inContext on John 21 "Do you Love Me?" Parts 1 & 2

0206 - February 16, 2009 Do You Love Me? John 21:15-25 [Easley:] You can only change yourself by God‟s grace. You have to ask yourself the question, “God, will I be the husband and father that you want me to be no matter what anybody else does?” “God, will I be the wife and mother no matter what he does or doesn‟t do?” Will you follow Christ no matter hard it becomes? Listen, He did not ask you to die like he did Peter. He did not ask me to die like He did Peter. He just says, “If you love me, you‟ll follow me … even when it‟s hard.” [Lepine:] This in inContext with Michael Easley, I‟m Bob Lepine, and we‟re about to conclude what has been a several month study through John‟s Gospel. And we‟re at the point in John‟s Gospel where Jesus has appeared to Peter as he and the disciples have been fishing, following the resurrection. And Michael, three times, Jesus is going to ask Peter the same question, or at least, we think it‟s the same question, but as we‟ll see as we move through this there‟s actually a subtle shift in this question that we can‟t see in our English Bibles, right? [Easley:] It‟s a rich picture of how intimately Jesus knows His friend, Peter, and by implication, how He knows us. [Lepine:] Hmm. [Easley:] So, not only the guilt of, “Oh, I failed, and I didn‟t respond well,” but, “Let me restore you to a place of usability that‟s far beyond your wildest imagination.” [Lepine:] We need to keep this in mind as well, especially those of us who are very aware of our own sins, and how we have failed… [Easley:] Mmm hmm. [Lepine:] …to follow Christ as maybe we have promised to do. Jesus is in the business of restoration. [Easley:] I have a dear friend who is always beating herself up because she doesn‟t pray enough. And, she‟ll write me these e-mails and text me about, “Pray for me that I‟d be more diligent in prayer.” And one day, and maybe I‟m heretical here Bob, [Lepine:] Mmm hmm. [Easley:] But I wrote her back and I said “Would you please stop? Would you begin to understand that nothing you will ever done will make Him love you more, - [Lepine:] Right. [Easley:] - and nothing you have ever done will make Him love you less. And when you
start there, I believe the prayer thing is going to take care of itself.” But we‟re all in this performance quota, “I have to do this before God will look on me favorably.” He could not have demonstrated His love more profoundly than He already has. Why would He then change that conditionally based upon our works? So the motivation is, “I love you, and I want to respond well to you.” Not, “I need to pray more, I need to be more faithful, I shouldn‟t have done that.” What a terrible way to live the Christian life. [Lepine:] Ultimately, that performance mindset that you‟re talking about is legalism. [Easley:] Yup. [Lepine:] It‟s an attempt to self justify and we have to come back and say do we believe that Christ has paid it all, and that we‟re accepted not because of what we do, - [Easley:] Right, right, right. [Lepine:] - but because of what He has done? And Peter had to realize that as well. As we pick up this account in John‟s Gospel, Jesus has just finished cooking breakfast for His friends, and He‟s about to have a conversation with Peter. Here‟s our teacher Michael Easley. [Easley:] If we were to discuss, “How are we to know if we love something?” we could have a long discussion about buying gifts or spending time or quality time or words of affirmation or acts of service. We could talk about love in many different facets. If I love yard work I‟ll spend time and money and have interest in what I‟m doing in my yard. If I love my car, I‟ll spend time caring for it, changing the oil, and washing and waxing and keeping it garaged. You know, there are all kinds of ways to indicate if I love a thing. But how do we love God? How do we love Christ? That‟s what we‟re going to look at this morning. Open your Bible to John twenty-one, John twenty-one, and we‟ll conclude the Gospel of John this morning. It‟s always sort of sad to me to finish a book. I put away a book and feel like I‟m leaving a friend behind. But we‟ll conclude the Gospel of John this morning. John chapter twenty-one beginning at verse fifteen, Jesus Christ‟s gracious, gracious restoration of Peter: So when they had finished breakfast, [John 21:15] Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Tend My lambs." He said to him again a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love Me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Shepherd My sheep." He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, 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." Jesus said to him, "Tend My sheep.” By the charcoal fire of John eighteen, Peter three times denied any knowledge of or association with Christ. And now by the only other charcoal fire in the Gospel of John, three times Jesus Christ restores him from the threefold denial when he denied knowing Christ. Now before we look at the three questions about “Do you love me?” We need to ask a little grammatical question here. What does the “these” refer to when Jesus says, “Do you love me more than these”? Because it is very important how we understand the text. There are lots of options. There are three worthy of consideration. The first one Jesus could be asking is, “Do you love me more than these fish?” Do you love me more than the trappings of a fishing boat and nets