The Weekend, November 21 –
We
come to the weekend and end our reading in John’s Gospel. The final reading is very short, from John
21:20 – 25. It’s going to be an easy
read, but we’ll take some time to remember what John has told us about Jesus,
our Savior, and Lord.
John is writing this Gospel story from the vantage point of (probably) fifty
years. He recalled that breakfast on the
shore with Jesus, and Peter’s restoration.
He also remembered what Jesus had spoken of him – prompted by Peter’s
question –
“Peter
turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also
had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it
that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus,
“Lord, what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he
remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 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? 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” (21:20-24).
John
recalled Jesus’ words, now as an old man.
Church history does not have a lot of historical records of what
happened to the disciples. We know that
James was martyred by Herod from the record of Acts (12). Peter eventually would be killed under the
orders of the Emperor Nero (mid-60’s a.d.)
– crucified upside-down, at his own request, because he did not feel
worthy of being crucified as his Savior had been. Jesus had told Peter on the shore that the
day this day would eventually come.
“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.” (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.” (21:18-19).
We
might be tempted to think how sad it was to be killed, executed, because of the
testimony of their faith in Christ. John
reflects backward to say that Peter’s death, and all of the other’s deaths,
was to “glorify God.” We, in the
U.S., live in a world of little risks of that happening, yet it does happen in
other parts of this planet. Death is an
enemy, and Jesus has conquered death.
Now death is a doorway to life eternal, and now we are living life
eternally, for now we have received eternal life in Christ, and now we have the
promise that death is merely passing from the perishable to the imperishable,
and from mortality to immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53).
All of
the disciples with the exception of one – John would be martyred. A rumor had spread that John was not going to
die, but he writes at the end, that is not true. Jesus had told John in his answer to Peter
that “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?” (21:22). We do not know when our death will occur, or
whether Christ will return and we will escape death which is a human
inevitability. As Jesus would not tell Peter what was going to happen to John,
neither does he tell us. What he does
tell us is “my testimony is true” (21:24).
That
is the real issue, isn’t it? John wrote
a Gospel of Jesus’ coming beginning with the incarnation of the word, through
the signs and wonders, the seven great “I Am” statements, with a closing that
began in the Upper Room in John 13. The
last night was filled with revelations of Jesus’ leaving, preparing a place for
them/us, reminding them of the promise of the “helper” – the Holy Spirit – is
“another helper”, one just like Jesus. We listened to Jesus’ marvelous prayer
to the Father concerning himself returning to the glory he had with the Father
before he had come, and of the glory of His grace through faith that he wanted
to leave behind for his disciples, and us, to walk in. He went through tortuous trials, brutally
beaten…all done by humans for their hatred of Christ Jesus. Hung on a cross, he died for us. Buried in a tomb, they washed their hands and
said – “now, we’re done with this man”.
Three days later Jesus proved them wrong. Risen from the dead, he opened the eyes of
his disciples, his followers, to see the glory of life that defeats death, and
the power of the Kingdom of God to proclaim the Gospel – the Good News that we
hold as a treasure – a pearl of great price.
“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” (21:25).
John’s
final words are that “you don’t know the half of it”. The glory of Jesus was revealed chapter by
chapter, and yet there’s much, much more to behold. To Peter, Jesus spoke words we must hear and
believe to be for us also – “You follow me!” (21:22). We need that reminder daily. Jesus had met them and turning towards them,
he called them to “come and see…follow me” (cf. John 1:37 - 43). They gave their lives up to follow him. Bruce Milne sums this up so well: “Like
the disciples, we follow him until that moment, whether before or after our
earthly death, when he will ‘turn round’ and look at us, and we will see him
face to face. We will ask him where he is staying, and he will take us there,
in fulfilment of his great prayer, ‘I want those you have given me to be with
me where I am, and to see my glory’ (17:24). [1]
The
question for us is simple – do I believe in the truth John has written. I am not asking if we believe intellectually,
but rather, do we believe with a faith that is willing to set everything else
aside in order to “follow Him”? We have
been told about being born again, about the bread of life, the light of the
world, the doorway to God, the Good Shepherd who gives up his life for his
sheep, that Jesus is the way, truth, and life.
We must not have a faith that is alive on Sunday and asleep through the
rest of the week. Jesus has called us to
follow him. There’s a cost in following
him and we must count the cost, but we must not negotiate it. The Lord has promised us that our lives can
be filled with His Glory, but only if “the glory of the One and Only, who
came from the Father” (1:14). Yet
this grace, this mercy, this love, this faith that calls us to follow Christ
will also call us to die to self in order to find His life:
“Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it
remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his
life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for
eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am,
there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him”
(John 12:24-26).
Peace
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