A Commission for all Christians

The subject I want to talk about today is what I call “John’s Great Commission”. And since we preached out of John last week on the resurrection, I want us to study the final chapter in John today. So if you have a Bible please turn to John 21:15.

Each Gospel gives some kind of Great Commission to the disciples. Matthew’s Gospel is probably the most well known, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” John’s version is quite different but it has some great teaching on about our call to service.

BACKGROUND: Jesus had just been crucified on the cross. This chapter describes the third appearance to the disciples after the resurrection.

This appearance begins with the disciples out fishing all night and they had caught nothing. But someone calls out to them from the beach and tells them to throw the net off the right side of the boat. They do as the man says and the net becomes so full of fish that they were not able to haul it in. They immediately realize this is Jesus on the beach and they rush in to see Him.

Here are the disciples sitting around a a charcoal fire cooking fish, and Jesus gives some great lessons on Christian leadership and service.

Every believer is called to serve. There is no one who follows Jesus that is not called to serve Jesus. Jesus said, “where I am there my servant will be also.” And there is no way to serve Jesus, without serving one another. This is God’s plan for the Christian community and it is His plan for us.

John 21:15-17 “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.”

Explanation

Why does Jesus ask Peter if he loves him three times?

If you remember before Jesus was arrested, he told the disciples that he was going away. And Peter heard this and said I’m going with you! And Jesus said to Peter where I am going you cannot come. Now Jesus was talking about the cross. And only Jesus could carry the cross that paid for our sins. Peter’s response to this? “I will lay down my life for You”.

Now you have to love Peter because he was so confident in himself. He was the one who cut off the slaves ear in the garden. He was also the one who threw himself into the sea and swam back the beach when they saw Jesus. He was the first one to confess Jesus as Lord. Peter always spoke up first and for the crowd. And Peter told Jesus, “if all the disciples fall away, I will never fall away!”

A little later, in the garden Jesus is arrested. And Peter follows Jesus into the courtyard where he is confronted about his relationship to Jesus. And Peter ends up denying Jesus not once, but three times just as was predicted.

After that denial, Peter and Jesus do not speak again until after the resurrection. And it is until now that the matter of Peter’s denial is brought up.

So Jesus asks Peter 3 times, if he loves him, and Peter answers each time, “Yes, Lord”.

But that third time pierced his heart as the sin of his denial resurfaced and He had to face it before the one he had sinned against.

What Jesus does with Peter it absolutely NECESSARY in all of our lives because we are not usable with sin hidden in our hearts.

Our sin must be dealt with before we be used by God

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Do you know how God gets sin out of our lives? He exposes it. He brings it to the surface so it can be acknowledged, and then be dealt with. And what Peter needed most in this moment was not a sweeping under the rug about what he had done, but to acknowledge his mistakes and reconcile his relationship with Jesus.

Is this painful? Just ask Peter. The Scripture says that third time of being asked if he loved Jesus, it “grieved” him. And I could only imagine the pain of having to face that sin in front of the one he had betrayed.

Until we deal with our sin, it sits in our hearts and eats at us like a disease. It keeps us from growing and causes us to stumble. It steals our joy, and it keeps us from being used by God, and because God loves us too much to let sin remain, He brings it to the surface.

He operates on us like a Great Physician through His Word or through a sermon, or through another person and exposes our sin for what it is and calls us to face it, and to walk away from it.

1 Timothy 1:12–13 (NAS): I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief.

Having a past history of sin does not disqualify us. Once being someone we are not proud of does not keep God from using us. It is when we choose to not deal with the sin that Jesus has brought tot the surface that keeps us from being used by God.

I read a quote in a book not too long agin that I would like to share with you. He said this, “God can use a bent spoon, a crooked spoon, or even a twisted spoon, but he cannot use a dirty spoon”

Our love of Jesus is demonstrated by how we serve one another, not by our words

Explanation

I want you to notice how Jesus never tells Peter to repent. In fact, the word repent is never used in the gospel of John. But this deal with Peter is exactly what is happening.

2 Cor 7:10 “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

And I think that is exactly what Peter is doing here. He is grieved over his sin and Jesus restores him. Not by scolding him, but by commissioning him.

Jesus doesn’t question Peter’s love, but tells Peter how he can demonstrate his love to Jesus. He tells Peter, “Feed My lambs, Shepherd My sheep, Tend My sheep”.

Instead of saying Peter, your word is good enough. you can trust in your own words of love towards me. Jesus says, here is how you can show me love!