and all that goes with that, and the catch that they had just experienced. “Do you love me more than these?” And that‟s a fair interpretation. The second thing, “Do you love the disciples more than me? Do you love these men more than you love me?” Or thirdly, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than the disciples love me? Now, all have merit but I would go with the last one. And I want to argue from John thirteen and the current text as to why. And really it does make quite a bit of difference which one we take, because it tells us more about Peter and who he is, and whether his affections were for fishing, or for his friends or for Jesus. Let‟s look at the third, and sort of argue backwards as to why I think so. John 13:37, Peter made an astonishing boast about his love for Christ, “Lord why can I not follow you right now. I will lay down my life for you”, he said. Now one gospel tells us that the other ones all said yes, but Peter was the one that opened his mouth first. Peter said, “My devotion to you, my loyalty to you is so great that I‟m willing to die for you.” And he was the first one to utter that thought and that feeling. So, if we take that together with the three-fold denial, he just made this huge statement, “I‟ll lay down my life for you,” and now he denies Him three times. When we bring that into our context, taken together, “Peter, now that you‟ve denied me three times, remember I told you you‟d deny me? Now that you‟ve denied me three times, can you tell me that you love me more than these people love me?” That‟s the question He‟s posing to him. Let‟s look at those questions then, based on that context. Each question begins with Simon, son of John. It‟s funny to me that He names him Peter, but He never calls him Peter but one time. At least, it‟s only recorded one time that He calls him Peter. He still calls him Simon. I think it has to do with the person of him before the Holy Spirit indwells him because in Acts he‟ll be known primarily as Peter. But now, Jesus still calls him Simon.
Jesus used an assortment of words. He used two words for love, two words for lamb and sheep and two words for tend and shepherd. And there is a lot made on those words. I think they‟re just stylistic differences. Remember, Jesus spoke Aramaic, and the New Testament was written in Koine Greek, and then bring in English. So, we‟ve got some variations along the way of what those words were in one language and they come across two more languages. And when He asks him, Peter strains an answer, “Lord, you know that I love you.” Twice, “Lord, you know that I love you.” And the third answer is a little more comprehensive, “Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you.” Now, I think Peter is telling us a little bit about his own growth and understanding about who Jesus is. Because if we go back again to the denial what he said was, ”Peter after you deny me three times, remember that. You said you were more loyal and more devoted. Do you still love me?” And Peter is saying, “Look, Lord you knew I was going to deny you three times, you know if I love you or not, Lord.” Now, Peter is starting to develop a fuller Christology. This Jesus Christ knows everything about him. And He knows everything about him now. That‟s why it grieved him, I think. Three times, “Lord, you know I love you. You know everything.” Now the first and third words for “feed”, “Feed my sheep… feed my lambs… “ is the same word. The middle word is the word I want to talk about. The middle word is the word shepherding. Some of your translations use the word “care for”, and it has the root of a pastor. In fact, the word that Jesus uses here for Peter to shepherd is the word for pastoring and for eldering. And then we‟ll jump ahead to First Peter chapter five for a minute, and I want to show you some of this role. Now, the elder in the local church served to shepherd the flock of God. You may have come from a church with a different church government, what we call a polity, how a church is run. Emmanuel is organized around a body of elders, a council of elders, men who qualify for the office of elders. We believe shepherding occurs primarily through the function of the elder, not one pastor. One pastor cannot minister to four thousand people. It‟s impossible. So, we have lots of pastors, some happen to be called elders, some happen to be called pastors. Pastoring is the gift, eldering is the function. It is a shepherd; one who cares for people. Now, look what Peter later would write. Keep in mind the denials, keep in mind the restorations, read it aloud with me, First Peter chapter five the first four verses. Read aloud with me: [Easley and Congregation:] Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock, and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
