Welcome to another lesson on the Gospel of John, and in fact, the final lesson on the Gospel of John. My name is Felipe Brer. We are live on a Thursday at 2:00 PM here in Campo Grande time, and 3:00 PM Brasilia time.
And perhaps you find this time a bit unusual, right ? It's quite different from what we are accustomed to for those watching live, though it's likely you may be watching this broadcast recorded, so welcome. No matter what time you are watching, the thing is we were supposed to broadcast the lesson yesterday.
Last night we had a major problem here with our connection and our equipment—a technical failure—and we were unable to broadcast. So, in order not to fall behind on our calendar and schedule, I decided to post it today instead. I know that probably fewer people will be watching or following along than we usually have when we broadcast at night .
But we are going to talk today about the last chapter of the Gospel of John. My name is Felipe Brer. We are the School of the Disciple.
We are a school of the First Baptist Church of Campo Grande, in Mato Grosso do Sul. We dream of a church that is intellectually robust and spiritually vibrant. We have dedicated ourselves here not only to creating relevant biblical content like documentaries and lessons, but we are also doing a study of the entire Bible, chapter by chapter, here on YouTube.
And this lesson on John is part of that project. We already have several books covered, from both the Old Testament and the New Testament. Ending this week , today is the lesson on John, the exposition of John.
Next week we will begin another book of the Bible. So, if you are just arriving now, you are very welcome to join us. Grab your Bible, let's study the word of the Lord that truly transforms us.
Amen. Ah, there are some people already following us live, Monica Stop Kids from—oh, folks from Betim, Minas Gerais. I am from Minas Gerais.
I miss my homeland. Jennifer, you are very welcome. But let's expound on the Bible, let's talk about the biblical text.
In the last lesson, we finished with the resurrection of Jesus. We have already gone through the crucifixion. Last week we looked at the resurrection and when Jesus appears to the disciples who were locked in a room and Jesus appears declaring to them: "Peace be with you.
" And Thomas was not present. Later, Jesus reappears for Thomas. And Thomas undergoes a process there before Jesus Christ and confesses Him, not only as his Lord, but as his God.
It is a very important Christological declaration in the Gospel of John, because as we have seen, the entire focus of John's gospel is to present Jesus as the Son of God and as God. God with us, God among us. And that Jesus has, possesses a human nature, but He is also divine, He is the Son of God.
And we finished last week with the resurrection. Now we have an epilogue in the Gospel of John, one more chapter to conclude, where the resurrected Jesus appears once again to some of his disciples, where he shares a meal of communion and also tends to Peter's heart, because Peter had denied Jesus. Do you remember?
Peter denied Jesus three times and now Jesus will ask Peter three times if he loves him. A very interesting story. Let's go then to the biblical text.
Gospel of John, chapter 21. And the text begins in verse 1, saying the following: " Afterward, Jesus appeared again to his disciples by the Sea of Tiberias. This is how it happened.
Simon Peter, Thomas , nicknamed Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were there. Then Peter said," I am going fishing. " " We are coming with you, "the others said.
So they got into the boat and set off, but they caught nothing all night. It is interesting that here we have already changed locations. In the last chapter, we were in Jerusalem, right after the resurrection and the death of Jesus and the resurrection.
Now we are already in Galilee. This Sea of Tiberias here is the Sea of Galilee. So they returned home, returned to the region where the disciples actually lived.
Some people look at the attitude of the disciples here. I have seen preachers do this, saying that the disciples here are faithless and are not following what Jesus said. They returned to fishing and instead of fishing for men, they went back to catching fish.
They lost sight of their calling, of their ministry. Actually, I do not see it that way, especially because the text does not rebuke the disciples. We see that Jesus himself does not rebuke the disciples for being out fishing.
They were simply waiting for further instructions. That is what Jesus asked. They were waiting for Jesus to appear again.
They were waiting for further instructions. They returned home and Peter went to do what they were accustomed and used to doing: fishing. And that is not a sin, that is not wrong.
