Welcome to the Defender Bible Study, a weekly encouragement to equip the body of Christ through the study of scripture and prayer to manifest the gospel to orphans and vulnerable children around the world. This podcast is of Lifeline Children's Services where we believe that defending the fatherless begins by being rooted in God's word.

Welcome to the Defender Bible Study podcast. Today is Monday, 08/25/2026. My name is Chris Johnson. I serve as the senior director of church partnerships and external advocacy here at Lifeline Children's Services. Well, we are getting close to the end of the book of John.

What a great study this has been learning about the life of Christ and I've been really grateful for the things that God has shown us through this study. And so today we're gonna be looking at the first 15 verses of chapter number 21. So the last chapter, the first half of the last chapter of the book of John. Now, when we finished up chapter 20 last week, you would have thought maybe that John was closing out the book. He said there at the end of chapter 20, now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which were not written in this book, But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John's written about the coming of Christ. He's written about, the life of Christ. And he's written, of course, about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. And, you would think, okay, this is this is the end, and these would be the kind of closing the closing part. But then he kinda adds on chapter 21 under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

And so we see now John kinda writing this chapter as an as an epilogue, kind of a final what happened at the end of the book. So, we've seen again just kind of the we've the disciples have been have been we're kind of we've we've left the disciples. We're trying to figure out what's next. They're trying to figure out the next stages. And, and so we kinda look here and we see in chapter 21 kind of, this this again kind of reinvigorated commission, the sending out, that Jesus has specifically to Peter, really kinda lean into his relationship with Peter, but then to the other disciples who are there with Peter as well.

So let's read it together. John chapter 21 verses one through 15. We'll dive in a little bit and, make some notes about this and then bring to home some kind of some conclusions that we can grasp from this passage. John says after this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea Of Tiberias. Now when he says Sea Of Tiberias, Tiberias, the Sea Of Tiberias is also the Sea Of Galilee.

So the same place here, Sea Of Galilee, of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. Simon Peter Thomas called the twin Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, which is James and John and two others of his disciples were together. And Simon 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 called nothing. Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them children, do you have any fish? And they answered him. No.

He said to them cast the net on 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 of the quantity of fish. The disciple whom Jesus loved, John referring to himself there, the disciple whom Jesus loved, therefore said to Peter, it is the Lord. When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment for he was stripped for work and threw himself into the sea. The other disciples came in the boat dragging the net full of fish for there for they were not far from the land, but about a 100 yards off.

When they got out on the land, they saw charcoal fire in place with fish laid out on it and bread. Jesus said to them, bring some of the fish that you have just caught. So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore full of large fish, a 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, come and have breakfast.

Now none of the disciples dared ask him, who are you? They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and so with the fish. This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?

He said to them, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to them, said to him, feed my lands. So we, again, we've just recently seen the death of Christ, the burial of Christ, and the resurrection of Christ. Christ has made Himself known to the disciples twice and says here that this is the third time that He is making Himself known. I think now we kinda get to a point where we're have to think and figure out how are how are the disciples now going to relate to this risen Jesus?

How are they now going to relate to the work that that he had called them to? And so after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the disciples had to kind of figure out what their new normal was going to be, kind of what was life going to look like. You see for this, for some three years, they had followed Christ and He had provided leadership, He had provided sustenance for them each step of the way. And so he had been their their both their physical guide and making sure they were in the right places to to eat and to sleep and to be taken care of, but then also as their spiritual guide. And and really for three years, they've just followed him completely.

And they've been on this journey of traveling around with Jesus and then all their needs have been met through Him. And so now from a spiritual perspective, from a physical perspective, things are gonna look completely different. We know from Matthew chapter 28 that Jesus had told them after the last time he made himself known to them that he told them to to go to Galilee and wait for him. So we see them now. They've made this they're they're they're in Galilee.

They're waiting. Jesus, they don't really know when he's going to appear, when he's gonna come. They he's not really giving them any indication on that. They know that the time is coming soon because He's told them that He's going to ascend back to the Father, back to heaven. And so, they're really kind of in this state of limbo a little bit, and they're not they're not sure exactly what to do.

