John 21:15-23

March 27, 1977 marks the day of the worst aviation accident in history. Some of you probably remember it. At Los Rodeos Airport in the Canary Islands two 747’s collided. One 747, operated by Pan Am, had been given instructions to taxi across a particular runway. The crew of the other 747, a KLM plane, believed they had been given takeoff clearance down that same runway. As the KLM plane picked up speed down the runway, the crew realized what had happened and tried to lift off before striking the Pan Am plane. But the plane didn’t have enough speed and distance to clear the Pan Am plane and it sheared the Pan Am plane in two. All 248 people on the KLM plane perished and 335 of the 396 passengers on the Pan Am plane died; only 61 survived.

I have a friend who is a pilot, and he once shared with me an article from one of his aviation magazines. In the article Dr. Daniel Johnson, a psychologist, wrote of his interviews with several survivors. This is an account of his interview with two of them:

“To Mr. and Mrs. Able, both around seventy years of age, the impact did not feel too severe. They remember being thrown against the seats in front, yet right after the impact they remembered ‘columns of fire’ dropping down inside the cabin.

“The Ables had not seen the other plane, nor did they know what had happened. After a moment, Mr. Able got up and started toward the exit. As he left his seat he told his wife, ‘Follow Me!’ At first Mrs. Able sat in her seat doing nothing. She later remembered thinking, ‘This is it.’

“She thought she was going to die but she was not afraid. And though religious, she did not pray. Nor did she have any thought of escaping. She says she was in a daze, but after Mr. Able yelled, ‘Follow me!’ she got out of her seat and moved into the aisle.

“As they headed toward the door they saw most of the other passengers sitting in their seats. Apparently many of the people, at least in this section of the aircraft were behaviorally inactive.

“Dr. Johnson explained, ‘The Ables said that many more people could have survived this accident had they simply moved from their seats and gone to the exits. Mrs. Able felt that she would have died had it not been for her husband telling her to follow.”

Two simple words: Follow me! Mrs. Able heard them as spoken by her husband, heeded them, and it saved her life.

If you have been around the church for any length of time you recognize those two words. Those are the words Jesus used to call His disciples. Those are the words Jesus still uses to call His disciples. And the call to follow Jesus is not something we respond to once and for all; it is a call we must heed daily. We see this in the life of Peter.

In Mark 1:16-18 we read of Peter’s first opportunity to respond to the call of Jesus to follow Him. Peter was fishing with his brother Andrew when Jesus came by and called to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” And they left their nets and followed Jesus.

Some time later, after Jesus had just given some especially difficult and challenging teaching, we read in Jn. 6:66-68 that many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Jesus. Jesus than asked the twelve main disciples, “You do not want to leave too, do you?” And Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Jesus didn’t use the words, “Follow Me!” but the idea was the same. As many quit following Jesus, Jesus offered the twelve the chance to quit following Him, go back home and to return to their old ways of living. But Peter responded that having been with Jesus, such a course no longer had any attraction and so he and the others continued to follow Jesus.

Scripture tells of one more instance when Peter had to respond to the words, “Follow me!” We read of this in Jn. 21:15-22. Jesus by this time had been crucified and raised from the dead. He appeared to His disciples by the Sea of Galilee and John writes:

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?” “Yes Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”

Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?” He answered, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”

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. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he turned and said to him, “Follow me!”

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.”

“Follow Me!” That is a costly command. The first time it meant Peter had to give up the life he knew and leave his family to physically follow Jesus. The second time it meant submitting to and following the difficult and challenging teaching of Jesus. The third time it meant committing himself to a way of life for the rest of his life that would ultimately bring about the end of his life. For in commanding Peter to feed His sheep, Jesus was appointing Peter to a role of leadership in the early church, a role that would eventually lead to his martyrdom. That’s what Jesus was referring to when he spoke of someone stretching out Peter’s hands; Peter would be stretched out on a cross just like Jesus was.

It’s a costly command, and it’s a continuous command. Not only do we have these three examples of Jesus calling Peter to follow, but the words “Follow me!” are in the present tense. So in the original Greek language of the New Testament the meaning is, “Follow me, and keep on following.” Everyday Peter, and all of us, must respond to the call of Jesus to follow Him.

