Participants: Deyvy Rodriguez & Jon Paulien
Series Code: JBOTB
Program Code: JBOTB00027A
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00:19 Hello, friends, and welcome back
00:20 to this program "Books of the Book." 00:23 Again we are so glad that you are taking this time 00:26 to join us in this Bible study. 00:28 And today we are on the last chapter of the Gospel of John. 00:32 So if you have a Bible somewhere, 00:34 you want to join us, 00:35 grab your Bibles and open it 00:36 to the last chapter which is 21. 00:40 And my name is Deyvy Rodriguez 00:41 and again I welcome you to our program. 00:43 And with us is Dr. Jon Paulien, he has been with us 00:46 throughout this whole Bible study 00:48 on the Gospel of John. 00:50 And he is the Dean of Religion at Loma Linda University. 00:55 Dr. Jon Paulien, welcome back again. 00:58 You said to me earlier that you do some teaching. 01:02 I think you have a class at Loma Linda 01:05 and so teaching is something you do as well 01:09 but I also asked you earlier that you do some-- 01:13 or you did pastoral work. You are pastor also. 01:17 Tell us more about that and what do you like better? 01:21 Do you like pastoring or do you prefer teacher 01:24 because it's either one or the other. 01:26 I guess, suppose you can do both but what's your passion? 01:29 Well, the first nine years 01:31 of my adult career was in pastoral work 01:34 and that was on the New York City area, 01:37 both in Brooklyn and also in upstate New York 01:41 that will be 100 miles north of the city 01:45 and probably for my personality and gifts, 01:49 teaching is somewhat preferable to pastoring. 01:52 But that doesn't make it 01:54 more important or more significant, 01:56 it's simply where I am most comfortable. Okay. 01:59 And also for those who have been watching this series 02:05 and would really like to get your notes 02:09 because we have not read the entire chapters at times. 02:14 How can people get these notes? 02:17 Well, we plan to have them available on the website 02:21 and that is www.thebattleofarmageddon.com, 02:27 all in one word 02:28 and there we are going to post the scripts, 02:31 for the 27 different programs in the series. Okay. 02:35 And they can download those for free, right? 02:38 Well, before we begin our Bible study, 02:40 let me ask you a question. Do you like fishing? 02:44 Never really did it. No. 02:46 I mean, you know, from an outside 02:47 I am sure it's great, 02:48 I am sure a lot of people enjoy it and so but I-- 02:52 we have a fishing lake just a short distance from our house 02:55 and I see people there and so on. 02:58 I don't know they seem to be staring at the water 03:00 and I usually like to keep my mind 03:02 a little more active than that. It's not your kind of thing. 03:04 It doesn't appeal to me particularly. Right. 03:06 Well, the reason I asked is 03:07 because today we are going to be talking about 03:09 fishing in Chapter 21. 03:12 That could be the title of the Chapter. 03:13 Gone fishing. All right. 03:16 So tell us where we are here? What is the setting? 03:20 Well, some people call this is epilogue of John's Gospel 03:24 because it--in a way it seems to come after the ending. 03:28 The gospel ending seems to be 03:29 the last two verses of Chapter 20 03:31 and why don't we look at those right now. 03:34 John 20:30-31. 03:37 "And truly Jesus did many other signs 03:40 in the presence of His disciples, 03:42 which are not written in this book. 03:44 But these are written that you may believe 03:46 that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, 03:49 and that believing you may have life in His name." 03:53 That's really a perfect ending 03:54 that I am not the first person to say that. 03:58 It's been written about and talked about for centuries. 04:02 Why Chapter 21 when you got 04:04 such a great ending in Chapter 20? 04:07 Obviously there are skeptics who might come along 04:10 and say, "Well, there was no John. 04:11 This was put together centuries later 04:13 and out of bits and peaces and who knows what." 04:16 But from a believer's perspective, 04:19 how do you explain this awkward ending 04:22 and I think there are probably three different options. 04:25 One would be it's just an awkward ending 04:28 you know, that this is the way the writer wanted to do it 04:31 and leave it there. 04:34 Second possibility is that it was a second edition. 04:37 Perhaps the first edition of the gospel 04:39 ended with Chapter 20 and it's a good ending 04:42 but then as John grew older and this rumor went out 04:47 that he would live to see Jesus come, 04:50 then he needed to put that last chapter on 04:54 in order to deflate the rumor at the time when he might die. 04:59 And then the third option is that perhaps 05:01 someone after his death had this good material there 05:06 and just added it to the end of the gospel 05:08 and people accepted that and it went. 05:10 I think any of those would be 05:12 a good believer's interpretation. 