The Choice of Love

Open your Bibles with me, if you will, to John 21. We are in the Gospel of John , chapter 21. And as we get started this morning, I want to remind you of some things that happened before we arrived at where we are. I have to tell you, if haven’t told you before, that I love Peter. If you are a follower of Christ, Peter is a man that you can probably identify with.

All the way through the Trial of the Christ, Peter has this ongoing struggle with faith. In some moments we see him act with incredible boldness, even to the point of stupidity. Peter is the one who stepped out on the water, who stood among the waves with our Savior, even if it was only for a moment. Peter is the one who stuck his foot in his mouth at the transfiguration, when Jesus was transformed into His true glory, and Peter wanted to build booths for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. He was the first of the Apostles to declare that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

Peter was adamant at the Lord’s Supper that He could never betray Jesus, that he would lay down his life to protect the Savior. It was Peter that swung the sword in the garden, cutting the ear off of the servant of the High Priest when Jesus was arrested. Truly, Peter had moments of tremendous faith and boldness; but he also struggled with doubt and fear. Peter stepped on the waves, but when Jesus called him to come to him, to go further, Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink. Peter spoke with confidence at the Lord’s Supper, but he followed the arrested Savior at a distance. He wanted to see what happened without getting too close. And as he warmed himself by the fire his fear and doubt consumed him. As Jesus predicted, Peter denied knowing Him three times that night before the rooster crowed before slipping away to weep bitterly, ashamed of what he had done.

And then everything changed. Mary showed up that morning, saying the body of Christ was missing. Peter had run to the tomb, losing a footrace to John in the process. Peter had seen the stone rolled away. He had seen the discarded burial wraps with his own eyes. Later that day, Mary had shown up, saying that she had seen the Risen Lord, that Jesus is alive; and that same night, He had appeared to them. He came to them through a locked door. He ate with them and had fellowship with them. And Eight days later, Peter saw Jesus again, in the same manner as before. And as they started to return to life, Peter saw a familiar scene. After a hard night’s work with no fish caught, Jesus had shown up. He had given them a net full of fish, and when they realized who He was, Peter had gotten dressed to go for a swim. They ate breakfast with the Lord. He amply provided for them all.

And as we pick up in the text this morning, they are just finishing that meal. And so, we’re going to begin this morning, right where we left off, in John 21:15, and as is our custom here, I invite those of you that are able to stand with me in honor of the reading of God’s Word:

John 21:15–25 NASB95

So 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, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again 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, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep. “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!” Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?” This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.

Would you pray with me, friends? Lord, Jesus, we come to you this morning in worship. We long to put aside those things that we carried with us this morning as we entered this place, the cares and concerns of this world that consume our hearts and minds. Would You come, Lord, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, would You help us to put these things aside right now, that we might be fully devoted to what it is that You would have each of us to receive from Your Word this morning. We want to be changed and fashioned to more rightly reflect Your glory. Would You come and teach us from Your Word, so that through it we might know the things that You would have us to do and the changes that You are bringing to us. Father, we ask that You would reveal Your will to us, and give us the courage and the faith to do it. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

Thank you, you may be seated. I think that the longer I am a follower of Christ, the more I feel that I can relate to Peter. You are going along, and everything is going well. Your needs are met, you even have some of your wants. You are serving boldly, proclaiming His Name and His goodness to everyone around you. You have gone through some periods of need, and you have stepped out in faith, and God has delivered in major ways. And yet, something has happened in your life. Something shaking; faith jarring. It rattled you to the core. The walls of your life, everything that you knew, came tumbling down around you. And for a moment, for just a moment, you lost your faith. You couldn’t see how you would be okay, how it would be okay, how the situation could actually improve, how the world could go on.

But it did. You got through it. You failed, but you survived, and now you are standing here, looking around at everyone else around you, wondering how you come back from that. How could you be useful to God again? When the pressure came, when the chips were down, you buckled. You failed publicly and everyone knows it.

This is where we find Peter in our passage this morning. He is sitting in a group with Jesus and 6 other disciples around a fire, having just eaten together. They are sitting with the Lord, the one that he failed. And just as Peter’s failure had been very public, Jesus deals with Peter in a very public way. Let’s look at verses 15-17 together again:

John 21:15–17 NASB95

So 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, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again 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, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.

