There is much we do not know, but we know that we need to follow Jesus...

“Follow Me.”

(John 21:18-25, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 31, 2010)

18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” 20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who had been reclining at table close to him and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true. 25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

Truly, truly, I say to you ... (18-19)

We have come to the end of John's gospel, and Jesus will soon be ascending on high. The road ahead of the disciples will be more difficult than they can presently imagine. But as we read this passage in our century, where are those disciples now? Another apostle, Paul, as he reached the end of his life, expressed his understanding of what he had been through and where he was going this way: “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” Paul, John, and Peter have been in heaven for a long time now. At the end of John's gospel their race was really only beginning. You are still running the race that God has for you, and it is hard to tell how much more of that race any of us have. But we do have a glimpse of the end of the race for us in the Resurrection Man, Jesus Christ, and in the Resurrection Kingdom of heaven.

Peter would spend the rest of His life loving and following Jesus by feeding the sheep of the Lord in what would become the New Testament church, the gathering of Jews and Gentiles who have found life in Jesus Christ. At the end of the road on earth, he would be dressed by another and carried where he did not want to go. This was the Lord's way of revealing to Peter that he would glorify God by being a prisoner who would be executed by the enemies of the church. In 2 Peter we have a sense that the great apostle knew that his time was almost over. By the time John's gospel was written, that end must have already come. Peter had followed Jesus by living, and then he had followed Jesus by dying. He was not the first, and he would not be the last. This living and dying for Jesus was what it meant for Peter to follow the Lord.

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved... (20-23)

But what about John? Peter wondered about his younger friend. What about the disciple whom Jesus loved, one of the two “sons of thunder?” What about this young man who was next to Jesus at the Last Supper, the man who found out who would betray Jesus? What about the man who saw the folded grave clothes in the “empty” tomb and believed in the resurrection, the man who saw what happened with all those fish in the nets and knew that it was the Lord?

Peter was not entitled to get an answer. There are things that God has revealed, and other facts about the future, known to Him, that He has not chosen to reveal to anyone. Jesus said to Peter, “If it is my will that he (John) remain until I come, what is that to you?” This led to an inaccurate report circulating during the early years of the church, as if Christ had answered Peters question with a definitive prophecy. That was not the case. Jesus had told Peter that the length of John's life was not to be Peter's concern.

But there is something that was for Peter, a repeated command: “You follow Me!” John's life would be different than Peter's in many particulars. Peter did not write the book of Revelation, but John did as an elderly man in exile on the Island of Patmos for his preaching of the Gospel. It is everyone's understanding that Peter was in heaven at that point.

Both men fed the Lord's sheep. Both men faced danger during their lives because of their dedication to the message of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Both men followed Jesus in their lives. When each man died he was in the Lord's hands. How long any of us lives is not for us to know. The words of Jesus echo through the centuries to our ears today. He says, “You follow Me!” Each of our lives may be different. We face our own great moments of life change, but we are all to be followers of the Lord in the day that is today. God's heart needs to be beating in our bodies. Jesus' faith and obedience should be expressed in our words and actions. Christ in us.

This is the disciple who is bearing witness... (24)

One more thing about John, the beloved disciple: He wrote this unchanging and stable gospel that we have now finished reading together as an act of worship. He wrote it by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and we have been hearing it by the power of that same Spirit. This gospel is true because it is the Word of God. The church came to acknowledge that fact during the early centuries after the resurrection of Jesus. We came to see that the two letters of Peter were true, because they were from God, and that the three letters of John were true, together with Revelation and this gospel. We came to know by the Spirit of God that they were a part of the completed foundation for our life of faith that we now have together in the Scriptures.

This letter is not junk. Do not throw it away. It is a true testimony from a real apostle moved in His writing by the Holy Spirit. The prologue that assures us of the divinity and humanity of Jesus is true. The testimony of the seven miraculous signs John includes here is true. The controversies that led to the cross are accurately recorded. The high priestly prayer of Christ is what Jesus actually said on that occasion. We are so blessed to have this Word, and we should receive it as a testimony that is true. It tells us that the divine Word, God with God, became flesh and has brought to us grace and truth from the Father. John has accurately presented to us Jesus Christ so that we might believe in Him, and believing have life in His Name in our place and time.

Now there are also many other things... (25)

This great gospel is a very selective account. There is so much more that Jesus did that the world could not contain the books that would be written if everything was written. How can you say enough about the Man who is truly a Man but is also God from before the foundation of the earth? How can all His plans and actions be recorded for us, since He, Jesus, is the central figure in the eternal purpose of God, uniting all things in Him, all things in heaven, and all things on earth? No one has ever obeyed the commandments of God like He has. How could all of that lovely trust and obedience be recorded? The person and works of Jesus Christ are overwhelming.

If we try just to summarize it all, we will at least have to make mention of His preexistence, His willing descent from heaven in the incarnation, His quiet and honest character, His miracles, His suffering for us that ended with His death, and His victory in the resurrection. This book would be a good summary. Take it and read it. Teach it to others. Learn it, believe it, and follow Jesus in life and in death. And may the grace of God fill your hearts, as the same Jesus who lived so long ago now dwells in you as your King, Him in you, the downpayment of the life to come.

1. What will it mean for Peter to follow Jesus?

2. How might John's following of Jesus be somewhat different?

3. How can we summarize John's gospel?

4. Why does any summary of the works of Jesus of necessity leave so much out?