TEACHING NOTES ‌ Introduction In the last resurrection appearance in John’s Gospel we’re told that the disciples have gone back to fishing on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus appears on the shore and gives them the most nonsensical fishing advice. However, a miracle happens and their nets are filled with fish. To most readers this seems like just another miracle story, but John is telling us much more than a fishing story. ‌ Old Testament Background: The theme of people as fish and God sending fishermen to catch people occurs several times in the Old Testament. These passages would have been familiar to those who lived in the time of Jesus’ ministry and afterward. The Jews were expecting that when the Messiah arrived God would begin gathering people like fish in a net. ‌ Jeremiah 16:14–16 ESV 14 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ 15 but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers. 16 “Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the Lord, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. ‌ The days are coming = One of the main themes in Jeremiah is that a new covenant was coming that will be different from the old covenant (Jer. 31:31-34). The central story of the old covenant was the Exodus story, when God brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt. In the new covenant, the central story will be about God gathering His people from all nations. God will gather His people by sending fishermen who will gather people like fish in a net. ‌ Habakkuk 1:14–15 ESV 14 You make mankind like the fish of the sea, like crawling things that have no ruler. 15 He brings all of them up with a hook; he drags them out with his net; he gathers them in his dragnet; so he rejoices and is glad. ‌ Ezekiel 47:9–10 ESV 9 And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. 10 Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. ‌ The river = In Ezekiel 40-47, the prophet is given a vision of a new temple. “The river” here is the River of Life that is flowing out of the temple to bring life to everything it touches. Ezekiel sees this river flowing into the Dead Sea, and it becomes fresh water that is filled with fish (Ezek. 47:8). ‌ Engedi and Eneglaim = In Hebrew, “En” means spring. The location of the spring of Gedi is known and still exists today on the western shore of the Dead Sea. The location of the spring of Eglaim is unknown, but was likely on the western shore of the Dead Sea as well. ‌ Note: John sees a similar vision in Revelation 22. There are many similarities between Ezekiel’s and John’s visions. Ezekiel sees a massive temple with the River of Life flowing out of it. John sees a massive city (New Jerusalem) with the River of Life flowing through the city. In John’s Gospel, Jesus is the new temple who provides the water (Spirit) of life (John 2:18-21; 7:37-39). In Revelation, the church/the Bride is the New Jerusalem (Rev. 21:9-10) and the River of Life is the Spirit flowing through the church. ‌ New Testament Background: John 21:1-14 is a fulfilment of a few New Testament passages. Matthew, Mark, and Luke do not include the story at the end of John. However, the other Gospels do include a similar story that happened at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. And Matthew includes a parable about a net catching all kinds of fish. It seems that John us to connect this story to Luke 5:1-11 and Matthew 13:47-50. ‌ Luke 5:1–11 ESV 1 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, 2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. 3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. 7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 9 For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken, 10 and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” 11 And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him. ‌ You will be catching men = The first time Jesus did this miracle with fish, He used it to commission the disciples to be fishers of men. This “sign” pointed to something beyond the miracle. We should expect the same to be true in John’s Gospel. ‌ Matthew 13:47–50 ESV 47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. ‌ The kingdom of heaven = In the Gospels, Jesus’ main message is about the kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven. Jesus brought this kingdom to earth by His death, resurrection, and giving the Spirit to believers. God’s family is God’s kingdom on the earth. In this parable, the kingdom is described as a huge net that catches fish of every kind. The people of God’s kingdom are the fishermen. ‌ John’s Second Ending John’s first ending is in John 20:30–31 “30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 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.” But then John adds another chapter with a second ending. John 21 has some interesting features, but most striking is the fact that this chapter has 28 Greek words that are not found in the rest of John’s Gospel. ‌ John 21:1–2 ESV 1 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. ‌ Jesus revealed himself = The theme of revelation began in John 1:18 “No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has revealed him.” Jesus came not only to die for our sins, but to reveal the Father to the world. ‌ Sea of Tiberias = This is another name for the Sea of Galilee. ‌ Seven disciples = John’s Gospel is full of sevens: seven signs, seven “I AM” statements, seven titles for Jesus, etc. Here John ends his Gospel with a story that includes seven disciples. Since the number seven represents completion in the Jewish mind, John completes his Gospel with another seven. ‌ John 21:3 ESV 3 Simon Peter 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. ‌ Peter said “I am going fishing” = Peter, and several of the other disciples, were fisherman when they met Jesus. They left fishing to follow Jesus and be His disciples. After seeing the resurrected Jesus in Jerusalem, they go back to Galilee (their hometown) and go back to fishing. It seems that they are going back to their former life. Perhaps they had forgotten that they were supposed to be fishers of men. However, Jesus did tell them to go back to Galilee and wait for Him (Matt. 28:10). Perhaps they got bored or hungry while waiting on Jesus to appear. ‌ That night they caught nothing = This is exactly what