We glorify God, and it is possible to glorify God through our talents and gifts, what we know how to do to contribute to society. And the disciples needed to eat. Well, if they needed to eat, it was only natural to go fishing.
Let's go fishing so we can eat. And the text says, then, that that is what happened. They spent the whole night fishing and caught nothing.
But then Jesus appears. In verse 4 it says the following:" At dawn, Jesus was on the shore, but the disciples did not recognize him. "It is interesting here that once again we notice that Jesus is resurrected with a glorified body that seems to be a little different or that at first people do not recognize.
We saw this right after the resurrection when Mary Magdalene saw Jesus. We see in other situations that Jesus appears to the disciples on the road to Emmaus and they do not recognize him either. And here it seems that at first they do not recognize Jesus.
It is important to say, we believe in a bodily resurrection. Jesus was resurrected bodily, flesh, right? Flesh and bone.
But it was a glorified body, a differentiated body that at first sometimes, sometimes people did not recognize right away. And Jesus then appears on the beach and shortly after he asks. He asked:" Children, do you happen to have any fish to eat?
"" No, "they answered. Look how interesting. Jesus does not rebuke the disciples for being fishing.
He understands, oh, it's for eating. So, do you have any fish there to eat? And another interesting word is" children, "which in Greek here means little children.
It is as if Jesus were treating them very intimately and affectionately. Little children, do you have any food there? Do you have any fish?
Did you catch anything? And they said:" No, we didn't catch anything. "The fishing was not good enough.
Actually, they caught nothing. In verse 6," Then he said: ' Throw the net to the other side, to the right side of the boat, and you will catch some. ' "They did so, and they could not pull the net back in because it was so full of fish.
The disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter:" It is the Lord. "When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he wrapped his cloak around him, for he had taken it off to work, and jumped into the water. The others stayed in the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about 90 meters away.
Jesus appears here once again after the resurrection. Whenever Jesus appears after the resurrection, it is not randomly. Jesus has specific purposes in his appearances.
The first appearance of Jesus that we see in the Gospel of John has a specific purpose: to declare peace to the disciples who were distressed. The second appearance of Jesus has the purpose of showing his divinity and the resurrection to Thomas himself so that Thomas could believe. And now Jesus appears once more to have fellowship over a lovely breakfast with some disciples and also to specifically address Peter's heart.
We see that not all the disciples are here, just a few, but this conversation is incredibly important. Jesus performs the well-known miracle of the miraculous catch of fish once again. I imagine that this miracle was etched in the disciples 'memories.
And Jesus performs this miracle again with a single goal: to reveal himself to the disciples, for Jesus to show the disciples that it is him. The moment the miraculous catch happens, they understand, they realize. It is Jesus, our Lord, our God, our Savior.
It is him. Ah, Jesus performs this miracle as a sign to reveal himself, to reveal who he is. After all , that is the goal of the entire Gospel of John.
Do you remember everything we have been talking about these past few weeks? The goal of the Gospel of John is precisely this. Jesus reveals himself through this miracle for the second time.
The miracle that was already known to the disciples. It was one of the first when he performed the miraculous catch, the disciple whom Jesus loved. And at the end of this chapter, we will confirm that it is indeed John, our suspicion that it is John who is writing.
The disciple whom Jesus loved recognizes that it is Jesus and says," It is the Lord. "And Peter then, who was naked or perhaps wearing only some covering, because he went to work, right, everyone? Nothing better than taking off your tunic to work.
He puts his tunic back on, jumps into the water, and goes to meet Jesus. And this text is interesting. Verse 9.
When they arrived, they found a charcoal fire with fish and bread on it. Jesus said," Bring some of the fish you have just caught. "Simon got back into the boat and dragged the net to the shore.
There were 153 large fish, and yet the net did not tear. " Come and have breakfast, "Jesus said. None of the disciples had the courage to ask," Who are you?
" Because they knew very well that it was the Lord. Then Jesus said to them, then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. It was the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he had risen from the dead.
