Follow me

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

FOLLOW ME

John 21:20-25

20 Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") 21 When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" 22 Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."  23 Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; he only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?"  24 This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. 25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

NIV

Peter was told to follow Jesus, and of course his first thought was, well what about John? By the implication of the text we might figure that what Jesus was telling Peter is that he would in fact die because of his faith in Christ, and that he would die on a cross in the same manner as Jesus did. This was implied by Jesus telling him that when he is old you will stretch out your hands, and someone will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go. So Peter just has to ask about John and what will happen to him. Jesus tells him, not to worry about John, what happens to John is between Jesus and John, what you have to do is follow me. That is our life application that we should pay close attention to. What concern is it to us what Jesus does in another person’s life? What concern is it of ours as to what Jesus calls another person to do? If we are all living stones being built into the temple of God, then it is not up to the builder as to where he places each stone? This is not to say that we should be so self-centered, self-focused that we pay no attention to others in the body of Christ. We are in fact to serve each other, we are to encourage and build each other up. But the point here is that we should not concern ourselves with how God uses them, or blesses them, or allows them to live forever, or whatever else purpose God has for their lives. We need to be focused on what Jesus wants us to do, where he wants us to go, and how he wants us to live. What is our calling? What is our purpose in the body of Christ? We cannot be what God wants someone else to be, or go or do, we can only be what he wants us to be. This would certainly eliminate any envy or jealousy within the body of Christ. We simply should focus on the fact we must follow him. What a fitting end to this devotion of this Gospel, hearing the words of Jesus, “Follow me”.