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let's get into John chapter 21
and I'm going to begin reading at verse 15 and I'm going to
read all the way through verse 22 and then we'll ask for the
Lord's blessing and guidance and enabling grace. Beginning in verse 15 we read,
so when they had eaten breakfast, remember they're on the shore
of the Sea of Galilee and Jesus has performed a miracle and given
them full nets and he's prepared breakfast for them and they've
now eaten. So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon
Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?
And he said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And
he said to him, feed my lambs. He said to him a second time,
Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? And he said to him, yes,
Lord, you know that I love you. And he said to him, 10 my sheep.
He said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love
me? Peter was grieved because he
said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said to him,
Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Remember,
we saw that he was grieved that third time, no doubt, because
he had denied Jesus three times. And now Jesus, in asking this
the third time, has reminded him of that. and given him three
opportunities to express his love and also his faith that
Jesus knows what's in his heart, something that he learned through
all of this in a deeper way. Now we move on to his command,
feed my sheep. Most assuredly, verse 18 says,
I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked
where you wished, but when you were old, You will stretch out
your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do
not wish. Then John says, this he spoke, signifying by what
death he would glorify God. And when he had spoken this,
he said to him, follow me. Then Peter, turning around, saw
the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned
on his breast at the supper and said, Lord, who is the one who
betrays you? And Peter, seeing him, said to
Jesus, but Lord, what about this man? Jesus said to him, if I
will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow
me. So we see right after giving
them the third charge to feed the sheep, to tend the flock,
he immediately talks about the fact that he's gonna do that
till he's an old man. And then he's gonna die. and we're gonna
look at exactly what he means by this this morning. So let's
pray and ask for God's grace. Holy Father, we pray. First of
all, for the many people who are traveling today, as I look
out and I see how many are gone and I know how many are on the
road, I pray that you'll keep them safe this week as always. Bring them safely back to us.
Give them rest, those who are on vacation, so that they'll
come back restored, help them to find really good places to
worship with other believers while they're traveling. And
wherever they're worshiping today, help them to remember we're with
them in spirit, even if we can't be together physically. Lord,
we pray for those who are ill. We know there are a number among
us who are ill and couldn't be here because of that. And so
we pray, Lord, that you would restore them quickly. If they've
sinned, that you'd forgive them. and raise them up soon, restore
them. And now for those of us who are
here and have worshiped together this morning and continue to
worship you as we hear your word spoken to us, we pray that for
each and every one of us, Lord, that you'd give us ears to hear
and eyes to see. Fill us with your spirit, those
of us who know you, that we might hear your voice in your word
and respond in faith, hope, and love, and with a full heart of
obedience. For those who do not yet know
you, we would pray that you would begin to open their eyes to who
Jesus really is, that they might come to know him as Savior and
Lord. We ask this in the name of our great God and Savior Jesus
Christ, amen. Charles Spurgeon once said that
there are no crown wearers in heaven who are not cross bearers
here below. There are no crown bearers in
heaven who are not cross bearers here below. That's another way
of saying nobody ever gets to heaven without carrying a cross. We don't experience heavenly
reward without experiencing the difficulties of life in Christ
here on earth. I think it's a profound statement.
I think it's one which is based squarely upon the teaching of
our Lord Jesus Christ, such as is recorded for us in Matthew's
gospel. When Matthew says this in Matthew
16, 24 to 26, then Jesus said to his disciples, if anyone,
that means you and me, right? Anyone means anybody. If anyone
desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up
his cross and follow me. For whoever desires to save his
life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will
find it. For what profit is it to a man
if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? Or what will
a man give in exchange for his soul? So here Jesus taught very clearly
that anyone who wanted to follow him must be willing to surrender
everything, including his or her own life
for him. Now, for most of us, the cross
stands as a metaphor for this willingness to live in a selfless
and self-sacrificing way, right? Since there's no real possibility
that we might be literally crucified, for serving and following him.
Although the time may come where some of us may be called to suffer
imprisonment or other forms of persecution or even death for
Christ. And this is part of carrying
a cross that we must be willing to do. But there's no real possibility
that probably that any of us will ever face the gruesome death
of crucifixion on the cross. But that wasn't the case for
Jesus' first century disciples. Such a death was a very real
possibility for them because it was the primary means of executing
non-Roman citizens under Roman law. So it was a real possibility
for them. But for Peter it was more than just a possibility.
