If You Love Jesus
April 30, 2023
Do you love Jesus? I hope you do. That’s one of the reason’s we’ve spent the last 18 months in the Gospel of John. For in these pages, we’ve met the Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the living water, the bread of life and the light of the world. We’ve come face to face with God’s only Son who is full of grace and truth. We’ve witnessed Him turn water to wine, cleanse the temple, heal the lame, feed the 5000, walk on water, give sight to the blind and raise the dead.
We marveled again and again as He revealed Himself as the Messiah. First, to the woman at the well, then to Pharisees on the Sabbath and then to the crowds at the Feast of Booths and with His triumphal entry into Jerusalem.
We’ve witnessed His compassion for the lost of Samaria, His mercy for the woman caught in adultery and His love for His followers.
We’ve discovered that Jesus is the Great I am, the One True Vine, and the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep.
We were there with Philip when he asked Jesus, “Show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” And we were amazed when Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” John 14:8-9
Then we watched in awe as Jesus went to the cross in complete control of every event that led to His crucifixion. Then we celebrated His resurrection with Mary, rejoiced in the Upper Room with His disciples, and worshiped with Thomas, who after seeing the risen Savior, called Him both, “My Lord and my God.”
And throughout this journey, it has been my prayer that God would open our eyes to see Jesus for who He really is. And that in seeing His miracles and listening to His words, He would touch your life in ways you never dreamed possible. That He would awaken your faith, so that you would not just fall in love with Him, but that you would truly want to trust and follow Him with all your heart.
So, I ask you again: Do you love Jesus? Do you love God’s Son and are you ready to walk with Him and partner with Him to redeem the world? For that’s the question Jesus asks Peter at the conclusion of this Gospel. For if you truly love Jesus, then loving Jesus will change how you live today. In fact, in our passage this morning, Jesus is going to identify three ways our love for Him should change us, should change how we live as we follow Him. So, if you brought your Bible with you today, let me encourage you to open it to John 21:15-23, where Jesus tells us how we will live if we truly love Him. And the first change that will take place in us if we truly love Jesus is this:
1.If you love Jesus, you’ll love His people When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” John 21:15
I want us to see two things Jesus does here as He addresses Peter. First, He doesn’t address him as Peter, the rock, for he had failed to live up to that name. Instead, he calls him Simon, the name he used before meeting Jesus. The significance in using his old name means something. Doing life without Jesus, trying to do things on his own, Simon will always be Simon. He has no capacity to do anything for Christ on his own. So once again, it’s Jesus’ way of saying, “Apart from me you can do nothing.”
Second, the question Jesus asks is very telling: “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” What or who are “these?” Was Jesus pointing at the boat, the net, and the fish – “Do you love me more than these things? Or was he referring to the men sitting there at the fire with him? “Do you love me more than you love these men?” No, Jesus wasn’t referring to the trappings of his former life, or his friends. He was asking was this: “Do you love me more than these men love me?” This is exactly what Peter had based his self-righteous comfort on. “I love Jesus more than other people do.”
That was the foundation of Peter’s faith. His confidence was in himself. He believed he could do whatever he set his mind to. He even went as far as to claim that he would lay down his life for Jesus. But Jesus responded by predicting Peter’s betrayal.
Here’s why: Jesus knew that Peter needed to face the emptiness of his self-confidence. And he knew Peter’s self-confidence would fail him under pressure – and it did. Peter had been relying on his own righteousness and he needed to come to the end of himself. He needed to be broken, but He also needed to be restored. So, when Jesus asks Peter if he loves him more than these, Jesus confronts Peter’s sin of self-reliance. In other words, Peter’s faith was in his personal devotion to Jesus, not in Jesus. And that sin needed to be exposed and forgiven before God could ever use him.
So, how does Peter answer Jesus? He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” Then, He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” John 21:16
Twice now, Jesus is saying to Peter: Love is not about your affections. Love is about your actions. You see, when Jesus asked Peter if he loved him, Jesus was using the word for sacrificial love: agape. But each time, Peter answered with the affectionate term for love: phileo. Philip had been relying on his brotherly love for Jesus. Peter had been relying about how he felt about Jesus. And he knew that Jesus knew how he felt. But Jesus wants more than our affections. He wants our actions. He wants our commitment. And the way we fulfill our commitment to him is by our obedience – not our feelings. Our feelings are fickle. We can’t always trust them. But our choice to love regardless of how we feel, regardless of circumstances – is the kind of love that proves we love Jesus.