[Easley:] Chock full of information. Peter, now much older, looking back on his own life, looking back on the churches that had been established saying, “You fellow elders.” Now, in this room there are a number of elders. Some of you elders are elders in other churches, and this message will go out and a lot of elders will hear this message. So, I want to talk to sort of, now and future elders, and some of you past elders for just a moment. Dr. Hebert, an esteemed New Testament scholar, stone deaf since nineteen forty-three. I used to correspond with Dr. Hebert. What a great and gracious Bible teacher. He went home to be with the Lord about two years ago. He writes on this passage “‟Shepherd the flock‟ tersely portrays the elders under the familiar shepherd image. The shepherd-sheep relationship describes the spiritual task of leaders of God‟s people. The command „to shepherd‟ includes guiding, guarding, feeding, folding. The verbal tense conveys urgency. It calls upon the elder to have the official life of devotion to serving the flock of God.” John 21:15-17 is more about love than about leadership. “Peter if you‟re going to love me, part of that will be shepherding and feeding and caring for my sheep, but the manifestation of those attributes come connected to your love to me. If you love me, Peter, you will shepherd the flock that I will give to you. My passion, Peter, will be your passion. The things I‟m concerned about, Peter, will be the things you‟re concerned about, if you love me.” I think the office of elder is the most prestigious and terrifying office given to man. I don‟t think it‟s nearly as important, present company included, as the brass you wear. I don‟t think it‟s as important as your portfolio, as your accomplishments, as your wealth and the things that you and I measure our lives by. I believe the office of elder is the most important distinction that God gives a man. We should hold it the way Scripture holds it: in high regard. Now, men who would be elders are sinful, fallen creatures like the rest of us. And as I study the qualifications for elder and look at the men with whom I elder, it scares me to death, because an elder is to be an example to the flock of what a godly man should be. And in this text there are two important features, one is to feed and one is to shepherd. So, I‟ve on more than one occasion, held a very unpopular post at Emmanuel. A name has come up through the congregation or someone will say, “So and so should be an elder. And we might interview so and so, and so and so is a good, godly man.” But he cannot teach the Word of God, and he has not demonstrated a history of caring for people, shepherding. And I‟ve had the unpopular task of saying, “You know what, gentlemen, I‟m sure he‟s a great godly guy, but until we see him teach the Scripture, feeding the flock, and caring for people well, he is not an elder.” That does not mean that other people are less important. If you‟re going to step up to the plate and follow God to be an example to the flock, you must/needs be able to teach the Word of God, and you must/needs demonstrate a care for His flock. Other wise, why be an elder? And so Emmanuel holds a very strict line on what it means to be an elder, and I am humbled to co-labor with the elders here at Emmanuel, and elders I‟ve known in my uh, going on thirty years walking with Christ. They are men with whom I still look up to;
men that I still esteem because of their imprint in my life as godly men who shepherded the flock well. So, beyond what the culture and the opinions say, godly men who can teach the Word and care for people sort of boils down the qualifications of that example to the flock. Well, enough meddling; let‟s get back to the text. “Peter, if you love me as you say you do, you‟ll care for my sheep. If you love me as you say you do, you‟ll shepherd and teach my flock. That‟s what I want you to do, Peter.” Thirdly, then Peter is going to learn about his death. Jesus will predict about Peter‟s death in verses eighteen to the first part of nineteen. "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; 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." Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God… “So, Peter when you were young, you did what you wanted, but Peter, when you‟re old you will die a crucifixion.” Now at the first blush it seems like He‟s saying, “You did what you wanted, but later on you‟ll need some assistance.” But we know two very important indications from the text, he saying, he‟s talking, about the death he‟s gong to face. The first one is “Stretch out your arms.” If you have a study Bible, it probably deals with that expression. And the expression, “Stretch out your arms” is an idiom used to talk about being tied on a beam for crucifixion. More importantly, John goes on to say, “He was telling him by what kind of death he would face that would glorify God.” He was not just saying, “You‟ll be old, and need help and die and that will glorify God.” He‟s saying, “Your arms are going to be stretched out, you will die on a crucifixion of some kind and you will glorify God.” First Clement and Eusebius both wrote about this at length. Tertullian was the one who said that Peter was crucified in Rome under Nero‟s reign. Eusebius was also the one who said the Peter was crucified upside down. And some believe that it was his own request. That he was not worthy to be crucified like Jesus. Now those are speculations, we don‟t know that. We do know, history is fairly reliable that he probably faced a crucifixion, we can‟t be certain of either of these issues. We do know what the text says. Jesus says He‟s telling him this because of the kind of death he‟ll face, and that death will glorify God. Fourthly, Jesus commands Peter to follow him. Verse nineteen again: …And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me!" Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays You?" So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, "Lord, and what about this man?" Jesus said to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!"