I'm gonna argue this morning that for Peter it was a certainty.
that he knew, we know that from this point, it was some 30 years
before Peter died. History tells us and early church
accounts, historical accounts and tradition tells us he died
under Nero, probably around 64 AD-ish, somewhere in there. So
he would have lived about 30 more years after this. Knowing
that he'd be old, 30 more years would do that, he was probably
middle-aged when Jesus said this to him. that he was going to die on a
cross. I hope to show you why this is
so as we make our way through the passage before us this morning. Let's begin again reading the
text at verse 18. Most assuredly I say to you,
Jesus says to Peter, when you were younger, you girded yourself
and walked around where you wished. Peter was used to making up his
own mind about where he was going to go and when he was going to
go there. He says, but when you are old, you will stretch out
your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do
not wish. This he spoke, John tells us,
signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when he had
spoken this, he said to him, follow me. First of all, Jesus assures Peter
that he is going to live to be an old man. Because he says this
will happen when he's old. But then he says to him, you'll
stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where
you do not wish. In this way, Jesus was referring
to how Peter would one day be arrested and crucified. Because this is what Jesus meant
when he spoke of Peter's hands being stretched out. It was a
somewhat oblique way of referring to execution by crucifixion.
That's the argument I'm going to make here. And history tells
us, the early church history, that the early church really
believed that he was crucified. They have accounts of it. And
some of those accounts even say that he requested to be crucified
upside down, which was once in a while done, actually. That
he requested to be crucified upside down because he didn't
feel worthy to be crucified the same way Jesus was. So we have
historical reasons to believe this actually did happen, but
I'm going to argue that Jesus said it was going to happen,
and that's the strongest reason to believe that it actually happened.
Now, it may sound surprising at first to read, you're going
to stretch out your hands, right, as a way of referring to crucifixion. Although you can imagine when
someone's crucified on a cross, their hands are stretched out.
But we're going to see that's not exactly what Jesus is talking
about. He's talking about actually carrying the cross to the place
of execution when he's speaking of stretched out hands here.
And that might be, you say, well, that's kind of an oblique way
of talking about being crucified, perhaps a euphemistic way of
talking about it. But that shouldn't be too surprising
to us, because in the English language, we've had ways of talking
about execution that are like this. For example, there was
a time when if someone said, they will arrest you and stretch
your neck, everybody knew they were talking about a hanging,
that you're going to be executed and put to death by hanging,
right? And there's even a stretching involved there, too, figuratively
speaking. There was also a time when if
someone said, they'll arrest you and then you're going to
fry, everybody knew they were talking about death by electrocution.
Execution by electrocution, right? And even in our own day, I think
prisoners will say that you're going to take the stainless steel
ride as a way of talking about being taken in on a gurney to
be killed by lethal injection. But if somebody were to say something
like, they're going to arrest you and give you the needle,
everybody would know that they were talking about death by lethal
injection. So I'm pointing all this out
to say that, and especially in places where it's talking about
someone's death, When we say these kinds of things, we know
exactly what's being talked about. And my argument is that that
was true of what Jesus said here. The people understood that this
is a way of talking about crucifixion. This is the way many in the early
church understood this language. And I would argue that Jesus'
own disciples would have understood it this way. I think D.A. Carson
is quite helpful when he discusses the evidence here for this and
the meaning of this expression in his commentary in the passage.
Here's what he writes. after talking about the prophecy
that he would live to be old, he says, more important is the
way stretch out your hands was understood in the ancient world.