It is interesting that Jesus appears to the disciples here and the first thing that happens is breakfast. Jesus desires to have fellowship with his disciples. Jesus desires that the disciples have time with him.
He was already cooking a fish , there was already, you know, a fire burning there. Jesus says:" Look, bring more fish so that we can add to this meal to eat together. "It is interesting how in the Bible a meal is always a symbol of fellowship, of being together.
Back at the tabernacle, when God asks Moses to build a tabernacle, He asks for a table with bread to be placed there, that the bread should be there constantly. That table was not because God is hungry. That table means precisely that in God's house there is bread, there is fellowship, there is presence, community.
And that is what Jesus desires to have with the disciples this morning. This teaches us a lot, folks, because we must also be someone who seeks to sit to eat together with Jesus at breakfast. I learned from my uncle, our pastor here, Pastor Gilson, my uncle, he would always tell me that in the morning, before the bread of the earth comes the bread of heaven.
And he always had his time with God before breakfast. We do not necessarily need to have our time with God before breakfast. It is not wrong or a sin if you don't have your time of prayer, Bible reading in the morning, but it is extremely important that we have time for nourishment, time to eat with Jesus.
How is your life with Jesus? How much time in your day have you set aside to have breakfast with Jesus, to eat with him, to have fellowship, to feed on his word? How is your Bible reading?
This morning I woke up and the first thing I did was read the Bible and have my time with God. Today I meditated on Luke, from chapter 4 to chapter 6 of the Gospel of Luke, which is part of our one-year Bible reading plan. I am reading the whole Bible throughout the year.
We are here at the church doing this. Have time with Jesus. We need time with Jesus.
And Jesus is there. It is interesting that there is a detail that in the net there were 153 large fish. This is a detail.
Some people have already tried to find the meaning of these 153 fish, numerological meanings. And folks, there is nothing mystical here, okay? It is a very interesting account that proves to us that it is part of an eyewitness account.
It is a number that marked that witness and this detail only shows us that this story is a real story and very well recorded, right? Ah , and Jesus said:" Come, come, let's eat, let's have some breakfast. "And the text says that it was the third time Jesus appeared.
Ah, and it is in this moment that we are with Jesus. Yeah, the text says that they, interestingly the text says they didn't have the courage to ask, but they knew it was Jesus. They simply enjoyed that moment of adoration, of contemplation, of being in the presence of Jesus.
And in a way, that is what happens to us when we are in the presence of Jesus. Do you remember, do you remember the last time you had an experience of being in the presence of God and you knew He was there, and the only reaction you could have was to be quiet , to contemplate, to feel, to hear the voice of the Lord? Josh Moods, he made an interesting comment about this.
He says the following:" When we are in moments of worship, a moment arrives in the presence of the King where we discover that our voices are silenced while we simply wonder who He is and delight in His love and provision for us. "Doubts are replaced by faith, hesitation by knowledge, anxiety before the problems of our lives by admiration for the Lord, in whose presence there is perfect peace. This is wonderful.
This is really the feeling we have when we are before the presence of Jesus. That is why I invite you to enjoy this presence of Jesus. The text now shifts focus and says that in the middle of this meal or after the meal, Jesus now speaks to Peter.
Look how interesting. Verse 15. After the meal, Jesus asked Simon Peter:" Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?
"" Yes, Lord, "Peter answered. replied Peter. " You know that I love you, so feed my lambs, "said Jesus.
Uh, Jesus repeated the question:" Simon, son of John, do you love me? "" Yes, Lord, "said Peter. " You know that I love you, so take care of my sheep, "said Jesus.
For the third time He asked:" Simon, son of John, do you love me? "Peter was sad because Jesus asked the question a third time and said:" Lord, You know all things, You know that I love You. " Jesus said:" Then feed my sheep.
"This text is very interesting and it is a wonderful experience that Peter has with Jesus here. Remembering that Peter denied Jesus three times before the crucifixion. And now Jesus conducts an intensive treatment with Peter through three questions.
