John · chapter 21 of 21
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John 21 tells how the risen Jesus appears to seven disciples by the Sea of Tiberias after a fruitless night of fishing, and a net full of 153 fish. After breakfast, he asks Peter three times whether he loves him and charges him to care for his sheep. He announces how Peter will die and calls him to follow. The Gospel ends with the testimony of the beloved disciple.
John 21 is an epilogue that adds one last encounter with the risen Lord and closes the book. After the statement of purpose in John 20:31, this chapter shows the disciples going back to their trade as fishermen and Jesus finding them again in everyday life. Above all it is the restoration of Peter, who had denied him three times, and his call to shepherd.
After this, Jesus shows himself again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. Together are Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two others. Peter says he is going fishing, and the others go with him; that night they catch nothing. At daybreak Jesus is on the shore, but they do not recognize him. He asks whether they have any food, and tells them to cast the net on the right side of the boat. They do so and cannot haul it in for the quantity of fish. The beloved disciple tells Peter it is the Lord; Peter jumps into the water and the others come in the boat dragging the net.
On the shore there is a charcoal fire with fish and bread. Jesus asks them to bring some of the fish they have just caught. Peter goes up and hauls the net, full of 153 large fish, and the net is not torn. Jesus invites them to breakfast, takes the bread and the fish and gives them to them.
When they have finished eating, Jesus asks Simon Peter whether he loves him more than these. Peter answers yes, and Jesus tells him to feed his lambs. He asks a second time and a third, and Peter, grieved, answers that Jesus knows everything, and knows that he loves him. Jesus charges him to tend his sheep. He announces that when Peter is old, another will dress him and lead him where he does not want to go, indicating by what death he would glorify God. And he tells him: follow me.
Peter sees the beloved disciple following them and asks what will become of him. Jesus answers that if he wants him to remain until he comes, that is no concern of Peter's: he must follow Jesus. Jesus did not say that this disciple would not die. This is the disciple who bears witness to these things and wrote them, and his testimony is true. Jesus did so many other things that the world could not contain the books.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jesus tells the disciples to cast the net on the right side of the boat, and the net fills so that they cannot haul it in. After an empty night, obeying Jesus' word brings abundance.
Jesus asks Peter whether he loves him more than these, and charges him to feed his lambs. After his denials, Jesus does not rebuke him but asks about his love and gives him back his mission.
At the third question, Peter is grieved and answers that Jesus knows everything and knows that he loves him. The threefold question answers the threefold denial, and Peter comes away restored.
Jesus answers Peter's question about the beloved disciple's future by telling him that he must follow him. Each person has his own calling and must not compare himself with others.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: They caught nothing. — John 21:3
Answer: To cast the net on the right side of the boat, and the net filled with fish. — John 21:6
Answer: One hundred fifty-three. — John 21:11
Answer: A charcoal fire with fish and bread, and he invited them to breakfast. — John 21:9-12
Answer: Three times; he charged him to feed his lambs and tend his sheep. — John 21:15-17
Answer: Follow me. — John 21:19
The disciples, not knowing what to do, went back to what they knew, and there Jesus found them. This chapter reminds us that the risen Lord is present in ordinary work, and that his word can change an empty night. In a group you can encourage obeying Jesus in concrete things, even when it seems illogical.
Peter's restoration shows Jesus' grace to those who have failed. He does not demand explanations; he asks for love, and that love is expressed by caring for others. The forgiven can serve. And at the end he keeps telling each of us: follow me, without comparing ourselves with others' calling.
With John 21 the Gospel of John closes: Jesus, the Word made flesh, has risen, restored Peter and called his disciples to follow him. The book ends with the true testimony of the beloved disciple and the admission that what is written is only a part of all that Jesus did, so that readers may believe and have life in his name.
Many interpreters see in the three questions an answer to Peter's three denials. Thus Peter has the chance to confess his love before the others and is restored. The text does not say it in those words, but it fits the context of the charcoal fire that recalls the courtyard of John 18.
The text gives the exact number, which suggests the memory of an eyewitness. Some interpreters have proposed symbolic meanings, but none is certain. What is clear is the abundance and that the net did not tear.
Jesus answered Peter's curiosity with a conditional statement: if he wanted that disciple to remain until he came, that was no concern of Peter's. John clarifies that Jesus did not say he would not die. The point is that each disciple must follow Jesus without comparing.