It widely referred to crucifixion. Some think that improbable in
this context because of the sequence. Peter is told that when he is
old, he will stretch out his hands and then someone else will
dress him and lead him where he doesn't want to go. If the
stretching out of hands refers to crucifixion, shouldn't it
follow these other things? Shouldn't that happen after you're
led where you don't want to go? And then he points out, Bower proposed
long ago that this stretching took place when a condemned prisoner
was tied to his cross member. The Romans called this the patibulum,
the beam that you were actually hung on across the post. Bower
proposed long ago that this stretching took place when a condemned prisoner
was tied to his cross member and forced to carry his cross
to the place of execution. The cross member would be placed
on the prisoner's neck and shoulders, his arms tied to it, and then
he would be led away to death. Despite the fact that many reject
this explanation, the most detailed study of crucifixion in the ancient
world describes just such horrible variations on this grisly form
of execution." And then he footnotes a book by Martin Hengel on crucifixion,
which many regard to be one of the better books written on the
issue. going over all the evidence for
what actually happened in crucifixions in ancient times, and that this
was a common practice, what they were talking about here. This
actually, it reflects exactly what happened to Jesus, as we
saw back in chapter 19, in verses 17 and 18, where we're told that
Jesus, bearing his cross, went out to the place of the skull,
which is called in Hebrew Golgotha, which means skull, where they
crucified him and two others with him, one on either side
and Jesus in the center. Well, what's happening there
is he's carrying that petibulum, that cross member, out to the
place where they're going to then nail him to it. And we know
in Jesus' case, there was a point at which, because he had been
beaten so much, even more than is typically true of people who
are going to be crucified, he ran out of the strength to carry
it, and they got someone else to carry the rest of the way
for him. But again, the condemned were commonly made to carry their
own crosses, which is why Jesus knew, Jesus' disciples rather, knew
what he meant when he challenged each of them to take up your
cross. They knew exactly what he was talking about. Remember,
Jesus said, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me. They knew what he was talking
about, even if for many of them, it turned into a metaphorical
thing, be willing to die for me. I mean, Jesus wasn't carrying
that cross to a picnic. He's gonna suffer horribly and
die there. And he was saying to his followers, this is what
you must be willing to do for me if you follow me. And by the way, he said that
for anyone, and that means you and me. So Jesus just supposed what everyone
knew, Namely, that one who was being crucified was typically
required to carry his own cross to his place of crucifixion. And so when he spoke of this
stretching out the hands, that's just another way that everybody
would get of carrying that cross. Like this, put across your shoulders,
your arms tied to it, till they took you to nail you onto it
and lift you up on the cross. which was another way Jesus talked
about dying, right? Being lifted up. It's another
way of talking about death on a cross. So there was more than
one euphemistic sort of way that Jesus referred to death on a
cross is what I'm saying here. Anyway, Peter and his fellow
disciples, as well as the early church, would have understood
what Jesus meant when he said this. And it's why John could
then add, this he spoke signifying by what death he would glorify
God. Why say that right after what Jesus just said, unless
it's a way of referring to some kind of death? And what are the two options
for people to die there? Stoning or crucifixion? It's not referring to stoning.
It's referring to crucifixion. And they knew that. Peter was going to bring glory
to God by dying the same way that Jesus died. In fact, John even uses the same
kind of language referring to Peter's death as had been used
earlier in the gospel to refer to Jesus' death, when he says,
signifying by what death he would glorify God. For example, back
in chapter 12, verses 31 to 33, Our Lord says, now is the judgment
of this world. Now the ruler of this world will
be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from
the earth, remember that's another way of talking about his coming
crucifixion in this sort of euphemistic way. If I am lifted up from the
earth, will draw all peoples to myself. This he said, John
tells us, signifying by what death he would die. So there
was another time where Jesus had spoken in a sort of euphemistic
way of death on a cross. And John made sure we knew that
this was signifying by what death he would die. It's exactly what
we see happening when Jesus talks to Peter. And then John follows
it up with, this is signifying by what death he would die. And
of course, the death Jesus would die was death on a cross, just
as it was for Peter. This was referenced again later
in this gospel, leading up to the account of Jesus' crucifixion
in John 18, where we read about his arrest. I'll pick up there
in verse 28 of John 18. Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas
to the praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves
did not go into the praetorium, lest they should be defiled,
but that they might eat the Passover. Pilate then went out to them
and said, what accusation do you bring against this man? And
they answered and said to him, If he were not an evildoer, we
would not have delivered him up to you. Just take our word
for it. It always kills me when I read
that. Then Pilate said to him, you take him and judge him according
to your law. Therefore, the Jews said to him,
it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death. Now, mind you,
they'd put other people to death, and they will again in the future
when they felt like it, and they got away with it. The point here
is that they want Jesus to die by crucifixion. Remember when
we studied that, it was very important that that happened
in their eyes because then he would be seen to be cursed in
the view of the Jews. And it would discredit him, they
thought. The opposite happened, actually. Satan's plans always
backfire on him, don't they, in the end? Anyway, the Jews
said to him, it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death,
and that the saying, they said this, John tells us, that the
saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spoke, signifying by
what death he would die. And how did he speak of that?
