Today marks an exciting end to an incredible journey our
church has been taking for the last several years. Today we complete our series
in the book of John! Throughout this book, John has set out to prove, among
other things, that when it comes to Jesus, things are more than they seem. We
have learned from His words and His works that Jesus is more than just a man,
prophet, miracle worker, or mentor. He is God made flesh! His words tell it,
His mighty works confirm it, His resurrection proves it, and His apostles were
forever changed by it.
In this final passage, John 21:18-25, John presents three
concluding thoughts that successfully call all who read these words to true
discipleship in light of Jesus’ divinity.
1. A
Prophecy-21:18-19
Immediately following Peter’s public reinstatement into the
ministry, Jesus confronts Peter again, only this time, it is with a sobering
prediction. However, before Jesus makes His prediction of Peter’s destiny, He
takes a brief look at Peter’s past saying, “Truly, truly, Ii say to you, when
you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished”
(21:18a). Ultimately, Jesus recollects Peter’s freedom in younger years to live
his life untethered to weighty responsibilities.
No doubt Peter’s life as a young fisherman offered its own
romantic appeal. A hard working guy spending his days doing what he loved with
the wind in his hair and friends to pal around with must have offered Peter
with the simple and yet enjoyable life of freedom any blue collar worker in
Palestine desired. In earlier years, Peter had not been given the weighty
responsibility of sharing the gospel message with the added command of living
righteously. However, now that he had been with Jesus, watched Jesus die, and
seen Jesus raised, things were different. As established in the last passage,
because Peter loved Jesus and not himself, his life was no longer his own and
this was no small matter.
After reminiscing of younger days, Jesus predicts how
Peter’s life will end in the second part of verse 18, “but when you grow old,
you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you
where you do not wish to go’…”(21:18b). Though in days past Peter was able to
prepare for and do what he wanted to in his flesh, a day was coming when his
flesh will have no say in what will happen to him. Instead, others would
control the inevitable outcome of his life. Jesus reveals that eventually,
Peter will be taken against his will and forced to stretch out his arms.
Just to be sure the reader is not lost in the careful
language Jesus employs, John makes it abundantly clear what this means, “Now
this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God…” (21:19a).
Peter would, in his death, imitate Christ in two ways: in the way that he would
be killed (crucifixion) and in the way his death would glorify God. For both
Peter and Jesus, their humiliation in death would be at the same an occasion in
which God would be honored and magnified. This is Jesus’ sobering prediction.
“By the time the
Fourth Gospel was written, the prediction had been fulfilled, and Peter had
glorified God by his martyrdom, probably in Rome, under the emperor Nero”
(Carson, 680). Ultimately, the incredible shame Peter suffered for his public
disowning of Jesus on the night Christ was sentenced to death was forgiven by
the Lord and subsequently overwhelmed by the apostle’s fruitful ministry and
martyrdom (Carson, 680).
After making this difficult and yet sure prediction of
Peter’s destiny, Jesus makes this invitation, “And when He had spoken this, He
said to him, ‘Follow Me!’…”(21:19b). How is that for an calling! You are going
to suffer and die one day like I did against your will…follow me! Not the most
seeker-sensitive message nor the sweetest presentation of discipleship I’ve
come across. And yet, this is nothing new.
Luke 9:23-“And He was saying to them
all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny
himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.’”
No doubt these words hung over Peter for the next three
decades until they came to fruition. These words connect Peter’s discipleship
to Jesus’ initial call (1:43), challenge Peter to consistent maturation until
martyrdom, and implicitly invite every reader to the same steadfast pursuit of
the Lord in light of the ultimate sacrifice, one’s life.
Though discipleship in our lives may not satisfy Luke’s
description of discipleship as literally as it did for Peter, inevitably, if we
are not dying to ourselves we are not glorifying God. This prediction of
Peter’s life reveals that Jesus is perfectly satisfied in allowing His
disciples to die if it would mean God would be glorified as a result. How many
of us really want a piece of this action?
