Lesson 58: John 21:20-25 - John’s mission
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”
21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”
22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”
23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.
25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
In these final verses of the book of John Jesus gives us one more example of His “Way.”
Peter asked what would happen to his friend, John. Maybe the question was about how John would die (since that is what Jesus had just told Peter), or how he would be serving Jesus. We are not told, but Jesus’ answer would have been the same to either question. We also want to know what’s going to happen to us or to someone we love.
But Jesus’ answer is very simple: Don’t worry about the other person, just watch how YOU follow Me.
Our life with Christ is an adventure of walking where we cannot see the next step, and many times we cannot understand why. Our responsibility is not for others on this same path, for each will have their own set of circumstances and problems to overcome. The only responsibility God gives us for others is to tell them about Him – His offer to them of forgiveness, hope, eternal life, peace with God, and so much more. Our assignment is to go and tell (Matthew 28:19-20). It is not our assignment to change lives – that’s the job of the Holy Spirit. It’s not our job to forgive sins – that’s the job of God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. It is our assignment to love and encourage other believers – that’s what the church family is called to do.
In the next lessons of this study, we will take you through the feasts God had established for the people of Israel – the feasts they had been celebrating for many hundreds of years and knew very well as rituals. As we have seen in this book of John, Jesus used these over and over to teach the people how the feasts were truly pictures of Himself.
*What is the most important thing you have learned about Jesus and applied to your life from this Gospel of John study?
20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”
21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”
22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”
23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”
24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.
25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.
In these final verses of the book of John Jesus gives us one more example of His “Way.”
Peter asked what would happen to his friend, John. Maybe the question was about how John would die (since that is what Jesus had just told Peter), or how he would be serving Jesus. We are not told, but Jesus’ answer would have been the same to either question. We also want to know what’s going to happen to us or to someone we love.
But Jesus’ answer is very simple: Don’t worry about the other person, just watch how YOU follow Me.
Our life with Christ is an adventure of walking where we cannot see the next step, and many times we cannot understand why. Our responsibility is not for others on this same path, for each will have their own set of circumstances and problems to overcome. The only responsibility God gives us for others is to tell them about Him – His offer to them of forgiveness, hope, eternal life, peace with God, and so much more. Our assignment is to go and tell (Matthew 28:19-20). It is not our assignment to change lives – that’s the job of the Holy Spirit. It’s not our job to forgive sins – that’s the job of God through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. It is our assignment to love and encourage other believers – that’s what the church family is called to do.
In the next lessons of this study, we will take you through the feasts God had established for the people of Israel – the feasts they had been celebrating for many hundreds of years and knew very well as rituals. As we have seen in this book of John, Jesus used these over and over to teach the people how the feasts were truly pictures of Himself.
*What is the most important thing you have learned about Jesus and applied to your life from this Gospel of John study?