John 21:1-5
1 After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way.
2 Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.
3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.
4 But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
5 So Jesus said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.”

Some time after the events of John 20, the disciples departed Jerusalem and traveled to Galilee, just as Jesus had told them to (during the Passover meal on Thursday night), before His arrest in the Garden on Friday morning (see Mark 14:28).

Mark 14:28
28 But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.”

In our text we find Jesus manifesting Himself to a group of His disciples, at the Sea of Tiberias [note: This is the Sea of Galilee, but by the time of John’s writing it was commonly called the Sea of Tiberias, after the city of Tiberias, on the western shore, which had been named after Tiberius Caesar (cf. Luke 3:1).

Luke 3:1
1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene,

There are seven apostles in this story: Simon Peter, Thomas (called Didymus), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee (John and James), and two others who are unnamed; but it is very likely they are Philip and Andrew who were often listed with Peter, James and John.

The disciples had previously been told by Jesus (Matthew 28:10, 16) to, “Go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.” “The eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.”

Matthew 28:10
10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

Matthew 28:16
16 But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated.

Did you notice, it says the eleven went to meet Jesus at a specified mountain in Galilee; but it would seem that at least seven of the eleven got tired of waiting, and decided to go catch something to eat.

In John 21:3, it is recorded that Peter said to the other six, “I am going fishing,” and they said back to him, “We will also come with you.” And they got into a boat (perhaps belonging to Peter, or maybe John or James). They fished all night and caught nothing.

John 21:3
3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will also come with you.” They went out and got into the boat; and that night they caught nothing.

It would appear that Peter and some of the others who had been fishermen when Jesus called them, were now going back to their former occupation of fishing, although they are not having much success, in this instance.

Jesus said to His disciples (John 16:32), “Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home.” The Greek doesn’t have the word home but reads his own; the same phrase used in 1Thessalonians 4:11, is translated “your own business,” signifying that they would return to the way of life they had before following Christ (i.e., for these seven) back to fishing.

John 16:32
32 Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.

1Thessalonians 4:11
11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,

Three years ago, these men had left their previous lives to follow Jesus, in order to become fishers of men (see Matthew 4:19-20; cf Luke 9:23).

Matthew 4:19-20
19 And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

Luke 9:23
23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

Jesus didn’t intend for them to return to their previous lives; they had been called to the Gospel of Christ, as (Acts 1:8) “witnesses both in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” There really was no going back to their regular lives, after having received the calling and commission to follow Him.

Acts 1:8
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

John 21:4 tells us that after a long night without catching anything, these guys head back into shore, as the sun is coming up, and Jesus is standing on the beach, but they do not recognize Him.

John 21:4
4 But when the day was now breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

John 21:5
In verse 5, Jesus says to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” they answer, “No.” This was a mild rebuke for not waiting on the Lord to come, instead of trusting Jesus, they took it upon themselves to get food, by going back to their previous occupation, and they weren’t doing so well at it.

John 21:5
5 So Jesus said to them, “Children, you do not have any fish, do you?” They answered Him, “No.”

John 21:6-14
6 And He said to them, “Cast the net on the right-hand side of the boat and you will find a catch.” So they cast, and then they were not able to haul it in because of the great number of fish.
7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord.” So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea.
8 But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish.
9 So when they got out on the land, they saw a charcoal fire already laid and fish placed on it, and bread.
10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish which you have now caught.”
11 Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.
12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples ventured to question Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was the Lord.
13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise.
14 This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.

The Lord calls them to put their net on the right side of the boat, they do; immediately their net is so full they can’t pull it into the boat.

The disciple whom Jesus loved (John) recognized that it was the Lord, and so he told Peter, “It is the Lord.” Peter put his outer clothing on and jumped into the lake, he couldn’t wait for the slow moving boat to make it to shore; he wanted to be with Jesus right now!

The other six disciples were in the boat, “about one hundred yards off shore,” dragging the net with their heavy catch, because they couldn’t get it into the boat. When they finally reached the beach and got out of the boat, they could see there was a small fire with some fish and bread already cooking.

At this point Jesus tells them to bring some of fish they have caught, and He adds these to the meal He is already preparing. The net of fish is still a ways to in the water; but on hearing the Lord’s command, Peter grabs ahold of the net and pulls it up on the land, it is full of fish, in fact, 153 large fish

John 21:11
11 Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not torn.

John (a fisherman by profession) is amazed (verse 11) that such a huge catch of large fish has not torn the net.

John 21:12-13
12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples ventured to question Him, “Who are You?” knowing that it was the Lord.
13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and the fish likewise.

