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Call to worship: Isaiah 45:20-25

Text: John 21:15-25

Summary:

Summary: After breakfast, Jesus takes a walk with Peter, John following them. Savior and Sanctifier, He at once reproves and restores, wounds and heals Peter. To match his earlier denials, Jesus questions him three times about his love for Him. Peter affirms he does, but is grieved in a way that opens the path to grace. Jesus loves Peter, abides with Peter, and restores Peter to a leading place in the firmament of His Church. Tending Christ's flock seems to major on feeding it, and tending it just so will demand a courage that only Jesus can give. Peter will die for the cause of Christ, but God will be glorified in it. Relaying this, Jesus says to him as he said at first, 'Follow Me.' Peter turns around---to find John following them. Allowing Christ's call only a glancing impact, he concerns himself with John's path forward. Jesus, in Whose hand is our life and death, calls Peter to concern himself chiefly with the path Jesus walks, one of obedience through the cross to resurrection. He who has an ear, hear. As we do, our humble hope is to flood the world with the truth about Jesus Christ. May we decrease, but The Word increase.

Sermon Outline:

1: Following Jesus and Christian restoration. (21:15-17)

2: Following Jesus and Christian dying. (21:18-19)

3: Following Jesus and Christian living. (21:20-23)

4: Following Jesus and Christian ambition. (21:24-25)

Prepare

Disucssion Questions:

1: Read John 21:15-25.

2: In 21:15-17, why does Jesus ask Peter three times a question he's previously answered and displayed? Are we to detect any fine distinctions in each rendition of the question? If so, what are they? What variations do you find in Peter's responses? How does Jesus respond to each of Peter's affirmations? What is Jesus chiefly concerned with in the questions He asks? What is the charge that Jesus gives to Peter? Is there any significance to be taken from the variations in this charge, 'feed, tend, feed'?

3: In 21:18-19, where will Peter's faithfulness to Jesus lead him? What sort of death will Peter die? Is it on our radar to die a death that glorifies God? How do we head in that direction and/or prepare for precisely that? If Jesus told you that you were to be martyred for Him, only to follow it up with 'Follow Me,' how might you respond? What is our hope in following the risen Jesus to death?

4: In 21:20-23, what is Peter's response to Jesus' call? Who is following them? What lesson is there in John's following Peter as Peter walks with Jesus? Why does Jesus need to redirect Peter's concerns? Who holds our lives in His hands? Who's to be our chief Shepherd, Guide, and object of devotion in the Christian life? Read Psalm 16. What nod does John give to paying close attention to the words of Jesus?

5: In 21:24-25, who is the witness to the events John has narrated? What do we know about his testimony? How does that set us apart from the post-truth world around us, as distinctly able to bear witness to it about Jesus? What lessons do we find in the final words of this Gospel? As with John, what should our ambition be as followers of Jesus? Return to John 3:25-36.