Follow Me

John 21:15- 22    (Good News Translation)

15 After they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Take care of my lambs.” 
16 A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.” 
17 A third time Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter became sad because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” and so he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!”
Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep. 
18 I am telling you the truth: when you were young, you used to get ready and go anywhere you wanted to; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you up and take you where you don't want to go.” 
19 (In saying this, Jesus was indicating the way in which Peter would die and bring glory to God.) Then Jesus said to him, “Follow me!”
20 Peter turned around and saw behind him that other disciple, whom Jesus loved—the one who had leaned close to Jesus at the meal and had asked, “Lord, who is going to betray you?” 
21 When Peter saw him, he asked Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”
22 Jesus answered him, “If I want him to live until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!”

Reflection
I read this passage and I was hooked. Initially it wasn’t just the “Follow me!” but Jesus saying to Peter “... what is that to you? Follow me!”.

Peter has just declared his love for Jesus three times each time receiving from Jesus a directive that Peter should now be the shepherd of the flock. Traditionally, the three affirmations of his love for Jesus followed by the injunction to “Feed my lambs” and “Take care of my sheep” are seen as signs of Jesus’ forgiveness and Peter’s redemption.

 So, Jesus has just given Peter a prestigious task regarding the followers of The Way.  He follows it up with a foretelling of Peter’s death at the hands of others which would glorify God. (Peter is said to have been crucified upside down in Rome about 64 (or 67) CE under the reign of Nero.) 

At the end of this conversation Peter turns and looks behind him and sees John (the one whom Jesus loved) and asks about his fate. To my mind this is not so strange. After all, here is the risen Jesus asking Peter if Peter loves him, and when Peter says: “You know I do”, he gives him a tremendous responsibility (like the whole future of the church) and then says but this is not going to end well for you. At the end of it all you have the “Follow me!” 

I think I might look around too and say but what about these other folks? What about him? What about her? What do they get to do? What happens to them? Do any of us get out of this alive? Do any of us have a happy life?  A happy ending? 

And all Jesus says is “If I want him to live until I come what is that to you. Follow me!”  It’s this conjunction that is so intriguing”….what is that to you?” ...and “Follow me!”. 

“Follow me” is much easier to understand as opportunity, as adventure, as insistence, as calling.  But that “what is that to you?”.  Well, on one level we can stick to the story and say Jesus is just telling Peter to mind his own business. On another level in our own life stories “what is that to you” becomes much less precise, much less defined, we have no John to point to. Instead we can posit so many things in John’s place and ask the question.
 
What is it to me if someone is better than I am at something, if someone is more faithful than I perceive myself to be, more prayerful, more serious, more attentive, what about less faithful, less prayerful, less serious, less attentive. What is it to me if someone has more or less, if someone wants to go in a certain direction, and what is it to me if I am out of step with fashion, or the latest movies, or well,  you can see the comparison list can get quite long and go in many directions. I think John puts this intimate scene in his gospel because comparison is so pervasive in our lives, it is the lens through which we perceive ourselves as a unique identity. It is a stumbling block to our faith and our ability to follow Jesus completely without hesitation. Jesus calls us just as we are. Rejoice! Others are as they should be and so am I.  

Jesus calls Peter just as he is, denials and everything. But when Jesus is talking with Peter he doesn’t give quick platitudes and say everything is going to be OK, or easy or fun. He is not giving Peter a pep talk. In fact, he does the opposite; Jesus gives Peter an important but ambiguous assignment and foretells some kind of martyrdom. Then Jesus says to Peter what he said on the day he met him and his brother, Andrew by the sea of Galilee. “ Jesus said to them, “Come follow me,....” (Mark 1:17) Jesus repeats “Follow me!” twice in our scripture passage today and if Peter hears it twice so do we. 
 
Jesus called Peter to follow him, just like he calls us follow him. Jesus doesn’t promise us ideal lives any more than he did Peter. Unlike Peter, we often don’t know what we are called to do or be, but maybe Peter didn’t either that night, long ago when Jesus turned to him and asked: “Peter do you love me?”


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1 Have Called You By Your Name      MV#161 
(Can be found on Youtube:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLuT27imtVc

​I have called you by your name, you are mine;
I have gifted you and ask you now to shine.
I will not abandon you; 
all my promises are true.
You are gifted, called, and chosen; you are mine.

I will help you learn my name as you go;
read it written in my people, help them grow.
Pour the water in my name,
speak the word your soul can claim,
offer Jesus' body, given long ago.

I know you will need my touch as you go;
feel it pulsing in creation's ebb and flow.
Like the woman reaching out,
choosing faith in spite of doubt,
hold the hem of Jesus' robe, then let it go.

I have given you a name, it is mine;
I have given you my Spirit as a sign.
With my wonder in your soul,
make my wounded children whole;
go and tell my precious people they are mine.