Each day we are presented with the opportunity to either follow Jesus or not follow Jesus. Following Jesus begins when we open our hearts to Him for the first time, when we trust Him as our Savior. But just because we became a Christian and decided to follow Jesus 10 or 20 or 50 years ago does not make it automatic that we will follow Jesus today. I’m not talking about losing our salvation but about following Jesus daily. For when Jesus called people he did not say, “Believe in Me, and then go on living as you please,” but rather “Follow Me.” And each day has its own unique opportunities. Consider some examples of how we must choose whether or not to follow Jesus throughout the course of each and everyday.

As we encounter people at work or at school or in our neighborhoods, how do we treat them? Do we just rush right by them, not taking time for them, not showing any interest in them because we are obsessed with and even blinded by our own agenda? Or will we follow Jesus by following His example? As we read through the gospels we notice that Jesus always had time for people. Even when He was tired and wanted to rest, when people came to Him with their needs, He always had time for them. Not that we don’t have important and necessary things we need to do each day, but as we encounter others do we recognize there an opportunity to follow Jesus by showing the same interest, love, and compassion toward them that Jesus showed in His earthly ministry?

Do we take seriously our call to follow Jesus by growing in Christ-like character? We all have areas of our lives that don’t reflect the likeness of Christ. Maybe we are impatient. Perhaps we struggle with selfishness. Maybe our temper has a really short fuse. It could be that we tend to hold grudges against people. We may struggle with lust or greed. It could be any number of things. Do we take some time for a little self-inventory, considering what aspects of our lives are not in keeping with the character of the One we claim to follow, and then with God’s help, committing ourselves to change and grow in those areas? Following Jesus means becoming more like Jesus in terms of our character.

Or consider that God has given each one of us special gifts of the Holy Spirit as well as talents and abilities. Are we regularly using our gifts and abilities in the service of God and of others? Following Jesus means we consciously decide to employ what God has given us in His service.

Are there relationships in our lives that have been fractured or broken? They may be at home, at work, or even here in church. Do we harbor mistrust, anger or resentment toward another person? Scripture tells us that as much as it is within our power we are to live in peace with one another. To follow Jesus means we do what we can to live in right relationship with others.

How about your money? Now there’s a touchy subject, yet Scripture tells us that all we have comes from God and that we are to be good stewards of what He has given us, using a portion of what we have to help others and support the work of the church. Each time we get a paycheck we are presented with an opportunity to follow Jesus or go our own way.

What’s it like in your home? How do you treat your husband or wife, your children or parents? Scripture has a lot to say about family relationships. To follow Jesus means we deliberately try to be the kind of husbands, wives, parents or children that Jesus would have us be.

Following Jesus also relates to our use of time. If we are following Jesus there will be a difference between how we use our time and how those who are not following Jesus use their time – and that difference will extend beyond the hour or two we spend here on Sunday mornings. Do we take time to cultivate our relationship with Jesus, getting to know Him better by spending time in His word, in prayer, reading solid Christian books, being in a small group, and serving in some way. Following Jesus will be evident in our use of time.

There are all kinds of ways in which we have the opportunity to either follow Jesus or not to follow Jesus. For following Jesus, being His disciple, involves more than just what we believe. For to follow implies action, and so following Jesus involves what we do and how we live – everyday.

Well, the list could go on, but maybe that’s enough for now. Maybe for some of us this has been too much. Maybe some of us are thinking, “I don’t want to follow Jesus. It sounds like too much work, too much change, too much sacrifice.” And if you’re thinking that, you’re right. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross to follow Me.” (Mt. 16:24) That means dying to self, laying aside our selfish desires and self-centered interest.

Now the truth is we would like to water this down. It’s so easy to equate being a Christian with just adding a little something to the rest of our lives: go to church some, put a little money in the offering plate, be a nice person when convenient and so on, but basically just go on living as we choose. But that’s not what Jesus had in mind when He called people to follow. Jesus calls us to a whole new way of life that can only begin as we die to the old life where we are in charge and the goal is to fulfill our every desire, whether good or bad.

But here we see the other side of the coin. Yes, to follow Jesus means we must die to ourselves. We must surrender control of our lives to Jesus so that He can rule in our lives. But in doing so we come to experience a quality of life that only Jesus can grant, for He came to give us life in all its fullness. That is His goal for our lives – life in all its fullness. But that can only happen as we die to ourselves to follow Jesus and His ways. So yes, following Jesus means sacrifice and work and change and commitment and death to the old self. But it also means hope and purpose and joy and ultimately life.

