Sermon Tone Analysis

TITLE:    Feed my lambs!

\\ \\ SERMON IN A SENTENCE:   Christ calls those who love him to feed his lambs and tend his sheep.

\\ \\ SCRIPTURE:    John 21:1-19 \\ \\ EXEGESIS:   \\ \\ VERSES  1-3:   I AM GOING FISHING.

\\ \\ 1After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way.

2Gathered there together  were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples.

3Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing."

They said to him, "We will go with you."

They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

\\ \\ The Sea of Tiberius (v. 1) is another name for the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus has been in the vicinity of Jerusalem since 7:10, so this transition to Galilee is abrupt.

\\ \\ Seven disciples are mentioned (v. 2) without telling us why only seven:  \\ \\ -- Nathanael is mentioned only in this Gospel, and is best known for doubting that anything good could come out of Nazareth (1:46) -- but after meeting Jesus Nathanael confessed, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God!

You are the King of Israel" (1:49).

\\ \\ -- Thomas is famous for doubting the resurrection (20:25), but when Jesus appears to him Thomas confessed, "My Lord and my God!" (20:28).

\\ \\ -- Peter has confessed Jesus as "the holy one of God" (6:69), but is famous for denying Jesus (18:15-18, 25-27).

He is a deeply flawed man, but has been and will continue to be the leader of the disciples.

\\ \\ -- The sons of Zebedee, James and John, are mentioned frequently in the Synoptics, but only here in the Gospel of John.

\\ \\ -- "and two others" (v.

2).

One of these is "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (v.

7 -- see also 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20).

This Gospel never names this disciple, and many scholars believe him to be the author of this Gospel.

Another might be Andrew, Peter's brother, one of two disciples of John who followed Jesus (1:35-37), and the one who led Peter to Jesus (1:40-42).

\\ \\ "Simon Peter said to them, 'I am going fishing.'

They said to him, 'We  will go with you' " (v.

3).

In the Synoptics, Jesus invites Peter and Andrew -- both fishermen -- to follow him, promising to make them "fish for people" -- or halieis anthropon -- fishers of men (Matt.

4:19; Mark 1:17).

Some scholars suggest that, by returning to their fishing boats, \\ these disciples are turning their backs on their responsibility to be halieis anthropon.

That, however, reads too much into the text.

People have to eat, and fishermen get their food from the sea.

\\ \\ Also, when people do not know what to do, they do what they know – turn to the comfort of familiar activity.

Peter is a fisherman, accustomed to a busy, physically demanding life on the sea.

We should expect him to grow restless when not working and to welcome the busyness of boat and nets.

He and the other disciples take up their nets, row their boats, and look for fish.

Very natural!

\\ \\ And yet, there is danger here too.

Immersed in what is familiar, people sometimes fail to do what is necessary.

Will that happen to these disciples?

Will they return to ministry?

Jesus intervenes to insure that they will not be lost permanently to their old ways.

\\ \\ \\ VERSES  4-8:   IT IS THE LORD! \\ \\ 4Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

5Jesus said to them, "Children, you have no fish, have you?"

They answered him, "No." 6He said to them, "Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some."

So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.

7That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!"

When Simon \\ Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea.

8But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging (Greek: surontes -- different from the verb in v. 11) the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off (Greek: pechon diakosion -- two hundred cubits -- a cubit being roughly 18 inches or half a meter) \\ \\ "Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus" (v. 4).

We have two resurrection motifs here.

Mary Magdalene visited Jesus' tomb early in the morning (20:1), and initially failed to recognize Jesus (20:15).

\\ \\ Why do the disciples fail to recognize Jesus?

Perhaps distance or poor light prevent them from seeing him clearly.

Perhaps Jesus' post-resurrection appearance is different.

Perhaps their eyes are clouded so that they do not recognize him.

Mary did not recognize Jesus on Easter until he called her name (20:16).

On the Emmaus road, the disciples' \\ "eyes were kept from recognizing him" until "he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them" (Luke 24:13, 30).

\\ \\ "Children, you have no fish, have you?" (v.

5).

The word children (paidia -- not teknon) suggests a familiar relationship.

One would not ordinarily call fishermen children without expecting a hostile response.

\\ \\ "Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some" (v.

6).

Some scholars note that Greeks consider the right side to be the lucky side.

However, "it is difficult to understand what relevance this has to the New Testament.

Obedience to Christ, not luck, is the important thing" for this story (Morris, 762).

\\ \\ These men obey Jesus even though they have not recognized him.

It is not unusual for bystanders to suggest a different "fishing hole" to an unsuccessful fisherman.

Sometimes local people who know local secrets, so we should not be too surprised that these men follow Jesus' suggestion.

The result of their obedience is a catch so great that they cannot haul it in (v. 6).

\\ \\ "That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, 'It is the Lord!'

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea" (v.

7).

Just as on Easter morning, the beloved disciple is the first to see and believe and Peter is the first to act (see 20:6-8).

Note that they first obeyed and only then were able to see and understand.

We should take note.

When faith is dim, acting in faith inspires faith.

\\ \\ It seems odd that Peter would clothe himself before jumping into the water.

Brown notes that:  (1) Peter would not have been completely naked, but would have been lightly clad;  (2) "the verb diazonnynai.can

mean to put on clothes, but more properly it means to tuck them up and tie them in with a cincture so that one can have freedom of movement to do something."

(3) Peter most likely just tucks his fisherman's smock into his cincture \\ before jumping into the water (Brown, 1072).

\\ \\ "But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off" (v.

8).

Hauling a net full of thrashing fish through the shallows is heavy work.

One hundred fifty-three large fish would weigh hundreds of pounds.

A hundred yards is the length of a football field -- quite a distance to drag a heavy weight.

Peter will complete the task by himself in v. 11. \\ \\ VERSES  9-14:   SIMON PETER HAULED THE NET ASHORE \\ \\ 9When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire (Greek:  anthrakian) there, with fish on it, and bread.

10Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught."

11So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled (Greek: heilkusen) the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn.

12Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast."

Now none of the disciples \\ dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they knew it was the Lord.

13Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.

14This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

\\ \\ "When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire (Greek:  anthrakian) there, with fish on it, and bread" (v.

9).

The only other time that we find this word anthrakian in the NT is when Peter warmed himself over a charcoal fire as he betrayed Jesus (18:18, 25-27).

Now Jesus will give him a chance to redeem himself beside another anthrakian.

\\ \\ "Bring some of the fish that you have just caught" (v.

10).

Jesus has already prepared fish and bread.

Presumably, he needs more fish to feed this group of hungry men.

\\ "So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled (Greek: heilkusen) the net ashore" (v.

11).

Jesus used this verb, helkein, on two earlier occasions in this Gospel to describe drawing people to himself (6:44; 12:32).

"The use of this verb with reference to the disciples and the catch of fish suggests that (the disciples) now join God and Jesus in drawing people to Jesus" (O'Day, 858; see also Brown, 1097; Smith, 393-394; Krentz and Vogel, 30).

\\ What the rest of the disciples were not able to do (v.

6), Peter accomplishes by himself (v.

11).

This is a tribute, not only to Peter's physical strength, but also to his leadership role among the disciples.

\\ \\ "full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them" (v.

11).

Christians as early as Augustine have gone to great lengths trying to tease out the meaning of this number.

They note that 153 is the sum of the numbers 1 through 17 (1+2+3...+17=153) -- and that 17 is the sum of 7 and 10 (7+10=17) -- and that 7 is the sum of 3 plus 4 (3+4=7).