Come and have Breakfast (John 21:12-14)

Lesson #337

At the end of the previous lesson, we left the disciples on shore with their great catch of fish. “Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord” (John 21:12 ESV). A warm invitation from Jesus to the disciples to come and bring some fish to add to what is already cooking and let us have a time of fellowship. Maybe the light was poor yet, but the disciples knew it was Jesus and thus had no reason to ask.

“Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish” (John 21:13 ESV). This verse does not indicate that Jesus ate with them. His purpose was to appear again to them and show evidence by his miracles who he was and to enforce that truth. He wanted to be sure that they knew he was the same friend who had died on the cross.

“This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead” (John 21:14 ESV). John reports that this is the third time that Jesus had revealed himself to the disciples, but what about to others? Depending on what sources you look at, it is possible to come up with twelve appearances. Let us finish this lesson with a partial list of scriptures that supports these twelve appearances.

1. Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene (John 20:11 – 18)
2. Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (Matthew 28:1 – 10)
3. Jesus Appears to Peter in Jerusalem (Luke 24:33 – 34)
4. Jesus Appears to Two Disciples on the Road (Mark 16:12 – 13)
5. Jesus Appears to Ten Disciples Behind Closed Doors (John 20:19 – 25)
6. Jesus Appears to Eleven Disciples with Thomas (John 20:26 – 29)
7. Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples by the Sea of Tiberias (John 21:1 – 14)
8. Jesus Appears to Eleven Disciples on the Mountain (Matthew 28:16 – 20)
9. Jesus Appears to a Crowd of 500 (1 Corinthians 15:6)
10. Jesus Appears to his brother James (1 Corinthians 15:7)
11. Those Who Watched Jesus Ascend to Heaven (Acts 1:3 – 8)
12. Jesus Appears to Paul on the Road to Damascus (Acts 9:1 – 8) I don’t think this should be counted because it occurred after the ascension. People today in various places are seeing Jesus in dreams and visions and being prepared to come to Jesus in salvation

Prayer

Father, what a picture of life these verses are. We can work in our own strength and accomplish little, but with Jesus we can bear fruit. It is easy when going through a dry period in life, like the disciples were in, to revert to old ways of thinking and doing things, but we need to remember that it is during the dry times that we are being prepared for a period of growth to follow. Jesus provided the fish for breakfast and then they sat around and ate and had fellowship. We need to do more of that with Jesus and others today.