Memorize: Final charge to Peter
Key Verses: 7, 14, 17, 21, 24, 25
Seven of the disciples decide to go fishing and none of them catch anything. This is typical fishing! Too many men doing nothing and catching nothing. Jesus is waiting with breakfast on the shore and helps them catch an abundance of fish before inviting them to eat. He eats with them. This was the third meeting with the disciples after His resurrection. Three confirmations.
It is time for Jesus to get to work, the work of restoring Peter. He had denied Jesus three times, so Jesus invites and charges Peter three times. It had to be humbling and very difficult for Peter to look Jesus in the eyes as He asked these questions. But each time Jesus responded with a charge to do ministry.
And then Jesus tells Peter what the future holds for him. The one who thinks he has it all together will be led around almost helpless in old age. Peter was going to die because he followed Jesus. And yet Peter follows.
Another quick lesson from this chapter. We can’t get sidetracked along the way worrying about other people’s ministry and future. That is not our concern. The Lord has that in His hands and we don’t need to be concerned about it. We need to follow.
And we finally learn the identity of the mysterious “disciple whom Jesus loved.” It is the author of this book, John the disciple. And there were so many things that Jesus did that just weren’t written down. I want to challenge you to begin keeping track of the things the Lord does in your life, big and small. Focus on what is happening, rather than focusing on what isn’t. Peter wanted certain things to happen and not happen, but in the end, God worked through Him and did great things because He believed. God will do the same thing in your life, if you let Him.
REVIEW: Acrostic Theme & each chapter’s phrase.
The Arnold Journey 