Jesus invites the men to come and have breakfast with Him (verses 12-13), and although they are still not absolutely sure it is Him, they don’t ask any questions, for in their hearts they know it is Jesus.

It appears that they came up on the beach, where Jesus was cooking, they didn’t take anything to eat; at least, not until the Lord took some of the bread and the fish and gave it to them. Here is the resurrected Lord, still providing for this band of misfit fishermen. Jesus loved these guys.

Read John 21:14
14 This is now the third time that Jesus was manifested to the disciples, after He was raised from the dead.

John tells us (verse 14), this is the third time Jesus has revealed Himself to His disciples, since He rose from the grave (see John 20:19-20, 26-29).

John 20:19-20
19 So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.

John 20:26-29
26 After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”
27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
28 Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”

So, what can we takeaway from these Passages today?

Jesus had told His disciples to go to Galilee (to some specified location known to them, but not stated in the text) and there they would see Him; it would seem that the waiting became difficult, for at least seven of the disciples, so they decided to go back to their trade of fishing, although, they weren’t able to catch any fish.

We are told that Jesus manifested Himself to these men at the Sea of Galilee, where He demonstrated His care for them, just like He had provided for them during three years they were with Him, before His death and resurrection. The narrative tells us that after the men fished all night and had caught nothing, they followed Jesus instruction on where to put their net, and the net became full of fish, 153 large fish.

I believe the takeaway from this story, is that we can trust our Lord to care for and provide for us, now and later; even if we can’t see Him, once we come to Christ by faith, we cannot go back into the godless existence we had before coming to Him; we are called to be witnesses of the death and resurrection of God’s Son.

The next appearance of Jesus seems to take place on a mountain in Galilee, probably the place where the seven fisherman, in the previous narrative, had been when they got tired of waiting for Jesus to show up, so they went fishing.

Jesus is now on the mountain, very likely the same place where He had given the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Paul tells us (1Corinthians 15:6).

1Corinthians 15:6
6 After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;

This is very likely when Jesus gave the Great Commission (see Matthew 28:1, 5-10, 18-20), where every believer from the time of Jesus to the end of time as we know it, receives our commission to be witnesses of Christ (cf. 2Corinthians 5:17-21).

Matthew 28:1
1 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave.

Matthew 28:5-10
5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.
6 He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.
7 Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
8 And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.
9 And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

Matthew 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

2Corinthians 5:17-21
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The next appearance of Jesus mentioned in the biblical record is found in 1Corinthians 15:7a.

1Corinthians 15:7a
7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;

The James mentioned here is most likely the Lord’s halfbrother, who evidently, did not come to saving faith until he saw the risen Lord. We are not told where Jesus appeared to him; but we do know that James, Jesus’ brother through Mary and Joseph, later became a prominent leader in the Jerusalem church, and author of the book by the same name: James.

There are four different men with the name of James who are mentioned in the New Testament (cf. Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:12-16): James the brother of John (sons of Zebedee), James the son of Alphaeus, and James the father of Judas (not Iscariot).

Mark 3:16-19
16 And He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter),
17 and James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”);
18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot;
19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.

Luke 6:12-16
12 It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.
13 And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles:
14 Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James and John; and Philip and Bartholomew;
15 and Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called the Zealot;
16 Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

The next post resurrection appearance of Jesus in the biblical record is recorded in 1Corinthians 15:7b.

1Corinthians 15:7b
7 then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;

I believe the statement here, “then to all the apostles,” is speaking of the event recorded in Acts 1:1-12. Let’s take a look.

Acts 1:1-12
1 The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach,
2 until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.
3 To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.
4 Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me;
5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;
8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them.
11 They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.

As we have studied the post resurrection appearances of Jesus, it is worth mentioning here how Jesus appeared first to the women near the tomb on Sunday morning. Then He appeared to two disciples on the road to Emmaus on Sunday afternoon; after which, Sunday evening, He appeared to a group of followers that included 10 of the original twelve Disciples, plus other followers of Jesus. He then appeared to all 11 of the original Disciples, again on a Sunday. Jesus then appeared to 7 of the Disciples at the Sea of Galilee; after which He appeared to more than 500 on the mountain. Next was Christ’s appearance to James, we know not where; and then to all the apostles in Acts 1:1-12.

The record of Jesus’ appearances to His followers after His death and resurrection is copious, credible, and conclusive; there is more than enough demonstrable evidence concerning His death and resurrection.

1John 1:1-3
1 What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life--
2 and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us--
3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

Why did God go to such great lengths to reveal and validate His plan?

John 20:30-31
30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;
31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

1John 5:11-13
11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Pastor Mike Hale
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Topics: Resurrection, Resurrection Appearances of Jesus