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?" A little side note here, it always intrigues me that John is discussed as the one whom Jesus loved, it does not say the one who loved Jesus. There‟s a whole sermon there I‟ll avoid the temptation of preaching. Now, knowing that there was a future plan for Peter, and maybe Peter delighted in it, maybe he was happy to serve Christ, maybe Peter felt a little overburdened by what he just heard. And so he looks at John his friend and he says, “What about him?” “Now, wait a minute, either I got a great deal and I‟m concerned for my friend or I got a really bad deal and is he going to get off easier than me?” Either implication is possible. I don‟t know the answer to that question, but I do know Jesus‟ response, “You follow me.” “Peter, you follow me. It doesn‟t matter about John. If John should live until I return, it doesn‟t matter about John, you follow me.” Now this led to the early church a rumor that John would never die. And there were actually cults that believed that John never died. But John, the Gospel writer corrects that, saying that‟s not what Jesus said, he just says, “What is it to you, if he should remain?” So, John‟s correcting this as he concludes the gospel. Now the last part of the text is also called a Califon or his conclusion. Let‟s look at it, verse twenty-four and twenty-five: This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. 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. So, the beloved disciple is identified, „these things‟ refer to the gospel. We have this very curious plural „we‟. What‟s going on here? Is John schizophrenic as he finishes the book? “We, me, myself, we write this.” The early church probably endorsed this letter somehow, this gospel. In fact, some believe that the church at Ephesus was the church that was involved in John‟s assembly of the Gospel, and they said, “Yes, we‟ve seen those things and we know that what John has borne witness of is true, and so we agree with these things.” The last verse seems like a ridiculous overstatement to many liberal scholars. In fact, many people say. “Well, this is foolishness.” The world could contain plenty of books on any person. But let us think about from John, the Gospel writer‟s, perspective. When he began the prologue, he talked about, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God.” Well, let‟s go back to eternity past. So, if Jesus Christ, is indeed God made human, He‟s existed forever in eternity past and eternity present and eternity future. So, if
commentaries and commentators began to write about what Jesus said and did from eternity past, certainly then the world could not contain all could be written about an infinite, the infinite, Son of God. [Lepine:] Michael, as you unpacked Jesus‟ command to Peter to feed His sheep, you talked about the ministry of an elder in doing that. First Peter chapter five says that the elders are to shepherd the flock of God and to feed the sheep. Is that for elders only? Or do we all bear that responsibility to feed the sheep? [Easley:] I think uniquely His instruction is to the role of the elder. The word, poiman, shepherd to tend, where all these metaphors come for in Peter‟s writing of that letter. So, yes and no. I think it is uniquely to the elder‟s job to shepherd the flock. Does that mean that others don‟t shepherd at all? No. But the primary function of shepherding is in teaching and explaining the Gospel and the Word to the flock of God. [Lepine:] And so this feeding aspect that is uniquely associated with the ministry of being an elder or a pastor or a teacher, this is something that God has set apart certain men of God to do. Peter was one of those men set apart to do that. [Easley:] Yes, yes. [Lepine:] And yet, all of us are called to take what we‟ve heard and pass it on to others - [Easley:] Absolutely. [Lepine:] - and to be disciplers, right? [Easley:] Sure. And when you look at the qualifications of an elder and deacon, and I understand churches differentiate between those two, the one distinction of the office of elder, presbuteros and episcopos, those are the two terms we find in our New Testament, is to be able to teach. [Lepine:] That‟s what makes them different than a deacon. [Easley:] Right. So, the distinctive is can this person, and I don‟t say he has to be Chuck Swindoll or MacArthur or John Piper, he has to be able to say, when a person says, “What about this? How do I know I‟m saved? What is the role of Holy Spirit? What about these sign gifts?” can that person open the Scripture and clearly explain what the Bible teaches about these things. To your point, yes, we all follow the mandates of Jesus. We all are in the ministry of making disciples, but you‟ve got to see the connection between what Jesus has said to Peter at this charcoal fire, and what Peter writes when he talks about the role of an elder. [Lepine:] Well, you‟ve helped us do that today. In fact, I was just thinking about an e-mail that we got recently from a listener who said, “I have been especially blessed by your program inContext, and I want to thank you for teaching God‟s Word in its context. You‟ve taught me to always examine Scripture in light of its intended audience and what it means.” And that‟s what we hope to do each day here on inContext.
We hope our listeners can be back with us here tomorrow as we do it all again. We‟re going to continue looking at John chapter twenty-one tomorrow and hope you can be with us for inContext with Michael Easley.
