“The Conclusion of John’s Gospel” John 21:18-25
Last week we looked at Peter’s reinstatement as a disciple in John 21:15-17: “When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." 16 Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." 17 The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.”
The calling for Peter in FOLLOWING and Loving JESUS would be to FEED HIS SHEEP and LAMBS. He would be a shepherd under the direction of the GREAT SHEPHERD, the Lord Jesus. He was to be an evangelist, training others to evangelize and teach God’s Word, and to seek steadfastly after God; Jonathan Edwards once said that the main business of believers is to seek after God. That is what a regenerated heart does: That heart and life seeks God; it wants to know more of Him, desires more than anything to worship, trust and obey Him: That’s what Peter’s life would become to the Glory of God alone.
Jesus Issues A Call Worth Dying For and a King Worth Living for.
We continue in verse 18: “I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." 19 Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"
Here Jesus makes a solemn and authoritative statement again with the words, “Verily, verily” (“I tell you the truth”), foretelling the type of death Peter would one day experience, namely, crucifixion, using the words, “but when you are old you will stretch out your hands…and lead you where you do not want to go.”
Back in John 13:37 Peter had asked Jesus: "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." Shortly later came Peter’s threefold denial and last week Peter’s restoration. Now Jesus tells Peter that at the end of his life, he would indeed lay down his life for His Savior. He would not defend himself with a sword like he tried to do in the Garden, but his love for Jesus would be demonstrated in a self-sacrificing love.
Once again Jesus issues the call to “FOLLOW ME”, a command which He gives 23 times in the Gospels. It is a call to forsake all else except Jesus; IT is certainly A Call Worth Dying For because Jesus is the Only KING worth Living for. Jesus’ command to “Follow Me” began at the start of His ministry and He said it throughout His ministry; now as He is preparing to ascend to the Father, He gives the command again: CONTINUE to follow me, even after I’m gone. The Greek word is “akoloutheō”. In the Old Testament, the usage of the word “follow” was many times in the negative, warning those who were “following after false gods”; Going after or following Yahweh, THE LORD God meant “walking in God’s ways,” imitating His commands and qualities.
For Peter, following Jesus and being a Shepherd of Jesus’ sheep would involve more than teaching; it would involve pain, suffering, and ultimately execution. Jesus issues the same call to every disciple… “You Follow Me”.
In the Gospels, Jesus calls us, not only to walk behind Him but to partner with Him in the Gospel, to identify with Him in sacrifice and suffering, to walk right beside Him, to ACCOMPANY HIM, in being His disciples. “To follow Him” means a TOTAL commitment, similar to the word “agapeo” being a faithful and committed love. It is recognizing Jesus, not only as your teacher, but as your MESSIAH, your dear Savior and LORD. It is recognizing Jesus as the LORD God, the Beginning and the End, Alpha and Omega, the Great I AM.
In Revelation 14:4, John writes under God’s inspiration: “These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb.” The Lamb of God leads those who will follow Him, all joining together, arms interlocked in One LORD, the Lord Jesus Christ, One faith, in Him alone to save, and one Baptism, one washing by the Spirit and the shed blood of Christ.
Jesus does not come as just “another prophet” with some “GET RICH” principles for living. He didn’t come from His Heaven to this earth to add another “DO GOOD” religion. He didn’t come and DIE so that you could “DO BETTER”. He didn’t come and DIE so that you would never have a cold again or keep you from physical death: HE came to die, God in the flesh, in order to PAY YOUR SIN DEBT so that YOU wouldn’t DIE ETERNALLY! This is why it is SO horrible for anyone to think that they are going to “put a little Jesus” into their life and somehow please and appease God. Jesus is worth dying and living for because HE IS the ONLY giver of Life, and the ONLY source of forgiveness.
There is no other name under Heaven by which you are saved, except that of Jesus, and if He has saved you, He HAS the absolute authority and LORDSHIP over every aspect of your life: Jesus has the authority to say to HIS DISCIPLES: tend my sheep, feed my lambs, go into all the world and preach the Gospel, you shall be my witnesses, make disciples in every nation, “deny yourself daily, take up your cross and follow me”.
Remember in verse 17, Peter’s declaration: "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Imagine the shock to Peter when Jesus continues to affirm Peter’s declaration by basically saying: “Yes, Peter, you are right. I DO KNOW all things, and I know that you will one day love me to the extent of being crucified because you are loving and following ME.”
“What is that to you?” does not destroy the idea of Christian accountability.