Three times, here, Jesus asks Peter if he loves him. And three times, Peter answers that he does. Jesus asks Peter these questions out in front of the whole group that is around them. And it seems like a hard question in ways. Peter had left everything for Jesus. Peter had professed undying love for Jesus. Peter had physically defended Jesus. Yet, Peter had fallen. He was shaken, and probably unsure of himself. But he had jumped out of the boat again. He had left everything behind, again, to come to Jesus. And the first thing that I want you to see this morning, if you have got your listening guide out, is this, that

Loving Jesus is a choice

Loving Jesus is a choice. It is a decision that you have to make, and one that no one can make for you. Jesus isn’t going to force you to love Him, and He knows that you aren’t going to do it perfectly. You and I are human beings, we are not capable of perfection. Remember, that Jesus had known that Peter was going to fail. He told Peter at the Lord’s Supper that before the rooster crowed that Peter would deny Him three times. In fact, If we look at Luke’s account of the Lord’s Supper, Jesus is even clearer about Peter’s coming failure. Let’s look at that together:

Luke 22:31–32 NASB95

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

What does Jesus say here? He says that He is praying for Peter, but that Peter is going to fail. And what I what I want you to see, beloved, is that before Peter ever fell, before his denial of Christ came to pass, Jesus knew it and He loved him anyway. And Jesus was already calling Peter back to respond to Jesus in love. Loving Jesus is a choice. It is a choice that we need to make daily. It is a choice that we make, and that we are going to fail at. It is a love that we are going to fall down in.

Verse 17 of our passage tells us that Peter is hurt because Jesus asked him the same question three times. Peter, even though he had denied Christ wanted Jesus to believe it when he said that he loved him. but I think the more important thing here is that Jesus wanted Peter to be resolute. He wanted Peter to be firmly planted and fixed in his decision, because loving Jesus is a choice. You don’t have to make the decision to follow Jesus. You don’t have to make the decision to be saved from your sin, to make Jesus the King of your life. You don’t have to love Him. It is your choice to do so. But if you make that choice, there are two things that this choice will mean in your life. Look at verse 15:

John 21:15 NASB95

So 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, “Tend My lambs.”

Do you love me more than these? This question is different than the other two. What is Jesus talking about? Is Jesus asking Peter if he loves Jesus more than he loves the other disciples? Or maybe he’s saying “do you love me more than your fishing gear? No! What Jesus is asking Peter here is do you love me more than these other guys love me? Is your love for me greater than theirs. Do you love me with everything that you are? And Peter says yes, that he does. And then, Jesus proceeds to ask him twice more. Do you love me? Do you really love me? And this is the thing, friends. Loving Jesus is a choice, and

Loving Jesus is all or nothing

You can’t love Jesus half-way, part of the time. You can’t love Him a little bit, or this isn’t going to work. And we’re going to get into more of why that won’t work in a minute, but the point is that loving Jesus is an all-in-kind-of-love.

Who would want to answer this question differently than Peter did? “Matthew, do you love me more than these?” “um, Geeze, Lord, I don’t know. These guys love you an awful lot. There’s probably no way that I love you more than they do. I’m probably lower on the list of disciples in the love category.” Yeah, right! None of us would answer that way! But to answer as Peter answered, you have to be all in.

Remember last week, how we were talking about Jesus not just being a part of my life, but that Jesus is my life. He is the central pillar on which our lives are built, and He is the lens through which we view everything else. But these things are only going to be true of us when we love Him with all that we are. You will not make Jesus first in your life, you will not allow Him to consume your life, you cannot begin to see the world through His lens until you love Him with all that you are, more than anything else.

Do you remember your first major crush in school? Or, those of you that are married, do you remember falling in love with your spouse? They were everything to you. Everything in your life became about them. How quickly could you get your work done so that you could see them? If you weren’t able to see them, maybe you could talk to them on the phone? When you were going to see them, you had to look your best because it was really important that they liked you as much as you liked them. When you were with them, everything was perfect. You made sure everyday to say I love you, and to do all the right things to make them feel special. Do you remember that? When you talked to your friends, they were the primary topic of conversation. Why? Because you loved them. You were consumed by them. In fact, you were pretty sure that no one in the universe loved them more than you do, and everyone needed to know just how wonderful they were.

