John, Chapter 21 -- Story Time with Pastor John

John 21

This might be my favorite story in the Bible!
It is a story that captures so much of what we often miss as we struggle to follow Jesus. I'm going to dispense with the format I've been using for the first 20 chapters and revert to a more comfortable and laid back format of Story Time with Pastor John.

Here's the background -- Jesus is dead and missing. Although he has appeared to the disciples a few times, they feel lost and alone and are still worried about the Jewish leadership and what might become of them.

Peter says, "I'm going fishing! Who's with me?" and six others join him.
It is important that we see what is really happening here. Peter is not talking about going fishing to relax and figure things out. He is returning to his old way of life. He goes back to his commercial fishing boats and out to fish to make a living -- the same thing he was doing when Jesus first found him. His partner (his brother Andrew) and fellow disciples and former fishermen James and John are with him. A few others come along to help. They have their big boats and their big nets...but they catch nothing.

At daybreak a man calls to them from the shore and asks if they have any fish. When they tell him no, he says to cast their nets to the other side. They do this and the nets are loaded to the breaking point. John recognizes the man is Jesus. Peter dives in and heads for shore as the rest of them struggle to bring in their catch. You can tell that John is a fisherman because he records the size of the catch -- 153 large fish!

They eat breakfast and share another meal with Jesus. Then Peter and Jesus take a little walk.
I'm going to skip the "Do you love me?" sermon. We can cover that another time. Jesus finishes that exchange with the same call he gave to Peter when he first met him more than three years prior. He says, "Follow me."
Peter was distracted by John, who was close by, and asked Jesus, "What about him?"
Jesus basically looks at Peter and says, "Hey! Look at me! What is between him and me is none of your business. You, follow me!"

What I get from this final lesson in John's gospel is that once you have a meaningful encounter with God and start following Jesus, you can never really go back to being the person you were before. C.S. Lewis says that God is unscrupulous in his pursuit of us. I say, "He is going to hunt you down!"
And like Peter, we often concern ourselves with how other people are living their Christian lives. I think Jesus would say to us, "Hey! Look at me! What is between them and me is none of your business. You, follow me!"

I would never suggest that you become one of my followers nor would I expect you live according to my teachings. But I will challenge you to study the life of Jesus and live according to what he taught.
I encourage you to live a life of love and to value each life you encounter as you see that we are all created in the image of God. The call of Jesus is simple and it doesn't change.

He says, "Follow me."

John <><