Here is how Peter reacted in verse 20: Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") (John doesn’t name himself as the writer but speaks about himself in a way that clearly identifies him as the author.) 21 When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" 22 Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me." 23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?"
Peter had ALWAYS been impulsive and full of excitement, questions and comments, and he quickly asks: “What about John? Will he die the same way as I will?” Peter doesn’t question Jesus about His prophecy concerning his death (at least, not that is recorded,) but he seems quick to be concerned about the final end of John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. It may have been a genuine concern for John as a fellow disciple that caused Peter to ask this question but perhaps he wondered if his death would be more severe than John’s because he had denied Jesus and John hadn’t.
We can only speculate on WHY Peter asked such a question but I think Jesus’ reply is more important: "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?" It’s clear from the text that Jesus did not mean that John would not die. Jesus is saying: “Peter, when it comes to God’s callings, appointments, and the deaths of others, those things are God’s business, not yours. If John is commissioned to serve God and die sooner or later, it is in God’s good pleasure for the work of the Gospel and for His glory; you have been called and restored to ministry, and so YOU be sure to follow Christ wherever He leads you.
Jesus was not saying that we are not accountable to others or that we shouldn’t care FOR others within the body of Christ! Jesus was NOT negating the nature and purpose of the Church to love, care, encourage, and correct one another because we see those things in Peter’s writings as he is instructs, educates and plants local churches. Jesus was NOT endorsing isolation or individualism within the Church but saying that some things concerning believers are God’s concern alone and not everyone’s concern.
We know that Peter was not crucified immediately but continued to minister for around 30 years, (Jesus’ ministry was but 3 years and centered in Galilee; it reminded me of John 14:12: “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” The ministry given to Peter was wider and far longer than Jesus’ and with greater results because Jesus had completed the Gospel work of dying and conquering death.)
But Peter did die to self far sooner than he died on a cross. As followers of Jesus, we are called to do the same! Jesus said to Peter: “What is that to you, YOU FOLLOW ME!” It is another one of those New Testament commands from the SAVIOR KING: It is a personal call by Jesus to YOU (and to me) to be faithful to His call to “Follow Me,” to focus on the Savior, on His Call and His grace to you, as He graces YOU to be faithful to Him in your journey. We cannot be faithful without God’s future grace to follow!
Believe in Jesus alone, trust Him, and follow Him alone. The Savior King is worthy of our praise, our worship, and our lives.
The Closing of the Gospel of John
The Closing of the Gospel of John was actually in chapter 20:30-31: “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” Jesus made it clear that He indeed was God in the Flesh and that forgiveness and salvation were by faith in the His works alone, not in our “doing”, but in His. His signs and miracles proved that He was who He claimed to be, and His resurrection sealed His claims.
The closing verses in this section end the epilogue of chapter 21 in verses 24-25: verse 24 “This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down.” We know that his testimony is true. John reveals his authorship of the Gospel and authenticates his eyewitness account as true. Verse 24 also reveals the answer to the person in Peter’s question in verse 21, “What about him?” By John revealing himself as the author, we know that God used John to bear witness to the Gospel as well as his role in evangelism. John’s witness is added to the list of people and events who have testified to the works and testimony of Jesus Himself as the Lamb of God who came from Heaven in order to take away the sins of those who would receive, believe and follow the one and only Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Finally, John closes with a hyperbole in verse 25: “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” We know that John did not include all that Jesus said and did because the other Gospels include many things which John did not. John only includes seven Jesus’ signs, but it would certainly be far beyond anyone’s ability to write everything that Jesus said and did. We can be eternally grateful that God has revealed everything that He wants us to know about the Lord Jesus and the gift of His marvelous grace, and we will learn everything about our Great God in the ages to come as we serve Him.
Because God gave us clarity in His Word concerning salvation by faith, we identify with John’s closing of the letter of 1 John: 19 “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.” Amen
I. The call to “FOLLOW ME” is a call Worth Dying For because Jesus is the ONLY KING worth Living for.
A. “To Follow Jesus” (“akoloutheō”) is a total commitment, like agape-love.
B. Jesus is worth dying for because HE IS the ONLY giver of Life, and the ONLY source of forgiveness.
II. “What is that to you?” is not to be misunderstood!
A. Does NOT mean you are not accountable TO others and to care FOR others!
B. Some things concerning believers are God’s concern alone.
C. It is a personal call for YOU to be faithful to “Follow Me.”
