Follow me, good-bye

Monday, November 26, 2007: Psalm 71; Deuteronomy 18:15-22; John 21


I was struck by Jesus' twice telling Peter, "Follow me." This is the risen One. The One who said "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father." The One who is not there and then is, who appears behind locked doors, sometimes. How do we follow Him? That is, how do we "walk after" him, or walk in his footsteps?

Perhaps, this is just to be read as Jesus speaking specifically to Peter. And Peter was to follow Jesus in caring for His sheep and in giving up his life in death. Or as Brooke pointed out to me, Jesus may have been saying that as we mature in the Lord we are called to go "where you do not want to go" (v. 18) and still we are to follow, and we are to not worry about others' experiences in relation to ours (v. 22), but still are to follow.

Or maybe it is one of those beautiful ways that John flips things around, looks at them poetically, or inside-out, or just from a totally different angle. Where the other three gospelers recorded Jesus saying "Follow me" at the very beginning of his ministry, John records it at the very end - In fact, it is the very last words we hear Jesus speak in John's Gospel. Could this be one of the ways John is emphasizing that this eternal life people receive when they believe in Jesus is one of following Jesus into the future, into eternity. It will never be some static, "oh, thank God I've arrived", growth is over, no more newness kind of life. Never some final slumber because our work is done and we're so tired and deserve our eternal rest. This focus on Him, this looking for him and to him, this imitation of Him, this fullness of trust and belief and devotion and service in Him will never end and has it's liveliness specifically in following him even as he says good-bye.

It's interesting how John, in chapters 14-16, records the most information about the Holy Spirit of all the Gospels, and then his only post-Resurrection reference to the Holy Spirit is relating how Jesus breathed on them and said "Receive the Holy Spirit."

So,
we have his breath in us, (20:22)
we have the testimony of who he is, what he did and how he lived, (21:25)
we have the work he has given us to do, (21:15-17)
we have our fellow followers, (21:3, 7, 14, 18)
and most importantly in following One we can't see, we have faith. (20:29, 31)

And this, according to the beloved disciple, is enough.