Oct. 30, 2024

#213 - Breakfast by the Sea: Grace, Restoration, and the Call to Follow in John 21:1-14

In this episode of The Al Pastor Podcast, Pastor Brian dives into John 21:1-14, exploring the grace and mercy of Jesus as He appears to His disciples by the Sea of Galilee. This passage highlights the disciples’ return to fishing, their miraculous catch, and the profound act of Jesus preparing breakfast for those who had abandoned Him. Pastor Brian unpacks the significance of the setting, the symbolism of the catch, and the beauty of Jesus’ call to fellowship and restoration. Listeners are encouraged to reflect on the unending grace of God and the sufficiency of His provision.

Show Notes
Transcript

Introduction (0:08–1:17)

Pastor Brian welcomes listeners to the podcast and sets the tone for a "casual stroll" through John 21:1-14.
Recap of the previous episode addressing critical textual issues surrounding John 21, affirming its authenticity and integration into the Gospel narrative.
Transition into today’s episode: Jesus’ third post-resurrection appearance.

Segment 1: Setting the Scene (1:17–3:25)

Verse 1: Jesus shows Himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias (Sea of Galilee).
- Overview of the disciples’ transition from Jerusalem to Galilee.
- Importance of biblical geography: encouragement to explore maps in study resources (e.g., Logos Bible Software).
- Practical applications: understanding the physical and cultural setting of the text.

Segment 2: The Disciples’ Return to Fishing (3:25–7:00)

Verses 2-3: The disciples, led by Peter, return to their former vocation of fishing.
- Speculation about Peter’s mindset: possibly feeling disqualified from ministry due to his denial of Jesus.
- The influence of Peter’s leadership: others follow his lead.
- Key Reflection: Our influence can be used for good or bad—let’s consider how we lead others.
Verse 3: The disciples fish all night and catch nothing.
- Connection to Luke 5:1-11, where Jesus first calls Peter after a similar unsuccessful fishing trip.

Segment 3: Jesus’ Graceful Intervention (7:00–14:19)

Verses 4-6: Jesus appears on the shore at dawn, calling out to the disciples to cast their net on the right side.
- The miraculous catch of fish (153 large fish) points to Jesus’ divine provision.
- Discussion of biblical gematria and its potential significance for the number 153.
Verse 7: John recognizes Jesus and tells Peter, “It is the Lord!”
- Peter’s enthusiastic response: jumps into the water to reach Jesus.
- Reflection on Peter’s emotional journey: longing for reconciliation and restoration.
Verse 8-9: The other disciples bring the catch to shore, finding Jesus has already prepared a fire, fish, and bread.
- Reflection: Jesus’ provision for His disciples reflects His grace, even when they fail or disobey.

Segment 4: Breakfast with Jesus (14:19–20:18)

Verse 12: Jesus invites the disciples to “come and eat breakfast.”
- Profound act of grace: Jesus serves those who abandoned and denied Him.
- Key Reflection: This scene exemplifies Jesus’ restorative love and His willingness to draw His followers back into fellowship.
Verse 13-14: Jesus takes bread and fish, echoing previous miracles (e.g., feeding the 5,000) and the Last Supper.
- Connection to themes of communion, fellowship, and provision.

Key Takeaways:

God’s Grace Restores: Jesus meets us in our failures, offering grace and restoration.
Divine Provision: The miraculous catch reminds us that Jesus provides abundantly for His people.
A Call to Fellowship: Jesus’ invitation to “come and eat breakfast” is a powerful reminder of His desire for intimacy and relationship with us.
Leadership Matters: Peter’s influence on others demonstrates the responsibility of leadership and the importance of following God’s call.

Recommendations & Announcements:

Resources for Study:
- Explore biblical geography using Logos Bible Software or maps in your Bible.
- For further study on gematria and the significance of numbers in the Bible, Pastor Brian invites listeners to contact him.
Upcoming Topics:
- Next episode: A deeper dive into the themes of restoration in John 21:15-25.
- Future podcast series: Introduction to the epistles of John.

Call to Action:

Subscribe to The Al Pastor Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and more.
Reflect on Jesus’ grace and provision in your own life—how is He calling you to restoration and fellowship?
Consider joining Pastor Brian for Sunday services at Arvin Assembly of God.

0:08

You're listening to Al Pastor, the show that helps you love God, love your neighbor, and eat more tacos.

I'm your host, Pastor Brian, welcome to the show.

Hey friends.

I want to welcome you to another podcast We are walking through and I would call this a casual stroll in this particular episode of John Chapter 21.

0:34

On the previous episode, I talked with you briefly about some of the critical text issues that come along with Chapter 21.

