THE GOSPEL OF JOHN: One Special Breakfast

Pastor Steven Osborne
Transcribed by PulpitAI (with edits)

What has been your favorite breakfast of all time? Can you recall your favorite breakfast of all time? I’ve had several. You know, I think about the morning after our wedding ceremony—we were all with our family together, this beautiful setting. That was quite special. There was a moment in San Diego where we had breakfast and it was right on the beach and just beautiful sunrise. It was like, “Man, that’s pretty amazing,” right? And so you name it, whatever that favorite moment has been for you with a breakfast event. This morning, you’re going to read about a breakfast event that is spectacular. None of my events and experiences come even close, I think, to what we will be reading about this morning with this beautiful breakfast and time with Jesus.

The Power of Prayer

But before we do read John chapter 21, I want to just kind of set the stage a little bit here for us as we think about the power of prayer. Who believes in the power of prayer? Good, praise the Lord, you’re in the right place. I believe in the power of prayer. I know I’m only standing here today because of people that have prayed for me, and even more so as we think about the life of Jesus. Venessa and I are busy with our study that we’re working through, and it looks at moments where Jesus withdraws, and he spends time with his Father in prayer, and just the importance of that with all of the hard ministry that is happening. And one of those prayers we see is in John 17. It says:

… that all of them… [so this is the prayer of Jesus] … that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.

Powerful, powerful prayer. We are not privy to all of the prayers in the life of Jesus. You know, it was intimate times. I wish we had more information about what that prayer looked like with God. What are some of the things that he prayed for? I can only assume that he was praying for his disciples, right? And there is so much weight and events that will happen, obviously, in the life of Jesus that he’s praying for. We see that he wept for Jerusalem, and again, just as he’s praying in the garden about what is ahead of him, and then we know today, in Romans 8:34, we know that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father, and he is interceding for us. Romans 8:34 says:

Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

That hit me a little different this week as I was reading that. I am so grateful that Jesus is interceding for me, that he’s praying for us. We should be successful. We should be able to overcome some of these obstacles in life and things that life throws at us and the enemy throws at us and the brokenness and things that we experience. That should be so encouraging to know that Jesus is praying for us. And again, I don’t know exactly what that all looks like, but I was so encouraged, like, “Man, Jesus is interceding for me!” He’s interceding for us, right, and all of the things that is going on in this world. And again, I don’t have all of the details on what that looks like, but I’m just gonna stand on God’s Word, and I’m trusting that Jesus is interceding and standing in the gap for me. And boy do I need it, because I’m a knucklehead, right? And like I shared with you last week, you know, just my confession. Praise the Lord, this week I don’t have any confessions. I made it, right? Didn’t get in trouble at Costco. Praise God, it was a great week. I actually helped a lady at Home Depot. It’s like, “Sweet, bonus points,” right? And so no confession for you, but it’s just—I need prayer, and I’m so grateful that Jesus is interceding for me and that he’s interceding for you.

And so, as we just ponder all of the prayers and we reflect on all of the prayers in the life of Jesus—the little bit that we know through scripture, right—I’m sure that he was just, you know, as he’s praying for the disciples and thinking about their temptation and some of that inner battles and things that are going on in their lives—obviously they’re doing life together for that three years, right, and so Jesus is seeing the stuff that they’re dealing with. They’re struggling with doubt, they’re dealing with pride, right? And I’m sure every time he was taking time to be with the Father and pray, he’s like, “Okay, Lord. Just… man, Peter. How many times, Lord?” Right? Whatever that looked like, I’m not exactly sure, but all I know is that he’s praying for them, and it must have an effect in the spiritual realm. And it is having an effect in the spiritual realm that Jesus Christ is praying for us. And I’m so grateful that he took that time, that he modeled that for us on how to pray.

Why Chapter 21?

And so, as we look at chapter 21, when you read commentaries, there’s kind of some confusion, because people will look at chapter 20 and say, “Why not stop at chapter 20?” Because it actually, in a sense, has the perfect ending. Here’s the ending, chapter 20. If you have your Bible, you can turn to John 20, verse 30–31:

Jesus performed many other 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 Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

End, period. Like, wow, that’s a pretty good book. Let’s just… we can stop right here. I mean, that sounds like an ending and a closing of the Gospel of John. And so commentators are baffled about why 21 and kind of how that all fits in.