So so they're going back to Galilee, continuing to wait. And so, they needed to feed themselves. They needed to provide for their physical needs. So they pretty much returned to what they knew and what they were good at, and that was fishing. Now there's some people that think that, you know, this was a sinful act of Peter and these other disciples that in going fishing, were going against God's plan for them, because he had told them, of course, to leave their nets behind and now become fishers of men.

But I I kinda see this a little bit differently. I think if I were in the disciples' shoes, this just makes sense. Right? I mean, they're again, every all of their all of their sustenance and provision has been provided, but now they're at a place where they've gotta provide for themselves. They gotta take care of their families.

And so I think the natural thing for them to go is, hey. I I know how to fish. That's something I know I can do. I know that I can take care of myself. I know that I can feed myself.

And and so let's let's let's go back and let's while we're waiting on Jesus, this is something that we can be doing. They're probably hey. They probably there was a season of just enjoying fishing. Right? I mean, their life had been nonstop for three years and just kinda taking some time.

They enjoyed fishing. It was provided was it provided for them. So, you know, they're they're standing around talking. I imagine they're up in Galilee going, okay. What's what's next?

And Peter says, you know what, guys? I'm going fishing. I I love that. I just love that about Peter. But then some of the other guys around him go, know what?

We're gonna we're gonna join you. We're gonna go too. It's kinda interesting because I was looking over this and and kinda learning, realized that there were there at least seven of the 12 disciples were fishermen. And of course, Jesus, we know that Jesus had called them to be fishers of men, but I think it still just kinda speaks to the reality of their love for fishing, their fishing being able to provide for them as well. But here they find themselves.

They had fished all night but caught nothing. Then of course from the shore, Jesus calls out to them and they didn't recognize Him at first. And we know we've seen that Jesus had a way at times of making Himself unknown, to people. And so Jesus maybe has guarded Himself. Maybe they can't quite see, far enough to see who He is, but for some reason they're not they don't recognize Him.

And, and so He calls out to them and, of course, encourages them, tells them to to cast their nets on the other side. Man, I imagine their frustration at that. Right? It's like, good night. We're tired.

We've been fishing all night. It's morning now. We know what we're doing. And this some guy on the seashore is hollering out to us to throw our nets on the other side. But they did.

And when they cast our nets on the other side, ultimately, we find out that they caught a 153 fish, which is which is just crazy. But, suddenly, all of a sudden, John realizes that it's Jesus, and he tells Peter. And I just love Peter's response. When Peter realizes that it's Jesus, man, he's just all in. He jumps in the water and swims to shore as fast as he can get there.

Now I imagine again, I'm just kind of putting myself in in shoes of Peter, shoes of the disciples, you know, I'm a kind of a sentimental guy. I like I like kind of rehearsing the past and thinking through things and, you know, with sentimental times and moments come about, sometimes I can get a little emotional and those kind of things. And then just just reading the story, I can imagine, you know, what Peter and some of the disciples are thinking kind of reminiscent of other stories. You see, in Luke chapter five, we have the calling of Peter to be a disciple, and that took place in a very similar way. It took place on a boat where Peter had fished and had caught nothing.

And this man, Jesus, tells him to cast his net on the other side, and he does. He he does that and and ends up catching so many fish that it says that his his nets even tore. So so Peter's been in this position before. Now at the time when it happened in Luke five, Peter bows down before God and kinda hides himself and says to says to Jesus, depart from me because I'm a sinful man. But this time, Peter has a different response.

This time, Peter is in fellowship with Jesus. He has a relationship with Jesus, and he jumps in and wants to get to Jesus as quickly as possible. I think back again remembering the story when the disciples were in the boat out during the on the Sea Of Galilee during the storm. And who did they see coming? They saw Jesus walking on the water.

And what happens? Peter. Peter is the one. He gets out of the boat and he wants to go to Jesus. Well, as Peter gets to the shore, Jesus has a fire going and already breakfast being prepared for them.