And I hope that in that short time, even though it was suit, I think it was only about 6 minutes or something like that in that short podcast, that it is brief enough and conclusive enough to reassure any doubts as to whether or not John 21 was an afterthought added later.

1:02

Was it written by someone else?

I think that the answer is, is a resounding no.

I do believe that John 21 fits perfectly with the entirety of the Gospel.

And so we're going to see some of these themes that John had from the very beginning.

1:17

He begins with a call and he ends with a call.

So let's get right into it.

Chapter 21, verse one, it says after these things, Jesus showed himself again.

Let's pause there for a moment.

The natural flow of the narrative here.

1:34

Of course, Jesus showed himself again.

Well, we had two prior appearances at least in the Gospel of John.

Now, if you were to overlay this with all of the other gospels there, there actually had been many appearances.

And in fact, Jesus had commanded his disciples to meet him in Galilee.

1:54

And So what John is doing is he's showing a little bit of a hesitation and fear because remember, the disciples had been behind closed doors for fear of the Jews. 8 days later, you know, Thomas wasn't in on it the first time.

And where are they at 8 days later?

2:09

They're in the same place.

They're behind closed doors.

So they they hadn't done what Jesus had told them.

But now here in chapter 21, it's like, all right, got on with the program.

They met with Jesus in Galilee.

So Jesus is showing himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.

2:28

Now you may not be aware of this, but the Bible, the different authors use different terms for the same body of water.

The Sea of Tiberias is the Sea of Galilee.

It's also known as the Lake Geniseret, if I'm saying that correctly.

2:47

Excuse me, Noah's been sick the past few days and I feel like I am picking it up just a little bit.

But I'm not.

I'm not claiming that in Jesus name, but I think with this change of the weather, with the, with everything getting cold, I can.

3:05

I can feel it in my throat.

Anyway, Sea of Tiberius is the Sea of Galilee and late Genesorat.

So a great opportunity for you if you are unfamiliar with with geography of the Bible.

Right in the back of your Bibles, often times there are maps.

If you are part of Harvin Assembly, you also have access to Logos Bible software.

3:25

If you don't have access to that, reach out to me, let me know.

We can get you equipped with that wonderful, wonderful resource if you, if you are technologically savvy enough to be able to install a program and you can go and look at all the maps and all that good stuff.

3:42

But it's a good opportunity for you to know and understand how far is Galilee from Jerusalem?

How long would it take you to drive there?

What would be the, what we would call dynamic equivalent to where we're at today?

Would it be like us driving to Fresno?

3:58

Would it be like us driving to Mojave?

How far would that be?

How long would it take to walk?

Great opportunity there.

So what we're seeing in a nutshell in verse #1 the transition of the disciples from from Jerusalem to Galilee.

Verse two, now it tells us who, who is there.

4:16

We have Simon Peter, we have Thomas called the twin Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee.

Remember, remember what happened in Cana?

That's John chapter 2.

The sons of Zebedee and the two others of his disciples were together.

4:33

Verse 3 Simon Peter said to them, I'm going fishing.

And they said to him, we're going with you also.

And they went out and immediately got into the boat.

And that night they caught nothing.

Now we happen to know that in, in the Sea of Galilee, I've, I've actually been there.

4:56

I'm so privileged to be able to even say this to you.

I have been there.

I've actually stood on the shore where they would have launched out in their boats and you would say, well, how do you know that?

How do you know that's where they were?

Well, there's, besides archaeological evidence, there's also the the Sea of Galilee is uniquely laid out.

5:16

There's actually a channel which they know would have been very popular among fishermen.

So if you think of like AU shape in the, you know, beneath the water, this channel would funnel in the majority of these fish.

5:33

And what kind of fish would they have been?

They would have been like tilapia.

And it was right off the western shore of Galilee, right around the area of what's known as Capernaum.

Now modern Capernaum between Capernaum and what is known as Tiberius.

5:50

So this is the area for fishing.

So I, I was fortunate enough to be able to stand on the very shore.

I've got a picture of it too.

I know this is an audio podcast, but you know, maybe I'll post a picture.

I'll probably use it on Sunday, as a matter of fact, when I preach.

6:08

But but right where they were at.

But here's what's interesting about this verse is we see immediately and where we should be reminded, how was Peter called in the 1st place?

He was called to be a Fisher of men.

6:26

Jesus said your purpose in life no longer is to fish for fish, but to fish for men.

And so in a way, this is very symbolic of Peter going back to his old life.

Now I know you can say, well, what else would he do, right?

They're kind of hanging out waiting around for Jesus.

6:44

It's not in the sense in it from a recreational standpoint, like hey, let's get a bunch of folks together and go fishing.

No, no, this was his.

This was his vocation.

This was his life.

So Peter said, hey, let's go fishing.