#0207 - February 17, 2009 Do You Love Me? – Part 2 John 21:15-25
[Easley:] What if following meant I have to leave my profession? What if following meant I had to leave some possessions? What if following meant taking up my cross and denying myself and following Him? I believe the Christian community has a paper-thin understanding of following Jesus Christ. We follow Him with lip service, but our legs go different directions.
[Lepine:] This is inContext with Michael Easley, I‟m Bob Lepine, and for the last several weeks, we‟ve been working our way through John‟s Gospel. We‟re right here at the concluding point of John‟s Gospel. In fact we‟re going to spend a couple of days this week just with an overview of all that we‟ve learned as we‟ve worked our way through these chapters.
[Easley:] You know, I get sad when I finish a book.
[Lepine:] I wondered, as you preached this. . .
[Easley:] Yeah, I get sad, because I‟m finally starting to understand it, and it‟s over. [laughter]
[Lepine:] Uh huh.
[Easley:] You fall in love with the author, you fall in love with the characters in the stories. And there always is this, sorry for the catharsis, but there‟s this part of a preacher where… People are ready to go on to a different book of the Bible, they‟re tired of you, but I hate to turn the page on it.
[Lepine:] You wound up doing more than sixty messages from John‟s Gospel, I think, as you worked your way through it, is that right?
[Easley:] I don‟t know. I have a good friend, Charlie Boyd, you know Charlie. Charlie and I would say, “What‟s the difference? You‟ve gotta preach next Sunday?” [laughter] What difference does it make what book you‟re preaching; you‟ve got to preach next Sunday?
[Lepine:] That‟s right, and you‟ve got to preach the same Big Book…
[Easley:] That‟s right! So, it‟s still God‟s message, and there‟s a romance, and I mean that in the right way with the Word, that you fall in love with the Author and the message. And the story of John is so profound. Simply to believe, and now we turn the page.
[Lepine:] And the last account in John‟s Gospel is a scene on the seashore of the shores of Galilee. Peter and the disciples have come back from a fruitless night of fishing, Jesus once again supplies fish in the nets, cooks breakfast for them and then takes Peter aside and says, “I have some questions for you.” And you see this as His setting Peter up for the role he will play in the early church as one of its elders.
[Easley:] When we come to the book of Acts, Peter emerges as the lead apostle, and there is no escaping how he steps into that role. In Acts chapter two when Peter speaks and the sermons that he then preaches and three thousand people come to Christ. Extraordinary the way God is going to use this man that we so quickly humor and vilify
and make fun of his bumbling, you know, things that he says sometimes. A transformed life is a powerful thing in the hands of God.
[Lepine:] And here in John‟s Gospel as Jesus does take him aside and says, “Feed my sheep.” He‟s really saying, “If you do, be an elder”, and Peter understands that because later he explains what the ministry of the elder is all about, and that is where we pick this message up as you take us through John chapter twenty-one.
[Easley:] I think the office of elder is the most prestigious and terrifying office given to man. I don‟t think it‟s nearly as important, present company included, as the brass you wear. I don‟t think it‟s as important as your portfolio, as your accomplishments, as your wealth and the things that you and I measure our lives by. I believe the office of elder is the most important distinction that God gives a man. We should hold it the way Scripture holds it: in high regard.
Now, men who would be elders are sinful, fallen creatures like the rest of us. And as I study the qualifications for elder and look at the men with whom I elder, it scares me to death, because an elder is to be an example to the flock of what a godly man should be.
And in this text there are two important features, one is to feed and one is to shepherd. So, I‟ve on more than one occasion, held a very unpopular post at Emmanuel. A name has come up through the congregation or someone will say, “So and so should be an elder. And we might interview so and so, and so and so is a good, godly man.” But he cannot teach the Word of God, and he has not demonstrated a history of caring for people, shepherding. And I‟ve had the unpopular task of saying, “You know what, gentlemen, I‟m sure he‟s a great godly guy, but until we see him teach the Scripture, feeding the flock, and caring for people well, he is not an elder.”
That does not mean that other people are less important. If you‟re going to step up to the plate and follow God to be an example to the flock, you must/needs be able to teach the Word of God, and you must/needs demonstrate a care for His flock. Other wise, why be an elder? And so Emmanuel holds a very strict line on what it means to be an elder, and I am humbled to co-labor with the elders here at Emmanuel, and elders I‟ve known in my uh, going on thirty years walking with Christ. They are men with whom I still look up to; men that I still esteem because of their imprint in my life as godly men who shepherded the flock well.
