John 21:1 I. In the touching incident related in this chapter, the first thing which strikes us is the grace of the Lord Jesus. Penitent as Peter was, it was needful to set him right with his brother apostles, whom he had first of all wronged by his forwardness, and next scandalised by his fall; an... [ Continue Reading ]
John 21:1 I. It had been by a miraculous draught of fishes, like the one now before us, that, at the outset of His ministry, Christ had drawn away three at least of the seven now around Him, from their old occupations, and taught them to understand that in following Him they were to become fishers... [ Continue Reading ]
John 21 We Learn from this Chapter I. The wide range of the pastoral office. Whenever the minister is exclusively a fisherman and neglects the labour of the shepherd, he is only doing half his work. He is like a man in a boat who seeks to propel it with one oar, and who succeeds only in making it... [ Continue Reading ]
John 21:3 I. The lot of Christ's disciples is usually a life of toil. In this, there is little difference between the Christian and the worldling; if anything, the difference is in the worldling's favour. The Christian is constrained to keep the king's highway, the beaten path of industry and strai... [ Continue Reading ]
John 21:7 I. A weary night, but Christ came in the morning. So at first we are apt to say; but it would be putting it more correctly if we said that Christ, who had been present all the night, allowed Himself to be seen in the morning. He was now risen from the dead, and had put on that glorious bo... [ Continue Reading ]
John 21:12 I. The Recognition. Three things contributed to it. (1) The love. Who, but One, so busies Himself about His redeemed? (2) The wisdom. Who, but One, could know or even dare to advise upon a matter to all appearance so casual and so fortuitous? (3) The strength. The fish were not there til... [ Continue Reading ]
John 21:15 The last Scene with Peter I. Every one has felt that the threefold question of Christ to Peter, alluded to the threefold betrayal. There lay in the question a mild rebuke, so exquisitely given that it would not sting, but soften the heart. It was a trial also; it was so spoken as to try... [ Continue Reading ]
John 21:15 Notice: I. The connection of two things: "Lovest thou Me," "Feed My sheep." It is love to the Saviour which has been the secret of each successful ministry. It is this which makes the patient and longsuffering Teacher put up with the waywardness, the selfishness, the ingratitude and ina... [ Continue Reading ]
John 21:15 Peter's Restoration I. The question is about love. It carries in it a thorough assurance of the forgiveness of sin and the healing of backsliding; coming as it does from Him whom the sin has pierced, and the backsliding grieved afresh. It is the question of the injured Friend and the gr... [ Continue Reading ]
John 21:17 We have here three points; love's examination, love's answer, and love's evidence; and we purpose to look at these three points of love in their order. I. Observe then, first, what Christ did not do with Peter. Christ did not examine Peter continually all his life, as to the state of hi... [ Continue Reading ]
John 21:18 The warning of what awaited him, which the Lord here gave to Peter, was divinely adapted to his peculiar cast of mind, and in conjunction with the words, "Follow Me," was fitted at once to console and solemnise the apostle. I. "When thou wast young thou girdedst thyself." Rapidity and se... [ Continue Reading ]
John 21:19 Follow Christ I. You shall never be far from the Father. That pleasant countenance with which the Father beheld the well-beloved Son extends to all His followers to all who, in faith and affection, gather round Him or go after Him, like this little band beside the Lake of Galilee. II.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 21:20 I. As we apprehend the character of John, the first thing which strikes us is a peculiar intuition. That great sight, God dwelling in the midst of men, was early disclosed to this pure-hearted beholder, and through the rest of life he seems never to have lost the open vision. "With his l... [ Continue Reading ]
John 21:21 It is the language of devout inquiry. A friend is inquiring into a friend's future. To this inquiry he sets no bounds but one, and this is implied rather than expressed. It is implied that the friend is to be a servant of Jesus Christ. Peter has just been shown, as in a mirror, the outli... [ Continue Reading ]
John 21:21 The Individuality of Christian Life I. God appoints a course of life for each individual Christian. "Lord, what shall this man do?" "What is that to thee?" No words could mark more emphatically the great difference which was henceforth to exist between the paths of those two men, who had... [ Continue Reading ]
John 21:22 I. It is not to be supposed for a moment that our Lord meant in these words to pronounce any distinct intention concerning John. The very force of the sentence lies in its indistinctness. One of two meanings, however, He must have had: either that He might, if He chose, prolong St. John's... [ Continue Reading ]