Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers[b] that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.
25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. (John 21:18-25)
By God’s grace, after three years, we have made our way to the end of John’s gospel. Some of you have been here for the whole ride, others of you have joined in along the way. Either way I hope that this book has been a blessing to you and to your faith and to your understanding of Christ and the Scripture. I know it has been for me.
Pastors Called to Die
As we consider our text today, we have to pick up where we left off last week, as what Jesus tells Peter is right in the middle of the same conversation as we saw last week. As Jesus commissioned Peter to “feed His sheep” for the third and final time, Jesus immediately goes into telling Peter the type of death that he is to die. Peter, who had been humiliated and humbled from his pride of bragging of how even if everyone else abandoned Jesus he would not, now is not only forgiven and redeemed and commissioned to feed Christ’s sheep, but also, but of his call is indeed to die for his Lord. He will again be put to the test, and will in fact be called to die for Christ. Church history has it that Peter died via crucifixion, like his Lord. After having faced testing and failing in humiliation, Peter isn’t as excited now about this opportunity as he may have been in the past. Certainly he seems timid and deflective as he asks Jesus, “what about this other disciple?” And imagine, living for years knowing you are to die a martyrs death, and not knowing when. This was an extremely rare case in Peter, and yet God gave Him strength as he needed it.
Peter had to die before he was ready to die. He had to die to himself, his pride, his self-righteousness, his own vain conceits and ambitions, but when he did, then he was fit to wear the martyr’s crown.
This is quite the case for any one of us today. We’re not ready to die until we’ve already died – died to ourself, our sin – whatever it may be. We have to die with Christ before we are ready to die physically. And you see, it’s not till you’re ready to die that you are then ready to actually live. And how different is the life of Peter that we see in the book of Acts, than in the gospels? He is a different man.
To pick up where we left off last week, we were talking last week about the job of a pastor to tend and feed Christ’s sheep. And as we have said, our text today is within the same context as that. So for Peter specifically, he was commissioned to feed Christ’s sheep, and then to die a martyr’s death. That was specifically part of Peter’s pastoral call. While certainly God has not designed for every pastor to die in this same way, it is true that part of the pastoral call is to be ready and willing to give one’s literal life should it come to that. Every pastor should have it settled in his mind, that should the occasion come, he is ready to give his life for Christ, and for his Church. Last week we talked about many types of pastors who do not feed Christ’s sheep properly. And many times I think you will find a correlation between those who carry out their responsibility under God who are ready then to die, and those who do not feed the sheep and who then are not ready to die should the time come. What I’m getting at here is that the call to feed Christ’s sheep is the call to do it even if death comes calling for you. And if it is a call to obey unto death, then it is certainly a call to obey unto lesser consequences: fines, arrests, possible sickness, whatever it may be. The call to be a pastor is not the call to sit behind a screen preaching on zoom, or to a remote satellite campus. The call is to be on the front line, feeding the sheep. Yeah, you just might get fined, arrested, catch a bullet, or get deathly sick from a virus. I say all this humbly as someone who does not want any of that to happen. The goal is to so Christianize the world, that that doesn’t happen anymore. But we’re not there yet, and while we seem to be past the covid tyranny where we live, we are not past more things that our globalist enemies want to do to us and to the west. So we have to be firm in our calling.
I love what John Calvin says on this, who faced quite a bit of trouble and danger during his life, “After having exhorted Peter to feed his sheep, Christ likewise arms him to maintain the warfare which was approaching. Thus he demands from him not only faithfulness and diligence, but invincible courage in the midst of dangers, and firmness in bearing the cross. In short, he bids him be prepared for enduring death whenever it shall be necessary. Now, though the condition of all pastors is not alike, still this admonition applies to all to some degree. The Lord spares many, and abstains from shedding their blood, satisfied with this alone, that they devote themselves to him sincerely and unreservedly as long as they live. But as Satan continually makes new and various attacks, all who undertake the office of feeding must be prepared for death; as they certainly have to do not only with sheep, but also with wolves.”
This call is not just for pastors. This is the call to every Christian. This is what you signed up for. To follow Jesus into the grave. To be faithful unto the end. To obey whatever the cost. But the good news is that when Jesus bids us “come and die,” the One who is bidding us “come and die” is One who has risen from the dead.
The call to “come and die” has a special ring to it when it is coming from one who has risen from the dead. “Follow me into death” is not the call of a dead savior. It is not the call of one who is rotting in the grave. It is not the call of just another one of us who returned to dust in defeat. It is the call of one who died and rose again. It is the call of one who came out the other side of the grave.
If you remember earlier in John, before Jesus was arrested, Jesus was telling His disciples that where He was going they could not follow, speaking of His suffering and death. Jesus Chris had to bear the suffering and shame of the cross alone. John 13:36, says this: Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.”
Peter could not follow Jesus earlier to the cross and the grave. Where Jesus was going, He said, they cannot follow. But now that Jesus has died and is risen again, Peter can now follow Jesus to the cross and the grave, since Jesus went there first and defeated it. Earlier Jesus said, “you cannot follow me.” And at that time Peter was perplexed and eager to follow Jesus even to death. But now that Jesus has been the victor over death, He tells Peter, “Follow me.” And this time Peter is a little bit nervous, having failed and abandoned Jesus earlier.
Herein is the key: our following Jesus and being faithful unto death is not about our own resolve and willpower. You will not be faithful unto death based upon your own strength and endurance. You will not stand in the day of testing based upon your own determination and power. You will be faithful unto death because Jesus Christ is the risen Savior, alive today, and He has given us His Holy Spirit to keep us, to guide us, to help us, to give us strength, and to sustain us. You will stand because Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead and lives today that you might stand. That is what Peter needed, a commissioning from the risen Lord.
