Here are some items from Wednesday’s LCMS Bible study. The text was John 21.
I will be saying what the pastor said, without always saying “the
pastor said” or “according to the pastor.” Occasionally, I will add my
own thoughts.
A. John 21 was probably added later to the Gospel of John, since John
20:30-31 appears to end the book neatly. John’s pupil may have written
John 21. He was trained by John, since his writing style is the same as
John’s. His purpose in writing the chapter is to correct the
misconception that Jesus said John would never die, after John indeed
had died.
B. To quote from the handout, “For Matthew, Mark and Luke—-and even
John—-the marking of the passing of time becomes less important
following Jesus’ resurrection.” Prior to the part about Jesus’s
resurrection, the Gospels are sticklers for chronology and time. After
the part about Jesus’s resurrection, they are not. We do not know if the
events in the resurrection stories took place over several days, or
over a shorter period of time. There are some exceptions: John 20 says
that the disciples gathered on the first day of the week, then eight
days later. Why this change? According to the pastor, it is because the
Gospel writers believed that Jesus inaugurated a new day: the eighth
day, a time of new creation, the Day of the Lord, the day that will
precede Christ’s second coming. Time is irrelevant in this new day that
Christ inaugurated. In Acts, though, time clearly does continue to pass.
I typed in “days,” “months,” and “years” in my BibleWorks and saw that
Acts frequently uses those words in a chronological sense.
C. Peter and other disciples are going fishing in John 21. They may
have forgotten that Jesus had commissioned them to spread divine
forgiveness in John 20. Jesus was re-calling and re-commissioning them
in John 21.
D. The Gospel of John was written decades after the synoptic Gospels
and appears to draw from them. John 21 has parallels with Luke 5:1-11,
the story in which Jesus initially called Peter. A common element in
both stories is that Jesus enables the disciples to catch an incredible
amount of fish. There is a difference, though. In John 21, rather than
asking Jesus to depart from him, as occurs in Luke 5, Peter runs towards
Jesus.
E. Jesus addresses Peter as “Simon son of Jonas” in John 21.
According to the pastor, this may echo other times that Jesus called
Peter “Simon son of Jonas.” Jesus did so in John 1, when he initially
called Peter; here in John 21, Jesus is re-commissioning Peter. Jesus
also called Peter “Simon son of Jonas” in Matthew 16:17, after Peter had
confessed Jesus to be the Christ, the son of the living God. Jesus in
John 21 is reminding Peter that Peter knows who Jesus is.
F. Jesus was gently challenging three character flaws that Peter had:
the temptation to be important, to be accepted, and to be powerful.
Peter had wanted to be important. Even if other disciples forsake Jesus,
Peter declared in Mark 14:29, Peter will not. Then Peter denies Jesus
three times. The risen Jesus in John 21 asks Peter if Peter loves him
more than “these.” The “these” may be the other disciples: Jesus is
asking Peter if Peter loves Jesus more than the other disciples love
Jesus. Peter replies that he has affection for Jesus, perhaps
recognizing that he fell short of the exalted agape form of love. Jesus
is willing to work with Peter’s affection, however, and exhorts Peter to
feed Jesus’s sheep: to feed them with teaching and to care for them
personally. Peter is encouraging Jesus to stop being full of himself and
to follow Jesus, which includes service to Jesus’s sheep.
G. Peter is tempted to be accepted. Peter denied Jesus because he
wanted to fit in rather than be disliked or arrested. Jesus in John 21
tells Peter, however, that Peter will die to glorify God.
H. Peter was tempted to power: he cut off the ear of the priest’s
servant when Jesus was arrested (John 18:10). Jesus in John 21 tells
Peter that someone else will lead Peter to where he does not want to go.
Peter will be powerless.
I will stop here, even though there were other interesting items.