John 21:15-25 is in a sense an epilogue. It’s an epilogue, because the conclusion of the gospel seems to have come at the end of the previous chapter: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, . . . these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ . . . and that believing you may have life in his name” (20:30-31).
Unlike the first three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which have the kingdom of God as their central theme, John’s central theme is life, life abundant, eternal life, life that is only available through Jesus Christ. And there’s a good reason for this emphasis on life. The gospel of John was written in pagan lands, where philosophical questions about the source of life or the meaning of life were relevant themes.
And this provides a good bridge for our context also. Here in our city, we like to talk about life too. Death, like faith and politics, is a taboo subject. We don’t know what to make of it, we dismiss it as irrelevant, and we are unable to talk about it in any meaningful way.
But for John, death is not a topic to be avoided or feared. Jesus went through death on the cross, he came out victoriously three days later, and consequently, God glorified him. Those who identify themselves with Jesus, God will also glorify. This is in fact what happened to Simon Peter (21:19).
Simon Peter is actually the first person we meet in the story. A few days earlier he’d denied Jesus three times (18:15-18, 25-27); now, Jesus gives him another chance. “Simon, do you love me...”, he asks three times. And three times, Peter responds: “Yes, Lord, I love you”, in fact the third time he gets edgy: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you” (21:15-17).
This dialogue is as mysterious as it is beautiful. Jesus forgives Peter and restores the friendship; and then, amazingly, he appoints Peter to shepherd his flock, his people, the church.
Shepherding his flock entailed making his own the words of Jesus, the Good Shepherd: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (10:10), I know my own and my own know me” (10:14), “I have other sheep that are not of this fold” (10:16), and “I lay down my life for the sheep” (10:15, cf 11, 17, 18).
And this is exactly what Peter would do. In the early days of discipleship, he had energy and good intentions, but was unable to follow through on his enthusiasm. But he would ‘grow up’, and follow - quite literally - in the footsteps of Jesus: “you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go” (21:18). And history shows, that Peter did indeed stretch out his hands, as executioners girded him with the cross. He died, shepherding Christ’s flock.1
The second person we meet is John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (21:20). He sat closest to Jesus at the Last Supper (13:23-25), he was at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified (19:25-27), and he was the first to believe in the risen Jesus, upon seeing the empty tomb (20:8).
John founded the community of faith in Ephesus. In this pagan city he would call men away from the “uncharted seas of vague religious experience and abstract speculation” and to the certainty of “God’s self-revelation in Jesus, the Word-made-flesh.”2
John was able to penetrate beneath the surface and into the heart of things; having seen, heard, and touched the Word of Life, he testified to the truth by writing it down. “This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true” (21:24).
And so we arrive again where we began. Both, Peter and John met the risen Jesus. Peter dropped everything and followed him. And John took the time to meticulously write down the things he witnessed.
And the message is one that is well worth proclaiming: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (3:16). The mystery of death is solved, the riddle’s no more: Jesus is the source of life, life abundant.
“These things”, this story of Peter and John, was written down, so that we may believe and have abundant life in Christ (10:10).
Thanks be to God.
Amen ✠
Unlike the first three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which have the kingdom of God as their central theme, John’s central theme is life, life abundant, eternal life, life that is only available through Jesus Christ. And there’s a good reason for this emphasis on life. The gospel of John was written in pagan lands, where philosophical questions about the source of life or the meaning of life were relevant themes.
And this provides a good bridge for our context also. Here in our city, we like to talk about life too. Death, like faith and politics, is a taboo subject. We don’t know what to make of it, we dismiss it as irrelevant, and we are unable to talk about it in any meaningful way.
But for John, death is not a topic to be avoided or feared. Jesus went through death on the cross, he came out victoriously three days later, and consequently, God glorified him. Those who identify themselves with Jesus, God will also glorify. This is in fact what happened to Simon Peter (21:19).
Simon Peter is actually the first person we meet in the story. A few days earlier he’d denied Jesus three times (18:15-18, 25-27); now, Jesus gives him another chance. “Simon, do you love me...”, he asks three times. And three times, Peter responds: “Yes, Lord, I love you”, in fact the third time he gets edgy: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you” (21:15-17).
This dialogue is as mysterious as it is beautiful. Jesus forgives Peter and restores the friendship; and then, amazingly, he appoints Peter to shepherd his flock, his people, the church.
Shepherding his flock entailed making his own the words of Jesus, the Good Shepherd: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (10:10), I know my own and my own know me” (10:14), “I have other sheep that are not of this fold” (10:16), and “I lay down my life for the sheep” (10:15, cf 11, 17, 18).
And this is exactly what Peter would do. In the early days of discipleship, he had energy and good intentions, but was unable to follow through on his enthusiasm. But he would ‘grow up’, and follow - quite literally - in the footsteps of Jesus: “you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go” (21:18). And history shows, that Peter did indeed stretch out his hands, as executioners girded him with the cross. He died, shepherding Christ’s flock.1
The second person we meet is John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (21:20). He sat closest to Jesus at the Last Supper (13:23-25), he was at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified (19:25-27), and he was the first to believe in the risen Jesus, upon seeing the empty tomb (20:8).
John founded the community of faith in Ephesus. In this pagan city he would call men away from the “uncharted seas of vague religious experience and abstract speculation” and to the certainty of “God’s self-revelation in Jesus, the Word-made-flesh.”2
John was able to penetrate beneath the surface and into the heart of things; having seen, heard, and touched the Word of Life, he testified to the truth by writing it down. “This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true” (21:24).
And so we arrive again where we began. Both, Peter and John met the risen Jesus. Peter dropped everything and followed him. And John took the time to meticulously write down the things he witnessed.
And the message is one that is well worth proclaiming: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (3:16). The mystery of death is solved, the riddle’s no more: Jesus is the source of life, life abundant.
“These things”, this story of Peter and John, was written down, so that we may believe and have abundant life in Christ (10:10).
Thanks be to God.
Amen ✠
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1- Francis J. Moloney, (SDB) The Gospel of John. Sacra Pagina Series. Volume 4. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 1998), 556.
2- R. V. G. Tasker, The Gospel according to Saint John. An Introduction and Commentary. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999), 231.
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