I want to start by making a comment here about possible different interpretations of this text because of the Greek words used in it. When we read this text in Greek, we see different words being used for love. We have Jesus asking Peter if he loves Him with the word agape, agape love, which would be God's love for us.
Second, Peter responds that he loves Jesus with phileo love, that is, a love that would be the love of friends and not agape love. And Jesus asks once more," Peter, do you love me with agape love? "Peter responds:" I love you with phileo love.
"And then for the third time, Jesus changes it. The third time He asks:" Peter, so do you love me with phileo love? "And Peter responds:" Yes, Lord, you know all things.
I love you with phileo love. "I myself have preached on this text in the past using this play on words, showing that Jesus wanted to address exactly this detail. " Do you see, Peter?
You don't love me with unconditional love, you love me with limited love. "But after learning a bit more about Greek, after learning a bit more about the exegesis of this text, we discover that these words don't make any difference at all, folks. First of all, originally this discourse did not happen in Greek.
Originally, this discourse must have happened in Aramaic . It was the common language they conversed and spoke in. So, what happened there on the beach was probably a conversation in Aramaic.
What we have here is already a translation into Greek of what happened . John chose to write in Greek because it was the common language of that time . Another interesting argument is that when we do go to Greek, in fact, sometimes the words agape, phileo, these types of love are used to demonstrate different types of love.
That doesn't make much of a difference. I know C. S.
Lewis wrote a book about the four loves using these different words, but he used them in an illustrative and didactic way for us. But it is interesting that in Revelation, Jesus describes His love for the people with the word phileo. Look how interesting, isn't it?
Agape. And it is interesting that in some places in the Bible, agape is also used as a human love, a corrupt love, which is what happens in Ecclesiastes chapter 9, in the Septuagint version, when it was translated into Greek. So we see in Greek, agape being used for human love, and we see human love being used as God's love being used as phileo.
It doesn't make much of a difference, these details of the Greek word, you know? Now, there are some subtleties here, there are some differences in the text that do indeed make a big difference. And John made it very clear in the text.
For example, first of all, Jesus asks:" Do you love me more than these? "That is where we have a difference in the text. " Peter, do you love me more than these?
"And Jesus is likely speaking of the disciples who are right there. We see that Jesus did not step away with Peter. Jesus is at that meal and the people are right there.
And he starts talking to Peter:" Do you love me more than these? "Jesus is going deep. Jesus goes deeper than we want or would like.
He is remembering when Peter came to Jesus and said:" Lord, count on me. I will die. I will go with the Lord to the end .
"Peter was placing himself above the other disciples, saying:" I truly love you, I am the man. Count on me. I will go to the death.
"But then Peter goes through an experience where he denies Jesus. And I imagine, folks, can you imagine how Peter's heart must have been at this moment? When Jesus asks:" Peter, do you love me more than these?
"I imagine the sword that pierced Peter's heart. And then Peter replies:" Lord, you know that I love you. "He does not reply:" I love you more than these.
"Peter says:" Look, if I love you, it may even be that I don't love you more than the other disciples, because they didn't deny you, but I do love you. The Lord knows that I love you. "And Peter really did love Jesus.
And the question, the answer from Jesus is fantastic. " Then, feed my lambs. " The first statement from Jesus here is with" feed, "give them food.
" Then, feed my sheep. "How? Feed my sheep with my word, with my teaching, with discipleship, with the preaching of the gospel.
Feed my lambs. Preach the word. Proclaim it.
Be a fisher of men. Preach the word. Jesus takes a moment of failure and grace superabounds and transforms it into a commission, a commission to preach the gospel.
Jesus then repeated the question a second time. Simon, son of John, do you love me? Now Jesus no longer asks more than this, simply:" Do you love me?
"And Peter answers:" Yes, Lord, "said Peter, " You know that I love you, so tend my sheep. "The word changes. Now it is not feed, now it is tend.