But I’m so grateful for chapter 21 because it gives us some direction and it gives us answers to some of our questions about the life of Peter, because when we read some of these chapters before, we don’t have a lot of information about the life of Peter at this point, right? What is Peter gonna do? You know, he kind of denied Jesus; he’s off somewhere, he’s off fishing. What is happening in the life of the disciples? I think that this was a very vulnerable, probably—and I’m just kind of reading into it in scriptures—I think that they were scared and uncertain, that there wasn’t a whole lot of clarity in their lives after the resurrection of Jesus. They faced so much different experiences, and I’m sure that they had so many questions that was going on in their lives. It’s like, “Okay, what now? First we were coming through Jerusalem, everyone’s excited, then Jesus get crucified, Peter denies him, right, and then it’s the whole Resurrection, then Jesus is here and then he’s not.” It’s like, “Okay, what now? What do we do with all of that information?” And I think chapter 21 really helps the disciples, to minister to them and to give them clarity as they get ready for Acts, for the beginning of the new church. And so I think this breakfast that we will be reading about has a profound impact in their life, and really I think because of that moment we are reaping the benefits of even just church today.

Reading of the Scripture

So if you have your Bible, let’s read, and we’ll read the whole chapter. So John, chapter 21.

Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I am going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

“No,” they answered.

He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153…

Grateful for that number, right? That’s just bragging.

… but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

… Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. Very truly I tell you, 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 said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is going to betray you?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?”

Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers 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?”

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.

May God bless his word this morning in our lives and really speak to us.

Returning to Galilee in Unity

All the events leading up to this happened in Jerusalem—you had the Crucifixion, the Resurrection—and now, in all of the confusion, the disciples ends up back in Galilee. Now there’s a lot of conversation around that. Why did they go back to that area? It is quite a hike, right? It’s one thing to have a vehicle; it’s another to walk all the way from Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee, right, especially to that Tiberias area. But we find John chapter 21 happening in that particular area. It is not a coincidence. I don’t think it is just because they were running to the Sea of Galilee because they had nowhere else to go. There’s two passages I want to share with you, at least one, Matthew 26:32,

“But after I have risen I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”

I am convinced, and I’m sure that Jesus communicated with them to meet him in Galilee, right? Or even if he did not communicate that clearly to him, at least in their minds they were like, “Hey, he talked about something after the Resurrection. We kind of all click now, something is gonna happen. Let’s meet him in Galilee.” And so off they went to this area.

What is interesting, in chapter 21, verse 2, it says that  “the other disciples were together.” Some commentaries go a little deeper in this, talking about their unity. They don’t all have clarity on what is happening next in their lives and what’s the next steps in the early church. Remember, we have kind of the full picture right now on the whole scripture. We know how everything played out, but it wasn’t clear to them. They didn’t have the picture of all of Acts playing out in front of them, right? They’re still dealing with this trauma and trying to put these pieces together. And so they’re in Galilee and they’re together. They are united.

Back to Fishing

And so Peter comes up with this idea. He’s like, “Well, I don’t know exactly what to do next,” and he’s like, “Well, let’s go fishing.” And I can see why he made that suggestion. You know, what else are you gonna do? Because you’re waiting for Jesus. You don’t know exactly what to do next. And so they knew how to fish. That was his occupation before Jesus called him into ministry, before Jesus called him as a disciple. So he knows how to fish.

He’s nothing like me. Like, we got blessed one day. Somebody paid for us to go out on Lake Superior to go fishing. And so you go on this boat, and they pretty much do everything for you, right? And it’s beautiful; it’s my type of fishing, right? And so you just kind of sit there, and then he’s like, “Hey, I think you have a bite, come,” and he’ll get things going. And then you just stand there and you kind of reel this thing in, right? It’s like, score, big time, beautiful fish. And you feel like a success story at the end of the day with these beautiful fish that you caught, right? And so again, I’m grateful because on my own, that’s not my background. I know nothing what I’m doing. I’ve been out with many people, with Venessa, it’s like, I’m a dud, right? You do not want me to go with you fishing or trying to teach you how to fish. It’s like, yeah, it’s just not my background. And I’ll take a book, right, or I’ll row. When Venessa and Hailey’s in there, it’s like, “Hey, let me just row,” because again, this is kind of just boring sitting out there on the lake, and especially if nothing is biting, and most of the time they’re not biting for me. So in any case.

