Bible Study series No.28 from the Gospel of John "Feed my sheep."

Bible:

Prelude:

Chapter 21 is the conclusion (epilogue) of the Gospel of John.

Several of the disciples were fishing on the beach at Tiberias and were unable to catch anything.

Reference:

Tiberias is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus knew that the disciples had fished all night and caught nothing.

By the way, for those of you who are familiar with the Bible, you probably noticed right away that this story is similar to the "great harvest of fish" in chapter 5 of the Gospel of Luke. The miracle caused Peter and the other disciples to see Jesus in a whole new light and was a great catalyst for them to become His disciples.

In chapter 21, the disciples again meet the resurrected Lord, who brings them back to the starting point of their encounter with Jesus. From then on, they proceed to their new mission.

There is a funny scene.

In verse 7, John noticed that the man standing on the beach was Jesus, so he told Peter. Peter put on his jacket, jumped into the sea, swam to shore, and met Jesus.

Why did Peter put on his garments and jump into the sea to swim?

I think it would be much more natural and easier to swim naked.

When I was in elementary school, my Sunday school teacher explained that Peter thought being naked was very rude to Jesus and embarrassing. I understood well, but was there a deeper meaning? What do you think?

Jesus had given the disciples fish and bread. Then Jesus asked, "Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter answered in verse 17, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

I would like to ask you, “what is your mission?”

Is it connected to love? What do you consider to be the priority in your life? Are the two related or seen as separate things?

The mission given by Jesus was very different from the disciples' sense of mission of their ideal self-fulfilling life. The disciples were about to be made aware of this.

After three and a half years with Jesus, the disciples were disappointed and fearful because of the Lord's unexpected crucifixion and death. Jesus appeared to his disciples for the third time on the shore of the sea. Jesus made a fire for them, roasted fish, and prepared bread for them.

What does mission mean to you?

You may think of a mission as doing something great, but it is not.

You might think of it as the goal of your life’s plan or the realization of your dreams. What is the most important motivation to realize that mission?

It may be abstract, but I believe it is love.

No matter how noble of a mission, if the person carrying out that mission does not have love for others, it will not be truly appreciated by God.

Three times Jesus pleads with his disciples, take care and feed my sheep.

To take care of the sheep well, you can't just feed them and improve their environment.

Sheep are alive. They are not just obedient. I believe that to nurture the sheep, the shepherd must go through a lot of heartaches, and sometimes they get so exhausted from sacrifice, slander, and misunderstanding that they finally give up on nurturing them. Satan's attacks can lead to the removal of the sheep.

However, when we look forward and live earnestly in the present, or we reflect on when we met Jesus and the gratitude we felt when we were loved, the love that exists in us will grow and expand with the Lord. We will be able to live up to the true mission.

Jesus first asked Peter, "Do you love me?" I interpret this that above all other things, that was the most fundamental thing Jesus said.

Peter eventually boldly preached the gospel to the people, was imprisoned, and finally martyred on an upside-down cross. He poured out his love to the people, nurtured them, and during the tribulation, he joyfully returned to heaven in triumph.

John lived a long life without being martyred. They lived different lives, but each fulfilled Jesus' mission, to “feed my sheep.”

This concludes the message on the Gospel of John.

Approximately 90% of the content in the Gospel of John is not written in other Gospels. Five of the seven miracles reported by John are not recorded in any of the other Gospels. Matthew, Mark, and Luke wrote quite a few articles about Jesus' teachings in Galilee, but John includes many events written in Judea.

Some of the major themes of John's Gospel are said to be Jesus' divinity as the Son of God, the atonement of Christ, eternal life, the Holy Spirit, and his strong emphasis on the importance of loving others.

One of John's major contributions has been credited with the recording of the Lord's teachings to His disciples in the hours before Jesus was taken captive. Although the book of John does not describe the actual intercessory prayers of humanity offered on the night of the Lord's suffering in Gethsemane, what was said to the disciples became deeply etched in the hearts and souls of the later disciples.

I believe that each of us has a mission as a likeness of Jesus. The mission of sharing God’s love, the Christian fellowship and communion (“koinonia”), caring for, and sharing the joy of Christ with those around us.

Postlude:

Report on Emergency Support Donation for Ukraine

The Hunger Zero banner has been completed and the donation boxes have been set up. We have already received approval to place donation boxes at hospitals, companies, facilities, osteopathic clinics, schools, coffee shops, stores, and koto classes for a period of one month, in addition to our street fundraising activities.

We are very encouraged by the number of local residents who have been quick to bring donations and those who have come from far away to deposit money into our bank account. Thank you very much!

We also received a report that a citizens' group that gathered yesterday for Dr. Michio Ono's "Lecture on Dementia" had completed their donation. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to all of you.

We are asking for donations of any amount, from one yen to one bill.

Unfortunately, banks and post offices charge a fee for handling coins in any humanitarian fundraising effort. This is causing great difficulty and has become a social problem. Some of them have given free of charge to special organizations, but this does not apply to us as small fundraisers. I hope that the citizens of Japan will speak out and ask the local and national governments to do something to prevent this from happening again.