Meaning, real care, being present, visiting, looking after, hugging, crying together, eating together. We were commissioned by Jesus not only to preach, but to care for others. Not only to feed with the word, but to feed physically as well, we are to care for Jesus' sheep.
And now Jesus really goes to the root of everything. And for the third time he asked:" Simon , son of John, do you love me? "Oh, it is interesting that in all these questions, I forgot to mention, in all these questions, Jesus does not call Simon, Peter.
Look how interesting. It was Jesus who changed Simon's name to Peter. From now on you will be called rock, right?
And upon this rock I will build my church. Oh, but now Jesus does not call Simon, Peter, he calls him Simon, son of John. It is Simon, uh, Simon, son of John.
He is going back to the beginning of everything, to the call of John, going back to Simon, to the beg-to the beginning of everything. And Jesus then asks for the third time: " Do you love me? "Peter became sad because Jesus asked the question for the third time.
Why did Peter become sad now? Because when Jesus asks for the third time, it is a clear reference to the three times Peter denied him. And this saddens him deeply, because he remembers his own failure, he remembers his own sin, he remembers what he actually did.
And Peter responds to the question saying, Peter says:" Lord, you know all things and you know that I love you. "And Jesus said:" Then, feed my sheep. "He returns to the feeding of food, of the word.
This text is wonderful. This text is wonderful. We find a Peter here who is broken and transformed.
In the past, we have a Peter full of himself, full of pride, saying:" Lord, I will die for you. I will go with you to the end. Count on me.
"And he could not see perhaps his own flaw. But Peter goes through a traumatic experience where he denies Jesus. And Jesus, instead of rejecting Peter, saying:" How were you capable of doing something like that?
"I was with you the whole time. Did I warn you, how were you able to deny me and cast me out? " No.
Jesus now welcomes him and welcomes him by asking a question. This is wonderful. Jesus doesn't come with a sermon, he comes with a question: "Do you love me?
" And this should be our posture as a church, my brothers. And if there is a demon that exists within our churches, it is this lack of love, care, empathy, and mercy that we have. My wife shared this week on her Instagram, for those who want to, go there.
Paula Bre, Paula M. Breeder, right? You'll find it.
She shared a bit of her testimony and she says that she grew up in the church, but there was a time when she drifted away from Jesus and went to live. a worldly life, unfortunately. But when she wanted to return to the church, the church itself rejected her, it didn't want her.
Old friends from the church, when they saw her at the service, would say: "That's just a flash in the pan, that won't last at all. " Oh, look at that. She's almost a prostitute.
These were the words she heard inside the church. My brothers, we need to have this attitude of Jesus, of welcoming, of mercy, of offering grace, transformation. And that is what Jesus offers to Peter, transformation, grace.
And now that Peter recognizes his own error, now that Peter recognizes his limitation and the size of his sin, that is when Jesus commissions him. Now you are ready. Now you are ready.
take care of, feed and look after my sheep. And this experience with Peter is wonderful. It describes the size of His love.
And then Jesus continues speaking with Peter about how he will die. Look how interesting. Verse 8.
I tell you the truth. When you were young, you could act as you pleased. You dressed yourself and went where you wanted.
But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and others will dress you and take you where you do not want to go. Jesus said this to inform him by what kind of death he would glorify God . Then Jesus said to him: "Follow me.
" Jesus now gives a warning. He predicts, not predicts, he reveals to Peter the way he would die. As if Jesus were saying, "Now you are ready, Peter, and rest assured.
I know that you love me and I know that you love me so much that you will truly die for the sake of the gospel. " If in the past you were not capable and you denied me, I know that now, filled with the Holy Spirit and transformed, you will die. "And Jesus says that he will die with his hands stretched out, right?
well, uh you will stretch out your hands and others will dress you. It is a reference to the death by cross that Peter would suffer. Peter also dies crucified.
And tradition even says that he asked to be crucified upside down because he did not consider himself worthy to die as Jesus died. So he asks to be crucified upside down. But it is interesting that Peter does not quite understand that Jesus is talking about how he will die.
