1 AFTER these things [ Jesus had allowed them to fill the prints in his hand; to thrust their hands into his side. To know that it was Jesus and that they were seeing and touching the resurrected Lord. This alone should have been evidence enough that they need to press forward in the work of the Gospel. But were do we find them? ] Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; [ The sea of Tiberias is the Sea of Galilee. After such a short time to learn and even less time to prepare, the unthinkable happened, the unbelievable was true. Their Lord and Master, their Counselor and King, was crucified. His mortal ministry was over, and the struggling little Church He had established seemed doomed to scorn and destined for extinction. His Apostles did witness Him in His resurrected state, but that only added to their bewilderment. As they surely must have wondered, “What do we do now?” they turned for an answer to Peter, the senior Apostle. ] and on this wise [ Or this is how it all played out. ] shewed he himself.

2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana [ The place of Jesus' first miracle changing the water to wine. So in a way we have walked with Jesus full circle in his miracles - from the first to the last, even this one of the resurrected Christ appearing to them. ] in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.

3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. [ I don't know about you but I am going back to the life that I know. We don't know totally why. Will this be his last chance to do so before he commits further to the work? Do es he just need a day on the water to clear his mind? Or does he really plan to return to that life? We do not know. After what they have witnesses, after all that they have been a part of how could they simply return to fishing; turning their back on the Lords work? How can we? After all that we have been given; after all that we know, how can we be so caught up in the Savior during Christmas time - only to reurn to our previous life? What can we learn from the disciples that we need to apply to our lives? Here I ask your indulgence as I take some nonscriptural liberty in my portrayal of this exchange. In effect, Peter said to his associates: “Brethren, it has been a glorious three years. None of us could have imagined such a few short months ago the miracles we have seen and the divinity we have enjoyed. We have talked with, prayed with, and labored with the very son of God Himself. We have walked with Him and wept with Him, and on the night of that horrible ending, no one wept more bitterly than I. But that is over. He has finished His work, and He has risen from the tomb. He has worked out His salvation and ours. So you ask, ‘What do we do now?’ I don’t know more to tell you than to return to your former life, rejoicing. I intend to ‘go a fishing.’” And at least six of the ten other remaining Apostles said in agreement, “We also go with thee.” John, who was one of them, writes, “They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately.” Jeffery R Holland Oct Conf 2012 ] They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing. [ The fishing wasn’t very good. Their first night back on the lake, they caught nothing—not a single fish. ]

4 But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: [ With the first rays of dawn, light has come to replace the darkness, they disappointedly turned toward the shore, where they saw in the distance a figure who called out to them, “Children, have you caught anything?”. ] but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus.

5 Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. [ Glumly these Apostles-turned-again-fishermen gave the answer no fisherman wants to give. “We have caught nothing,” they muttered, and to add insult to injury, they were being called “children.” ]

6 And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, [ Now what does the Savior know abut fishing? He is not a fishermen like those disciples that were in the fishing boat, those that have been doing it their whole life. Does the Lord ever challenge us to cast our nets on the right hand side? How do we respond? Are you kidding I know more about this than you do; I have ben fishing my whole life. Or do we respond if you say to do that I will do that. ] and ye shall find. [ What can we learn from their obedience? 1) They knew the masters voice 2) They remember what happened last time they were in a simular situation. 3) They did as they were instructed - without delay; no arguing they just did it. Perhaps the Savior is demonstarting to the dispciples that the Lord knows were the fish are and as such he can get them any time that he would like. The principle is that the Lord does not want them back out on the lake - they have duties and responsibilities and they need to be about doing them. ] They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes. [ The stranger calls out—and with those simple words, recognition begins to flood over them. Just three years earlier these very men had been fishing on this very sea. On that occasion too they had “toiled all the night, and [had] taken nothing,”6 the scripture says. But a fellow Galilean on the shore had called out to them to let down their nets, and they drew “a great multitude of fishes,” enough that their nets broke, the catch filling two boats so heavily they had begun to sink. ]

7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved [ Who would be John the Beloved. ] saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. [ John says to Peter - it is the Lord. ] Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher’s coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself into the sea. [ John had just stated the obvious: “It is the Lord.”And over the edge of the boat goes Peter, the irrepressible Peter leaped into the sea. ]

8 And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) [ Between 300 and 350 feet from shore about the length of a football field. ] dragging the net with fishes. [ There were too many to try to pull them in so just row the boat to shore. ]

9 As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. [ There is a warm meal prepared for them. ]

10 Jesus saith unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught.

11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three[ Is it not interesting that the fish were all numbered. ] : and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. [ If we reflect back to the first time the Savior told them to do this the nets broke, but this time it was not so, the nets held together perfectly. I think that this is kind of a summation that in the state that Christ is now it is kind of a little sign that everything will be great if you just trust in the Lord. ]

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

13 Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise.

