THE OBJECT OF MINISTRY
THE OBJECT OF MINISTRY
JT I suggest that we might consider a little the object of ministry, and this chapter I think would furnish us with the subject, in the commission given to Peter, and also introducing John in his service. You will observe their service was to be based on what they were in their attachment to Christ. Attachment to Christ is the basis of service. John always emphasises love to Christ.
It is rather remarkable that there is nothing in Peter’s commission here, as to his having the keys of the kingdom. The fact is overlooked entirely, for in John 21 it is not the question of order, but of feeding or shepherding individuals. It is not the assembly: in fact the assembly is not taken up by John. Service is taken up with individual love to Christ; you may have any number of individuals, but they love Christ and they love one another. That is how John puts it.
I think this chapter gives us that line of ministry; it is an appendix to the gospel. John did not finish his ministry without seeing the state of things amongst the servants. This chapter presents a very distressing state of things amongst those who served, so that we, who serve now, should never be discouraged when such conditions exist. The Lord Himself begins His interview with them by serving. He did not wait for them to bring in all the fish; He has got all things in control — all in His own hands — the fire, the coals and the fish were all prepared and ready. This suggests to us the infinite superiority of Christ in regard to all His servants. The chapter begins with breakdown. Peter, Thomas, Nathanael, the sons of Zebedee, and two others — seven in all — they all go on a fishing expedition. Peter and Thomas head the list. Peter had denied the Lord, and Thomas was absent from the first meeting after He [p. 28] had risen, chapter 20. They could not give any very good account of themselves!
Ques Where was Peter leading them to?
JT He was going back to his old occupation, and the Lord had already called him out of it.
Ques Is that the reason why they caught nothing?
JT There were no results from their labour from Christ’s point of view, and it is well for us that it was so.
Rem There is ‘Nothing’, ‘Night’ and ‘Nakedness’.
JT The catching nothing was a distinct indication that they had gone from the Lord. The Lord was not with them in it.
Rem John goes on to the end, and this would be interesting when it comes to the end.
JT Yes, it becomes very instructive for us. This chapter is written to prevent all discouragement; in fact John’s writings are to that end.
Ques Why does the Lord tell them to cast to the right side of the ship?
JT That shows that He had taken account of where they had been. It is a new feature of Christ that is presented.
Rem The great evidence of breakdown is that there is no sense of intimacy. John calls himself the son of Zebedee, not “the disciple whom Jesus loved”.
JT Yes, he is in bad company. Peter and Thomas were really disqualified from service by their past actions. The original offence with Peter had not been settled yet.
Rem In going back to their old calling there was no response to the Lord. They had nothing to give. Recovery is to the Lord and to the brethren.
Rem The Lord waits until He has Peter in the presence of others before He restores him.
JT Yes. Peter had “wept bitterly” for his fall, but his heart had not been yet restored, and the Lord [p. 29] allowed Peter to find that out. This fishing expedition gave the Lord an opportunity. Peter’s conscience had been met, but his heart was not at ease, as this movement showed. He was moving without Christ, and it is remarkable he does not ask the others to go with him, they say “We also go with thee”.
Rem They were not all there.
JT No, it was a party; the others discerned things were not right. It is always well to enquire who is leading. You may get those who are famed for affection like John, and yet he is away from the Lord; but then, the fact that he says “It is the Lord” shows that he knew His features.
Rem They were not at liberty.
JT No. There was no exercise as to the Lord’s will for them. Peter was a party leader; he goes back to his fishing on his own will, he suggests the idea and the others are quick to follow. Like the tower of Babel; one suggests to another “let us build us a city and a tower”. When people get on party lines they never effect anything.
Rem They effect nothing from a spiritual point of view.
Rem Peter forgot what he was called to — “I will make you fishers of men”.
JT Yes, he forgot that, “And early morn already breaking, Jesus stood on the shore”. The Lord is so active; saints suffer in not rising early. It is the only way to get out of Sodom by getting up early in the morning! You find that right through scripture; Jehovah rose up early (figuratively speaking), “Daily rising up early and sending” His prophets, Jeremiah 7: 25. There is always a morning after the night, whatever the night may be, whether it be a night of faithfulness, or of distress, you always find the Lord.
Rem “Joy cometh in the morning”. It is night now.
