Reflection on John 20:19-21:25

On the day that Jesus rose, being the first of the week, the day after the Jewish Sabbath, the disciples heard Mary Magdalene's report that she saw the resurrected Jesus. They also got the other women's reports that they were told by angels that Jesus was alive and later saw Him. They also learned that two disciples from Emmaus had seen the Lord and talked with Him. Plus, Peter and John had visited the empty tomb, and at least, John had believed in Jesus' resurrection. "On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together" to share all they had experienced that day, compare notes, consider whether they had sufficient evidence of their Master's resurrection, and consult what was now to be done, they kept "the doors locked for fear of the Jews." They had not fully grasped the reality of Jesus' resurrection. They didn't want to be seen together. But the disciples of Jesus still assembled together even in a difficult and fearful time.

 

They must have expected no one to come among them but what did they know! Suddenly, without knocking on the locked door, "Jesus came and stood among them." Obviously, the resurrected body of Christ was not limited by closed doors. The Lord had sent to His disciples the tidings of His resurrection, but to show His love to them and to confirm their faith in Him, the Lord also came in person. Jesus gave them all the assurance they could desire of His resurrection so that the disciples might be eyewitnesses of His being alive. First, Jesus said to them, "Peace be with you!" The disciples were probably expecting words of rebuke or blame since they deserted their Master on Friday. Instead, Jesus brought a word of peace and reconciliation which He could offer to His disciples only after He won the battle with the devil and conquered death. Then “He showed them His hands and side.” Jesus gave assurance to the disciples about who He was and that He really had risen from the dead. “The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.”  Their joy of forgiveness of sin and peace with God was as real as Jesus' physical death and bodily resurrection.

 

Then the Lord repeated His offer of peace and gave His disciples a commission. He said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." Jesus Christ established peace with God for His own people. If He is with us, peace is to us. The Lord's commission to His disciples is to send them to spread peace to the troubled world. This commission is still in effect. The Lord commanded all of His followers to do this work. He made no exceptions for gender, race and social status. He has a power to send them equal to that which the Father has to send Him. Jesus' peace and power gives all His followers what they need to carry out His commission. On that night, after Jesus offered words of peace twice to His disciples, He breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit", a token of His promised empowerment, which would be fulfilled at Pentecost. The disciples would carry out their commission in and through the Holy Spirit whom the Father gives to all who believe in Jesus Christ. Only after breathing on them the Holy Spirit does Jesus give His disciples the authority to announce forgiveness and to warn of guilt. He authorized them, "If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." No mere human can forgive another person's sins in the sense of the removing their sin in God's sight. The Holy Spirit empowers believers to give the gospel call to people to repent, believe and receive forgiveness. When believers share the gospel, they have authority from God to declare forgiveness to all who believe in Christ, also have authority to warn all who reject Christ to their end punishment.

 

There was one disciple missed the first gathering. Thomas, "one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, 'we have seen the Lord!' But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hands into his side, I will not believe it." Thomas was not a doubter, but an unbeliever who refused to accept the valid testimony of others. He closed his ears to the news of Jesus' resurrection which sounded too good to be true. He stubbornly refused to believe by heart, but demanded to see by eye. He felt he needed more solid evidence. Thomas is a good example in many ways. He refused to say he understood when he didn't. He refused to pretend to believe when he didn't. The Lord didn't forget Thomas, the previously absent disciple, the skeptic one. "A week later His disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you!'" The Lord showed Himself a second time to His disciples specifically for Thomas. The Lord said to him, "Put your finger here, see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side." Jesus allowed Thomas even to thrust his hand into his side, if Thomas would believe. What went through Thomas' mind when Jesus addressed Thomas' demands for solid evidence? Next Jesus solemnly commanded Thomas to make his life choice by saying, "Stop doubting and believe." The Lord knows all unbelieving words on our tongues and all unbelieving thoughts in our minds at any time. Thomas was startled by how the Lord knew the precise nature of his unbelief, down to the exact words he had used. Thomas' unbelief fled in front of his resurrected Lord. When he did understand and believe, he went all the way and boldly proclaimed of Jesus Christ, "My Lord and my God!" His faith sprang at once to the highest peak of belief and worship. The faith of Thomas is one of the climaxes of the book: Jesus has triumphed over death and sorrow, now He conquers unbelief.

 

After Thomas believed, the Lord turned to address all future generations of believers. He told Thomas, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." The Lord commends the faith of those who believe upon the promise made by the Father, not upon the things which they saw. As a believer, Thomas was truly blessed; but even more blessed are those that have not seen. This may look either backwards, on the Old Testament saints who had not seen the Christ yet believed God's promise and lived by their faith, or forwards, on those who believe today having never seen Jesus in the flesh.

 

The last chapter of the Gospel according to John is known as the Epilogue. John starts this chapter by giving us the account of Jesus' appearance to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias which is also called the Sea of Galilee. "It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together." Simon Peter told them, "I am going out to fish." The others said, "We will go with you." "So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing." Whether they went to fishing out of boredom, diligence or need, their own efforts were futile. The dawn was near when the disappointed men began to row toward shore.

 

“Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus." The Lord showed Himself to them when they were most at a loss, when they thought they had lost themselves since they couldn't catch any fish, considering them as professional fishermen. The Lord let them know that they had not lost Him. He stood in triumph at the shore, though not immediately recognized by His disciples. Jesus called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?" When so many former professional fishermen totally failed at fishing, they must have been embarrassed to answer, "No." But Jesus wasn't asking the question to embarrass them. He asked as a tender father concerning His children whether they be provided with what they needed. He wanted them to know Him as their Provider. He desired to satisfy them with His presence. Jesus Christ designed the events to have the disciples to recognize they were empty and needy, in order for them to be fulfilled through Him. He ordered them "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." They followed Jesus' command. Almost immediately, "they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish." They were enriched with a great draught of fishes. Later, the apostles who let down the net at Christ's word, had wonderful success as being "fishers of men".

