Hello, friends, and welcome back
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to this program
"Books of the Book."
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Again we are so glad
that you are taking this time
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to join us in this Bible study.
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And today we are on the last
chapter of the Gospel of John.
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So if you have
a Bible somewhere,
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you want to join us,
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grab your Bibles and open it
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to the last chapter which is 21.
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And my name is Deyvy Rodriguez
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and again I
welcome you to our program.
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And with us is Dr. Jon
Paulien, he has been with us
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throughout this
whole Bible study
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on the Gospel of John.
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And he is the Dean of Religion
at Loma Linda University.
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Dr. Jon Paulien,
welcome back again.
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You said to me earlier
that you do some teaching.
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I think you have a
class at Loma Linda
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and so teaching is
something you do as well
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but I also asked you
earlier that you do some--
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or you did pastoral
work. You are pastor also.
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Tell us more about that
and what do you like better?
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Do you like pastoring
or do you prefer teacher
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because it's
either one or the other.
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I guess, suppose you can do
both but what's your passion?
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Well, the first nine years
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of my adult career
was in pastoral work
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and that was on
the New York City area,
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both in Brooklyn and
also in upstate New York
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that will be 100
miles north of the city
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and probably for my
personality and gifts,
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teaching is somewhat
preferable to pastoring.
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But that doesn't make it
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more important
or more significant,
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it's simply where I am
most comfortable. Okay.
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And also for those who
have been watching this series
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and would really
like to get your notes
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because we have not read
the entire chapters at times.
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How can people get these notes?
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Well, we plan to have
them available on the website
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and that is
www.thebattleofarmageddon.com,
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all in one word
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and there we are
going to post the scripts,
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for the 27 different
programs in the series. Okay.
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And they can download
those for free, right?
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Well, before we
begin our Bible study,
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let me ask you a
question. Do you like fishing?
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Never really did it. No.
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I mean, you
know, from an outside
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I am sure it's great,
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I am sure a lot of
people enjoy it and so but I--
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we have a fishing lake just
a short distance from our house
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and I see
people there and so on.
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I don't know they seem
to be staring at the water
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and I usually
like to keep my mind
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a little more active than that.
It's not your kind of thing.
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It doesn't appeal to
me particularly. Right.
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Well, the reason I asked is
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because today we are
going to be talking about
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fishing in Chapter 21.
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That could be the
title of the Chapter.
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Gone fishing. All right.
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So tell us where we are
here? What is the setting?
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Well, some people call this
is epilogue of John's Gospel
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because it--in a way it
seems to come after the ending.
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The gospel ending seems to be
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the last two
verses of Chapter 20
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and why don't we
look at those right now.
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John 20:30-31.
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"And truly Jesus
did many other signs
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in the presence
of His disciples,
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which are not
written in this book.
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But these are
written that you may believe
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that Jesus is the
Christ, the Son of God,
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and that believing you
may have life in His name."
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That's really a perfect ending
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that I am not the
first person to say that.
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It's been written about
and talked about for centuries.
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Why Chapter 21 when you got
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such a great
ending in Chapter 20?
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Obviously there are
skeptics who might come along
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and say, "Well,
there was no John.
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This was put
together centuries later
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and out of bits and
peaces and who knows what."
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But from a
believer's perspective,
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how do you explain
this awkward ending
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and I think there are probably
three different options.
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One would be it's
just an awkward ending
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you know, that this is the
way the writer wanted to do it
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and leave it there.
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Second possibility is
that it was a second edition.
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Perhaps the first
edition of the gospel
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ended with Chapter 20
and it's a good ending
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but then as John grew
older and this rumor went out
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that he would
live to see Jesus come,
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then he needed to
put that last chapter on
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in order to deflate the rumor
at the time when he might die.
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And then the third
option is that perhaps
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someone after his death
had this good material there
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and just added it to
the end of the gospel
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and people
accepted that and it went.
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I think any of those would be
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a good
believer's interpretation.
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I personally probably
prefer the second one.
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We know that some
of the Bible writers
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had multiple
editions of their works.
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Jeremiah, we are
pretty sure of that
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and others maybe
somewhat less so.
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So I think the possibility
of a second edition of John
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to meet the new situation
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at the time when
John was about to die
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that makes sense to me.
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Twenty is a good ending
but 21 is a fun epilogue
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and why don't we
get into it. Sure.
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And we are
starting to read verses--
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Well, the story, gets
right into this fishing story.
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And why don't you read
the first three verses.
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"After these things
Jesus showed Himself
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again to the disciples
at the Sea of Tiberias.
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And in this way
He showed Himself.
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Simon Peter,
Thomas called the Twin,
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Nathanael of Cana in
Galilee, the sons of Zebedee,
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and two others of His
disciples were together.
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Simon Peter said to
them, 'I am going fishing.'
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They said to him, 'We
are going with you also.'
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They went out and
immediately got into the boat,
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and that night they
caught nothing." All right.
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So here we have
this interesting story.
