A few days ago, a Twitter friend and I had a discussion with a person who flew the banner of the Catholic church, but in reality was mainly an arguer in search of an argument. At one point, he tried to twist what I was saying by asking, "Is the whole life of Christ important?" I answered, "Is the number of diapers Mary changed important? The times he fell down as a child and scraped His knee? Of course His life is important- knowing every detail, since it isn't in the scriptures, is not."
Being an arguer, he then replied, "So the whole life of Christ ISN'T important?" At which point I told him I wasn't going to play games.
But it brings up the whole point of this John series- what IS important? And the important thing, aside from what we learned last week, is to look for the real meaning behind a post or a passage, not just what you can easily apply to your experience. What I mean here, I have always had a misconception about the following passage:
Joh 21:21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, "Lord, what about this man?"
Joh 21:22 Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!"
Because I am me, and have had my experiences, I always took this as proof of the "rivalry" between Peter and John. And today, I'm going to show you why I was 100% wrong.
I have mentioned before I felt that John told certain things certain ways out of respect for Peter. Let's look at another passage I thought was all about "the rivalry"...
Joh 20:1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.
Joh 20:2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."
Joh 20:3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb.
Joh 20:4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
Joh 20:5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.
Joh 20:6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there,
Joh 20:7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.
Joh 20:8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed...
"Look at me, I outran Peter!" is what I used to see; now, let's look at it in terms of all we've learned in this series. John was a much younger man; good estimates make Peter maybe ten or more years older. Not surprising he should get there first. But, out of RESPECT for the leader of the Disciples, he waited for Peter, and went into the tomb after him. Not convinced?
Try this: Peter had ran from Jesus, from John, from everybody, after the cock crowed the second time. John had a new responsibility- caring for Mary. But sometime over that three-day "weekend", John had to have sought out Peter, bring him back into the group, else Mary Magdalene would not have found them together. A true friend doesn't let a friend go down that dark road alone. Judas Iscariot, seeking money and power, never had that friend. Peter did. Is it important? To them, it was vital; to us, only the results matter. Not our business to peer into the talk John had with Peter- nor the discussions we know from hints in the gospels and from Paul, that Jesus Himself had later with Peter and His own half-brother James.
The results matter. We move on to that "third time" Jesus revealed Himself after the Resurrection. 7 Disciples went fishing. James and John; Peter; Thomas, who needed to be there because of his previous doubt of the Resurrection; Nathaniel, another who had earlier required a sign of the Lord; and "2 others" unnamed by John, because they weren't important to the tale (And I'm going to guess, on the basis of so-and-so always appears with so-and-so, that they were Andrew and Phillip). John and Peter are crucial to the story; James named out of respect for the older brother; Nathaniel and Thomas because they needed to see what was to happen because of previous doubt; and two that were "also there." John keeps to the important.
Many pastors I have heard mention that the Disciples should have been working on the Kingdom, not going back to their old life. But they weren't ready; they hadn't received the Holy Spirit yet. Thus, Jesus called to them like this:
Joh 21:4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.
Joh 21:5 Jesus said to them, "Children, do you have any fish?" They answered him, "No."
Joh 21:6 He said to them, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.
"Children" as Jesus used it, literally was calling them 'babies'. Which they were, in Him. He then teaches a lesson that shoots over their head: the fishing (for men) will be fruitful ONLY if they work at His direction. Paul learned that lesson much later:
Act 18:5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.
Act 18:6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles."
One thing I still do find curious, is though He bore the scars, Jesus was physically different...
Joh 21:12 Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." Now none of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord.
One commentator makes the point that the word used here for 'ask' is only used in two other places in the Gospels: Once when Herod asked the wise men to search diligently for the Child Jesus; the other when Jesus sent the Disciples out on their own the first time, telling them to seek diligently for a place who will accept them to stay in each village. Thus, John was talking about asking for proof, just as Thomas had; at this point, they recognized Jesus for His actions, despite whatever physical difference there was. You ever here these arguments about "Jesus doesn't look like all these paintings, he was this, he was that, what if he was this color," etc etc? THIS is why I don't worry about them. THIS is why you believe by faith. He wants you to look at His actions.
Isa 53:1 Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
Isa 53:2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
And now, that one last thing- the verse I took wrong. Peter had just been told, pretty graphically, he was going to be executed for his faith. Then he sees John- the same man who respected his leadership, who comforted him at his lowest point- and, just maybe, the death he was facing, he didn't want his friend to suffer.
"Not John, Lord, don't let that happen to him!"
Joh 21:22 Jesus said to him, "If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!"
"Oh, but Chris, you can look at it either way. You may have been right the first time!" Think so? Read through the first 8 chapters of Acts and count how many times you see the phrase, "Peter and John..." (answer: 7 times, not bad considering most of one chapter was Peter's sermon at Pentecost, and all of another was Stephen's sermon to those who stoned him). Where Peter was, so was John, at least until the persecution that saw James (John's brother) beheaded and Peter flee Jerusalem.
And I think that this is my big takeaway from studying John- the absolute dedication of the Apostle to the new command Jesus gave us- to love one another.
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