Earlier, he spoke of being lifted up. And of course, the other
Gospels tell us that he specified he would die on a cross, and
not just with euphemistic language, he made it very clear to them
repeatedly that this would happen, and that he read, rise from the
dead. But why is it that they couldn't kill him under Jewish
law? It had to be under Roman law to fulfill Jesus' words. Well, because the Romans are
the ones who crucified people, not the Jews. That's the way
it had to happen. Now John says here in chapter
21, that when Jesus spoke as he did to Peter, he was doing
what? Signifying by what death he would glorify God. John is
using the same kind of language to talk about this as he'd used
twice before to talk about Jesus coming crucifixion. Another hint,
he's talking about crucifixion for Peter. So Jesus made it clear to him,
I think. This means, though, that Peter, as I said earlier,
would serve the rest of his life, he would shepherd the flock,
as Jesus called him to do, for the next 30 or so years, knowing
it would end in death on a cross. He lived in the shadow of that
cross the rest of his life, just as Jesus himself had known
long before it happened that he was gonna die on a cross. So when Jesus commanded Peter
to follow me here, after saying that, there's a lot of literal ways
in which that's gonna happen. He was making it clear, he expected
Peter not only to follow him in selfless and self-sacrificing
life for the rest of his life and service to him, but also
to follow him in death, the same kind of death. I'm reminded, I was reminded
as I studied this, of several times at which Jesus had previously
issued the same command to follow him. So I'd like to take a look
at a couple of earlier examples in John's gospel, especially
with regard to Peter, and see how what's happening
here is even kind of hinted at, perhaps. What was a little more
ambiguous then becomes much more clear now. Back in chapter 12,
for example, beginning in verse 23, we're told that Jesus answered
them saying, the hour has come that the sin of man should be
glorified. And that's a way of talking about his coming death.
In the passage in John 21, he's telling Peter that he will glorify
God by dying. And Jesus speaks of himself as
being glorified when he dies. on the cross. And then he says,
most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls
into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies,
it produces much grain. There's going to be this positive
benefit to Jesus' death. It's going to bear fruit. He
who loves his life, then, Jesus said, will lose it. And he who
hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
If anyone serves me, let him follow me. In the context, follow
him where? in a context in which he just
said, you'd better be willing to give your life even, and that
he's gonna give his life, following him even if it means
death. And he says, and where I am, there my servant will be
also. If anyone serves me, him my father
will honor. Then he'll go on to tell them,
chapter 13, that he's gonna go and prepare a place for them. So even if they die, they're
gonna end up with him. But Jesus had already issued
a command to follow him, even if it meant giving your life
by doing so. So Peter's heard this before. Just not with the certainty of
how he was gonna do that. One more example is in John 13.
I'll begin reading there in verse 33 to get the complete context
in our head as much as we can. John 13, 33, Jesus says, little
children, I shall be with you a little while longer. You will
seek me, and as I said to the Jews, where I'm going, you cannot
come. So now I say to you, a new commandment I give to you, that
you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love
one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another. And then Peter's going to say,
teach us more about this love. No, no. So Peter said to him,
Lord, where are you going? Peter's always going to ask questions
about other things, right, than what Jesus actually just ended
talking about, right? He had a way sometimes of missing
the primary point, right, and asking questions about things
Jesus wasn't revealing, right? That's exactly what he does.
We're going to see in chapter 21. He does it again It's I won't
say it's a habit for him. We know I did it occasionally,
right? But so he asks Lord. Where are you going and Jesus
answered him where I'm going you cannot follow Now he says
you cannot follow me now But you shall follow me afterward
and actually he's speaking with us in A second person singular
there, he's speaking directly to Peter about Peter. It's interesting. Where I'm going, you cannot follow
me now, but you will follow me afterward. Peter said to him,
Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life
for your sake. He heard what Jesus said before
when he said, if you follow me, you have to be willing to lay
down your life for me. He knows that that's the kind of thing
Jesus is talking about here when he's talking about going away.
