What About Him/Her/Them?
"You...follow me." - Jesus
John 21:20-25 | Psalm 139:1-14
In his classic, The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer points out that in the gospels, Jesus’ first and last words to the Apostle Peter were the same: “Follow me.” We read those final words - and finish the gospel of John - today.
Sometimes we get caught up in comparing our lives with others’, whether we’re Christians or not. Peter, even after a pivotal, loving, and directive conversation with Jesus, becomes distracted with someone else walking behind him, asking Jesus, “What about him?”
Jesus’ words in response can seem calloused, but they are not.1
This is a great way to understand that Christians do not have all the same calling in the particulars of life. We follow the same Lord and receive the same general understandings of who Jesus is and who we are as a result. But what that looks like from life to life will be different.
The good news is that Jesus leads each of us all the way as we follow his call:
“Follow me.”
John 21:20-25
Peter turned around and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them. This was the one who had leaned against Jesus at the meal and asked him, “Lord, who is going to betray you?” When Peter saw this disciple, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”
Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain until I come, what difference does that make to you? You must follow me.” Therefore, the word spread among the brothers and sisters that this disciple wouldn’t die. However, Jesus didn’t say he wouldn’t die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what difference does that make to you?” This is the disciple who testifies concerning these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things as well. If all of them were recorded, I imagine the world itself wouldn’t have enough room for the scrolls that would be written.
Psalm 139:1-14
Lord, you have examined me.
You know me.
You know when I sit down and when I stand up.
Even from far away, you comprehend my plans.
You study my traveling and resting.
You are thoroughly familiar with all my ways.
There isn’t a word on my tongue, Lord,
that you don’t already know completely.
You surround me—front and back.
You put your hand on me.
That kind of knowledge is too much for me;
it’s so high above me that I can’t reach it.
Where could I go to get away from your spirit?
Where could I go to escape your presence?
If I went up to heaven, you would be there.
If I went down to the grave, you would be there too!
If I could fly on the wings of dawn,
stopping to rest only on the far side of the ocean—
even there your hand would guide me;
even there your strong hand would hold me tight!
If I said, “The darkness will definitely hide me;
the light will become night around me,”
even then the darkness isn’t too dark for you!
Nighttime would shine bright as day,
because darkness is the same as light to you!
You are the one who created my innermost parts;
you knit me together while I was still in my mother’s womb.
I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart.
Your works are wonderful—I know that very well.
My bones weren’t hidden from you
Prayer
God,
It still amazes me that you know me. There are a lot of people in the world. Beyond that, there are a lot of sparrows, too. (Actually, Google just told me there are more sparrows than humans on the planet.) Jesus said you know the sparrows. I cannot understand this.
But I’ll accept it. And it’s amazing.
God, maybe you remember my uncle once told me he believes if you were to prick the surface of the earth with a toothpick three times, the equivalent surface area is the sum total knowledge humans have of you. Maybe that’s true.
This too, is amazing.
And yet, you reveal yourself to us in creation and in the person of Jesus. I’d like to know more, understand more, and be comfortable with more. So help me, God.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.
Many biblical/Johannine scholars believe this addition in the gospel was to settle some kind of myth or misunderstanding regarding an apostle’s life, most often assumed to be John. It sure does seem that John 20 was originally the ending to the gospel, the way it sounds with a tone of finality. Regardless, what we have now, and what the Church has handed down throughout the centuries and now to us, are 21 chapters of John, all of them scriptural for the people of God.