But these guys knew how to fish. It is amazing to watch somebody that knows what they’re doing. It was amazing to go out with this person that took us out and to see—I mean, they knew, and it didn’t take long, and suddenly you know, there’s just… you got beautiful, amazing fish that we’re reeling in. So he knew. I was amazed, and that’s the type of guy that I want to hang out. And so in the natural, I want to hang out with Peter and the disciples because they knew how to fish. I mean, there should be pretty good odds for them.

Peter’s State of Mind

So they’re waiting on Jesus. They’re waiting on kind of what’s the next moment. We also know that Peter is probably still dealing with some stuff in his life because he just came off denying Jesus. Now I don’t know that that is just something that you just deal with, right? And again, in the midst of everything that is happening and the craziness and traveling, and then to have that weight on you, it’s like, “Man, I did life with Jesus for three years, and then I messed up. I actually told him, ‘Oh Jesus, I am with you. I will follow you till the end of my life.’ And then Jesus said, ‘No, no, no, by the end of tonight you’re gonna deny me.’” He’s like, “I will never deny you,” right? And then he did.

And so what’s all of the things that’s impacting him? It’s like, “Is this the end of the line for me? Is this the end of my ministry? Is Jesus so mad at me now that he’s gonna call somebody else? Can he still use my life? Because I am broken. I have messed up.” We can do all kinds of things that causes brokenness in our lives, but I don’t know that there’s many of us sitting here today that has actually denied Jesus Christ three times. For me, at least, as I think about that, that’s pretty up there. That’s pretty intense, especially when you have done life with Jesus, when you have been part of that inner circle, and then to kind of be so overwhelmed by fear and have such lack of faith in your life that when people are asking, it’s like, “Aren’t you one of the disciples?” And then to actually be on that place to say, “No, I don’t know him. I don’t know him.” Right? And so I’m assuming that these are some of the things that Peter is still dealing with.

Returning to Old Ways

And so Peter’s like, “Hey, let’s go fish.” And we see some of the other disciples are following him, which speaks to his leadership, so he’s kind of leading them. And I’m grateful for his leadership, because we will need that when we study the book of Acts.

And then it says, “That night they caught nothing.” Now you already experienced some discouragement. There’s already some confusion, and then the one thing that you are good at is not turning out great. You’re sitting out on that boat all night, Sea of Galilee, it’s like, “I know how to fish,” and then nothing happens. That probably was some interesting conversation, kind of all night and all morning. I’m sure that that just added to some of the discouragement probably in their lives. I don’t know, did they just go fish because they had nothing else to do? Did they go and fish because they’re hungry? Did they go and fish to make some money? Maybe all of those things, right? And suddenly it’s like that’s not working out.

And again, we see that they return to their old ways. Isn’t that true a lot of times, when things aren’t clear for us in our lives and when we’re dealing with some struggles and just God’s vision isn’t clear for us, that a lot of times when things are silent and quiet in our lives that we say, “I’m just going to go back to my old life, my old ways, things that I’m familiar with.”

And there’s a warning for us, Proverbs chapter 3, it says:

Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

This is a powerful passage, right, that’s important for all of us. In the natural it’s easy for us to tap into human wisdom and to think, “I have it all figured out. I don’t need Jesus.” But to actually trust him, right, and to be obedient in the direction that God has for us. We have to lean into him because he knows better. Can I hear an amen? We have to lean into him because he knows better. Can I hear amen? God knows better in direction and path for your life than what you know. And so it is important not to just lean in your own understanding and your own wisdom; you need to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit. You need to study God’s Word. We need to lean in for our lives.

Blessing in Obedience

Then it continues:

Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”

“No,” they answered.

That was probably a little humbling.

He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

Again, here’s a stranger at least—they’re not recognizing Jesus. They are professional fishermen, right, and they’ve been out there all night. They know that region, and there’s nothing, and here’s Jesus and he says, “Hey, throw out the net on the other side.” And there’s call to obedience even when it doesn’t make sense.