So, beyond what the culture and the opinions say, godly men who can teach the Word and care for people sort of boils down the qualifications of that example to the flock.
Well, enough meddling; let‟s get back to the text. “Peter, if you love me as you say you do, you‟ll care for my sheep. If you love me as you say you do, you‟ll shepherd and teach my flock. That‟s what I want you to do, Peter.”
Thirdly, then Peter is going to learn about his death. Jesus will predict about Peter‟s death in verses eighteen to the first part of nineteen.
"Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; 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."
Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God…
“So, Peter when you were young, you did what you wanted, but Peter, when you‟re old you will die a crucifixion.”
Now at the first blush it seems like He‟s saying, “You did what you wanted, but later on you‟ll need some assistance.” But we know two very important indications from the text, he saying, he‟s talking, about the death he‟s gong to face.
The first one is “Stretch out your arms.” If you have a study Bible, it probably deals with that expression. And the expression, “Stretch out your arms” is an idiom used to talk about being tied on a beam for crucifixion. More importantly, John goes on to say, “He was telling him by what kind of death he would face that would glorify God.” He was not just saying, “You‟ll be old, and need help and die and that will glorify God.” He‟s saying, “Your arms are going to be stretched out, you will die on a crucifixion of some kind and you will glorify God.”
First Clement and Eusebius both wrote about this at length. Tertullian was the one who said that Peter was crucified in Rome under Nero‟s reign. Eusebius was also the one who said the Peter was crucified upside down. And some believe that it was his own request. That he was not worthy to be crucified like Jesus. Now those are speculations, we don‟t know that. We do know, history is fairly reliable that he probably faced a crucifixion, we can‟t be certain of either of these issues. We do know what the text says. Jesus says He‟s telling him this because of the kind of death he‟ll face, and that death will glorify God.
Fourthly, Jesus commands Peter to follow him. Verse nineteen again:
…And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me!"
Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays You?"
So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, "Lord, and what about this man?"
Jesus said to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!"
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?"
A little side note here, it always intrigues me that John is discussed as the one whom Jesus loved, it does not say the one who loved Jesus. There‟s a whole sermon there I‟ll avoid the temptation of preaching.
Now, knowing that there was a future plan for Peter, and maybe Peter delighted in it, maybe he was happy to serve Christ, maybe Peter felt a little overburdened by what he just heard. And so he looks at John his friend and he says, “What about him?”
“Now, wait a minute, either I got a great deal and I‟m concerned for my friend or I got a really bad deal and is he going to get off easier than me?” Either implication is possible.
I don‟t know the answer to that question, but I do know Jesus‟ response, “You follow me.”
“Peter, you follow me. It doesn‟t matter about John. If John should live until I return, it doesn‟t matter about John, you follow me.” Now this led to the early church a rumor that John would never die. And there were actually cults that believed that John never died. But John, the Gospel writer corrects that, saying that‟s not what Jesus said, he just says, “What is it to you, if he should remain?” So, John‟s correcting this as he concludes the gospel.
Now the last part of the text is also called a Califon or his conclusion. Let‟s look at it, verse twenty-four and twenty-five:
This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true.
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.
So, the beloved disciple is identified, „these things‟ refer to the gospel. We have this very curious plural „we‟. What‟s going on here? Is John schizophrenic as he finishes the book? “We, me, myself, we write this.”
The early church probably endorsed this letter somehow, this gospel. In fact, some believe that the church at Ephesus was the church that was involved in John‟s assembly of the Gospel, and they said, “Yes, we‟ve seen those things and we know that what John has borne witness of is true, and so we agree with these things.”
The last verse seems like a ridiculous overstatement to many liberal scholars. In fact, many people say. “Well, this is foolishness.” The world could contain plenty of books on any person. But let us think about from John, the Gospel writer‟s, perspective. When he began the prologue, he talked about, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God.”
Well, let‟s go back to eternity past. So, if Jesus Christ, is indeed God made human, He‟s existed forever in eternity past and eternity present and eternity future. So, if commentaries and commentators began to write about what Jesus said and did from eternity past, certainly then the world could not contain all could be written about an infinite, the infinite, Son of God.
Let‟s look at three, hopefully practical lessons from this text. First of all, when we fail God is a God who lavishes grace upon the repentant. When we fail God is a God who lavishes grace upon the repentant. We see Peter in his denial, repentant and broken and humbled and hurt. And when he‟s restored by God‟s great kindness and Christ‟s words to him he becomes a formidable preacher and part of the foundations of the church in the book of Acts, right?
