John 21:15-19 – Follow All the Way
Guiseppe Garibaldi was an Italian soldier who lived during the 1800’s. His father dreamed of his entering the priesthood, but Guiseppe had dreams of being a sailor, and the Navy was the way to do it. His leadership abilities caused him to rise quickly in the ranks, and in time, he amassed a powerful volunteer army. This army was also incredibly committed to the cause. Garibaldi appealed for volunteers in these words: “I offer neither pay, nor quarters, nor provisions; I offer hunger, thirst, forced marches, battles and death. Let him who loves his country with his heart and not with his lips only, follow me!”
You know, this call sounds a lot like Jesus’ words too. Easter gives the opportunity to say so much because it’s a holiday packed with meaning. They say that if a person can’t preach an Easter sermon, he or she has no business preaching at all. Finding a topic isn’t hard; it’s the narrowing down to 25 minutes that’s the hard part!
And in my prep this week, I noticed a common theme that Jesus offered to His audience. Jesus challenged His listeners to follow Him. Let’s read John 21:15-19.
I noticed that some of Jesus’ very first words to people were, “Follow me.” To Peter and his brother Andrew, Jesus said "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." – Mark 1:17. Jesus immediately went to James and his brother John, and called them. What He said, I don’t know, but they left their nets and followed Him. One person wanted to wait around and bury his dying father, and Jesus said, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead." To Matthew, known as Levi, Jesus said, “Follow me,” and Matthew dropped what he was doing and followed Jesus. Jesus extended the offer to follow Him all through His life. All were invited to stoop down and pat a child on his head and tell him about God’s love. All were invited to be part of the crowds that Jesus fed with miracles. All were invited to watch Jesus drive out demons and set the captives free.
But not all accepted these invitations. Jesus extended the offer to a rich young ruler and he went in the opposite direction. There’s a telling story in John 6. It says, “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” You see? Even the offer to follow Him was extended to all, not everyone really carried it through. Not everyone followed Jesus in His life. Sometimes the cost was just too high.
Well, if that wasn’t hard enough, Jesus extended the offer to follow Him to His death. I mean, look at what He said as He walked this earth: “"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” – Matthew 10:37-38. Taking up your cross is part of following him. Matthew 16 adds the phrase “deny yourself”, in addition to “take up your cross and follow.” The cross was the Roman tool for execution. Deitrich Bonhoeffer, Christian martyr in 1945, said, “When Christ calls a man, He bids him to die.” Taking up your cross was not about jewelry. It was an invitation to follow Jesus to the death.
Now, I need to explain that Jesus did not call people to follow Him to the death at the same time as He went. John 13:36: “Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later." Jesus went to the cross alone. It was part and parcel of His sacrifice. He died alone. There were 2 thieves there, but they had not been Jesus’ followers. The death that Jesus died He had to do alone. And the death Jesus died, He had to die first. Jesus laid down His life, and then invited others to do it too. Jesus became a sacrifice for God’s plans, and then He invited others to do it too. Jesus said no to His own wishes, and said yes to God’s, and then invited others to do it too.
But just the same as His offer to follow Him in His life was rejected, so too was His offer to follow Him in His death. Peter told Jesus not to go to Jerusalem because He might die there – the point being, Peter didn’t want anybody to die. And then, even after Peter said he would follow Jesus to the death, when the opportunity arose, he didn’t. Judas certainly didn’t follow Jesus to the death, even though it’s likely they died the same day. In fact, all the disciples but John ran away when things got rough. They didn’t follow Jesus to the death. They ran when the situation got too dangerous. The rejection, the betrayal, the setting aside of their own desires… they walked away.
So do many of us. We don’t want something besides our own way. We’re selfish like that. We deserve our own way. We deserve to spend money how we want to. We deserve to do what we want. And even though we call ourselves Christ-followers, we are really more Christ-admirers. We like the forgiveness and answered prayers and joy and peace, but don’t expect us to forgive or put others first or pray with others or give 10% or be faithful in church or come to Sunday school or do anything in the church. Listen: that attitude is no more holy than that of the crowd that gets drunk every weekend. It’s just as self-seeking.