JT There are six nights in the first chapter of [p. 30] Genesis and seven days. The nights indicate the exercise we go through, but when we come to the seventh there is no night. It requires spiritual energy to get up early in the morning. It is the sluggard that lies in. Christ always rose early. The affections of the women at the end of this gospel are marked by spiritual energy.
Rem This chapter brings before us the Lord’s diligence to put things right.
JT Yes, it is very encouraging in a day like this. Christ is there and He has provided the fire, the fish and the coals; they are all ready.
Rem We should not be content to ‘catch nothing’.
JT If there is no prosperity you may come to the conclusion that the Lord is not with you, “When therefore they went out on the land, they see a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread”. That was the Lord’s provision, and then He says “Bring of the fish which ye have now caught”. But He had provision all ready. It is the forethought of the Lord.
Rem He is not dependent upon their contribution, but yet He tells them to bring theirs. He encourages them to contribute.
JT He had raised the question with them — “have ye anything to eat?” That was to bring out their poverty. He had His own provision apart from their fishing.
Ques Does it not suggest the character of ministry — having something to eat?
JT You want to know what the people have in the house, “What hast thou in the house”? Elisha says to the woman. He would invite them to contribute what they had got and He would enlarge upon it; they were looking for fish and He has got it for them! Partisan work is very cold, there is nothing for the heart in it.
Ques What was the point of recognition?
JT I think the word “children” would enable them to recognise Him. He says, “Children, have ye anything to eat?” and they answered “No”, “That [p. 31] disciple therefore whom Jesus loved says to Peter, It is the Lord”. I think John was quick at discerning because he knew the Lord so well. He was more intimate with the Lord than the others. Those who know Him best, quickly discern Him. It is not the son of Zebedee now, but the disciple whom Jesus loved; affection comes again into evidence. John is on the high road again. The Lord says something and then the heart begins to burn; John saw it was the Lord and not another. It is one thing to see the Lord, and another thing to hear Him. John in his writing is full of what he saw; he had good eyesight. It is the eyes of love.
Rem The eyes of the heart.
JT Quite so. John is the link of recognition, it is the most spiritual one that is the link of recognition. They are all recovered. Peter had a long way to go; the leader has always a long way to travel back, especially a party leader.
Rem It was the conscience that was adjusted at the private interview, but now the affections are adjusted.
JT Yes.
Ques Has the shepherd got to do with adjustment?
JT Yes. I suppose he has. A shepherd would be qualified to attend to sheep as such. Peter says in his epistle they had now returned to the shepherd and bishop of their souls. He knew the Lord in that way. Where he would have got to if left to himself, it is hard to tell.
Ques Would you say there is a contrast in the Lord recovering the two on the road to Emmaus, and here? Would you say that in the last chapter of Luke it is the Lord’s shepherding care to recover them to the assembly, but here it is recovery to affection?
JT It is service that the Lord has in view here. In adjusting Peter the Lord impresses upon him what to do — “Feed my lambs”; and that service is all based on attachment to Christ. He says to Peter the third time “Art thou attached to me?” Peter three times uses the word “attached” as expressive of his affection, and the Lord accepts it and leaves Peter, on his own confession of attachment to Him, to shepherd His sheep.
Ques Does the thought of adjustment come in Psalm 23, “thy rod and thy staff”?
JT Yes. It is there more what the shepherd is to one who is going on than to a wanderer. The Shepherd leads them in the path.
Ques Is there any significance in the order here?
JT The lambs are not said to need shepherding, it is the sheep that stray — the old ones; it is very remarkable. You notice in natural life the lambs follow the parent sheep. These sheep had gone astray and the Shepherd is going after them here. The Shepherd is always present, and we can never dispense with Him.
Rem You require Him on the side of maintenance.
JT Yes, the shepherd has to keep the sheep from straying. This passage helps us to understand Peter’s ministry — the impression he received from Christ. The Lord intended an impression by getting at him three times, and then telling him what he was to do afterwards. You must minister to a brother first and then restore him. If ever they are to get restored they must be fed first. The fish is on the fire and the Lord invites them to come and dine. The Lord’s service was there. That was His doing.
Rem This is the second time Peter had left his business. The first time was in Luke 5. There he was called to be a fisher of men.
JT Yes, when you get things done twice in scripture the second time is permanent, “He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second”, Hebrews 10: 9.
