John 21: The Story Goes On

John had to be selective about what to include in his Gospel.  Vs. 25 tells us that the whole world would not have room for the volumes that could be written about Jesus.  John uses the last lines of his work to give us one final look at an intimate moment between Jesus and His disciples.

In John 21, I am encouraged by this glimpse of our Lord once more at work in the daily lives of His followers.  He shows up, unannounced, for breakfast on the beach.  (Kind of like those ubiquitous "Coffee with Jesus" internet cartoons?)  He casually performs a physical miracle - a gigantic catch of fish - and a spiritual one - the forgiveness of Peter.

Three times Peter denied knowing who Jesus was.  Three times Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me?"  With affirmative responses, Jesus gives Peter work to do as a shepherd of the flock: "Feed my sheep."  (Hey, that would make a great name for a ministry!)

Jesus' reinstatement of Peter concludes with the same words that began his adventure in ministry: "Follow me!"  All of us are called to follow the Master.

But we often experience, like Peter, one of the pitfalls of discipleship - looking around anxiously at the experiences of others.  Our focus should be on our relationship with God, not our neighbor's.  Jesus is interested in our one-on-one relationship with Him, but so often we want to drag others into the equation.  "Why don't you bless me/use me as mightily as that other Christian?" we might plead.  And, "At least I'm not a wretched hypocrite like the sinner in the pew behind me," we may say in self-congratulations.  Or, as Peter simply said, referring to (apparently) John: "Lord, what about him?"

To this temptation to compare ourselves with other believers, I think Jesus would answer us, as He did to Peter, "Mind your own business!" (Truax paraphrase.)