John 21:12 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.

NIV: Jesus said to them, 'Come and have breakfast.' None of the disciples dared ask him, 'Who are you?' They knew it was the Lord.

NASB: Jesus *said to them, 'Come and have breakfast.' None of the disciples ventured to inquire of Him, 'Who are You?' knowing that it was the Lord.

CSB: "Come and have breakfast," Jesus told them. None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you? " because they knew it was the Lord.

NLT: Now come and have some breakfast!' Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, 'Who are you?' They knew it was the Lord.

KJV: Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.

NKJV: Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.” Yet none of the disciples dared ask Him, “Who are You?”—knowing that it was the Lord.

When Jesus first rose from the dead, He passed along a message telling the disciples to meet Him in Galilee (Matthew 28:9–10). He then made at least two appearances to groups of disciples (John 20:19, 26). This time, He appeared on shore while the men were out on the water in dim light (John 21:1–4). The miraculous catch of fish confirmed that it was Jesus (John 21:5–11).

The disciples lack of questions about Jesus' identity can be taken in several ways. One possibility is John emphasizing the lack of doubt, as if saying, "there's no need to ask, since it's clear."

The other option is that the men believe this is Jesus, but they're tempted to ask, just to be sure. This would be like someone asking a close friend, "is it really you?" Or, as when seeing someone wearing new clothes with a new hair style, Jesus' resurrected form might have been subtly different (Luke 24:13–16, 31; John 20:14). This would cast John's remark as reassurance: even though Jesus' appearance was not exactly as it had been, there was no valid reason to think it was someone else.

John 21:1–14 begins by describing another encounter between the disciples and Jesus, after His resurrection. Seven of them have an unsuccessful night fishing; this is possibly a sign that their calling is to be evangelists, not anglers. A figure on the beach tells them to cast their net to the other side of the boat, resulting in a massive catch. John realizes the man is Jesus, and Peter dives overboard to swim to shore. There, the other disciples arrive to find a breakfast of bread and fish waiting for them, along with Jesus.

After Jesus' resurrection, a group of disciples goes fishing while they wait in Galilee. From a distance, a figure appears and tells the men to cast again. Despite a fruitless night, they obey, and the net is immediately overflowing with fish. This confirms that the man on the shore is Jesus. As the disciples eat a meal with Christ, He presses Peter to reaffirm His faith. Jesus then predicts the nature of Peter's death; He does not do so for John. The gospel of John ends with an affirmation of its source, and a reminder that no single book could contain every detail of Jesus' ministry.

The final chapter of the gospel of John evokes the recent trend of a "post-credits scene" from films. After the main story has been told, John includes one last scene to further add details about what is to come. After Jesus' resurrection and appearances, He meets with the disciples near Galilee. A major outcome of this meeting is Peter's restoration to his former status. No finite work could fully explain Jesus' ministry, so John's eyewitness account is only part of those truths.

The gospel of John was written by the disciple John, decades later than the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls “signs”—in order to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in all of the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.

Accessed 5/8/2024 10:08:57 PM