And so, He’s telling Peter, “Don’t just tell me you love me, show me you love me.” Show me you love me by your actions. Show me you love me by your obedience. He’s very clearly saying to Peter, “If you really do love me, you will obey my commands.” And my command is this. “Tend my sheep.” If you love my, you will love those I love. You will love my sheep.”
So, is Peter getting it? Let’s see what happens next: The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.” John 21:17
The more I look at Peter’s response to Jesus, the more I see how hung up he was on his own efforts. Every time Jesus asks him, “Do you love me?” the answer is always the same: it’s all about Peter: “You know I love you, You know I love you, You know I love you.” It’s all I, I, I – it’s all about what I do for you. It’s all about my feelings for you. But every time, Jesus counters: “Feed my lambs, Tend my little ones, Feed my sheep.”
But here’s the point Jesus is making. Loving Jesus is not about your feelings for Jesus, loving Jesus is about your willingness to obey His Word. So, if you say you love Jesus, then you will prove your love by obeying His commands – and the best way to prove your love for Jesus, is by loving His people.
This is not simply a story of Jesus restoring Peter. It’s an illustration of what it takes to show your love for Jesus. If you love Jesus, then you will love what He loves. And if Jesus loves His people, then we must love them too. And the way we love God’s people is by feeding them God’s Word, caring for their needs, and seeking what is best for them, regardless of the cost of consequences to ourselves. What Jesus is teaching Peter at this profound moment by the campfire, he is teaching us: ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40
So, Jesus in restoring Peter, is pounding down this point: If you really love me, then you will love my people. And for Peter to get this, he had to stop relying on himself, and simply learn to obey Christ. What a great way to conclude this Gospel, by reminding us, that we need to come to the end of ourselves, before we can truly live the way Jesus calls us to live: by showing our love for Jesus, by loving His people.
Now, that’s just the first, if not the most profound lesson Jesus gives us from this encounter with Peter. If you love Jesus, you’ll love His people. Let’s look now at the second lesson:
If you love Jesus, you’ll give up your life for Him Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.” John 21:18-19
Here Jesus paints a picture of two contrasting lifestyles. The first describes the Peter we’ve all gotten familiar with in this Gospel. It’s a picture of a person who likes to control every aspect of their life: “when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted” Now, nothing that unusual about this description. It seems to be such a natural description of everyday life, that most of us would tend to read right past this. This is pretty much how we live. We do what we want to do, we go where we want to go, we dress the way we please. We call the shots. This pretty much describes how everyone lives today, or at least how everyone wants to live.
But here Jesus is describing how Peter has lived. This is Jesus’ gentle description of the impulsive, self-centered Peter. This is the guy who said what he wanted or did what he wanted before thinking twice about it. This is the overly confident Peter who was in control, or at least thought he was in control of everything in his life.
But then Jesus gives another picture of Peter. This is a picture of someone who has surrendered control. It’s a picture of who is willing to suffer the cost of following Jesus. For this is a picture of the kind of death Peter will face at the end of his days. But there’s one great editorial note that John supplies: This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God. John wants us to know that Peter’s death would glorify God. Here’s the contrast: when you are full of yourself, when you are doing what you want, you are only bringing glory to your name. But when you surrender your life fully to Jesus, when you empty yourself of self – then whatever you do, God will use your life to bring glory to His name.
Here’s the point Jesus is making here: Peter’s life is about to change. Peter has been a guy who goes by the beat of his own drum. He’s been rash, reckless, full of himself. He always did what he wanted to do. But no longer. Now, as Jesus is restoring him to a life with Him, he’s about to become patient, submissive to the Father’s ways, and surrendered to do His will.
At this point, Jesus pauses to let Peter absorb this contrast: A self-centered life, and a surrendered life. And after saying this He said to him, “Follow me.”