John specifically mentions here in the passage that it was a charcoal fire. I think it's, again, pretty unique that John would mention that because the only other time or at least the last time that a charcoal fire was mentioned was back just a couple chapters, if you remember, in chapter number 18. And it was mentioned that Peter was together with some other men who were warming themselves beside a charcoal fire. And it was at that time that Peter denied Jesus. Man, I can just imagine as Peter smells the smoke as he sees the fire, the emotions coming back and remembering even the memories of the time that he denied Jesus.

Well, after bringing in the fish, they enjoyed breakfast together. Then Jesus really kinda takes some time to remind them of his call on their lives and of the reality that they are that they are now and will continue to be fishers of men. And he's going to especially focus on Peter's specific calling, to the church to to to feed his lambs, to feed his sheep. So what are some things that we can glean? What are a few things?

I got three things here that I'd love to just kinda share some just kinda some things that that I see in the story that I think can help us in our Christian walk as well. First of all, we see that Jesus empowers his followers. Jesus empowers his followers. Here, they fished all night in their own strength and they caught nothing. They were experts in their field, but their efforts were still futile without Jesus' power and provision.

They couldn't catch anything, but Jesus already had breakfast on the fire waiting for them. So they were they were just completely trying to do their own strength and could do absolutely nothing until Jesus steps in and Jesus provides for them. And so much so that Jesus already he's already gone before them, and he's already got their breakfast prepared waiting for them to come to the shore. And the truth is we all need the power of God at work in our lives. He is our strength.

He is our provision. And when we try to do things in our own strength, in our own power, we try to rely on our own talents and our own experiences, there are there are certain things that we can accomplish. There are times that we can do some things, but the reality is nothing of eternal significance, nothing of eternal weight will ever be accomplished in our own efforts and in our own strength and in our own power, but we can rely on the power of Jesus to be at work in us. Paul said later, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is alive and at work in his followers. And so today, we can stand firm in our calling and our commitment, and we know that we can be successful in the things that God calls us to when we rely on his power.

Jesus empowers his followers. Number two, I believe that we see that that Jesus leads with grace and mercy. Jesus leads with grace and mercy. I think as I was reading and studying this this passage just recently, this this really is what jumped out to me more than anything. Jesus was the type of leader that you run to even when you know you have disappointed him and let him down.

Think about this. The last time that we see Peter and Jesus together having a conversation, I wanna know Jesus appeared to all the disciples together, but kind of the last time Peter and and Jesus had had a conversation, it was, of course, at the Last Supper. And Jesus is saying that that you guys are gonna run for me. You're gonna turn your back on him. Don't be betrayed.

And Peter forcefully stands up and goes, not me, Jesus. Never would I turn my back on you. Never would I deny you. And of course Jesus says before the cock crows, you will deny me three times. That's the reality of it.

Peter hated hearing that. No way. I will never turn my back on you, Jesus. But then we know just short period of time after that, that's exactly what happened. Jesus did not.

Peter denies Jesus three times. And we've really not seen that intimate conversation relationship since then. And so now as Peter is now on the boat and he realizes that Jesus is there on the shore, he could have run away. He could have jumped to the water and swim this swim the other direction. Right?

He could have hid because of his those denial because of his denying Christ, but instead he jumps in the water and he wanted to be the first one to Jesus. This to me shows that Peter knew that in Jesus, he would find grace and mercy. You see, Jesus had was was the kind of leader that even when you blew it, even when you messed up, even when you made mistakes, he wanted relationship with you. He wanted fellowship with Peter. And so he invites Peter to come and receive of his grace and his mercy.

And brothers and sisters, it is the same with us. We're we're gonna make mistakes. We're gonna fail. We're gonna let Jesus down. We're gonna we're gonna blow it at times.

And so many times we wanna hide in our shame and we wanna turn and we wanna run away. But I am so thankful that Jesus stands with open arms and when we repent of our sin, when we call out and agree with him and see our sin as he does, he stands with open arms ready to welcome us home, ready to receive us under himself. He is full of grace and mercy. Even when we fail Jesus, we can still run to him and find forgiveness and help even in our most desperate time of need. So from the perspective of being a follower of Christ, I'm glad that he is the kind of leader and the kind of person, the kind of a teacher, ultimately, the the God that we can run to, that we don't have to hide from him.

