Daily Dose of the Word of God - John 21: 20-25

Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor

Transcript

Gregg DeMey  0:07  

Good morning and welcome to Elmhurst CRC's Daily Dose of the Word of God. It's Thursday, May 22nd. This is Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor at the church and Sunday is coming. It is still the season of Easter, and we have the opportunity to respond to the reality of Jesus resurrection life. This week, our Bible readings have been about an interaction between Peter and Jesus from John 21 and today's reading completes that interaction.

Gregg DeMey  0:34  

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?” This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true. Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.

Gregg DeMey  1:24 

 
We know that his testimony is true and Jesus did so many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would have to be written. So Peter, having been restored, forgiven and recommissioned by Jesus to follow Him, peter immediately goes off the rails again. And Jesus told him that he's going to feed his sheep - that Peter is going to grow old and die a faithful, difficult death. And then Peter turns toward his fellow disciple (John) and asks, "Well, what about him?"

Gregg DeMey  1:34  

 You can rest assured that Jesus is just as concerned about the details of John's life and of your life and story, but Jesus deals with each one of us in terms of our most intimate details. One on one, I imagine the look in Jesus' eyes saying something like, "Peter, I am telling you your story, not his!" No one is told any story but their own and it is theirs to share. We can all rest assured that Jesus is concerned with the details of our life and he loves to meet us in the middle of those details.

Gregg DeMey  1:34  

John himself is writing this now as an old man and he's putting to rest an old rumor that he was going to live forever - but that's not what Jesus said. John has one final thought in these. These are the last words of his gospel: "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written."I really love this. Jesus did so much and he's not finished yet. He worked with Peter, he worked with John, he's working with you and me. The power of his resurrection is still moving stones and still bringing the dead back to life.

Gregg DeMey  1:34  

Let's pray. Dear Jesus, thank you that you know each of your disciples inside and out. You know what we need. You know how we need to be challenged, encouraged, loved, so we open up ourselves to you again this day, to your spirit. Challenge, encourage and love us today as you promised all the way to the end. In your name we pray, amen.