14 This is now the third time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. [ And the other two were? That is, this was the third time he appeared unto the apostles when all or most of them were together. He had appeared to ten of them, in chap. 20:19; and eleven of them in chap. 20:26; this time; the third time there were seven of them present, ver. 2. This is the third time that John mentions that he appeared to the disciples but it was the seventh time in all in which he had manifested himself after he arose from the dead. The 1st time was when he appeared to Mary of Magdala, Mark xvi. 9; chap. 20:15, 16. The second time was to the women who came from the tomb. Matt. xxviii. 9. Third time was to the two disciples who went to Emmaus, Luke xxiv. 13, &c. Then number 4 was to Peter alone, Luke xxiv. 34. Number 5 was to the ten, in the absence of Thomas, chap. xx. 19. Number six was eight days after to the eleven, Thomas being present; chap. xx. 26. Number seven was to the seven, mentioned here in verse 2; which was between the eighth and fortieth day after his resurrection. Besides these seven appearances, he showed himself, 8thly, To the disciples on a certain mountain in Galilee, Matt. xxviii. 16. If the appearance mentioned by St. Paul, 1 Cor. xv. 6, to upwards of 500 brethren at once-if this be not the same with his appearance on a mountain in Galilee, it must be considered the ninth. According to the same apostle, he was seen of James, 1 Cor. xv. 7, which may have been the tenth appearance. And, after this, to all the apostles, when, at Bethany, he ascended to heaven in their presence. See Mark xvi. 19, 20; Luke xxiv. 50-53; Acts i. 3-12; 1 Cor. xv. 7. This appears to have been the eleventh time in which he distinctly manifested himself after his resurrection. But there might have been many other manifestations, which the evangelists have not thought proper to enumerate, as not being connected with any thing of singular weight or importance.]

15 ¶ So when they [ The 12 apostles. ] had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, [ The Savior is now at the sea of Galilee. He now is the resurrected Lord, and is meeting with the quorum of 12 apostles. The Savior continue to teach Peter a great lesson. The things of God are above those of man. The Lord has power to supply the fishes vs 11, the things of the world, but they are secondary to his work.] Simon, son of Jonas, lovest [ agape = transcendent love that motivates one to self-sacrifice for another's well-being love, i.e. affection or benevolence; dear, love. ] thou me more than these? [ Fishing was his old line of work - something that upon the saviors death he had quickly returned to. So the Lord is just asking where does your love (devotion and willingingness to sacrifice lie)? After a joyful reunion with the resurrected Jesus, Peter had an exchange with the Savior that I consider the crucial turning point of the apostolic ministry generally and certainly for Peter personally, moving this great rock of a man to a majestic life of devoted service and leadership. Looking at their battered little boats, their frayed nets, and a stunning pile of 153 fish, Jesus said to His senior Apostle, “Peter, do you love me more than you love all this?” Peter said, “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.” ] He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love [ Phileo = to be a friend to (fond of (an individual or an object)), i.e. have affection for (denoting personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling. ] thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. [ If you do then prove it to me by feeding my sheep. In otherwords if you want to love me the agape way sacrifice for me - do what I have asked you to do. "poimainw", which signifies to tend a flock, not only to feed, but to take care of, guide, govern, defend, ... by which he seems to intimate that it is not sufficient merely to offer the gospel, but he must take care that the sheep be properly collected, attended to, regulated, guided, &c.; and it appears that Peter perfectly comprehended our Lord's meaning, and saw that it was a direction given not only to him, and to the rest of the disciples. ]

16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? [ Agape = transcendent love that motivates one to self-sacrifice for another's well-being love, i.e. affection or benevolence; dear, love. The Savior responds to that reply but continues to look into the eyes of His disciple and says again, “Peter, do you love me?” Undoubtedly confused a bit by the repetition of the question, the great fisherman answers a second time, “Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.” ] He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love [ Phileo = to be a friend to (fond of (an individual or an object)), i.e. have affection for (denoting personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling. ] thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.