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Sea of Tiberias, just
for those who are wondering
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is the same as Sea of Galilee
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that simply the one names
the sea after the province,
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the other names the sea after
the name of the biggest city
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that's right on the lake.
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So disciples are out
there and Jesus has died
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and they are pretty
confident He has risen again
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but they are not
quite sure what to do.
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I mean, Jesus appearances
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after His
crucifixion are very occasional.
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They never expected it.
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It's always a surprise,
it's just here and there
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and it-- you get the impression
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Jesus ministry was
complete at the cross.
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There really
wasn't anything to add.
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It doesn't say much
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when he actually comes
back to visit with them.
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So they are not quite sure
what exactly to do at this point
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so Peter says, "We
have to go, go out fishing."
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And they go out
fishing at night.
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So the question might be.
Well, why would you do that?
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As I understand there's
two basic types of fishing.
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You have lure fishing
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where you dangle
something really attractive
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to the fish on the end of a hook
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and then the fish
decides to go after that
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and finds itself caught.
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So that's one way
that you can catch fish.
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The other way is to
throw a net out in the water
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and surround them
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and you can
bring in lots of fish
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that way at one time.
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But obviously lure fishing
works best in the day time
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when the fish can see
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what you are
trying to attract then to.
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Net fishing
works better at night
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when you can surprise the fish.
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You know, they are just
going along in the dark here
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and all of the
sudden, hey, what is this,
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I don't know what's gong on.
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So disciples were net fishers
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and if you've ever
been to the Sea of Galilee,
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you probably seen them
still doing that today.
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So they go out
and to tell the story,
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they fish all night and
they don't catch anything.
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Then there's this person
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standing on the
beach watching them.
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When morning comes,
okay, that's the setting here.
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And He tells them throw your net
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on the other side of the boat.
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And here's the thing, you want
to surprise the fish at night
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so you now, you use
the nets at that time
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but when morning
comes, when the dawn comes,
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the sun comes, you got
one more chance to catch fish
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and that would
be to throw your net
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on the shady side of the boat.
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The side opposite from
where the sun is coming,
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the western side of the boat
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because the fish might be
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swimming along in
the glorious sunshine
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and goes into the shadow
and so-- wow, what's this?
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And you got them, you see.
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The fellow on the beach
may know a lot about preaching
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but he doesn't seem to
know anything about fishing,
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He tells them throw your net
on the other side of the boat.
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They say, this is
not the right way to fish
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but they decide to
humor him and they do it.
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And what happens, suddenly
the net is full of fish.
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Now the question is.
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An ancient reader of John
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what would they see in
this sudden catch of fish?
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Well, one of the key
things in the New Testament
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is that Jesus
is the second Adam.
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And as the second Adam,
00:10:00.49\00:10:02.51
He has all of the powers
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and privileges
of the first Adam.
00:10:04.41\00:10:07.18
And one of the
powers and privileges
00:10:07.21\00:10:09.29
of the first Adam was to
have dominion over the earth,
00:10:09.32\00:10:12.83
over the beast of
the earth and over what?
00:10:12.86\00:10:16.58
The fish of the sea.
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So Adam was created
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to have dominion
over the fish of the sea.
00:10:23.11\00:10:25.87
So the man standing on
the beach is actually Adam
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or as we might say, the
second Adam or the new Adam.
00:10:30.79\00:10:35.42
Jesus comes and He is Adam
as Adam was attended to be.
00:10:35.45\00:10:39.96
John tells us that He lived in
perfect obedience to His Father.
00:10:39.99\00:10:43.94
The original Adam was designed
to be in the image of God,
00:10:43.97\00:10:47.64
to be like the Father to
follow God as a disciple.
00:10:47.67\00:10:53.75
He was also in perfect
relationship with other people.
00:10:53.78\00:10:57.19
It says in Genesis, male
and female, God created them.
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They were designed to be
equal and to live together.
00:11:00.76\00:11:03.55
And so we see
Jesus washing feet.
00:11:03.58\00:11:08.43
I mean, that's a great way
towards treating everybody well.
00:11:08.46\00:11:12.34
It's a great way to
relationship with other people
00:11:12.37\00:11:14.86
that Jesus was
willing to serve them.
00:11:14.89\00:11:16.81
If we all serve each
other the way Jesus did,
00:11:16.84\00:11:19.47
we wouldn't have wars,
we wouldn't have strife,
00:11:19.50\00:11:22.12
we wouldn't have problems.
00:11:22.15\00:11:24.10
And so Jesus is Adam
as Adam was meant to be
00:11:24.13\00:11:27.35
in His relationship to
God, his relationship to people
00:11:27.38\00:11:30.83
and His
relationship to the earth.
00:11:30.86\00:11:34.42
And here we see the second
Adam filling the nets with fish.
00:11:34.45\00:11:40.04
So in verses 7 and 8, why
don't you read that for us?
00:11:40.07\00:11:43.96
"Therefore that disciple
whom Jesus loved said to Peter,
00:11:43.99\00:11:47.89
'It is the Lord!'
