January 1 (Downtown) – John 21:1-17

Happy New Year! As we take down our Christmas decorations and pick up our New Year’s resolutions, this is a great time to pause and remember how we have seen the goodness of God over the last year. Reflecting on Advent, we see how Jesus is greater, the focus of all of Scripture, and how he is worthy of our unreserved worship. 2022 was a year that we focused on the Kingdom of God and what it means to be citizens of that Kingdom while here on earth. But for 2023 our year-long theme is All of God for All of Us, and Downtown will begin by reading John 21:1-17 this week before all locations launch into the Trinity series next Sunday, January 8.

In John 21, the apostle records the third interaction between Jesus and his disciples after the resurrection. Since returning from the grave, Jesus has commissioned the disciples to share the gospel with the world and has corrected them for their lack of faith. Looking back a little, in John 20:24-29, Thomas doubts that Jesus was actually seen by the others, saying, “if I don’t see the mark of the nails in his hands…I will never believe” (v25). Returning later, Jesus immediately tells Thomas to see and touch the marks on his hands, proving to him that he is the risen Jesus, not an imposter. Through this, Jesus restores Thomas from doubt to belief. Church tradition tells us that after Jesus commissioned the disciples, Thomas was especially active east of Syria. We’re told that he brought and preached the Gospel of Jesus as far as India, living by faith in the risen Christ.

Returning to chapter 21, we see a focus on Peter, where we read about seven disciples fishing (again) without any luck (cf. Luke 5:1-11). Early in the morning, after what must have been a discouraging night on the waters, they hear a stranger call to them from the beach, telling them to drop their nets one more time from the right side of their boat. They do as he says and now have so many fish in their net that they can’t even lift it into the boat. If we quickly jump to Luke 5, we see that this scene is almost identical to when Jesus originally called the disciples. They were fishing with nothing to show for it, and Jesus miraculously provided an abundance of fish. 

Likely remembering this, John tells the others that it’s Jesus on the shore, and Simon Peter jumps out of the boat to meet him. What’s next is important; inviting Peter to join him for breakfast, Jesus probes him, asking him if he loves him. He does this three times. It seems weird that the all-knowing Lord over all creation would ask someone three times for an answer he already knows. But if we turn back a few chapters, we’ll see that Jesus does this for Peter’s sake, not just to have his question answered.

Quickly turning back to John 18, we see in verses 15-18 and 25-27 that when Jesus is on trial to be crucified, Peter denies ever knowing or even being associated with Jesus. Peter does this three times after being pressured by a young woman once and then by others twice. Guilt can weigh on us and stick around for a while. Peter was likely covered in shame after Jesus’ death, having denied his relationship with him three times, just as Jesus told him he would in John 13:36-38.