As John is wrapping up his gospel, these words Jesus says to Peter, “Follow me,” hearken back to the very beginning of John where Jesus began calling his disciples to follow him. This is to remind us that our call is always the same – “follow me,” Jesus says. It is always to follow Him. And it is a resurrected Lord we follow.
What about John?
Peter turns and sees John following them and says, “what about this man?” Jesus rebukes Peter here, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” Here we can so often see ourselves. How often are we uncomfortable with what God has called us to, so that we begin to look around at others and ask, what about them?
We learn here that we are to be content with whatever life assignment God gives to us. While we are all called to follow Christ, each one does so in unique providential circumstances with different lives, different trials, different deaths. Church history tells us John was the only apostle who was not martyred, but died at a ripe old age. Sometimes God assigns a young death or a martyrdom for one, while for another He may give a longer life with less danger and hardship.
We are not to covet the providential call of someone else with the lot that they have been given to suffer or not suffer. God assigns to each one as He will to the praise of His glory. We are to follow Jesus in whatever He ordains for us, and be thankful for our brothers and sisters whatever God ordains for them. Everything we have is from God, and everything our neighbor has is also from God. To look sideways at them is to look sideways at God.
Maybe in your life, you have a chronic physical condition – don’t look with discontent at others and say what about them, Lord? You follow Jesus with what He has given you. Maybe you are sick, way more than everyone else. Now maybe there are things in your life you can change to help with that, or maybe it is God’s providence for you. Follow Jesus in that. Maybe other brothers or sisters have way more money and things than you do. Don’t look at them with a crooked eye and ask God, what about them? God has given them their own trials, you follow Him with yours. Some God has assigned to die a bloody death and wear the martyr’s crown. For others, God has assigned to die at a ripe old age surrounded by their 100 grandchildren. Each life and death glorifies God, and you glorify God in it, by following Jesus in faith in what He has called you to. In short, as we so often say, do your duty. Leave the duty of others to them, you do yours.
The Kingdom of God is built upon the blood of the martyrs and of the age-old faithful ministry of those like John. It grows through those who do hard ministry on the streets, and through those mamas at home changing diapers and feeding her family. This teaches us a good form of catholicity, to appreciate each part of the body for what it is and what God has called it to. And to try and wish everyone have the same lot, is not to make everyone whatever you think a real Christian is, but it is rather to destroy the body and her different needs and functions. So let each one us endeavor to faithfully follow Jesus and glorify God with whatever it is He has given to each one of us, and not with what He hasn’t. I thank God for the life of Peter, his bold preaching in Acts, and his martyrdom. I thank God also for the life of the beloved disciple, his great works of theology, and his faithful witness.
Conclusion
As John wraps up this gospel, it is such a beautiful literary work. “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” This reminds us of John 20:30-31, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” Of course Jesus did so many other things than what we have seen in John, or in the other gospels, but what we have is sufficient for us to believe. What we have, God has ordained as a more than sufficient testimony to His Son, Jesus Christ.
One of the reasons all the books in the world could not contain all the works that Jesus did is because Jesus is inexhaustible. He is not just another man. Just as John has been showing us throughout this whole book, Jesus is the Son of God. He is the Word made flesh. He is the One through whom all things were made and exist. He is beyond His creation. And yet, though He was with God in the beginning, He put on flesh and dwelt among us. He lived a life of perfect righteous obedience, driving out demons and uncleanness, and yet was crucified, covered with our sin, that He might rise again and cover us with His righteousness, as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Endless pages there are to be written about what God has done through His Son Jesus Christ. The book writing never ends. But what’s more amazing is that the reading of this one book never ends. It never gets old, or stale, or outdated. It is ever more relevant because Jesus Christ is alive. So now that I have finished preaching through John, I feel that I am now ready to begin preaching through John.
As we conclude our time in this great theological work that is the gospel of John, I pray that each one of you would look and behold Christ for all that He is and follow Him, wherever He may lead. Behold, the eternal Word made flesh, who dwelt among us. Behold, the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Behold Jesus Christ, the One who turns water into wine, who gives sight to the blind, the one who heals the sick, who makes the lame to walk, and who raises the dead. Behold the temple destroyer, the sin defeated and the demon binder. Behold, the Living Water, the Spring, pool, and river of eternal life. Behold, the one who multiplies bread and fish into food for thousands, who is the true bread of heaven, the eternal Bread of Life. Behold, the one who walks on the waves and appears through locked doors, just as He passed through His grave clothes. Behold the one who was not afraid to forgive the worst of sinners and condemn the pharisees as sons of their father the devil. Behold, the Good Shepherd, the Door of the Sheep, the One who will have none snatched from His hand who the Father gives to Him, and lays His life down of His own accord. The One who is one with the Father who came to do the Father’s will. Behold the Resurrection and Life. Behold the one who weeps. Behold, the way, the truth, and the life. The one who is the True vine, which apart from Him we can do nothing. Behold, the One who has overcome the World. Our great High Priest, who prays and intercedes for us. Behold the One who valiantly stood before His accusers. Behold our suffering and lifted up crucified King of Kings and Lord of Lords! The One who even there cared for His mother, and committed His Spirit to the Father, who finished the work crying out, “It is finished!” Behold the one from whose side flowed blood and water. The Last Adam who rose in a Garden, who defeated death, devils, and hell and who lives today. The one who prepares a feast for us and calls us to come and follow Him. Behold, this your Lord, Your Savior, Your King – the One who did all because God so loved the World that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Leave a Reply