LESSON BACKGROUND.
After Jesus rose from the dead, he showed Himself to His disciples on two previous occasions. In the first meeting, Jesus appeared to ten of the disciples for Judas had committed suicide and Thomas was absent (see John 20:19-24). When He appeared the second time, the Eleven Disciples were present (see John 20:25-29. John does not tell us why the disciples were back in Galilee, but according to Mark’s gospel, Jesus had told them to return there, where he would meet them (see Mark 14:28; 16:7). About two or three weeks later, they seem to have been sitting around on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias unsure of what to do when Jesus appeared to them again in chapter 21. This is where our lesson begins.