This is the moment of Peter’s restoration. Jesus had commanded him to follow him before. But then Peter failed. He denied Jesus three times. But now, Jesus gives Peter a second chance – a fresh start. Jesus knows Peter needs the mercy He is giving him at this point to move forward. If he loves Jesus, he will let go of his past, surrender his life to Jesus, and trust Him with his future. At this moment, Peter realizes, Jesus has forgiven him… and all he must do now is follow Him. And it’s an amazing moment.
And what I believe God wants you to see from this encounter is that He wants to do the same with you. Like Peter, perhaps you’ve been calling your own shots, doing your own thing, but just like Peter, Jesus has come to you to give you a second chance. No matter how your living has denied Jesus, Jesus wants to give you a fresh start. And if you truly love Jesus, you’ll receive his mercy, you will give up your life and follow Him.
That’s what Jesus offered Peter when He called him. And that’s what He offers you today. The only question that remains is this: Do you trust Him enough to let Him lead you? “Follow Me.”
Well, so far, we’ve seen two ways our love for Jesus should change us:
If we love Jesus, then you’ll love His people.
If we love Jesus, then you’ll give up your life for Him.
Let’s now look at the final change loving Jesus should work in us, and that is this:
If you love Jesus, you’ll only have eyes for Him 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?”) When Peter saw him, he asked, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” Because of this, the rumor spread among the believers 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?” John 21:20-23
Now, this has been a life changing conversation between Jesus and Peter. Peter needed Jesus to confront Peter’s sin and set him free from his past. But Peter had one more flaw Jesus needed to address as they walked along the shore. Jesus has just told Peter what his future would hold. But now, Peter notices that the disciple whom Jesus loved, John, was following them. Now, he openly wonders what the future might hold for John. “Lord, what about him?” What did the future hold for John?
And you’ve got to love Jesus’ response: “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” In other words, “that’s none of your business Peter. I’ve called you to follow me. Don’t worry about John. Don’t worry about my plans for Him. I’ve given you your calling. You keep on following me. Focus on me, not on what I have in mind for John.
Now, if this seems like a pretty strong rebuke, you’d be right. What Jesus is revealing to Peter here is also something we do. We tend to compare our faith with others. When we do this, we compare our works with theirs, we compare our dedication with theirs, we compare our blessings with theirs, or the lack of blessings with theirs. And whenever we do this, we are taking our eyes off the calling Jesus gave us. We take our eyes off of Jesus. And when we do that, usually nothing good comes of it.
Here’s the point Jesus is making: Jesus had a calling for Peter. Peter has a part to play in His redemption story. Jesus called Peter to feed His lambs; to tend His flock, to care for His sheep. That’s His calling. And Peter’s calling can only be fulfilled if Peter keeps His focus on Jesus. “Keep your eyes on me, Peter. You keep following me, Peter. Don’t look at how others are following me. It’s not your responsibility to worry about their calling.”
I love this rebuke. Why? Because it’s so easy for us to get sidetracked in following Jesus. And when take our eyes off Jesus and start looking at how others are following Him, we can become judgmental and critical. We don’t see them serving as well as we think they should, so we think less of them. Or we don’t see them working as hard as we are, so we resent them. Or we look at them another way. We see how gifted they are, or how blessed they are, and we start to think that we are less than we are. We get down on ourselves. And in some cases, we thrown in the towel, thinking that God doesn’t want to use us.
So, here’s the reality: This is exactly what the evil one wants to do with you. The evil one wants you to take your eyes off Jesus. He wants you to start thinking less of others in the family of God… or start thinking less of yourself. If he can get you to take your eyes off of Jesus and compare yourself with others… he will keep you from doing your part in God’s story. That’s why I love this rebuke. It’s a loving rebuke from Jesus to mind your own business. For your business and my business is to keep our eyes on Jesus!
And when you do that, you will show Jesus that you love Him. And the rest will come naturally: You will learn from Him how to love His people. You will trust Him enough to surrender to Him. And you will keep your eyes on Jesus and find your place in His story.
So, let me ask you once again: Do you love Jesus? If you do, then you follow Him. Let’s pray.
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