Study Format:
1. Read passage aloud. What did you notice in the reading? What words or phrase caught your attention?
2. Read passage aloud a second time. What questions would you ask the text?
3. Read passage aloud a third time. What do you hear God calling you to do or be in response to this text?
Interesting Ideas to Consider:
• The earlier resurrection appearances all took place in Jerusalem in set times. Now the story shifts to the Sea of Tiberius, “after these things.” O’Day posits that this move expands Jesus presence to wherever and whenever the disciples gather.
• The verb “to show oneself” or “to reveal,” (vs. 1, beginning and end), phaneroo, in John’s Gospel is associated with times in which Jesus revealed his identity. For example the wedding at Cana in 2:11 and the healing of the man born blind in 9:3, and the summary of the purpose of Jesus ministry in 1:31 and 17:6.
• John 21 is the first time Nathanael is mentioned since the call narrative in 1:45-50. At that time, Jesus promised that Nathanael would “see greater things” (1:50). His reappearance here may demonstrate the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise.
• Scholars are divided on verse 3, why the disciples went fishing. Some see it as a sign of the disciples’ abandoning Jesus, others an indication of their aimlessness, still others as fulfilling the command to be sent in John 20:21. Why do you think the disciples went fishing? And does the reason effect how you read the story? Whatever you think, there’s a theologian who agrees with you, so feel free to try out several theories.
• Consistent with other resurrection appearances, the disciples did not recognize Jesus until after the nets were full of fish. Though he was standing on the shore, and they’d seen him at least twice by this point, it wasn’t until he revealed himself in filling their nets with fish, that they recognized him.
• Again an interaction between Peter and the beloved disciple. Once again the beloved disciple recognizes Jesus first, once again Peter is over-eager. Peter is naked (it was not uncommon to fish in the nude), then he puts clothes on to jump in the water. Caught between his desire to greet Jesus with proper respect (that is, wearing clothes) and his eagerness to greet him, O’Day refers to this as “Peter’s buffoonish enthusiasm.”
• Why 153 fish? Seems like a rather specific number. The point is obviously, a lot of fish, a miraculous catch of fish. But why the specificity? Theologians, again, are divided. Augustine posits that since 153 is the sum of all of the numbers 1 through 17, it indicates completeness. Some see it as a sign of the totality of the church. Others think the specificity is to confirm the trustworthiness of the memory of the eyewitness. Some think 153 represents every known type of fish to exist at the time. Why do you think they caught 153 fish? Again, whatever you think, there is a good chance a respected theologian agrees with you.
• The verb “to haul,” helko, used in vs. 11 is the same word used to describe the saving effect of Jesus death (6:44 “No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father, 12:32 “when I am lifted up from earth, will draw all people to myself”). The disciples who once drew fish, now join Jesus in the work of drawing people to God, the narrative fulfillment of Jesus’ words to the disciples at the Last Supper, that they would share in his works.
• Jesus cooked for the disciples over a charcoal fire (21:9), before asking Peter three times “Do you love me?” (21:15-17). The last time we saw Peter he was near a charcoal fire, and he denied Jesus three times (18:15-18, 25-27).
• “Feed my sheep.” At the Last Supper, Jesus told the disciples they would share in his work. Here we see what it means to share in the work of Jesus, it means to care for the flock of Jesus.
• At the Last Supper, Jesus told him that Peter could not follow Jesus now (13:36). Now Jesus ends with the phrase, “Follow me.” The time has come when Peter can follow Jesus, not just in feeding sheep, but into true discipleship. Peter can now truly do what he had falsely boasted of before, he can lay down his life in love. That reliable bastion of knowledge, Wikipedia, states that early church tradition says Peter died by martyrdom, possibly by crucifixion, in Rome following the Great Fire of 64 C.E., which Nero wanted to blame on Christians. This death fits both the promise that Peter could now fully follow Jesus to death, as well as the description of Peter’s death in 21:18-19.
Works Sourced:
O’Day, Gail. “The Gospel of John.” The New Interpreter’s Bible Volume IX. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1995.
Wikipedia. “Saint Peter.” < https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Peter>. Accessed 4 April 2016.
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