John 21

http://www.esvbible.org/John+21/

Sorry, it's catch up time. Now, the conclusion of John...

Jesus shows Himself to the disciples a third time. Three is that holy number, but it is also enough times so that they do not question that what they have seen is true. The past two appearances, Jesus appeared to them on the Sabbath, and they were almost expecting Him. Jesus is not predictable though, so He shows up casually on a weekday this time. His unpredictability is also why the end of the world didn't happen back in May. God was saying that no one can predict what He is going to do; therefore, He saved the end of the world for later. The fact that the disciples were hanging out together shows that they enjoyed being around other believers. Today, we should spend time around other believers to fellowship or just talk and listen. When Jesus shows Himself to the disciples, they have just had a fruitless night fishing; Jesus shows Himself to His people when they are at a loss. After we feel like we've lost everything, He reminds us that He has not lost us. As the poem of footprints in the sand says, He is carrying us. When the disciples arrive on shore, they see that Jesus has prepared for them. He has a fire for them to warm and dry themselves, and food for them to eat.

Jesus later pulls Peter aside and asks Him three times if Peter loves Him. This is significant because earlier, Peter had denied Jesus three times. Jesus tells Peter to take care of His sheep, meaning that Peter needs to begin the church to look after the Christians after Jesus leaves. Jesus then foretells of Peter's death, and since John outlives all of the other disciples, he sees it happen. Peter sees that John is standing nearby and asks what will happen to Him. Jesus says that His plan for John is not Peter's concern, and that if He wants John to live until the second coming, John will. John then says a rumor was started that he was going to live until the second coming, but that is not quite what Jesus said. John finishes by saying the disciple whom Jesus loved recorded all of these things and we can take them to be true. He also says Jesus did many other amazing things, but if he had written them all down, there would not be enough space on earth to hold all of the books. When we look at all of the great things Jesus is still doing in our lives, and the lives of those around us and in the world in general, we can see this to be true.