Rem The movements of Jesus are particularly interesting. He comes and takes bread and gives it to them and also the fish.
JT The fish is taken out of the sea, and the idea I [p. 33] think is that it is universal. The Lord sat down by the sea and opened up to them the truth of the kingdom in Matthew 13. It is the universal idea.
Ques Do you get progress in the soul of Peter in his answers to the Lord?
JT He had taken the ground of knowing himself better than the Lord knew him, when he said “Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended”, and now he has come to the point that the Lord knows best of all, “Thou knowest”.
Ques Why was Peter grieved the third time?
JT It had reached his conscience. The Lord intended that it should, and He makes it clear to him.
Rem It was really a humbling process because he had denied the Lord three times.
JT When Joseph was seventeen he was caring for the flock, it is very encouraging to the young; David was another example.
Rem You would encourage all to start early.
JT Yes. Jesus can trust love, it is the only thing the Lord can trust. It is not merely natural affection but divine love. “If a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned”, Song of Songs 8: 7. The “three times” is complete testimony; nothing was covered up, it was all out. Peter is qualified now.
There is further adjustment in regard to John; one Levite has nothing to do with another. A priest has to do with all Levites. The Spirit says, “Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them”, Acts 13: 2. No Levite has any jurisdiction over another. A bishop and archbishop have nothing to do with one another! The Romish system of jurisdiction is built up on Peter, but the Lord here distinctly says that Peter was to have no jurisdiction over John. He says, “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” Every Levite is needed, but to his own [p. 34] Master he stands or falls. You will not find the word ‘apostle’ in John’s gospel. Nothing official is recorded there.
Rem “I John, your brother”, Revelation 1: 9.
JT Yes. Peter had nothing to do with John. “If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me”. Mark now the boldness of Peter, “Peter, turning round, sees the disciple whom Jesus loved”.
Rem Paul had no jurisdiction over Apollos.
JT No, but he exercised jurisdiction over Timothy, because he was his son. Peter was a man who loved Jesus; he is following now, not fishing. John is reticent, he does not call himself by name. Paul does, he says, “I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ”, which signifies littleness. That is just what he was. The name Paul signifies small. Saul was the namesake of the man who was very big in his own estimation, and he started out on a mission of murder, but he was brought down by Christ for service. Saul became Paul; he became in his own eyes less than the least of all saints that he might announce the unsearchable riches of the Christ. In that way he beseeches the saints.
Ques What is involved in “till I come”?
JT John in that way always distinguishes Christ and not himself. It is always the question of bringing in Christ. Administration in John is on the ground of love. “The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand”. I think we have in the last verse an expression of the greatness of Christ. It is not for our curiosity as filling the world literally with books, but it is the estimate of one who loves Christ.
Ques Would it carry the thought that He is so great it would take the universe to do it?
JT It is the greatest expression the finite mind can take in as to the greatness of Christ.
Rem It is a calculation in that way; John would be very delighted to see the city after [p. 35] this.
JT Yes! You find a great many references to astronomy in John’s writings, although he was a fisherman. Especially is this so in the book of Revelation; it is mysterious — a book of mysteries — for those who read and understand. The book of Revelation supposes a knowledge of God in His previous ways with men. So the Lord is mysterious here, and He does not stop to explain; it is left for our exercise. John was very emphatic about the testimony, how it went abroad among the brethren that this one would not die; it is remarkable how things which are not true become magnified amongst the saints.
Ques Would you say contemplation always leads to calculation? You come to a spiritual judgment of things.
JT No doubt; they contemplated His glory, “a glory as of an only-begotten with a father, full of grace and truth”. Then he says “of his fulness we all have received, and grace upon grace”.
Rem That was calculation was it not?
JT It is the glory as of an only one with a father, as if there was no other.
Rem Isaac’s anti-type.
JT There are two sides. Contemplation brings about intelligent formation. You become what you look at. Then the apostle says in verse 24 he was transparent, and carried on his ministry in the activity of love.
Ques What is the difference between the glory in the first chapter of John and the glory in the 17th chapter in regard to the contemplation of the glory?
JT It is a similar thought. The first has reference to Him as man here, but the 17th chapter is future. The first is past.
Rem Contemplation precedes activity.
JT Yes. Both are involved in christianity.