John 21 (HCSB)
Jesus’ Third Appearance to the Disciples
1 After this, Jesus revealed Himself again to His disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed Himself in this way:
2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called “Twin”), Nathanael from Cana of Galilee, Zebedee’s sons, and two others of His disciples were together.
3 “I’m going fishing,” Simon Peter said to them.
“We’re coming with you,” they told him. They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.
4 When daybreak came, Jesus stood on the shore. However, the disciples did not know it was Jesus.
5 “Men,” Jesus called to them, “you don’t have any fish, do you?”
“No,” they answered.
6 “Cast the net on the right side of the boat,” He told them, “and you’ll find some.” So they did, and they were unable to haul it in because of the large number of fish. 7 Therefore the disciple, the one Jesus loved, said to Peter, “It is the Lord!”
When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tied his outer garment around him (for he was stripped) and plunged into the sea. 8 But since they were not far from land (about 100 yards away), the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish. 9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish lying on it, and bread.
10 “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus told them. 11 So Simon Peter got up and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish—153 of them. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn.
12 “Come and have breakfast,” Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who are You?” because they knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread, and gave it to them. He did the same with the fish.
14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to the disciples after He was raised from the dead.
Jesus’ Threefold Restoration of Peter
15 When they had eaten breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said to Him, “You know that I love You.”
“Feed My lambs,” He told him.
16 A second time He asked him, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”
“Yes, Lord,” he said to Him, “You know that I love You.”
“Shepherd My sheep,” He told him.
17 He asked him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”
Peter was grieved that He asked him the third time, “Do you love Me?” He said, “Lord, You know everything! You know that I love You.”
“Feed My sheep,” Jesus said. 18 “I assure you: When you were young, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.” 19 He said this to signify by what kind of death he would glorify God. After saying this, He told him, “Follow Me!”
Correcting a False Report
20 So Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them. That disciple was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and asked, “Lord, who is the one that’s going to betray You?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord—what about him?”
22 “If I want him to remain until I come,” Jesus answered, “what is that to you? As for you, follow Me.”
23 So this report spread to the brothers that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not tell him that he would not die, but, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”
Epilogue
24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.
25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which, if they were written one by one, I suppose not even the world itself could contain the books that would be written.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 16): Lord, please forgive me for not being a good shepherd of Your sheep. Help me to grow into the follower You want me to be so I can be a good shepherd.
PROMISE (verses 24-25): You promise us that these testimonies of Your acts are true, but only a small snippet of the things You did because the world could not hold a book that had everything.
ATTITUDE (verse 7): Lord, please help me to have an attitude like Simon Peter, where he constantly would follow You excitedly and immediately.
COMMAND (verses 15-16): You command us to feed Your lambs and shepherd Your sheep. Help me to truly grasp this and do this.
EXAMPLE (verse 22): Help me to follow the example You give here, Lord. To follow You with a focus of Your will for me and the path You want me to walk without concern, jealousy, or anger towards other's paths and Your will for them for that is theirs and not my own. Help me to focus on Your will for me so that I may stay on the path You've laid out for me.
*DAILY NOTE: I've definitely failed multiple times at being a good shepherd and following God's will since I started my journey with Jesus. I've also failed at following Your example quite frequently and listening to Your wisdom and guidance. I need to get better at taking action on the things I know to be Truth and in Your word.
*GENERAL NOTE: I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
Comments