 

Then, recognition dawned on John who suddenly blurted out, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard it was the Lord, the ship could not hold him, into the sea he threw himself, that he might come first to the Lord he loved. "The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread." The aroma of fish and bread cooking on the fire filled the morning air. The Lord had provision ready for them. When they came to shore, wet and cold, weary and hungry, they found a good fire to warm and dry them, a good meal to satisfy them. We may be comforted in this instance of Jesus' care of His own. Jesus said to the disciples, "Bring some of the fish you have just caught." He included them in His work. He wanted them to enjoy the labor of their hands. The benefits the Lord bestows upon us are not to be buried and laid up, but to be used and laid out.

 

As Jesus cooked the meal and called the disciples to breakfast, "none of the disciples dared to ask him, 'Who are you?' They knew it was the Lord." There seems something unusual about Jesus' appearance after His resurrection. Also perhaps He appeared in something of a disguise, yet the disciples had very good reason to think it was He, and could be no other. Observing the disciples to be still shy and timorous, "Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish." The Lord not only provided the meal for them, and invited them to it, but He Himself divided it among them, and put it into their hands. Jesus brings ultimate satisfaction to all who call Him their Lord. John recorded this lakeside breakfast to further confirm the truth of Jesus' resurrection. John said, "This was now the third time Jesus appeared to His disciples after he was raised from the dead."

 

Peter probably reached shore only slightly ahead of the boat. He saw a fire of burning coals which may have reminded him when he denied his Lord as he warmed himself at another fire of burning coals in the high priest's courtyard. But the Lord didn't mention his betrayal at all. The Lord first offered him good meal and waited for him to finish. Then the Lord gave Peter the opportunity to confess his love for Him as many times as he had denied Him. By God's grace, Peter's humble, public confession of love, repeated three times, allowed him to erase the shame in his heart. 

 

"When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, 'Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?'" Perhaps Jesus now glanced at the other disciples as He asked Peter, Peter no longer dared compare himself with others as he once did in boasting, "Even if all fall away, I will not."  He simply said, "Yes Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus asked Peter three times. For the first two times, Peter responded the same way. On the third time, Peter had no more defense. He replied, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Once, Peter had found his confidence in his own heart, his love, his zeal, his faithfulness. Now the three-time repetition served as a plain reminder of his previous three-time denial. It helped Peter to realize the weakness of his strength. But he could rest in Jesus' knowledge of everything hidden in his heart. Jesus challenged Peter to face his failure squarely and renewed Peter's attitude towards himself and his Lord, then challenged him to set his eyes on the work ahead. Jesus told him three times, "Feed my sheep." The Lord designed His questions to restore Peter as leader of the apostles and commission him to shepherd His people. How willing are we to allow Jesus to uncover our weakness and need? We can not feed Jesus' sheep until we recognize our own hunger and weakness and repent of the ways we try to satisfy ourselves.

 

Next, the Lord spoke to Peter about the future He planned for him. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Jesus promised Peter that his life will end in utter faithfulness, that in the end Peter will make a faithful stand for Jesus and be persecuted. Peter once declared to the Lord, "I will lay down my life for you" in his own strength. Now Jesus revealed to Peter that he would enable Peter to express his love for Him by fulfilling that vow when Peter was crucified on his cross. The Lord gave Peter what his heart truly desired by telling him, "Follow me!" In the past, Peter had rejected the cross. Now the cross would be the center of Peter's life. From this time forward, Jesus was the only Master of his life, he followed closely. He made it his work to "feed" those he shepherded with his Master's loving heart. In the end, he embraced his death by crucifixion with joy since his Master gave him the glory in persecution and martyrdom.

 

Peter got his life planned out by his Master. Yet, he was still a man with weakness. After Jesus said to Peter, "Follow me" and began to move away, Peter followed his Master tightly. He should keep his eyes focused on Jesus to follow Him all the time, but he "turned and saw" John was following closely. He couldn't help with his curiosity, but asked, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus' rebuke came swiftly, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." God has His own perfect plan for each one of His children. He designs it with much care so each one of them may flourish, to bring glory to Him. Jesus' words apply to us also. Instead of worrying about what the Lord will do with other believers, or making comparisons, our focus should be on His command to "Follow me". 

 

Unfortunately, "because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, 'If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?'" John wrote this Gospel when he was already a very old man. This rumor must have grieved him as John desired the focus to remain on Jesus. He took this opportunity to make clear how false this rumor was.

 

John makes the conclusion to his Gospel in two places. This first place is in chapter 20:30-31. John noted, "Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." Every sign and each word John chose to include was purposeful. John intended for the readers to recognize the evidence of the signs and believe Jesus is the Messiah, Savior and Lord, so that they may receive new life in His name. 

 

The second place is at the end of this Gospel, chapter 21:24-25. John wrote these final words as his own declaration that his witness is totally reliable, but also incomplete. He said, "This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down. I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." The Gospel according to John gives us only a fraction of all Jesus did and said in His life on earth, but the Bible gives us all we need to know Him and live life for His glory. God's storybook has no end, and the events in His story are to continue as we obey Jesus' command to "follow Me". This Gospel book is a love letter from Jesus to call us to follow Him into eternity. The Lord asks a personal relationship with each of us and has a separate path for each of us to walk with Him in His love.