follow Jesus to a violent death and a glorious immortality.] [John] [ .] [Peter and John were near friends , and understanding that the [759] Lord had prophesied a violent death for himself, Peter was naturally interested in the fate of his dear companion.] [It was none of Peter’s business whether John’s earthly lot was easier or harder than his own; his business was to be faithful in the pathway whither the Lord led him.] [Our Lord’s words were a puzzle when John wrote his Gospel, and to many they are a puzzle still. For an able treatment of the various interpretations of this difficult passage, see B. W. Johnson’s , most of the critics hold that this verse was added by the elders of Ephesus to whom John committed his Gospel, and that it is the attestation of the church there to the truth and authenticity of the Gospel.

But the first person singular, “I suppose,” of is hard to account for such an hypothesis. Besides, none of the elders at Ephesus could suppose any such thing.

Only an eye-witness who saw the fullness of our Lord’s ministry would be led to pen these words. We find in the first Epistle of John a condition of affairs similar to these two verses. The first chapter opens with and continues to use the editorial plural, [760] while the second chapter drops in the first person singular. We think, then, that John finished his own book. Considering the wilderness of literature which has accumulated around the sayings and doings of our Lord contained in the brief Gospels, it is little wonder that John thought a full record of the Lord’s life would fill the world with books.]

[FFG 754-761]