And he's saying, I'm willing to go with you. I'm willing to
die with you. I'm willing to die for you. Jesus answered him, will you
lay down your life for my sake? Most assuredly, I say to you,
the rooster shall not crow till you've denied me three times. So Jesus had told Peter that
he would follow him afterward. But then he would first deny
him three times. And the afterward was going to
be when he was old, and after he had served shepherding the
flock for a long time. And so after his resurrection,
when Jesus spoke to Peter on the shore of the Sea of Galilee,
He was reminding him of the command to follow him, even though it
meant not just that he could die as a martyr, but that he
would die as a martyr. And not just die as a martyr,
but die on a cross, with all of that that that entailed, as
a martyr. He made it clear that Peter would
indeed follow him where he had gone, all the way to death on
a cross. So Peter thinks, this is going
to happen when I'm old. So what's he do? What's he say
then? Oh, Lord Jesus, give me strength so that I can serve
you well. Give me strength so I can face
this. Give me strength so I can live the rest of my life knowing
this and remain faithful. Is that what he does? No, he
changes the subject. Look what he says in verses 20
and 21, I won't repeat. Then Peter, turning around, saw
the disciple whom Jesus loved following. Now, we know through
our study of John, and we've looked at this several times
in several different ways, John refers to himself in this gospel
this way, in the third person. He doesn't like to draw direct
attention to himself. And this is the way he refers
to himself. So it's the apostle John who actually wrote this
gospel that is the disciple that was following here, right? Peter
turning around saw the disciple whom Jesus loved, John, one of
the sons of Zebedee, who also had leaned on his breast at the
supper and said, Lord, who is the one who betrays you? And
Peter seeing him said to Jesus, but Lord, what about this man?
Now, remember that Peter had been business partners with James
and John, the sons of Zebedee. And this John is the disciple
whom Jesus loved in this text. You can see that in Luke 5.10. And we know that both James and
John, the sons of Zebedee, are present here, right, on the shore
of the Sea of Galilee. We learn that in verse two. This
is one of the bits of evidence that tells us that it was John
who was in mind here, when we put it all together. But the
three of these men had actually formed inside of the inner circle
of Jesus' disciples, James and Peter and John. James and John
being brothers, the sons of Zebedee, and then Peter. They'd been business
partners. They'd apparently been friends
before they began following Christ. And they would have, I'm sure,
become even better friends as they followed Christ, especially
being in this sort of inner circle. It was these three, Peter, James,
and John, that were privileged to be at the Mount of Transfiguration. They witnessed Jesus' transfiguration
together. When Jesus went into the Garden
of Gethsemane and prayed, He chose to take Peter, James, and
John further with him, to be there with him. John, I think,
assumes we've read these other Gospels and that we know all
of this. But here he simply stresses that he had been following Jesus
and Peter as they were talking, with the reminder that he was
the one who had been leaning back against Jesus' chest as
they sat around a table partaking of the final Passover together.
about which he's told us earlier in chapter 13. And so since he's
alluded to this in identifying himself, I think we should go
back and read briefly what happened there. Well, see, this isn't the first
time that Peter's been curious about what's going on with someone
else. Back in chapter 13, beginning
in verse 21, we read that when Jesus had said these things,
he was troubled in spirit and testified and said, most assuredly
I say to you, one of you will betray me. Then the disciples
looked at one another, perplexed about whom he spoke. Now, there
was leaning on Jesus' bosom, one of his disciples whom Jesus
loved. And that would be John. Simon
Peter, therefore, mentioned to him, or motioned to him to ask
who it was of whom he spoke. Then leaning back on Jesus' breast,
he said to him, Lord, who is it? And Jesus answered, it is
he to whom I shall give a piece of bread, when I have dipped
it. And having dipped it, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the
son of Simon. So he alludes to this earlier
event, but who was it that actually suggested or motioned to John
to ask that question of Jesus? Peter did. So we keep this in
mind, Peter's, he was curious then about what Jesus meant. Instead of saying, oh my, this
is terrible what's gonna happen to Jesus, you know, who's gonna
be? Peter was always kind of curious
about finding out more. And Jesus did reveal it then. But it was actually Peter who'd
gotten John to ask. And now it would seem, knowing
that John had been listening, perhaps following right behind
them, Peter asked Jesus about him. Now, why? Well, I've just
explained that they were good friends. They were in a tight
group together for a long time, not just as business partners
in their fishing business before they followed Jesus, but since
they followed Christ, they were in this tight group and this
sort of if you will, sort of inner circle of disciples. It
was Peter and John who were close enough at that Last Supper for
Peter to motion to John and for John to know what he was talking
about, motioning to do to get more information. They knew each
other well enough for John to get those signals from Peter.
