John 21

Jesus revealed Himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias (or Sea of Galilee). Peter and several disciples had gone fishing when Jesus called out to them and asked if they had caught anything. Jesus performs another miracle by allowing the disciples to catch 153 fish off the side of their boat (even though they hadn’t caught a single fish all night long. As soon as John (“that disciple whom Jesus loved”) saw all of the fish, he realized it was Jesus and cried out “It is the Lord.” Peter, unlike the previously skeptical and scared Peter, jumps in the water and went to Jesus as quickly as he could. This is the first comparison of previous behavior from Peter (earlier when he walked on the water towards Jesus but then got scared and sank).

Once they had finished breakfast, Jesus asks Peter “do you love me more than these?” There is some debate about who “these” meant but I tend to believe that he meant his friends and peer disciples sitting around with them. Peter responds positively and affirms his love for Jesus. Again, Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him and Peter responds positively. Finally, a third time, Jesus asks if Peter loves Him. At this point, Peter is grieved but said for a third time: “you know I love you.” This is in contrast to Peter’s denial of Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. Three times, Peter said he didn’t even know Jesus and now he is saying how much he loves Jesus, and is grieved by the repetition of the question.

Jesus instructed Peter three times to care for the people: feed my lambs, tend my sheep and feed my sheep. There are some that believes this solidifies the role of Peter as the first “pope” of the Roman Catholic church. I tend to believe that this is not evident in the Scripture but is more of repeat of what Jesus has been teaching His disciples through His time on earth: love people. Care for people. Serve people.

More could be said about John 21 but I don’t want to spoil that closing perspective. Jesus instructed Peter to love people. He instructed His disciples that they would be known by their love of others, but the fact that they called themselves Christians or Followers of the Way. Likewise, we can call ourselves all kinds of different things — Christians, Baptists, Lutherans, Catholics, etc. What you call yourself isn’t nearly as important as how you live your life. Jesus has given us clear instructions. He repeats these instructions to Peter here and closes this interaction by simply saying, “follow me”.

Am I following Jesus? Am I living a life that shows people I love them? That I care for them? That they are important to me and are a priority in my life? If not, what is stealing my heart away from that purpose?

God, give me eyes to see people they way You see people. I recognize that I am more like the Peter who denied You three times, but in this Scripture, I see forgiveness. I see grace. Jesus forgave Peter for his sins. Jesus, forgive me for my sins. I have sinned against You by putting so many things before you as a priority in my life. Father, take this sin away from me and cleanse my heart. Help me to cast aside my pride and my desire for personal gain to find my greatest joy in loving You and Your people. Amen.

 JASON WORTHEN | Elder

Jason and Larissa were part of the founding members of Hutto Bible Church in 2007. Previously, they attended Hill County Bible Church Pflugerville for nearly six years. They have been married for 16 years and have three daughters: Elisabeth, Sarah and Rebekah. Jason is employed by General Motors and Larissa is a stay-at-home mom who works three times as hard. Jason put his trust in Christ in 2003 when he was attending Bible Study Fellowship in Austin. Both Jason and Larissa have served in Children’s Ministry, Student Ministry and in an elder capacity.