Know Your Role | John 21:18-25
Read John 21:18-25
When it comes to mission and ministry there are many different strategies you can find in church, leadership circles. How do we reach new people with the good news of Jesus Christ? This is the question we will be unpacking over the next five weeks as we continue our series: Resurrection Power.
John ends his gospel account of Jesus’ ministry with a funny and maybe even a little bit of an awkward moment between Peter, himself (John) and Jesus. Again, we can see that John has had the last laugh as he pointed out that he is the disciple whom Jesus loved in John 20:7 and now he is recording another awkward interaction with Peter. In God’s kingdom we all have a role to play, if we are to reach new people with the good news of Jesus we must understand that we are called to do many things in the kingdom, different things, let’s not become jealous of one another as we move forward in God’s kingdom.
We are called to be faithful followers of Jesus. God calls the church to preserve the gospel, to preach it thoroughly and to take care of one another, to hold each other accountable and to love one another—we must know our role both as the church body and as the individual part within that body.
If we are to love each other properly we must first follow Christ. We must have a strong, healthy relationship with Christ in order to be effective sharers of God’s good news in the world.
- Following Christ has a cost. It isn’t rewarding. But it is life-giving, it is what we need in our lives.
“Truly, truly, I saw to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you and bring you where you do not wish to go. Now this He said, ‘signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, ‘Follow Me!”
--John 21:18-19
Yet it also gave Peter assurance. In the crucial moment a few weeks before, Peter denied Jesus three times to save himself from the cross. Jesus assured Peter – most assuredly – he would face the challenge of the cross once again and he would embrace it. Jesus promised Peter that he would die in utter faithfulness to his Messiah and Lord.
ζώννυμι zṓnnymi, to bind about (especially with a belt):—gird. The Greek grammar in this specific sentence is an Aorist Imperative meaning it is a strict command that Jesus is giving Peter and he must complete it within a certain time. This is a strong command that Jesus is commanding Peter to be obedient in—Jesus knows that Peter must be girded, Jesus knows Peter’s faults and knows that Peter needs to be girded to Christ.
In Vs. 19 Jesus is reminding Peter that follow Christ will cost Peter his life. This is a prophecy as we know that 34 years later Peter is killed for Christ’s name sake.
“Jerome says, that ‘he was crowned with martyrdom under Nero, being crucified with his head downwards and his feet upwards, because he alleged himself to be unworthy of being crucified in the same manner as his Lord.’”
--Henry Alford
The Cost:
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.”
--Matthew 16:24-27
Peter has been presented this choice, Jesus reminded Peter that he was once girded by nobody and now he is girded by Christ—there is a choice, give your soul to the world or give your soul to Jesus Christ—if it is given to the world you could gain the whole world.
Cornelia “Corrie” ten Boom (1892–1983) was born into a devoutly religious Protestant family on April 15, 1892, Ten Boom became a rescuer during the Holocaust. She helped hide Jews from arrest and deportation during the German occupation of the Netherlands. Ten Boom’s deeply held religious beliefs motivated her to resist Nazi persecution. She worked closely with the Dutch resistance. Her defiance led to arrest, imprisonment, and internment in two concentration camps. Several family members died from maltreatment while in German custody. The ten Boom family is credited with helping to save hundreds of Jews. On December 12, 1967, Yad Vashem recognized her as “Righteous Among the Nations.”
“If you look at the world you will be distressed, if you look at yourself you will be depressed, if you like at God you will be at rest.”
--Corrie Ten Boom
What are you looking at? Who are you looking at? We must know our role in Christ—we must be worshiping Christ on a daily basis, seeking Him, repenting to Him and having us gird our lives.
- Each and every Christian has a role to play in God’s kingdom and in His Church.
“Peter turning around, ‘saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had a leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, ‘Lord, who is the one who betrays you? So Peter seeing him said to Jesus,‘ Lord, and what about this man?’ Jesus said to him, ‘If I want him to remain until I come what is that to you? You follow me?’”
--John 21:21-23
This interaction is quick but important: look at Jesus’ answer to Peter’s complaint about John “Follow me!” Peter had to look back to notice what John was doing. “Follow Me!” “Keep your eyes on me!”
Paul reiterates this point and idea to the church in Corinth—this church was off the walls. It’s worship service was completely disordered, woman were improperly exercising gifts of the spirit in the middle of service, there was unrepentant sin of all kinds that was rampant in the church,
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor [f]effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”
--1 Corinthians 6:9-11
“For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit…But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ’s body, and individually members of it.”
--1 Corinthians 12:24-27
“’A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
--John 13:34-35
When the church is functioning scripturally, when the church is focused on the worship and glorification of Jesus and His word the world will take notice. When Christians are functioning as Christians, when they know their roles, people will come to know God through that church and God will equip those people with spiritual gifts to share the gospel in the world. We must Know Our Role both as inviduals in our personal relationship with God and as a group; within our church.
Are you exercising your spiritual gift in your church? Are you serving, letting yourself to become equipped so that you can serve the other church members around you? Do you love the person sitting next to you? In front of you? Behind you? Do you offer to help each other because of your love for each other?
Yes, you need to go to the biblical based, God worshiping church. But, the church also needs you to exercise your giftings, to become equipped to share the gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.
- We are called to bring people to God; God does the rest. God is the saviour not us.
“And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that could be written.”
--John 21:25.
John’s entire gospel is written to explain the theology of Christ. He begins his gospel in a similar way to how he begins the gospel: a reminder that Christ is special, He’s set apart, He is both God and man. He is reminding the reader (with exaggeration) that Christ did so many extraordinary things: Including the fact that He resurrected after being dead for three days. Remember, this interaction between Peter and John is with the RESURRECTED CHRIST! Christ is alive!
This is why Christ was the one who filled the net with the miracle of fish in John 21:1-11; but the disciples were called to put the net on the right hand side. We are called to cast the net, we are called to obey Christ in our faithfulness to Christ, to serve Christ, to serve each other and to serve our community: Christ will bring the revival. Christ will bring the fish.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
--John 1:1-5