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Love is never demonstrated by words alone, but always followed through with action. And even more specifically in this context, by how we serve one another. Peter was not just called to serve Jesus, but to serve the Jesus’ people. And every believer’s called to this same service.

Jesus washes the disciples feet

When Jesus washed the disciple’s feet in the upper room, they did not understand what was going on. Jesus was doing what a servant should have been doing. This is why Peter said to Jesus, “you will not wash my feet!”. And then Jesus said, no servant is above his master. In other words, what he has done, we must also be doing.

It is our calling church members to serve one another. And it is by this that we demonstrate that we truly love Jesus.

Application

What are some ways we can serve one another?

We can pray for each other. And I don’t mean pray just to check off a box, but to pray fervently for each other.

We can forgive one another. Peter tells us in his letter that love covers a multitude of sins. When someone does something to you, you can forgive before they ever realize they have wronged you.

You can serve in the ministry of this church. Jesus called the church a body and when one member of the body is affected, the entire body suffers. When the entire body is functioning properly, there is joy all around.

To serve Christ means we must sacrifice our own will and accept the will of God

John 21:18–19 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!”

Explanation

Jesus is describing the contrast in Peter’s life. When he says that he girded himself, he means Peter go up, got dressed, and did what he wanted to do. This was Peter before he knew Jesus, and before Jesus had called him to follow Him.

But now things have changed. Now someone else will gird him and lead him where he does not wish to go. And we have a side not telling us what that means. Jesu was referring to the way Peter would die because of his faith.

Church history tells us that Peter was crucified upside down because he did not feel worthy to be crucified in the same manner as Jesus. The phrase, “stretch out your hand” is referring to crucifixion.

Here is the point: Before giving his life to Jesus, he did what he wanted to do. But a full commitment to Christ means God’s will became now becomes his will.

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God did not just have a will for Peter and John, but for every person that has ever been born again by the spirit of God. God does not save people just to take them to heaven one day, He saves them to use them. He saves them to bring Him glory. he saves them to carry out His mission on earth.

And if you are here this morning, and you have a relationship with God, God has a plan for your life.

Rom 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”

This is one way we worship God individually!

Application

When you get up in the morning what do you dress yourself for? Do you dress yourself because your day, your month, your year is made up of what you want to do or do you dress yourself to do what God wants you to do? I know this may offend some of you, but that’s not my intention. I just want us to think in these biblical terms because they have power.

Do you know how you can know God’s will for your life? SEEK HIM! Do not make plans apart from God! Pray and ask God to reveal to you what He wants for your life. And read the Word of God! God has written His will down for us!

Jesus prayed in the garden, Lord, not my will but your will be done!

The Christian commission is not what we want top do, but living our lives to do what God has called us to do! And when we make that a priority in our lives we begin to see God work in supernatural ways!

God is not looking for qualified candidates to serve Him! He is looking for vessels! Who will lay down their lives for him!

We must not fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to others

John 21:20–22 NASB95

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!”

Explanation

Peter has just been questioned about his love towards Jesus and now he compares his future to that of John’s. Peter now wonders what will happen to the other disciple whom Jesus loves if his future looks like this?

Jesus responds by saying what happens in that disciple’s life has nothing to do with what Jesus has commissioned for Peter’s life.

Disciples are not called to compare God’s plan for their life to God’s plan for another’s life. Each person is unique and fits into the plans and purposes of God in a unique way.

The final words spoken by Jesus bring Peter back into focus this time with an emphatic “you follow Me!”. Jesus makes discipleship personal.

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Our walk with God cannot be viewed in light of another person’s life! Each one’s walk is completely and totally personal between each follower and God’s will for them.

Discipleship is personal and can only be personal. There is no one-size fits all disciple. Each call to discipleship has been tailor-made to that individual according to God’s wisdom and plans.

Application

Am I the only one is here that has said, what about that one Lord? Lord, why does my life have to be difficult while these others seem to have it so good! How wrong of me to compare my life to someone else’s life!

I can tell you one thing, I have enough good in my life just knowing my sins are forgiven that I should never complain about how good anyone else has it! besides, things are not always as they seem.

Do not waste your life comparing what God has for you to what God has for something else.

Praise God for what you have and thank Him that your sins are forgiven! Every child of God can do this!

CONCLUSION

I love the last words in this book spoken by Jesus, “You follow Me”. That is really what the Christian Commission is all about. Its not about what others are doing, or about what we have missed out on, or what we have been tasked to do. Its about a personal relationship and following of Jesus Christ.

Are you personally following Him today? Maybe God has spoken to your heart this morning and you have questions. Would you please come and see me after service and I will help you.