Following Jesus gives us hope. You see, we can look at following Jesus as meaning I have to change. I have to become a different kind of person. Or we can see it as meaning I can change. As we surrender to Jesus wholeheartedly, the Holy Spirit has free reign in our lives. And His power is unlimited. He can accomplish in our lives what we never could on our own. And that means we no longer have to be controlled by anger. Resentment and bitterness no longer have to eat away at our insides. We no longer have to alienate people with our lack of patience. Destructive patterns don’t have to rule in our homes for we can become more understanding husbands and wives. We can be more gentle with our children. Following Jesus doesn’t mean so much that we have to change but rather by His grace we can change.

All this doesn’t happen instantly, but as we daily follow Jesus, surrendering to Him and asking Him to mold and transform us, over time we will become more and more like Jesus. We will not only because of His power at work within us but also because we always become like those we follow. Parents don’t want their children to get in with the wrong crowd for in following after that crowd, they fear their children will become like that crowd. We read in Jer. 2:5 of those who followed after worthless idols and became worthless themselves. Stated positively, Prov. 13:20 says, “He who walks with the wise grows wise.” We always become like those we follow. So following Jesus doesn’t so much mean we have to change but rather it offers us hope that we can change, we can be transformed into the kind of people God wants us to be, and which down deep we also want to be but we lack the power on our own to become. Following Jesus gives us hope – hope for our lives and the kind of people we can become.

And following Jesus gives us purpose. Jesus didn’t just beckon the disciples to follow Him and that was the end of it. No, he said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” He had a purpose for them. As they followed Jesus, He changed them and trained them to accomplish far greater things than they would have had they not followed Jesus. And He will do the same with us as we follow Him. We all want our lives to count for something. As we follow Jesus, growing in our relationship with Him and using the gifts and abilities He has given us, He leads us to people and into situations where we can make a difference.

The psychologist who interviewed the crash survivors described those on the plane who were alive and still in their seats as being behaviorally inactive. They were alive physically, but that was all. They weren’t able to think clearly about their circumstances and respond appropriately. Within a few minutes their inactivity caused their deaths for they didn’t get off the plane while there was time.

In a similar way we can be behaviorally inactive. True, we’re alive and our lives may be filled with lots of activity. But sometimes that is all it is – just activity we engage in to keep busy or to amuse ourselves for awhile so we don’t have to face the painful truth that our lives are meaningless and empty. It’s all just spinning our wheels, going through the motions of living. People life like that all the time. And that empty activity can blind us so that we do not see clearly and respond appropriately about what is truly of value and worth giving our lives to. But Jesus offers us the possibility of purposeful activity as we follow Him, obey Him, and commit ourselves to being a part of bringing about His eternal purpose for the world.

And as our lives are changed so we are more like Jesus, as we become the kind of people only God can help us become, and as we see that we really are making a difference in the world, that there is meaningful purpose to our lives, the result is a deep sense of joy and satisfaction. God wants us to be filled with joy. And that happens as we follow Jesus. For Jesus said in Jn. 15 that as we obey Him His joy will be in us and our joy will be complete.

People today will do anything to be happy, to find some sense of joy in their lives. But usually they go about it all wrong by seeking it in some self-centered way. And real joy never comes like that. True joy comes from following Jesus in complete surrender, for only when we do that do we experience the inner transformation we hope for and the purpose we long for.

So following Jesus give us up hope, purpose, joy, and finally, following Jesus leads to life – the fullness of life now and eternal life in the world to come. Just after Jesus said that whoever would come after him must deny himself, pick up his cross and follow, He went on to say (Mt. 16:25), “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

Following Jesus is not easy, for it means dying to self and surrendering our rights, our will to the will of God. But it is the only path that leads to life. Just as Mrs. Able’s life was saved as she followed her husband out of that burning aircraft, so we come to truly experience life in its fullness only as we follow Jesus out of our self-centeredness and away from the false gods of this world that cannot deliver.

So whom are you following? We all follow after someone or something. It may be a person, a cause, a dream, a lifestyle. Whom or what are you following? Each day we are presented with opportunities to follow Jesus and experience life in the fullest sense, or to follow someone or something else and thus wind up empty, confused, and disappointed.

By His grace Jesus comes to us, even right now, and says, “I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Follow me!”