God will call his disciples to obedience, and it’s important to listen, right? A lot of times we’re stubborn, and it’s like, again, we’re self-righteous, and we go into our own wisdom. It’s like, “Well Lord, I’ve been out there,” or, “Hey, I’ve been out there all night. Why do I need to trust you in this moment? I know what I’m doing. I am a fisherman. We’ve been out there all night, and nothing.” But we see that they are obedient, and obviously there is a blessing in their obedience. There’s always a blessing when we are obedient to Christ.

Run to Jesus

Now here’s kind of the meat, I think, and the beauty of the story, as they’re now starting to put the pieces together, because they realize—John realizes, right—“Hey, we have seen this movie play out before.” When Jesus called them the first time into ministry, pretty much the same event that happened, right? They were out fishing, and then this miracle, and Jesus calls them to be disciples, and their life changed forever. And now they find themselves very similar situation where Jesus is calling them again into ministry. And I think that this was such a profound moment in the life of Peter. Actually, we see this, that John recognizes, like, “Hey, I see what’s going on here. That’s Jesus.” And as he’s saying that, as he’s sharing that with the rest of the disciples, I love this reaction from Peter. He jumps out! Right? And he gets all excited. All he had to hear is like, “That is Jesus,” and he jumps out and he raced towards the shore to meet with Jesus.

Profound lesson here for us that he is running towards Jesus, even in the midst of his brokenness and his shame and sin. Right? I think maybe if that was me, and if I didn’t understood God’s love and grace clearly, and John said, “Well that is Jesus,” and I knew what I did in the past just several hours before, right, or days, I would say, “Well, I’m just gonna sit here. Let me just sit in the boat. You guys go ahead, say “Hi” to Jesus for me. But not Peter. He runs to the shore, jumps in the water all excited, responds, you know, very differently. John is acting and responding with his intellectual way, Right? It’s like, “There’s Jesus. I’m kind of just putting this whole puzzle together.” Peter is not turning into this great theologian; he’s like, “Man, let me just grab my jacket,” and off he goes. He can’t wait to be with Jesus.

What about us, right? So many times when we mess up, it is the last thing that we want to do is to run to Jesus. We want to run away from Jesus, and it’s only because we don’t understand how much he loves us and how much he cares for us. And it’s the worst mistake that you and I can do is to run away in our greatest moments of need and brokenness.

Restoration With Christ

And then Jesus invites them to this beautiful breakfast. There’s a fellowship that is happening. And after they had breakfast, Jesus is having this intense moment, this beautiful moment of restoration with Peter. And he asks Peter several times, “Peter, do you love me?” And then Peter responds, and he says, “Feed my lambs.” Right? “Take care of my sheep.” And he just calls him again back into ministry, and he restores him.

It is such a message for me of hope and encouragement as I’m reading this, and you just kind of see this picture plays out, because we are reminded we are not expelled from the family of God just when we mess up. He wants to restore us. Can I hear an amen? God wants to restore you. If you’re sitting here today and you have some guilt and some shame and things that you’re dealing with, God can and wants to restore you. You just need to run to him. Your life and your purpose that God has for your life, he’s not done with it just because you have messed up.

Even in this beautiful moment of fellowship with his disciples and everything that is hanging on that moment—because again, Jesus is going to return to be with the Father, and he’s leaving the future of the church, in a sense, with these disciples, which, at least for me in this moment looks very shaky. It looks shaky for me. And it says Jesus appeared to them three times to just kind of reaffirm again, “Boys, it is me. I’m really back. This was a miracle. All of those prophecies about the Messiah, it is me.” And they’re dealing with brokenness, and they’re dealing with shame and guilt and different things, right, and yet now they have to go out and start the church. Again like, “Lord, I don’t know.” That’s a big task for these guys. Things look pretty shaky. I mean, this could have been the most beautiful, most intense—when you think about sports movies and that team is kind of running behind and it’s halftime and the coach is calling them in and he’s yelling and screaming, it’s like—I don’t even want to go into that. Might bring my inner sports coach out here, right? We don’t even see that moment. There’s just a sweet moment of fellowship and restoration and Jesus spending time with them, pursuing them.