In other words, he understands that Jesus is talking about how he will die, but then Peter nudges Jesus to find out how the other one will die. Look how interesting. Peter turned and saw behind him the disciple whom Jesus loved, who had reclined near Jesus during the supper, asking:" Lord, who is going to betray you?
"Look, at some point in the conversation, Jesus leaves that meal and starts walking along with Peter. And the text says that John comes behind, he is following . And Peter looks back and sees that John is following this conversation.
And then John, Peter asks Jesus there in verse, uh, 21. Peter asked Jesus:" Lord, what about him? "Jesus answered:" If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?
As for you , follow me. "Because of this, the rumor spread among the community of brothers that this disciple would not die. That was not, however, what Jesus said.
He just said:" If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? "Look what an interesting detail added here. First Peter asks:" Lord, okay, you are saying that I am going to die this way, but what about him?
"And then Jesus rebukes Peter saying:" Look, it does not concern you. "You should not be worried about how other people will die, about how other people will glorify me, and what other people will do. In that sense, you need to worry only about yourself and the faith that you have in me.
It does not concern you how John will die. And then Jesus confronts Peter saying:" Look, if I want him to live forever, he lives forever. "And then a rumor spread that they misunderstood this statement that Peter, that John would live forever.
And here John himself makes a point of saying:" Look, that is not what happened. Jesus was only saying, 'If I want him to remain, what does that matter to you? ' Jesus was not saying that he would live forever, no.
But now we conclude the Gospel of John with an interesting piece of information. In verse 24, the text says: "This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. Therefore, it is John himself, it is the evangelist himself who is writing the gospel, and he is the one who hid himself in the narrative by saying 'the one whom Jesus loved.
' He didn't mention it by name, but we see that it is John himself who recorded it here, and we know that his account is true. This word" we know "in the plural has already sparked some controversy, suggesting that the authorship is not John's, but a Johannine community. But I believe, as Josh McDowell and some other commentators also do, that this" we know "is the testimony of the apostles, this apostolic authority.
All of us, the apostles, bear witness that all of this is true. And then John ends his gospel saying:" Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
"Of course, it is a hyperbole. Right? Because it is an exaggeration that John makes, but it is interesting that he highlights his objective in writing.
We see that when John writes his gospel, he leaves many things out. He does not record all of Jesus 'miracles. He only recounts seven signs.
He only recounts seven" I Am "discourses of Jesus. And John says:" Look, I wrote all of this with a purpose, so that you may believe that he is the Son of God, the God among us. And before this gospel, now concluding, if you remember back in our first class I said that the objective of the Gospel of John is to generate controversy.
Controversy in the sense that before Jesus, you need to make a choice. Either you recognize him as God and bow before him, or you reject him completely. There is no middle ground.
There is no Jesus as a great philosopher, as a moral teacher. There is no Jesus as an example to be followed. There is only Jesus as God to whom we bow, whom we worship and obey, or we reject him.
These are our only two stances. And before this gospel that we have just read, which one will be yours? To believe that Jesus Christ is truly God with us, who died and rose from the dead and brings us life, full life and life in abundance, or to reject Him.
This is the choice we need to make. And so, alluding to Joshua back in the Old Testament, I have already made my choice; both my wife and I, my house and I will serve the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, God with us, Christ crucified, risen and glorified. Amen.
I hope you have been greatly blessed these days here, studying the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John is one of my favorites and it was an honor, a pleasure to study the entire Gospel of John with you. If you made it to the end and watched everything, say: "Felipe, I followed it all.
" If you made it to the end, please send me a comment over on Instagram. I will be very happy to know that you followed everything. Or leave it here in the YouTube comments as well.
May God bless you greatly. Next week, returning to our standard Wednesday schedule, we will return with a new book of the Bible, okay? But I'm still not sure which one, probably from the Old Testament, I'll bring it and let you know, alright?
So, my dear ones, may God bless you. Thank you very much for your presence and see you next week . Yeah.