2. A Petition-21:20-23
I’m not certain Peter wanted a piece of this action at first.
Immediately after Jesus makes His prediction, Pete begins to make sure everyone
else is going to get it like he’s been getting it. The text says that he turned
around to look at the presumably silent disciples nearby and fixed his anxious
gaze on none other than the writer of this gospel, John, “the disciple whom
Jesus loved; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and
said, ‘Lord, who is the one who betrays you?’…” (21:20).
Perhaps frustrated that Jesus has spent so much time
questioning him and predicting a difficult future for him, Peter asks Jesus,
“Lord, and what about this man?” (21:21). Here, Peter wants to make sure that
John suffers like he will. Surely, all of the disciples would suffer equally.
Surely, all of them would have to live under the weight of knowing that they
too would die as martyrs! That would only be fair. Right?
As only God could, Jesus replies, ‘If I want him to remain
until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!’…”(21:22). Ultimately Pete is
told, “it is none of your business how John will be asked to obey me and
glorify God. You worry about you and follow Me!” Here, Jesus demonstrates where
a disciple’s focus should be. In the first thought Jesus revealed that
ultimately a disciple’s life is about dying to self and living for God’s glory.
In this second thought, Jesus reveals that a disciple’s focus should not be on
how others obey God, but on his or her personal obedience to His calling. Peter’s
tendency to immediately rush toward comparing himself to those around him is a
battle every honest believer must fight and win. To those who are preoccupied
with how others are serving, how much others are giving, and to what degree
others are sacrificing for the Lord, Jesus says, “mind your own business! You
focus on following Me!”
In an editorial note, John makes sure no one is confused
about Jesus’ meaning, “Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that
that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not
die, but only, ‘if I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?’…” (21:23).
Obviously a rumor was spread that Jesus said that John would never die until He
returned in the second coming. However, this was not Jesus’ meaning. Instead, Jesus
was suggesting a hypothetical scenario for Peter to consider. Not all disciples
will serve in the same capacity, but every true disciple is dying to self and glorifying
God. Your task and my task is discovering how this is best executed in our own
lives.
3. A
Postscript-21:24-25
John concludes his book with an appeal to his credibility as
a literary witness to Jesus’ life and ministry, “This is the disciple who is
testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his
testimony is true…” (21:24). This credibility is defended in at least two ways.
First, John is an eye-witness. This verse reveals that the author of this
gospel is the one that “Jesus loved” mentioned in the previous verse. As far as
historical sources go, none are more trustworthy than eye-witness testimony.
Second, the plural pronoun, “we” in “we know that his testimony is true”
suggests that this later gospel account was widely accepted and confirmed among
those close to the events surrounding Jesus’ life and ministry.
Though John’s gospel is a trustworthy testimony, it is not
exhaustive. In fact, John ends with sort of a cliff-hanger, “And there are also
many other things which Jesus did, which if they *were written in detail, I
suppose that even the world itself *would not contain the books that would be
written” (21:25). With these words, John concludes his impressive work on the
God man, demonstrating that when it comes to Jesus Christ, things are more than
they seem—so much more, that not even all the paper in all of the world could
enumerate every glorious detail.
So What?
However, this final passage in John’s Gospel has revealed that
there is more to something else—when it comes to discipleship, things are more
than they seem. Though many in the church want to believe that Jesus only wants
one day of the week, a couple of bucks here and there, and for us to behave
just a little bit better than those in our general vicinity, true discipleship
makes a greater demand—it requires our lives and is willing to suffer so that
God may be glorified. True discipleship is less concerned about the obedience
of others and more concerned about personal commitment to God’s specific call. How
can Jesus make this demand of us? Why should we answer His call to follow Him?
Because as this gospel has demonstrated in its short 21 chapters, Jesus is God!
Because He created us, died for us, and rose for use, He deserves our lives and
every ounce of glory from all that we say and do in return. So what do you say?
Will you follow Him? Will you really follow Him?
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