17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest [ phileo = to be a friend to (fond of (an individual or an object)), i.e. have affection for (denoting personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling. ] thou me? Peter was grieved [ Why was Peter grieved? Because the Lord was asking him if he loved him enough to sacrifice for him - he could only answer that he loved him with affection as a friend. He asks again an gets the same response - that he loves him as a friend - "Like geeze what do ya want?" Peter is brought to terms that he has denied the Christ before the cock crowed, and because of the questions the Lord has been asking him - he realizes that the Saviour has a far greater love. Then the Lords asks if he loves him as a friend type of love to which he can answer yes. All along the process he is being taught by the Saviour that went he has real love "agape" for the Savior he will sacrifice for him by feeding his sheep.The Savior again gives a brief response, but with relentless scrutiny He asks for the third time, “Peter, do you love me?” By now surely Peter is feeling truly uncomfortable. Perhaps there is in his heart the memory of only a few days earlier when he had been asked another question three times and he had answered equally emphatically—but in the negative. Or perhaps he began to wonder if he misunderstood the Master Teacher’s question. Or perhaps he was searching his heart, seeking honest confirmation of the answer he had given so readily, almost automatically. Whatever his feelings, Peter said for the third time, “Lord, … thou knowest that I love thee.”Jeffery R Holland Oct Conf 2012] because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love [ Phileo = to be a friend to (fond of (an individual or an object)), i.e. have affection for (denoting personal attachment, as a matter of sentiment or feeling; ] thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. [ (D&C 112:14; 3 Ne 18:31) Peter had been in the whole service of the Lord for three years. He had seen but did not seem to realize what the Lord meant by "when thou art converted." Finally Peter understood: "when thou art converted" a condition carries with it a responsibility to do something with that conversion, to feed the sheep of the Savior. The real value of conversion (love for the Savior)comes as a result of that commitment, the actions that follow. Just as the message was of old to the apostles it is of us today. The action that the Lord expects from those that are converted are to feed his lambs, feed his sheep.

Jeffery R Holland Oct Conf 2012 - To which Jesus responded (and here again I acknowledge my nonscriptural elaboration), perhaps saying something like: “Then Peter, why are you here? Why are we back on this same shore, by these same nets, having this same conversation? Wasn’t it obvious then and isn’t it obvious now that if I want fish, I can get fish? What I need, Peter, are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world. so, Peter, for the second and presumably the last time, I am asking you to leave all this and to go teach and testify, labor and serve loyally until the day in which they will do to you exactly what they did to me.”
Then, turning to all the Apostles, He might well have said something like: “Were you as foolhardy as the scribes and Pharisees? As Herod and Pilate? Did you, like they, think that this work could be killed simply by killing me? Did you, like they, think the cross and the nails and the tomb were the end of it all and each could blissfully go back to being whatever you were before? Children, did not my life and my love touch your hearts more deeply than this?”
My beloved brothers and sisters, I am not certain just what our experience will be on Judgment Day, but I will be very surprised if at some point in that conversation, God does not ask us exactly what Christ asked Peter: “Did you love me?” I think He will want to know if in our very mortal, very inadequate, and sometimes childish grasp of things, did we at least understand one commandment, the first and greatest commandment of them all—“Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.” And if at such a moment we can stammer out, “Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee,” then He may remind us that the crowning characteristic of love is always loyalty. ]

18 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. [ The custom in Rome was to put the necks of those who were to be crucified into a yoke, and to stretch out their hands and fasten them to the end outer ends of that yoke. At his death Peter was girded, chained, and carried where he would not want to be. This was not evidence that he was unwilling to die for Christ; he did not want to die; but in the end he loved his life less than he loved God. ]

19 This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. [ Peter was crucified some 34 years later and at that crucifixation his request was that he be crucified with his head downwards, not considering himself worthy to die in the same posture in which his Lord did. ] And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.

20 Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?

21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?

22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

23 Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; [ like the Three Nephites in 3 Ne. 28.] but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? [ D&C vs 7:4 ]

24 This is the disciple [ John The Beloved ] which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true.

25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. [ The word ma amen, which has passed unaltered into almost all the languages of the world in which the sacred writings are extant, is pure Hebrew; and signifies to be steady, constant, firm, established, or confirmed. It is used as a particle of affirmation and adjuration. When a person was sworn to the truth of any fact, the oath was recited to him, and he bound himself by simply saying, ma ma amen, amen. ]