John Explained: A Bible Study

Can Jesus restore you after you fail Him?

Yes. In John 21:15-19, the risen Jesus meets Peter — who had denied Him three times — and gently restores him. Dr. Toby Holt shows that failure is not the end for those Jesus loves.

Over a breakfast on the shore, Jesus asks Peter three times, "Do you love Me?" — one for each denial. Each time Peter says yes, Jesus gives a charge: feed My lambs, tend My sheep, feed My sheep. Love shows itself in faithful service. Jesus then foretells Peter would one day die for Him, and closes: "Follow Me."

Questions this study answers:

1. Why did Jesus ask Peter the same question three times? Peter had denied Jesus three times, so Jesus gave him three chances to affirm his love — a tender restoration, not an interrogation.

2. What did Jesus mean by "feed My sheep"? He was calling Peter to care for His people — to nourish and protect them. Real love for Jesus shows itself in serving others.

3. What does this say to us when we fail? Jesus restores those who fall and calls them back to service. The call is always the same: "Follow Me."

"Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?… Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed My sheep.'" — John 21:17 (NKJV)

Dr. Toby Holt is President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio. Find more verse-by-verse Bible teaching at newgeneva.org; support this ministry at newgeneva.org/give.

Would the apostle John never die?

A rumor once spread that the apostle John would never die. In John 21:20-25, the very end of the Gospel, Dr. Toby Holt explains what Jesus actually said — and what He really meant. When Peter asked about John's future, Jesus replied, "If I want him to remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me." People took this to mean John would never die, but John corrects the rumor. Holt explains Jesus' words point to His coming in judgment on Jerusalem in A.D. 70, when the temple was destroyed — an event John lived to see. The Gospel closes with John's sign-off.

Questions this study answers:

1. What did Jesus mean that John might "remain" until He came? Not that John would never die. He told Peter to stop comparing and simply follow Him; John later corrected the rumor.

2. What happened in A.D. 70, and how does it connect? Rome destroyed Jerusalem and its temple, exactly as Jesus warned. Holt links Jesus' words here to that coming in judgment.

3. How does John's Gospel end? John signs off as an eyewitness who insists his testimony is true, saying the world could not hold all the books that might be written about Jesus.

"Jesus said to him, 'If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.'" — John 21:22 (NKJV)

Dr. Toby Holt is President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio. Find more verse-by-verse Bible teaching at newgeneva.org; support this ministry at newgeneva.org/give.