This is what our love for Jesus should look like. It is the all-in, all-consuming type of love if we truly love Him. Do you notice what Jesus said in response to Peter each time? Feed my sheep. Feed my lambs. What is He saying? Well, you’ll remember friends that Jesus told Peter that he was going to be a fisher of men. And now, He is telling him to feed and to tend his lambs and his sheep. And what Jesus is saying to Peter is the second thing that the choice to love Jesus means in our lives, that

Loving Jesus means making disciples

When you were in love, you told everybody about the person that you love. They were always on your lips. Your family and friends probably got sick of hearing you talk about them, and yet they remained one of the only things that you wanted to talk about. And when you love Jesus, that remains to be true. What is more, following Jesus means doing what He did; and Jesus’ life was about making disciples.

At the start of this chapter, we saw the resurrected Christ repeat a miracle. He filled the nets of his disciples who had fished all night and caught nothing. And we talked about what Jesus told them:

Luke 5:10 NASB95

and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not fear, from now on you will be catching men.”

Peter and the others were told to be fishers of men, to be those that go out to capture the hearts of men with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And now, Jesus has told Peter no less than three times that loving Him means helping others that are growing in Him. Remember, Jesus said over and over again that His sheep know His voice, and when they hear it they follow Him.

And so, Jesus is telling Peter the very definition of loving Him is to make disciples. Proclaim the truth to those that haven’t heard that hearts might be captured. Then, tend those young lambs, those new Christians into growing followers of Jesus. Come alongside those sheep who are already following Jesus, and care for one another; protect one another, point each other to the truth. And don’t let your brothers and sisters be content where they are; help them to grow in Christ, each day maturing more than they already have.

Jesus, in three responses tells Peter that discipleship is to be a lifelong process and something that we are always involved in. If you love Jesus, you will make disciples. It shouldn’t surprise us that the directions of Christ continually come back to this same thing. Be a disciple by making disciples. Know Jesus and Make Him known. This is what is at the very heart of being a Christian. It comes from the daily choice to love Jesus with all that you are, being determined to love Him more than anybody and everybody else. You have to be sold out, giving all that you have to loving Jesus to truly follow Him, because it isn’t going to be easy. In today’s text, at some point in this conversation, Jesus and Peter have gotten up and are walking. Jesus asked Peter three times if Peter truly loves Him. And Peter’s restoration was a large part of this; but beyond restoration, It was a commendation. Look at verses 18-23

John 21:18–23 NASB95

“Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me!” Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; the one who also had leaned back on His bosom at the supper and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?” Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!” Therefore this saying went out among the brethren that that disciple would not die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but only, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”

What did Jesus just say? He just told Peter that he was going to suffer. He said Peter would be led where he didn’t want to go and stretch out his hands. And the text tells us that this was a prophecy, regarding how Peter would die. Peter, beloved, was crucified. He insisted on being crucified upside down, so as not to die in the same manner as Christ. Men led him where he didn’t want to go because the Gospel cost him. And that is the reason that loving Jesus is an all or nothing kind of thing, friends. Because when we choose to love Jesus, we need to do so understanding this next point, that

Loving Jesus will cost you your life

The love of God is free. Salvation is free, but it will cost you your life. You may or may not be called on to die for your faith, as Peter did. God may have a different plan for you, and we’ll talk about that more, but it will cost you. Loving Jesus will mean sacrificing your dreams to pursue His, letting go of things that you want so that the Gospel can go out. Maybe you never get a vacation and you choose to be content in the house you are in so that you can give more, and the church gets a new youth building. Maybe you never get that new truck, but you make it on a mission trip. Perhaps you don’t get the promotion at work because you gave your time to Jesus. The sacrifice looks different for each of us, but it will cost you to truly love Jesus.