happened in Luke 5:5 where Peter said, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!” The disciples are in the same situation that they were in when they first met Jesus. Also, the Greek word for “nothing” is ouden, which also appears in John 15:5 where Jesus says, “apart from me you can do nothing [ouden].” ‌ John 21:4–6 ESV 4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 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. ‌ They didn’t know it was Jesus = Much like the other appearances of the resurrected Jesus, they don’t recognize Him at first. This time they are about 100 yards away (see v. 8), so the distance could be why they don’t know it’s Jesus. ‌ Children = Grk. paidia - plural form of child. It probably would’ve been strange for a grown man to call a group of grown men “children.” Jesus is likely communicating that the disciples are still behaving like children. They’ve gone back to useless fishing, but Jesus has a much greater mission for them. ‌ Cast the net on the right side = Because the steering oar would be on the right side, the nets were cast on the left side of the boat. So, Jesus’ instruction would have been unusual. The same happened in Luke 5 when Jesus instructed the disciples to put down the nets in deep water during daylight, which was unusual because they would usually fish deep water at night. ‌ Not able to haul it in = The same thing happened in Luke 5:6-7. ‌ John 21:7 ESV 7 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 disciple Jesus loved = John has already pointed out that he outran Peter and to the empty tomb and the first to believe. Here John points out that he recognized Jesus before Peter. However, Peter’s reaction may indicate that he will not lose another race to Jesus. ‌ Put on his outer garment = The Greek verb for “put on” here is diazosato, which means to tie around or gird. This is the same verb used in John 13:4 when Jesus took a towel and “tied it around his waist.” The same verb is used again in John 21:18 where Jesus tells Peter that one day “another will dress you [lit. tie you up]” referring to Peter’s future arrest and death. ‌ Peter threw himself into the sea = While it’s easy to see Peter’s action here as positive, Peter is actually being impulsive. Peter left the other six disciples to deal with the fish. Within the context, it seems that John wants us to understand that Peter is being a bit childish. ‌ John 21:8 ESV 8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards off. ‌ About a hundred yards off = John is pointing out that Peter swam at least a hundred yards to get to Jesus. Whereas John outran Peter to the tomb, in this story John wants the reader to see that Peter got to Jesus first. ‌ John 21:9–11 ESV 9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 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. ‌ Charcoal fire = John is setting the stage here for Peter’s restoration in John 21:15-19. The only other mention of a charcoal fire was back in John 18:18 when Peter denied knowing Jesus. ‌ Fish and bread = This scene has connections back to the feeding of the 5,000 with bread and fish (John 6). In that event Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger” (John 6:35). ‌ The net was not torn = John is contrasting this event with Luke 5:6 where the weight of the fish was tearing the nets. If we take Jesus’ parable of the net where the net represents the kingdom of God, John could be indicating that the kingdom will not be broken or defeated. ‌ 153 fish = Elsewhere in this Gospel John uses approximate numbers, which are usually rounded to an even number. But here John is very specific that there were 153 fish caught. Scholars have long debated the meaning of this number. Here are a few options: ‌ - Gematria: In both Hebrew and Greek there are no numerals, but each letter of the alphabet has a numerical value. If you add the numerical value of the phrase “sons of God” in Hebrew (bene ha elohim), it equals 153. ‌ - Triangular Number: 17 is the triangular of 153 ‌ - In the Hebrew text of Ezekiel 47:10, two springs are mentioned; the spring of Gedi (Engedi) and the spring of Eglaim (Eneglaim). Gedi is the 153rd word in the chapter. If you add the numerical value of Gedi, it equals 17. If you add the numerical value of Eglaim, it equals 153. ‌ - Builders of Solomon’s Temple (2 Chr. 2:1-2): 70,000 + 80,000 + 3,600 = 153,600 - “The Sea” water basin in the temple: 10x5x30 cubits — 153 ‌ John 21:12–14 ESV 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. ‌ Come have breakfast = While it’s easy as modern Americans to read past this detail, ancient Jews would have made a profound connection. In the Torah the whole point of the sacrifices and laws is the fact that God wants to be with His people. The sacrifices were communal meals with God. An Israelite who wanted to “draw near” would bring an offering in the form of food. Some of the food was burnt up on the altar, while the rest was cooked and eaten in God’s house. The worship in the tabernacle/temple was about having a meal with God. Here in John 21, the disciples are invited to have a meal with God in the flesh. ‌ They knew it was the Lord = This seems to imply that they knew it was Jesus, but He still had some kind of different appearance. In the resurrection appearances, Jesus often has to prove that it is really Him, either by calling their name (John 20:11-16), showing His wounds (John 20:19-29), or eating food with them (John 21:1-14). ‌ Jesus took the bread = Many readers will see a connection to Communion here. In Luke 24:30-35, Jesus revealed Himself by breaking bread and giving it to the disciples. However, the main point here is that Jesus (God) is providing an abundant meal to His people. ‌ The was the third time = John is specifically referring to the number of appearances of Jesus in his Gospel, not the total number of appearances. For example, Jesus also appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35, but John does not include that story. John also does not include the story of the ascension, which would be another appearance. ‌ Conclusion With all of the connections to Old Testament passages about the temple, and John presenting Jesus as the new temple, it seems that John intends the reader to see the disciples as the new temples of the kingdom of God. ‌ Homework: Read John 21:15-25.