So why would Peter ask this? He loves John. John isn't just
the disciple Jesus loved. He likes to call himself that,
probably because he never could get over the fact that Jesus
loved him. But apparently, I think Peter loved him too. And he genuinely wanted to know
what was going to happen to him. I'm sure that those motives were
in his heart. And maybe he thought, well, I
wanted to know what happened, and John asked for me. I'll bet
John wants to know what happened, so I'll ask for him. Maybe he
thought that. But I would put to you there
were mixed motives here. And that maybe mixed in with
some good motives, his friendship with John motivating him, was
the fact that he was really uncomfortable with what Jesus had said to him
and he wanted to change the subject. We are capable of mixed motives.
And I would argue that Peter was probably filled with them
here, mixed motives. And I think that because of Jesus'
response to him that we read about in verse 22, which reads
like a rebuke. Not a harsh rebuke, but a rebuke
nonetheless. Look what it says in verse 22.
Jesus said to him, if I will that he remain till I come, what
is that to you? And then he speaks emphatically
when he says you here, you follow me. That's the way we should
read it. If it's my will that he remains
until I return, Jesus is saying, what's that to you, Peter? You
follow me. It's like saying, you need to
mind your own business, Peter, and focus on what I just said
to you. I just told you what's gonna happen and told you to
follow me and you're changing the subject. You follow me. I think the application to us
is pretty obvious. Just like Peter said to Jesus
basically made clear to Peter, you need to mind your own business
and listen to what I'm saying to you. Without changing the subject,
whatever motivations that were there, he wasn't paying attention. He could be sometimes like that
dog went in the movie Up, squirrel, you know, and he turns away and
every time a squirrel, he can't pay attention because he sees
a squirrel. Peter could be kind of like that, right? What's the application to us?
When we read the difficult commands from our Lord in his word, Don't
we have a tendency to not want to think about them? Change the
subject. When Jesus has hard things to
say to us, don't we have within us the tendency to want to gloss
over them and go to nicer things, promises of good things, not
promises of suffering, hardship, temptation, spiritual warfare,
possible death is a murder, persecution for your faith, This is an issue
that's rampant among quote unquote evangelicalism in America today,
isn't it? It's all about what Jesus can
do for me, but don't expect me to listen to the hard things
he has to say. People today simply ignore much
of the biblical teaching about suffering or sacrifice for Christ
because they don't find that very palatable. They just don't
want to hear it. And I found that frequently,
if you bring up teaching like that to them, they do prefer
to change the subject and talk about something else. Or maybe to view that as something,
you know, that kind of suffering. And maybe Peter and James were
called to that. John and those kind of people.
But, you know, that's for like super saints. That's not for
me. But Jesus didn't say, only certain
people who come after me will have to take a cross to follow
me. He said anyone. I think we also may often focus
our attention on what others are or aren't doing, or what's
going on in their lives, as a way of avoiding taking responsibility
for what's happening with us. But I think Jesus would have
each one of us take, first of all, responsibility for ourselves
and listen to what he really has to say to us before we turn
our gaze elsewhere. I think William Hendrickson is
also very helpful in suggesting yet another area of application
of this text when he writes this. By means of these words, the
Lord impresses upon Peter's mind the fact that curiosity about
John's future must make way for obedience to the Lord's all-important
command, follow me, feed my lambs, shepherd my sheep, feed my dear
sheep. Peter must not be so deeply interested in God's secret counsel
regarding John that he fails to pay attention to God's revealed
will. It is a lesson which every believer
in every age should take to heart. There is work to be done. There
are souls to be reached. There is a task to be accomplished.