And if you aren’t all in, if you don’t love Him more than everything else, when the time for that sacrifice comes, you won’t be ready for it. You’ll ignore it, or run away from it. You’ll deny the call of the Lord for you to die to yourself, because if Jesus isn’t number one, someone else will be, and most of the time, that someone is yourself. Loving Jesus will cost you your life, friend. And really, that is a small price to pay when you consider that you have eternity to gain for it; but if your eyes are fixed on Jesus, if you aren’t all in, you will find reasons and excuses in that moment as to why you shouldn’t take that personal hurt, that self denial, that sacrifice.

What does Peter do here? He looks over his shoulder, and sees John following along behind them. And Peter does what all of us do. Jesus is calling on Peter to sacrifice, to be willing to give his life, like he said he was. You remember right, back at the Lord’s Supper, before the crucifixion, when Peter was ready to die for Jesus. But now, having denied Him, Peter is a little less sure of himself. And he looks around and says “what about him? Is he going to have to sacrifice? Will it cost him as much as it will cost me?

We do this, right? We use the lives of others to justify not sacrificing ourselves. Why should I have to be the one that gives? They’ve got more than me? They’re clearly not sacrificing. What about that other guy? And Jesus tells Peter, basically, “what I do with him is none of your business. You, follow me!” And this leads me to the next thing, that

Loving Jesus means He is Lord

Jesus is the boss. He is the King. He is the one that makes the decisions. He may call you to a harder sacrifice than your neighbor. He may challenge your heart to do something that doesn’t seem fair. He might lead you to walk in hardship for the sake of the Gospel, though none go with You. And in all of this, your only concern is to follow Him. Don’t look to the left or the right; you obey. Your neighbor is the Lord’s concern. Their heart is His concern. They may not love Him as much as you do! Or their road may just be different. But resolve in your heart that following Jesus will cost you. Don’t cherish anything on this earth to the point that you wouldn’t give it up for Him, because He just might call you to do so. It’s not about what Jesus is calling your brother to do; what is He calling YOU to do?

Quickly, look at the last two verses of this Gospel with me:

John 21:24–25 NASB95

This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and wrote these things, and we know that his testimony is true. And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.

John told us two weeks ago that he wrote these things down so that you and I would believe. And in these final two verses of his gospel, in his closing remarks on the trial of the Christ, this is what he says. He has given us, in this chapter, a call to love Jesus. Over and over again, John’s Gospel has called us to a place of belief. He has shown us convincing evidence that Jesus is the Son of God who came to die the death we deserve so that whoever believes in Him will live forever. And as much as he has recorded here, he reminds us that these things aren’t even the half of what Christ did that confirm who He is and why He came for us. John saw the workings of God firsthand, and he wants us to believe so that we can experience them as well. But he has also told us of the cost of discipleship.

John has called on us to love Jesus with everything that we are, giving our lives away to Him, so that in Him we might find life anew. Jesus is calling you and I to lay down our desires, and to make Him the lens of our lives, through which we see everything. And as we do so, we will need to let go of everything else, accepting that nothing, not even our own lives are worth more than the Gospel, that we have more to gain in Christ than we let go of in obedience. And when we choose to believe, we will witness the power of God moving in our own lives, and like John, you and I will become witnesses with a true testimony to the glory of Jesus Christ.

John has presented us with the truth, and now he is leaving it up to us. You are the jury this morning, and it is time for you to make a verdict, each of you, for yourselves. Will you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who was crucified, buried, and resurrected for your salvation? Will you trust Him as your Savior and Lord? Will you come to Him this morning to lose your life, so that in Him, you will have life forever? This morning, come meet Him at the altar. If today, you hear Him calling, answer His call.

Let’s pray together: Lord, Jesus, we have heard John’s testimony regarding You. We have considered these things carefully, and have counted the costs. We are here today, knowing how desperately we need you, and we are ready to lay our lives down before You. We believe that You are the Son of God. We believe in the power of your blood to save us from our sins, and we believe in the power of Your resurrection. This morning, we choose to love You with everything that we are. We ask You to count us among those who are forgiven. Would You be our Lord, our King? Would You direct our lives as you see fit, that You would be glorified in our sacrificial offering. Would You change us from the inside out, here in this moment so that we will never be the same. In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.