Well, let‟s make some modern application. When people fail and fall – leaders fail and fall – good Christian husbands and good Christian wives fail in all kinds of ways – children fail and fall forgiveness is complete; forgiveness is a reality. First John 1:9 teaches these things. So, we are forgiven. We must confess our sin, that‟s sort of a prior condition, that I have to admit and own and confess my sins, but He freely lavishes grace upon us to forgive us.
Does that mean the consequences are removed? Not always. Not always. Even though God forgives and removes East from West, sometimes consequences remain. If a person kills an oncoming passenger because of a DUI, that DUI person lives and is restored to live and his or her life and family; that family who lost a loved one will live forever with the consequences of sin. Okay? So, even though he‟s forgiven or she‟s forgiven, there will be consequences. When David sinned, there were major consequences in his kingdom.
It does not mean a person is unimportant. It means that there are consequences sometimes. Sometimes God is not only grace-hyper-grace, but He‟s hyper-hyper gracious, and He even expunges some of the things that should be consequences.
I don‟t understand all I know, but I think from the text we can learn a pretty good lesson: “Don‟t worry about them, worry about you. Don‟t look over to John, look in the mirror.” I say it out loud, I say it to myself, “If God never did another thing for me, I should be eternally grateful. That he loves me and He was gracious to me, it doesn‟t matter about anybody else, He was gracious to me.”
Secondly, do you love Jesus? When I read Him asking Peter three times, “Peter do you love me?” I hear his name become my name, “Michael, do you love me?”
“Well, you know I love you, Lord.”
“Michael, do you love me?”
Now if the three were contingent upon the three denials, which I think is a pretty good argument, how many million times have I failed Christ that He would have to ask me, not have to, but He would ask me, “Michael, do you love me?”
How do I know if I love God? How do you know if you love God? I want to go back to time and interest and money. We talk about time, talents and treasures. We talk about stewardship, how I use the stuff I have reveals a great deal about what I love, doesn‟t it?
My son is now in Little League. I‟m learning to pray. Little league is a religion in Northern Virginia. It‟s insane! We went to a parade yesterday, and I said, “Why are we doing this parade?”
Oh, and all the cars and the hoopla and the mayors and the… I mean, it was really interesting. The games are two hours and fifteen minutes for an eight year-old boy to hit a ball, give me a break, you know. And sixteen games, and I said to Cindy, “Why did we do this?”
Steve Holly said, “Try three boys in Little League at the same time.”
I said, “Ok, don‟t look at John, look at me.”
If I love something I‟m going to spend time with it, it‟s going to cost me money. In some sense it might be an inconvenience, but you know I can do those things begrudgingly or lovingly, can‟t I?
My children have a little chore, the only chore they really have to do is one each day of the week has to empty the garbage in the house and bring it in the back. That takes an adult three to four minutes taking their time. But you‟d have thought I‟d asked them to clean the kitchen floor with a toothbrush. I mean, the consternation they go through to do this thing is fascinating.
They say, you know, “Oh no!” And they start comparing apples and oranges, and I say, “You would have been done by now if you had just done this thing.” And so what happens is I get is this external compliance as they stomp upstairs with this internal disobedience, right? On the outside they look great, on the inside they are rebelling and they don‟t like their dad right now.
Now, I think parenting is the most profound way God teaches me about Him and me, because when Jesus Christ asks me to follow Him, and I stomp upstairs, outwardly obedient, but inwardly resistant in rebellion, do I love Him? It‟s hard - it‟s admittedly hard – because parenting is the most challenging and joyful experience of your life, right? Those of you who are parents, right? Some of you are empty nesters and you are really happy now. [laughter]
They say that the first grandchild is God‟s reward to you for not killing your teenager. I love being a dad. I love being a dad. It‟s the hardest thing I‟ll ever do. I tell people from seven to five is not a hard job. From six to ten is the hardest job of my life. And I find whenever I am parenting well there is a sense of confidence in God and all these kinds of things. And when I am parenting poorly, there is a whole reliance upon the flesh. And when my voice goes up and I notch up and I say, “You know, you just need to obey, quit arguing with your mother…” I can get in that mode. I can just use the power of my voice and size to sort of command obedience. But you know they never obey well when I do this thing. Never. And the minute I unleash the words, I hear God in the back of my head say, “I don‟t deal with you this way.”