We can run to him and and fall before him and receive his grace and mercy. But man, also, what a challenge. May we may I be the kind of leader. May we be the kind of people that are full of grace grace and mercy in our interactions with others, especially, with those whom we lead and then those on our teams and those that we interact with. As parents, may we be this way with our children.

May we be the type of leaders who don't cause those who we are leading or who we're discipling to run away, but instead, may they be comfortable to run to us so that we can support them and care. Yes. We stand for truth. We stand firm for truth. We we speak the truth.

We speak out against sin. We speak out against evil. But whenever when a heart repents, when there is repentance that's being shown in someone, may we have be provide a space for that grace and mercy to be received and for restoration and healing to take place. Jesus empowers His followers. Jesus leads with grace and mercy.

And then we see that Jesus entrusted His ministry to His followers. You see, Jesus knew that he would soon return to the father, and it was gonna be up to his disciples to carry out his ministry. It's up to his followers to take this gospel, this good news that Jesus was all about, to take this gospel into the world. And so in that with that mindset, he's like, hey, I'm going to entrust this ministry to you. He's gonna go on in the next few verses and he's going to, kind of share with with Peter especially about his calling and then the other disciples as well.

He's gonna remind them of the the the calling that he has in our life. I think one thing that's really cool about that though is before he reminds them of that calling, he seeks to meet their physical needs to make sure he he sees their physical needs and he wants to make sure that they're taken care of both physically and relationally first. He doesn't jump right as soon as they hit the shore. Hey, you guys, your your fishers are men. Remember that?

Let's let's hey. Let's get back on mission. Let's get back on track. No. No.

No. What does he do? He takes some time to feed them. He takes some time to just hang out around the fire and enjoy a meal with his followers that he loved, to enjoy a meal with people that he cared passionately about. Yes.

He's got a mission for them. Yes. He's gonna send them out. Yes. The mission is so important.

The mission is vital. The mission is key. The mission is everything. But before sending them out on the mission, he's gonna spend some time with him. He's gonna nourish them physically, and he's gonna pour into them relationally.

What a beautiful picture for all of us. Before we go out and charge into mission, may we take the time to make sure that our physical needs are being cared for well, that our physical bodies are being taken up, that we're getting the rest that we need, the nutrition that we need, the exercise that we need. And then may we seek to build relationships. May we, be firm and strong in relationships that we have, and may we be be be strong relationally as well. So that is what then empowers us and equips us.

And with the spirit of God being being within us, we can then go forth and we can do the ministry that God has called us to do. He, of course, takes care of them, provides for them, and then He reminds them of this call on their life. Jesus especially wanted Peter to know that He was not finished with Him. He wanted Peter to know that although He had let him down, He had made a mistake, He had He had denied any sermon Jesus wanted Peter to know that He had great plans for his life and that those plans had not changed. He wanted him to be know that He was gonna use him in incredible, incredible ways.

We're gonna learn more about that in the next week when we study these last few verses. But, what a great reminder that when Jesus calls us, He will see that calling through to fruition. He will continue to use us for His honor and for His glory. I'm so thankful that Jesus doesn't turn His back on His followers, but He loves us, He cares for us, He empowers us, He provides grace and mercy for us, and then He entrusts His ministry to us. May we be found faithful in living that ministry out and carrying the gospel to the world around us.

Let's go to Lord in prayer. Dear heavenly Father God, we love You. Thank You for Your goodness to us. Thank You so much, God, for calling us, for saving us by Your grace and mercy, and then seeing fit to call us into your ministry. What an honor and what a privilege it is.

God, may we go forth though in your power and in your strength. Lord, as we think specifically of the ministry to vulnerable populations, vulnerable children, women, and families, God, we can't meet their needs. We can't provide for them. We can't bring healing for them. God, only you can do that.

Only the gospel can do that. And so, God, we pray that we will be faithful in taking your good news to the world around us and specifically to the vulnerable. We'll give you thanks and praise for the work that you're going to do. For it's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Thanks again for joining us for the Defender Bible Study. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the Defender Bible Study to make it easier for more people to find. For more resources and information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, please visit us at lifelinechild.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly at info lifelinechild dot org.

We look forward to seeing you again next week for the Defender Bible Study.