I’m so grateful that we have a Savior that is persistent in pursuing us. I have given up so many times on people. I’m so grateful that Christ doesn’t give up on me in the same way that I have given up on other people sometimes. That he’s persistent. We see that in the parable of the prodigal son. Jesus is persistent in pursuing you this morning because he loves you. He cares for you.

Lamentation, chapter 3. It says:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

You might not be faithful, but Christ is, and he loves you, and he cares for his church.

No One Is Restored to Simply Sit Around

And then, just a reminder this morning, as he’s restoring Peter and calling him back into ministry, he says, “Peter, follow me.” And a great lesson here for us. No one is restored to simply sit around. No one is restored to just simply sit around. God can use your failures, right, your big mistakes, and he can redeem those mistakes and heal you. But then it’s not just to sit there and say, “Oh, we’ll sing kumbaya.” It is to go out and be a witness about God’s faithfulness and about your brokenness and how God redeemed and how God restored his church.

I’m online these days on YouTube and different things, and I shared with you last week too, I am so discouraged when I watch some of these things because it seems like pastors are just at this point nailing and gunning each other on all of their mistakes. I actually—just telling all of the things that are wrong in their ministries. I’m not seeing a whole lot of pastors that’s actually preaching the gospel anymore. It seems like, “Hey, we’re making more money…” Pastors are making more money right now just sitting behind their microphone at home and saying, “Oh, look at that pastor, and he did that, and he did that,” right, and we’re not talking about the good news of the gospel and the restoration and the hope that can happen in people’s lives. And so those things make me so sick, and we’re acting playing judge, right, and to say, “Oh well, he’s now disqualified, and blah, blah, blah,” right? But here we see such a different picture, that Jesus comes and he restores Peter. And then it says he calls him out again into ministry and says, “Peter, I can use your life, and I will use your life,” and he did use his life to start the early church. Wow, what a redeeming moment for us.

Following Jesus Involves Sacrifice

I wonder if these words scared Peter in that moment, because we’re reminded that following Jesus involves sacrifice. Will we go where he leads us? Because even in this passage Jesus reminds Peter, he says, “Follow me, but here’s kind of the prophetic warning—it’s not going to end well for you. If you’re gonna run this race and if you’re actually gonna be my disciple, it’s not gonna end well.” And praise the Lord because of, I believe, some of these moments—this beautiful breakfast with Jesus and the restoration of Peter and the calling of him into ministry again and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost—there was such a conviction in Peter’s life that I think he said, “Bring it on.” And we actually see that in his life, right, that he was willing to die for the gospel. Quite the difference from denying Jesus three times to actually going through that.

But something happens when we meet with Jesus, when we are being restored and when the work of the Holy Spirit becomes alive in our lives, he will encourage us and motivate us. And so that’s just my word for us this morning. May you be restored, may you run to Jesus this morning. Don’t disqualify yourself because you think other people have disqualified you. If Jesus did not disqualify Peter through all those things that Peter did, man, there’s a God of grace and love and restoration, and he calls you this morning into that same love and that same restoration and to say, “Follow me. Follow me. Pay the price. It will be worth it. It will be worth it.”

Follow Through

But don’t just leave here today just feeling even restored and hopeful and not to share your testimony. That’s why Paul is saying, he says, “Man, I’m gonna just brag and boast of my weaknesses.” And for us to be on that place to say, “I’m just gonna brag about my weaknesses” and boast about it, because then God gets the glory. And there’s something beautiful when I don’t have to act like I have everything in place and that I have everything all together, because then I don’t have to trust in Jesus anymore. There’s something beautiful, when we come to our end—even with the fishing, right, sitting there all night, one commentator says this, “It was almost a bigger miracle for Jesus to make sure that none of those fish were biting all night.” But the lesson there is like, we can try and do things in our own power, or we can lean into Jesus.

And then here’s the call for us as a church, and I’ll end with this. He says, “Take care of my sheep and feed my lambs.” What does it mean to be the church of God? What does it mean for me as your pastor? Right? We can get distracted in many things in this world, but at the end of the day, what it means to be the church is to love God’s people, to love the lambs, and to feed them. When we come on a Sunday morning, we have a duty to love on the lambs, to bring encouragement, and to feed them. Amen? So simple, right? Why do we make church so complicated? We shouldn’t make it too complicated. God is good.