Let Peter rivet all his attention upon this. Some people are always
asking questions, he writes. They're asking so many questions
that their real mission in life fails to receive the proper amount
of interest and energy. There are times when questions
are out of order. It has been well said that a man who has
been wounded by a feathered, poisoned arrow should not begin
to ask, of what wood is the arrow made? Of what bird did these
feathers come? Is the person who shot it dark
or fair, short or tall? Let him do something, first of
all. Hendrickson has a way of putting
things sometimes, doesn't he? I'm reminded of Moses' admonition
that the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those
things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever,
that we may do all the words of this law. Let us not be among those who
try to delve into the things God has not chosen to reveal
while we actually miss the things he has clearly revealed. and thus fail to live accordingly. With these lessons in mind, I'm
gonna end where I began this teaching, with reminder of Jesus'
own admonition for anyone who wishes to follow him. I don't
want us to leave this account of Peter and think that Jesus
was calling on Peter to have some kind of special devotion
that he doesn't require of you and me. Because it's not true
to think that. I'm going to read it again from
Matthew. If anyone desires to come after
me, anyone, that means all of us. Let him deny himself and
take up his cross and follow me. For whoever desires to save
his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for
my sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man
if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?" We need to not avoid that hard
saying. We need to not walk out of here wanting to change the
subject and focus our attention elsewhere. We need to leave here
hearing Jesus say, you follow me. Listen to me. Do what I say. I'm calling you to a life of
sacrifice and I mean it. And then perhaps we should ask
him something that Peter didn't. Lord, give me the strength. I
can't do this. This scares me to death. I want
to change the subject, just like Peter did. I don't want to think
about that. I don't want to suffer. I don't like pain. I'm scared
when I hear this. Help me. Fill me with your spirit. Strengthen my faith. Do in and
through me what I am incapable of doing myself. Peter didn't
live this faithful life, folks. and die on a cross because he
was special and he had more power and strength than we do. Read
the gospels and you'll see that's not true. He failed all the time.
He just denied Jesus three times days before. How did he remain faithful? He
said it in his first epistle, he was kept by the power of God
into salvation. I'm saying this as you leave
here, hear Jesus say, you follow me. even if it means a horrible
death serving me, even if it means tremendous suffering. You
follow me and be faithful, and know that I'll keep you. Remember,
we read John 10, too. No one can snatch us out of our
Savior's hand. He will raise us up at the last day, he said
in John 6. And he will keep us. Let's pray. Holy Father, I've spoken what I know is a
hard saying, and I've tried to do it in a way that captures
that emphasis. And Lord, I hope that in the
process I've been a faithful mouthpiece of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, repeating His teaching faithfully. Because we haven't
come here to hear today what I think are good things. to do
and believe. We've come here today to hear
what you say in your word and to believe it, to follow
it, to receive it fully, to trust in you, to become more like Christ
as a result, to learn to be more faithful as a result, to learn
to trust you and your power and grace more fully as a result.
So help us to that end, I pray. Give us the hearts that will
hear these hard words and say, even with fear and trembling,
yes, Lord, I will follow. I will. And I'll trust you to
keep me all the way. For those who do not yet know
you, it is our prayer that you would do for them what you've
done for us. Open their eyes that they may see that Jesus
is fully God and fully man in one person, that He lived a sinless
life and died on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.
He bore the wrath for our sins on the cross so that we never
have to face it. He rose from the dead and conquered
death, and He freely offers us forgiveness and everlasting life,
something we cannot do for ourselves, that we can't earn, but must
be accepted as a gift. of grace. Please, Lord, give them the faith
and repentance necessary to embrace Christ as Lord and Savior, we
pray. And we'll give you all the glory
for what you do, because we are convinced that you alone deserve
it. We ask these things in the name of our great God and Savior,
Jesus Christ, amen. Thank you once again for your
kind attention.
Take Up Your Cross!
Series The Gospel of John
| Sermon ID | 626161433329 |
| Duration | 46:08 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | John 21:18-22 |
| Language | English |
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