Swindoll Study Bible - Book of John - Flipbook - Page 55
J ohn 2 0 : 3 1
31 But
these are written so that you may continue to
believe* that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God,
and that by believing in him you will have life by the
power of his name.
Epilogue: Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples
21
Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples
beside the Sea of Galil ee.* This is how it happened. 2 Several of the disciples were there—Simon
Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin),* Nathanael
from Cana in Galil ee, the sons of Zebed
ee, and two
other disciples.
3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”
“We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in
the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
4 At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the
disciples couldn’t see who he was. 5 He called out,
“Fellows,* have you caught any fish?”
“No,” they replied.
6 Then he said, “Throw out your net on the righthand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they
did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there
were so many fish in it.
7 Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s
the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the
Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for
work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore.
8 The others stayed with the boat and pulled the
loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a
hundred yards* from shore. 9 When they got there,
they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking
over a charcoal fire, and some bread.
10 “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus
said. 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the
net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet
the net hadn’t torn.
12 “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus
said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who
are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Then Jesus
served them the bread and the fish. 14 This was the
1316
third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since
he had been raised from the dead.
15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon
son of John, do you love me more than these?*”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”
“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.
16 Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John,
do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”
“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.
17 A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John,
do you love me?”
Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third
time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know
that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.
18 “I tell you the truth, when you were young, you
were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself
and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you
are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others*
will dress you and take you where you don’t want to
go.” 19 Jesus said this to let him know by what kind
of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him,
“Follow me.”
20 Peter turned around and saw behind them the
disciple Jesus loved—the one who had leaned over to
Jesus during supper and asked, “Lord, who will betray
you?” 21 Peter asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord?”
22 Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive until
I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”
23 So the rumor spread among the community of believers* that this disciple wouldn’t die. But that isn’t
what Jesus said at all. He only said, “If I want him to
remain alive until I return, what is that to you?”
24 This disciple is the one who testifies to these
events and has recorded them here. And we know
that his account of these things is accurate.
25 Jesus also did many other things. If they were all
written down, I suppose the whole world could not
contain the books that would be written.
LIVING INSIGHTS
20:31 Some manuscripts read that you may believe. 21:1 Greek Sea of Tiberias, another name for the Sea of Galilee. 21:2 Greek Thomas, who was called Didymus.
21:5 Greek Children. 21:8 Greek 200 cubits [90 meters]. 21:15 Or more than these others do? 21:18 Some manuscripts read and another one. 21:23 Greek the brothers.
AN ABUNDANCE OF FISH John 21:1-11 I can’t
THE GREATEST TOPIC OF ALL John 21:25 Of all
imagine catching 153 large fish. There were probably
several hundred pounds of fish in that net. The disciples
couldn’t even get the net into the boat. While they were
trying to heave it onto the boat, John recognized Jesus and
said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” (John 21:7). What caused him
to recognize Jesus? Perhaps it was the memory of a very
similar moment, three years earlier, when they had fished
all night along this same shore and not caught a thing—at
least until a certain Man told them to let down their nets
again (see Luke 5:1-11).
subjects, theology is the deepest. Of all categories within
that subject, the Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest. So when
anyone announces that he or she plans to speak or write
about the Lord Jesus Christ, that person has chosen the
deepest and the greatest of all topics imaginable. It is
also inexhaustible. If someone were to speak of the Lord
Jesus, beginning now and going on for generations and
generations to come, the knowledge of Him would barely
be tapped. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