You learn so much about God when you parent. And He‟s so gracious, and I‟m so ungrateful. I would just love before I die for one of my children to come to me one day and just say, “Oh father of mine [laughter], what could I do to make your load easier? You work so hard all day to provide such a beautiful home for us, you buy food, you never complain about these things. You give and you give and you give. Oh, father of mine, what small burden can I take off your back?” [laughter]
Just one kid before I die, right? Wouldn‟t you love it? You‟d probably die right then. [laughter] “Doesn‟t get any better, I‟m coming to see Jesus, I‟m dead.”
When do you and I go to our Father and say, “I love you, I will do whatever you ask me to do. I love you, and I will do whatever you ask me to do. Oh, Father of mine, who gave me eternal life, I love you, and I will do whatever you ask me to do.”
And that‟s the second part, if I love Him, I‟ll follow Him. We don‟t have time to look at all the wonderful things I want to look at with you. What if following meant I leave my profession? What if following meant I had to leave some possessions? What if following meant taking up my cross and denying myself and following Him? I believe the Christian community has a paper-thin understanding of following Jesus Christ. We follow Him with lip service, but our legs go different directions. And it‟s unfortunate because we‟ve been the greatest, blessed population probably that has ever walked on this sod, and we‟re probably not following Christ any better.
I don‟t mean to be guilt motivating. I hope you know me well enough that I don‟t do that kind of thing. But will we follow Christ if the marriage is difficult? Will we follow Christ if the child is difficult? Will we follow Christ if my health is difficult? Will I follow Christ by caring for my wife as an invalid her last years on this earth? Will you as a wife care for your husband as an invalid the last few years on this earth? When you bury that spouse, will you follow Christ when it‟s hard?
One of the things that we so try to drive home at the Family Life Marriage Conference over and over all weekend is that you cannot change your mate. You can only change yourself by God‟s grace. You have to ask yourself the question, “God, will I be the husband and father that You want me to be no matter what anybody else does?”
“God, will I be the wife and mother You want me to be no matter what he does or doesn‟t do?”
Will you follow Christ no matter how hard it becomes? Listen, He did not ask you to die like He did Peter. He did not ask me to die like He did Peter. He just says, “If you love me, you‟ll follow me… even when it‟s hard… even when your spouse doesn‟t understand”.
If you have an unbelieving spouse, and you say, “You don‟t understand, Lord. I can‟t follow you because of this unbelieving spouse. This husband, this wife of mine makes life miserable for me.”
Will you follow Jesus Christ and say, “Lord, how do I love you? I love you by obeying. I love you by enduring.”
Three times, “Do you love me?”
Do you love Him? Do you love Him?
[Lepine:] Michael, um, talk with us a little bit more about what you described in this message as a shallow understanding of what is means to say, “I love God.” I guess at some level, all of our understandings of that is shallow. We say it, but we deny it through our actions, essentially daily, don‟t we?
[Easley:] From the Upper Room discourse Christ has said, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” Defining the commandments of Jesus, of course, takes some study and some exercise, but as you and I begin our day, the way we parent, the way we relate to our wives, our friends, those with whom we work. How am I effectively showing that I love Christ by obeying Him? And I think, Bob, unique to Western, American Christianity, we are so pulled into materialism to a rights orientation; to it‟s all
about me and my creature comforts. Can any of us say with integrity, “I really loved Christ well today?”
[Lepine:] Hmm.
[Easley:] When my first thought is my first cup of coffee, what I‟m going to have for lunch, who I‟m going to see, how does the world revolve around me? And to begin, even at times of the day, to say how is my life exemplifying a love and passion and commitment to Christ? It‟s a good question for all of us to think about.
[Lepine:] And if we want to grow in our love for Christ, then I think it‟s important for us to continue to soak in God‟s Word. In fact, this is the last of the sermons from John‟s Gospel that we‟re going to be playing here on inContext, but the entire sermon series is available on CD. I think it‟s in five different CD albums, but if our listeners are interested in getting any or all of these CD‟s they can go to our website, incontextradio.org, click on the “Resources” tab and the information is available there about how you can order the entire series of CD‟s and listen back to Michael‟s teaching on John‟s Gospel and continue to study and to learn and to grow, not just in your understanding of who Jesus is, but in your love for the Savior.
Again there is more information about the sermon series that are available on our website: inContextradio.org; or you can call for more information, 1-877, the number three and the word context. That‟s 877-326-6839.
Tomorrow, we‟re going to review our study together through John‟s Gospel. We‟ll talk about the first eleven chapters of the book, and we hope you can be back tomorrow with us for inContext with Michael Easley.