Now you can read between the lines in this.

7:00

I hope you, I hope you can with me because Peter still at this point, he although he has seen the resurrected Jesus, the whole issue of him denying Jesus has not been resolved.

And so how many days has it been since the since the resurrection?

7:20

Well, at a minimum, we're at 8 days plus travel.

So the the lowest number we're at maybe day 12 or so.

That's a lot of time to think, don't you, Don't you think?

7:36

And how would they have gotten from from Jerusalem to Galilee?

They would have been traveling.

So Peter's had a long time to think in this issue has not been resolved about him denying Jesus.

So my question to you is it, is it possible?

7:53

Is Peter saying, you know what, I'm just going to, I'm just going to settle in.

I've blown it.

I've messed up, I have failed and I have got I've got to go back to my old life.

So he says, I'm going fishing, but also I want you to notice the influence.

We see that Peter, he is as, as one of the leaders of, of not only the disciples, but one of the leaders in the in the early church.

8:17

He has influence because the others go with him.

I think that's a message to you and I today is let's never underestimate our influence.

Our influence.

Our influence can be used for good, but it also could be used for bad.

8:34

Now this activity in and of itself is not evil.

However, Peter is going to be in for a surprise.

Now notice in verse #3 that it says they got into the boat and that night they caught nothing.

Can you imagine fishing all night long?

8:50

Now that would be the best time when the when the fish would be during the night and they caught nothing.

How unusual would that be?

Well, it's not that unusual from the biblical perspective, because if you remember Peter when he first encountered Jesus, when he first encountered the call of Jesus, I should say he had a similar episode that was going on, didn't he?

9:15

He'd been fishing all night and he had caught nothing.

Verse 4 it says.

But when the morning had now come.

Oh, I'm not trying to read in too much, but how beautiful is that?

9:31

When the morning had now come, just like the resurrection, Jesus stood on the shore, yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

I want you to get into the text.

I want you to picture the scene with me.

9:47

It's early morning.

How far out are they?

I don't know, but they're far enough away that they couldn't recognize him.

Now this could be an opportunity, of course, I have to admit where God is divinely, like closing their eyes to where they can't recognize him.

10:03

But I think I don't think that that's the case here.

I think that geographically they're too far away to notice who it is.

They can see a figure, but they can't make out exactly who it is.

Verse 5.

And then Jesus said to them, he says, children, do you have any food?

10:21

And they answered him and said no.

And then he said to them, cast the net on the right side of the boat and you'll find some.

Now this is exactly what Jesus did the first time he had called his disciples, specifically Peter, but also John was there as well.

10:44

Verse #6 So they cast and now they were not able to draw it in because of the multitude of fish.

Now think about how big of a catch that was.

You know, the, the, the chosen has a scene where they caught when Jesus had called them.

11:04

It's a, it's a really good scene on how they did it.

I mean, there's a lot of fish.

Verse 7.

We'll see exactly how many inches to moment.

Verse 7.

Therefore, the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, he says it is the Lord.

Now I want you to think about this.

11:21

Here is Peter.

He's receiving the blessings of the Lord, but he's missed out on the person that put those fish there.

But John, John is the one who's able to discern the moment.

11:36

You would think, OK, you would think that it would click with Peter, Hey, this, this happened to me before.

Cast the net on the right side.

A long night of fishing, like really it this is this is a rare, rare occurrence to be fishing all night and catching nothing.

11:57

But John catches it.

And so he tells Peter in verse seven, he says it's the Lord.

Now, when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment for he had removed it and he plunged into the sea.

12:13

I don't, I hears me.

I don't know if you've ever seen Forrest Gump before, but there's a scene when Forrest Gump, just like he starts waving to Captain Dan and he just jumps right off the boat as he's waving and the boat keeps going.

That's kind of how I see this scene.

I'm like, oh, great.

But Peter, I mean, he jumps in and he, he has to swim to the to the to the shore.

12:37

Verse 8.

But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about 200 cubits, dragging the net with fish.

Now in verse #8 tells us exactly how far.

12:53

How how far is 200 cubits?

And I need to look this up.

Let me see here.

I'm going to highlight that verse 8200 cubits.

I should have had that already off the top of my head.

13:10

And let's see.

Well, my computer's acting up.

It is a distance.

Doesn't tell me in the life application.

I'd have to go, but that's OK.

We'll talk about in a Bible study.

I'll have that information by then. 200 cubits out.

13:27

I'm going to guess that's probably about 300 feet.

That is my initial, initial guess.

I believe a cubit is about 18 inches or so.

So they're about 300 feet, which would be the distance of a football field.

That's, I'm almost certain that's the case.

13:43

So if you can imagine a football field out.

So they come into shore.

Verse 9.

As soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there and fish laid on it and bred.

I want you to think about this.

When was the last time that Peter had warmed himself by a fire of coals?

14:03

It's early in the morning.

You better believe that water was cold.

And so he comes out shaking and shivering.

He's excited.

He sees the Lord, and now Jesus has a fire of coals there.

We'll talk about that on Sunday.

14:19

It's a beautiful, beautiful picture of grace and mercy.

And look what the Savior's doing to doing for him.

He has fish prepared and he has bread.

I don't know if you've thought about this, but where did Jesus get the fish?

14:36

I mean, if they've been out there fishing all night, where, where did that fish come from?

Interesting.

Did he go by it?

Did he catch it?

I don't know.

What are your thoughts?

Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish which you have just caught.

14:52

In other words, throw it on the grill.

And Peter went up and he dragged the net to the land full of large fish. 153 And although there were so many, the net was not broken.

There's this, this is a beautiful verse.

15:10

Let me tell you why.

I can't tell you conclusively, but with the net not being broken, there's something to that.

And I am going to, I'm going to spend some time, I'm actually highlighting that and making myself a note of that.

And if you haven't noticed, I'm doing a very preliminary walkthrough with you here because I, I won't ramble, but I've been going so, so in depth.

15:35

It's actually kind of refreshing for me to just walk through this in a really casual way.

We're just going for a walk.

But the net was not broken.

I have a suspicion that there's something to that imagery of the net not being broken.

What about the 153?

15:52

I do have some information on the 153.

Nothing that I can give you that is conclusive.

So the question is, is what is the 153 mean?

Here's my answer.

I don't know.

Do I have a suspicion?

Yes.

I think it has to do with what is known as gematria.

16:08

Now before you get all up in arms and clutch your pearls and all that kind of stuff, gematria is something that is very, very normal in the Bible.

In fact, John does it in the Book of Revelation.

He he calls the Antichrist of the mark of the beast.

He says he is the number of a man, which is 666.

16:26

So Gematria, you can definitely take this overboard.

Sometimes people do, but there is something significant about the 153.

I do have a resource I have posted that Almighty.

If you're not connected to Arvind Assembly or Almighty, let me know and I'll and I'll, I'll get that to you and you can go through.

16:46

There's about 6 different options for there.

Excuse me, 6 different options on the 1:53.

What's my final conclusion?

I don't know.

That is it and I am completely comfortable with and I don't know, but if you have a thought, if you have an opinion on the 1:53, we'll talk about it in Bible study and I'd love to hear what your your thoughts or your conclusions are.

17:11

All right, let's go on verse 12.

Jesus said to them, come and eat breakfast.

That phrase come and eat breakfast.

When you really frame this, after all that has happened, this is I don't even know how to put words to it.

17:36

It the Savior is making breakfast for the people that have abandoned him, who have denied him, who have run, who have been disobedient to him.

You might say, what do you mean disobedient?

17:53

We went over that in chapter 20.

Jesus had told them go to Jerusalem.

They're, they're behind closed doors.

They were hanging out for over 8 days.

I mean, yeah, I know we, we can't be too tough on Thomas.

But look at look at them.

They, they, they were, they had unbelief.

And despite all of that, Jesus made them breakfast.

18:13

Can I tell you that is the Lord that we serve.

He is far more gracious than we can ever think or imagine.

And I mean that he's he's been gracious to me and he's been gracious to you.

This is a beautiful, beautiful picture.

18:34

Come eat breakfast.

If you mark in your Bibles, mark that.

I hope you do.

Let's read on.

Yet none of the disciples dare to ask him.

Who are you knowing that it was the Lord?

I'd encourage you.

18:49

What's going on there?

Why?

Why did John feel the need to include that verse 13?

Jesus then came and he took the bread and he gave it to them, and likewise the fish.

19:08

How many connections can you make in your mind when you heard Jesus took the bread and gave it to them?

Sounds like communion, right?

Sounds like the upper room sounds like the feeding of 5000 sounds like the feeding of 4000 gave them the bread and the fish.

19:26

Verse 14 Now this now this is now the third time Jesus showed himself to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

We're going to end it with there, but I've intentionally, I have intentionally did a casual stroll through these 14 verses as much as I can.

19:58

I I am hoping and I am praying that this this chapter is going to sink deep into your souls, that your eyes would be open to the grace and the mercy of Jesus and that you would see his is.

20:18

Everlasting love for you and I.

I'm really excited to see what people's thoughts are, to hear maybe some of their insights during Bible study.

But we're going to end it here on verse #14.

20:38

Thanks for tuning in.

God bless.

Thank you for listening to Al Pastor with Brian Overturf.

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20:55

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21:10

Until then, we'll see you later.