00:11:47.92\00:11:49.24
Now when Simon Peter
heard that it was the Lord,
00:11:49.27\00:11:51.81
he put on his outer
garment, for he had removed it,
00:11:51.84\00:11:55.14
and plunged into the sea.
00:11:55.17\00:11:58.07
But the other disciples
came in the little boat
00:11:58.10\00:12:01.30
for they were not
far from the land,
00:12:01.33\00:12:03.12
but about two hundred cubits,
dragging the net with fish.
00:12:03.15\00:12:07.38
Then, as soon as
they had come to land,
00:12:07.41\00:12:09.83
they saw a fire of coals there,
00:12:09.86\00:12:12.52
and fish laid on it,
and bread." All right.
00:12:12.55\00:12:16.14
Once again the beloved disciple,
00:12:16.17\00:12:19.33
John is the one that
figures it out first.
00:12:19.36\00:12:22.20
He still doesn't know who
this person is on the beach
00:12:22.23\00:12:25.25
but when he sees
the net full of fish,
00:12:25.28\00:12:27.20
he says, this must
be the second Adam.
00:12:27.23\00:12:30.54
This is the one
who rode the donkey,
00:12:30.57\00:12:32.25
you know, there
was unbroken cult.
00:12:32.28\00:12:33.99
I mean, Adam's
dominion over the animals
00:12:34.02\00:12:36.76
that move on the ground.
00:12:36.79\00:12:38.21
This is the one with that
perfect relationship with God.
00:12:38.24\00:12:41.25
And once again
John puts it together,
00:12:41.28\00:12:44.53
not on a physical way but
he puts the ideas together
00:12:44.56\00:12:48.88
and that's what
the second generation
00:12:48.91\00:12:50.86
is going to have to do.
00:12:50.89\00:12:52.34
So John once
again is the example
00:12:52.37\00:12:54.72
of that second
generation. Verses 9-11.
00:12:54.75\00:12:58.69
"Then, as soon as
they had come to the land,
00:12:58.72\00:13:00.90
they saw a fire of coals there,
00:13:00.93\00:13:02.98
and fish on it, and bread.
00:13:03.01\00:13:04.91
Jesus said to them,
00:13:04.94\00:13:06.30
"Bring some of the fish
which you have just caught."
00:13:06.33\00:13:09.48
Simon Peter went up and
dragged the net to the land,
00:13:09.51\00:13:12.72
full of large fish, one
hundred and fifty-three.
00:13:12.75\00:13:16.67
And although there were so
many, the net was not broken."
00:13:16.70\00:13:21.83
So here we see an essence
of parable of the church.
00:13:21.86\00:13:26.31
You have Jesus
directing the disciples,
00:13:26.34\00:13:29.04
they are the first generation.
00:13:29.07\00:13:30.84
And when the disciples
follow Jesus directions,
00:13:30.87\00:13:34.13
they gather the fish
00:13:34.16\00:13:36.03
which represents
the second generation,
00:13:36.06\00:13:38.05
us in a sense.
00:13:38.08\00:13:39.96
So and it mentions
here 153 large fish.
00:13:39.99\00:13:46.42
Was that number just mentioned
00:13:46.45\00:13:47.78
because it was
historically accurate
00:13:47.81\00:13:49.46
or is there a
spiritual depth to this?
00:13:49.49\00:13:52.13
You know, in
John, you never know.
00:13:52.16\00:13:54.45
And to me one of the
most striking things is that
00:13:54.48\00:13:57.80
in the Aramaic
and Hebrew languages
00:13:57.83\00:14:01.16
the numbers are covered
by letters of the alphabet.
00:14:01.19\00:14:04.33
So each letter of the
alphabet has a numerical value.
00:14:04.36\00:14:07.85
A would be one and B
would be two and so forth.
00:14:07.88\00:14:11.52
And when you take
the Aramaic language
00:14:11.55\00:14:14.93
and take the phrase
the children of God,
00:14:14.96\00:14:18.74
which is
introduced in Chapter 1,
00:14:18.77\00:14:20.67
that phrase as
many has believed Him
00:14:20.70\00:14:22.55
became the children of God.
00:14:22.58\00:14:25.29
The children of God in
Aramaic adds up to 153.
00:14:25.32\00:14:30.99
Accident, may be.
00:14:31.02\00:14:33.74
Given it's John's
gospel, probably not.
00:14:33.77\00:14:36.97
It's another way of saying
that the disciples are to gather
00:14:37.00\00:14:40.83
the children of
God from all over.
00:14:40.86\00:14:43.96
This gospel was written to
gather the children of God.
00:14:43.99\00:14:47.82
In a sense this story
becomes an acted parable
00:14:47.85\00:14:51.95
of the purpose of
the Gospel of John. Yeah.
00:14:51.98\00:14:55.41
Well, we are going to
continue on this Gospel of John
00:14:55.44\00:14:57.83
with the last part
of the Book of John
00:14:57.86\00:15:00.00
or the chapter of John
after this short break.
00:15:00.03\00:15:03.02