05:14 I personally probably prefer the second one. 05:18 We know that some of the Bible writers 05:20 had multiple editions of their works. 05:22 Jeremiah, we are pretty sure of that 05:26 and others maybe somewhat less so. 05:29 So I think the possibility of a second edition of John 05:32 to meet the new situation 05:33 at the time when John was about to die 05:37 that makes sense to me. 05:40 Twenty is a good ending but 21 is a fun epilogue 05:43 and why don't we get into it. Sure. 05:45 And we are starting to read verses-- 05:49 Well, the story, gets right into this fishing story. 05:53 And why don't you read the first three verses. 05:55 "After these things Jesus showed Himself 05:58 again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. 06:01 And in this way He showed Himself. 06:03 Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, 06:06 Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, 06:10 and two others of His disciples were together. 06:13 Simon Peter said to them, 'I am going fishing.' 06:16 They said to him, 'We are going with you also.' 06:19 They went out and immediately got into the boat, 06:23 and that night they caught nothing." All right. 06:26 So here we have this interesting story. 06:30 Sea of Tiberias, just for those who are wondering 06:33 is the same as Sea of Galilee 06:35 that simply the one names the sea after the province, 06:38 the other names the sea after the name of the biggest city 06:44 that's right on the lake. 06:47 So disciples are out there and Jesus has died 06:51 and they are pretty confident He has risen again 06:53 but they are not quite sure what to do. 06:55 I mean, Jesus appearances 06:57 after His crucifixion are very occasional. 07:01 They never expected it. 07:02 It's always a surprise, it's just here and there 07:06 and it-- you get the impression 07:08 Jesus ministry was complete at the cross. 07:11 There really wasn't anything to add. 07:12 It doesn't say much 07:14 when he actually comes back to visit with them. 07:17 So they are not quite sure what exactly to do at this point 07:20 so Peter says, "We have to go, go out fishing." 07:23 And they go out fishing at night. 07:26 So the question might be. Well, why would you do that? 07:30 As I understand there's two basic types of fishing. 07:33 You have lure fishing 07:35 where you dangle something really attractive 07:38 to the fish on the end of a hook 07:41 and then the fish decides to go after that 07:43 and finds itself caught. 07:45 So that's one way that you can catch fish. 07:48 The other way is to throw a net out in the water 07:52 and surround them 07:53 and you can bring in lots of fish 07:55 that way at one time. 07:58 But obviously lure fishing works best in the day time 08:01 when the fish can see 08:03 what you are trying to attract then to. 08:05 Net fishing works better at night 08:07 when you can surprise the fish. 08:08 You know, they are just going along in the dark here 08:10 and all of the sudden, hey, what is this, 08:12 I don't know what's gong on. 08:14 So disciples were net fishers 08:18 and if you've ever been to the Sea of Galilee, 08:20 you probably seen them still doing that today. 08:24 So they go out and to tell the story, 08:28 they fish all night and they don't catch anything. 08:33 Then there's this person 08:35 standing on the beach watching them. 08:37 When morning comes, okay, that's the setting here. 08:41 And He tells them throw your net 08:45 on the other side of the boat. 08:47 And here's the thing, you want to surprise the fish at night 08:51 so you now, you use the nets at that time 08:55 but when morning comes, when the dawn comes, 08:58 the sun comes, you got one more chance to catch fish 09:01 and that would be to throw your net 09:04 on the shady side of the boat. 09:06 The side opposite from where the sun is coming, 09:08 the western side of the boat 09:10 because the fish might be 09:11 swimming along in the glorious sunshine 09:14 and goes into the shadow and so-- wow, what's this? 09:17 And you got them, you see. 09:20 The fellow on the beach may know a lot about preaching 09:23 but he doesn't seem to know anything about fishing, 09:25 He tells them throw your net on the other side of the boat. 09:32 They say, this is not the right way to fish 09:35 but they decide to humor him and they do it. 09:37 And what happens, suddenly the net is full of fish. 09:43 Now the question is. 09:45 An ancient reader of John 09:47 what would they see in this sudden catch of fish? 09:53 Well, one of the key things in the New Testament 09:57 is that Jesus is the second Adam. 10:00 And as the second Adam, 10:02 He has all of the powers 10:04 and privileges of the first Adam. 10:07 And one of the powers and privileges 10:09 of the first Adam was to have dominion over the earth, 10:12 over the beast of the earth and over what? 10:16 The fish of the sea. 10:20 So Adam was created 10:23 to have dominion over the fish of the sea. 10:25 So the man standing on the beach is actually Adam 10:30 or as we might say, the second Adam or the new Adam. 10:35 Jesus comes and He is Adam as Adam was attended to be. 10:39 John tells us that He lived in perfect obedience to His Father. 