Day 43, On The Road To Pentecost:: WHAT IS THAT TO YOU? YOU FOLLOW ME.

John 21:15-23 

I must get my eyes off others.  What God is doing in their lives is between them and God.  The issue before me is to hear what God is saying to me, and how I might be faithful to His words.  Jesus does not invite me to say, “Lord, and what about that man?” (vs. 21).  Jesus says to me exactly what He said to Peter, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” (vs. 22).

Jesus speaks to the personal heart, “Do you love me?”. He asked Peter the question three times.  Why? Joseph Mayfield answers,

The barriers erected by personal denials of the Lord are not hastily broken down.  While warming himself at a fire made by the enemies of Jesus, Peter three times denied his Lord. Now, around a fire kindled by his Lord, who loves him, Peter must three times affirm his love (Beacon Bible Commentary, Beacon Hill Press: Kansas City, 1965, 240). 

Maybe Peter was still hurting by his denial, and maybe Jesus knew that pain of denial needed to be undone.  I speculate, of course, but whatever the reason when this conversation between Jesus and Peter concluded, Peter was changed.  The next stop for him was in an upper room in Jerusalem where he and several others would be filled with the Holy Spirit and their hearts set on fire for God (see Acts 1:12-2:4).

I believe Jesus is saying to His Church today, “You follow me.”  And, may the response to Jesus, when He asks us, “Do you love?” be “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You” (vs. 17).  May it be true of us that we, too, give our total lives to the claims of our Messiah. May our denials and failures, like Peter’s, be baptized in the life of our Lord, and filled to overflowing with the power of Almighty God.  Charles Swindoll speaks of restoration and renewal and redemption that Jesus brings to us. The story makes me think of Peter, but it makes me think, to of the amazing grace God has brought into my story.  It might be your story, too.  He writes,

J. Stuart Holden tells of an old Scottish mansion close to where he had his little summer home. The walls of one room were filled with sketches made by distinguished artists. The practice began after a pitcher of soda water was accidentally spilled on a freshly decorated wall and left an unsightly stain. At the time, a noted artist, Lord Landseer, was a guest in the house. With a few masterful strokes of a piece of charcoal, that ugly spot became the outline of a beautiful waterfall, bordered by trees and wildlife. He turned that disfigured wall into one of his most successful depictions of Highland life. (Charles Swindoll, The Quest For Character, Multnomah, p. 49, at https://www.family-times.net)

By God’s grace we, too, are made into something beautiful for God.  Church of Jesus, let us let God be God in us, and let God lead us to the future He has for us.