And now, here we are. We come to Jesus’ resurrection. Imagine with me now the scene of that 1st morning. The women – Mary the mother of James, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Salome, and others – come to the tomb early Sunday morning, through the early morning mist. They have come to anoint Jesus’ body with perfumes and spices. Although they had seen from a distance Joseph of Arimathea taking Jesus’ body, perhaps they do not know that Joseph himself prepared Jesus’ body. Or perhaps they want to do one last act of service themselves. Either way, they have come to say goodbye to their loved leader.
But there is a problem: who will move the stone? The boulder weighs 2000 lbs. This will be a problem. But when they get there, they find that it was already moved. Apparently they hadn’t felt the earthquake, when an angel rolled back the stone. Well, the guards posted at the tomb sure felt it – and saw the angel too. The angel just plopped down on the stone, and the guards passed out because of fear and shock.
So, by the time the women get there, the grave is open and empty, and the guards unconscious nearby. The women slowly enter the tomb. Suddenly the angel appears, great shafts of light beaming through the cave, along with another angel, sitting where Jesus had been. They stand up and say, “Don’t be afraid or alarmed. I know you’re looking for Jesus, who was crucified. But why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here – He’s risen! Remember the words He spoke when He was with you in Galilee? He said He would be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, but would rise again. Come and see where He was. Now, hurry – go tell His disciples, and especially Peter, that they will see Him in Galilee.”
So they women run out, trembling, bewildered, confused and afraid. They say nothing to anyone until they reach the place where the disciples were staying. They tell them the good news, with Mary Magdalene singling out Peter. Peter and John both run to the tomb, and just find the strips of linen that Jesus had been wrapped in, which were neatly folded. They both leave confused, but John knows something had happened. He thinks, perhaps, that Jesus had risen from the dead.
Eventually Mary Magdalene trickles back to the scene. Peter and John don’t stop to let her know what they had figured out. She goes into the tomb again, and sees the 2 angels again. They ask why she’s crying. She says that she doesn’t know where Jesus has been taken. Suddenly Jesus appears behind her, even though she doesn’t recognize Him. He speaks her name, and she knows that Jesus is alive. She runs back to tell the good news. Meanwhile, the other women come back to the tomb also, and our Risen Lord appears to them as well.
This event changed so much. It changed the way we look at death, at heaven, at love, at life, at sacrifice, at hope, at peace, at God. But through it all, one thing didn’t change: Jesus’ offer to follow Him. We can see it in the scripture we read. The Risen Savior invited His disciples to follow Him. He beckoned them to go where He was going, to do what He was doing. But, we can see where this is going. Some couldn’t follow Him in His life. Some couldn’t follow Him in His death.
And some couldn’t follow Him in His resurrection. The Pharisees had the facts, but they chose not to believe. The apostle Paul writes in 2 Timothy about a man named Demas, a believer who in the end walked away from it all. The churches mentioned in Revelation 2-3 walked away from it as well. And think about this: 1 Corinthians 15 says Jesus appeared to more than 500 at one time. So how come when it came time to pray, only 120 of them show up at prayer meeting in the Upper Room? It’s because people chose not to follow Him in His resurrection, in new life.
These are the believers who never step into victory over sin, or who hold grudges, or who backstab and complain and gripe. These are people who have accepted Jesus’ death, but have not accepted His new life. Listen: resurrection life is not just about having your sins forgiven. Our religion is not just sin management. Christ came to bring life. He came to make us alive with a passion and a joy for life. He came to bring a spring to your step, a smile on your face, and a hope in your heart. He came to bring us back to where we were when we fell in the Garden: friendship and communication with God, a purpose in life, shamelessness, openness with others, excitement, usefulness…
This is what Jesus rose to give us. When we follow Him to His death, we find forgiveness. But when we follow Him through His resurrection, we find life. It’s about putting off the old AND putting on the new. It’s about coming alive with a passion and zeal for life.
I wonder if some of you are still in the tomb. As if you have enough of God to get you to heaven but not enough to give you a pleasant journey. After all, discipleship is hard work. Few followed Jesus in his life. Even fewer followed Him in his death. It’s not surprising, then that so many believers really have not entered into life. Because it’s work. It takes effort. It fights against your pride, your ego, your opinions and your plans. It means praying when it’s hard. It means learning from the Bible more than once a week. It means shutting up when you want to gripe. But it’s where the life is. If you want to be where Jesus is, then you’re just going to have to leave the tomb. If you want to be really alive, listen to Jesus’ call to come out of the grave.
