Day 31: Bleak Yet Glorious

6th Wednesday in Lent

Scripture: John 21:18-19

^{NRS 18} Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go." ¹⁹ (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, "Follow me."

Devotional: Jesus had been inquiring about Peter’s willingness to give up his life. Peter responded with great clarity. He once thought he could give up his life for Jesus, but he has learned that he was wrong. Assured of Peter’s new found humility, Jesus accepted his ability to love Him like a brother and called him to serve the flock from this new attitude. This would be a fitting conclusion to John’s Gospel, but he was not done. He still needed to point his readers to Peter’s future partner in ministry, a ministry which included writing this Gospel. The author in him couldn’t resist using a little foreshadowing in regards to Peter’s future. He wanted to provide a hint of Peter’s humble boldness. It is important for us to remember that this Gospel was being written long after Peter’s death. The author was aware of both Peter’s death and the means by which he died. He knows the rest of the story and Peter’s fulfillment of his bold promise at the Last Supper. With His final instruction to feed His sheep, Jesus firmly established Peter as the rock upon which His Church would be built, but He wanted Peter to know that he will ultimately become the man he professed to be before the rooster crowed.  He began to talk of Peter’s future. His words pointed to the bleakness of Peter being led places he would not wish to go. They also hint at God’s transforming power. In essence Jesus was saying, “Peter when you were young, you were bold, always ready with a sword, but in this new found humility, as you age and grow in this relationship with me, you will humbly follow the authorities, just as I have, to places you do not wish to go. Yes, for now you offer me phileo and I accept it, but know that in the future, under the power of the Holy Spirit you will have agape. Knowing this truth, come and follow Me.” The evangelist makes sure his readers understand these words were about Peter’s death.   Church tradition completes the story as it records his death upside down on a cross. One day Peter would give up his life, but for the immediate future all that the Lord required of him was to take up the task of serving. It was that assurance that empowered him to wait in Jerusalem for power from on high, through which he would become the very man that Jesus had seen three years before on the shore of Galilee. John offers hope by hinting at the rest of Peter’s story. What is the rest of ours? How do we see our lives impacting the future of the Church and world, empowered by the Holy Spirit?

Prayer: Father, today we pray for assurance that we are up to the task to which You have called us. Just as Peter needed to know that he would be able to offer more to Christ in the future, we need to know that as we grow in you, we will have so much more to give. Reveal this to us today, for it is in Your Son Jesus’ name we ask, Amen.

Song of praise:                  Take My Life by Chris Tomlin

                                                

Spiritual discipline challenge: Today our challenge is to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as we ask ourselves, “Where is God leading us to serve?”