10:43 The original Adam was designed to be in the image of God, 10:47 to be like the Father to follow God as a disciple. 10:53 He was also in perfect relationship with other people. 10:57 It says in Genesis, male and female, God created them. 11:00 They were designed to be equal and to live together. 11:03 And so we see Jesus washing feet. 11:08 I mean, that's a great way towards treating everybody well. 11:12 It's a great way to relationship with other people 11:14 that Jesus was willing to serve them. 11:16 If we all serve each other the way Jesus did, 11:19 we wouldn't have wars, we wouldn't have strife, 11:22 we wouldn't have problems. 11:24 And so Jesus is Adam as Adam was meant to be 11:27 in His relationship to God, his relationship to people 11:30 and His relationship to the earth. 11:34 And here we see the second Adam filling the nets with fish. 11:40 So in verses 7 and 8, why don't you read that for us? 11:43 "Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, 11:47 'It is the Lord!' 11:49 Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, 11:51 he put on his outer garment, for he had removed it, 11:55 and plunged into the sea. 11:58 But the other disciples came in the little boat 12:01 for they were not far from the land, 12:03 but about two hundred cubits, dragging the net with fish. 12:07 Then, as soon as they had come to land, 12:09 they saw a fire of coals there, 12:12 and fish laid on it, and bread." All right. 12:16 Once again the beloved disciple, 12:19 John is the one that figures it out first. 12:22 He still doesn't know who this person is on the beach 12:25 but when he sees the net full of fish, 12:27 he says, this must be the second Adam. 12:30 This is the one who rode the donkey, 12:32 you know, there was unbroken cult. 12:34 I mean, Adam's dominion over the animals 12:36 that move on the ground. 12:38 This is the one with that perfect relationship with God. 12:41 And once again John puts it together, 12:44 not on a physical way but he puts the ideas together 12:48 and that's what the second generation 12:50 is going to have to do. 12:52 So John once again is the example 12:54 of that second generation. Verses 9-11. 12:58 "Then, as soon as they had come to the land, 13:00 they saw a fire of coals there, 13:03 and fish on it, and bread. 13:04 Jesus said to them, 13:06 "Bring some of the fish which you have just caught." 13:09 Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to the land, 13:12 full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three. 13:16 And although there were so many, the net was not broken." 13:21 So here we see an essence of parable of the church. 13:26 You have Jesus directing the disciples, 13:29 they are the first generation. 13:30 And when the disciples follow Jesus directions, 13:34 they gather the fish 13:36 which represents the second generation, 13:38 us in a sense. 13:39 So and it mentions here 153 large fish. 13:46 Was that number just mentioned 13:47 because it was historically accurate 13:49 or is there a spiritual depth to this? 13:52 You know, in John, you never know. 13:54 And to me one of the most striking things is that 13:57 in the Aramaic and Hebrew languages 14:01 the numbers are covered by letters of the alphabet. 14:04 So each letter of the alphabet has a numerical value. 14:07 A would be one and B would be two and so forth. 14:11 And when you take the Aramaic language 14:14 and take the phrase the children of God, 14:18 which is introduced in Chapter 1, 14:20 that phrase as many has believed Him 14:22 became the children of God. 14:25 The children of God in Aramaic adds up to 153. 14:31 Accident, may be. 14:33 Given it's John's gospel, probably not. 14:37 It's another way of saying that the disciples are to gather 14:40 the children of God from all over. 14:43 This gospel was written to gather the children of God. 14:47 In a sense this story becomes an acted parable 14:51 of the purpose of the Gospel of John. Yeah. 14:55 Well, we are going to continue on this Gospel of John 14:57 with the last part of the Book of John 15:00 or the chapter of John after this short break. |
Revised 2014-12-17